THEY CALL HIM "NO DRAMA OBAMA" – AT 8:30 A.M. ET:  And he'd better develop some drama.  Increasingly, observers are becoming dismayed at Obama's sluggishness in responding to the Libyan bloodbath.  Now, apparently, he has made it to a telephone.  From London's Daily Mail:

Barack Obama last night held an emergency crisis summit with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy to thrash out action plans over the uprising in Libya, the White House said.

The U.S. president phoned David Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi to express his 'deep concern' over Colonel Gaddafi's use of violence which he said 'violates every standard of human decency'.

There were unconfirmed reports this afternoon that protesters were fired on by Gaddafi troops as they demonstrated in the Western suburbs of Tripoli.

How long did it take this president, who billed himself as "sensitive" to the world's oppressed peoples, to make the phone call?  Many days, my friends.  After all, there were apparently more important things to do:

But before making the urgent phone call, Mr Obama hosted a concert featuring stars including Nick Jonas, Seal and John Legend, to celebrate Black History Month at the White House.

Some relatives of those who are still stuck on the catamaran trying to escape Tripoli harbour and in oil-field camps inside the country might take some exception to the revelry at the White house last night to celebrate Motown music.

I would certainly say so.  During the election campaign of 2008, Hillary Clinton, in battling Obama for the Dem nomination, asked how this inexperienced man would react to a crisis call at 3 a.m.  I think we now pretty much know the answer.

Among the options under discussion was a no-fly zone over the oil-rich nation to prevent Gaddafi's air force attacking his own people.

At last report we don't have a single aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean.  But, with midair refueling, assets could be based in Italy and flown over Libya before a carrier can be placed on the scene.

Our response is pathetic.  If the protesters in Libya are defeated, we will share the blame, and any "outreach" to the Muslim world will be a joke.

February 25, 2011