Cal's Fearsome America

Cal Thomas's opinion piece in the Spokesman Review today makes absolutely no sense. Using a story of a neighborhood bully he tries to paint particular leaders of other countries as bullies having their way as if their blustering and antagonizing behavior didn't begin until January 21 of this year. Somehow all prior presidents were not foreign policy neophytes and Obama is an appeaser of evil.

In the days of Al Capone, individuals and businesses bought “protection” from the mob. Today, no public or private insurance policy is available to protect us from predatory nations or terrorist organizations. A punch in the nose – or the threat of one – still deters bullies far better than signed agreements, which they have no intention of honoring.

He makes it sound like buying protection from the mob is a good thing, especially if America is the mob.

And then he caps it off with this:

There was a time when America was feared. That time has passed. Either we restore it or we’ll live – or die – to regret it.

Eight years of swaggering did not make other nations fear us. It brought us disdain and loss of respect. The last thing we need is another president who's only response is waving his fist under someone's nose. If you want to know about bullies, Cal can tell you all about them--as long as they're not American.