ARAB APPLAUSE COMES TO A STOP -- Just A Minute Radio for Friday 12-04-09

            Good Morning (or afternoon) –

 

            Glad you stopped by for a view from the front porch.  Even though we do have winter in South Carolina, it’s not really here yet. Stephen Vincent Bene’t has some wonderful description of Autumn in Georgia in his long poem ‘John Brown’s Body’.  I won’t take up the space to repeat it here… but Wingate, the Southern protagonist in his poem revels in the warmth of an autumn afternoon as he rides his horse home…

 

            “This was his Georgia, this his share

            Of pine and river and sleepy air…

 

“And where ever the winds of Georgia run

            They smell of peaches long in the sun…”

 

            Well, you get the idea… except I’ve always wondered how Georgia gets all the “Peachtree” P/R – while Spartanburg County ships more fresh peaches in a normal season than the whole State of Georgia… at least that’s what I’ve heard – authoritatively.  In any case we don’t want to start any unnecessary Chamber of Commerce conflicts do we. (J)

 

            Today’s program deals with the international or overseas reputation of Mr. Obama as seen through the eyes of an Arab scholar and teacher.  It’s an interesting observation… at least I found it so – and if you care to look it up in the Library or online it’s the top of page A19 in the 11/30/09 issue of the Wall St. Journal.­

 

            Our national and international scene is shifting faster than a runaway movie projector.  You can’t tell the players without a program.  And when it comes to the inside the Beltway crowd…most of the time you can’t tell them much no matter their political affiliation.  For my money we’re a LOT better off when we trust the people rather than the government. That’s why the idea I espouse is one of limited and smaller government wherever possible. 

 

            But now I’ve opened a whole new can of worms… and we’d all rather get on with the weekend.  See you Monday DV!

 

            Cordially, IN HIM

 

 

            Jack Buttram

 

http://www.jebcovoice.net/audio/jama12-04-09.mp3

 

http://www.jebcovoice.net/scripts/jamt12-04-09.doc

 

If the links don’t work please try copying to your browser.

 

 

 

“JUST A MINUTE”

ARAB APPLAUSE COMES TO A STOP

JUST A MINUTE – Fuad Ajami, a Professor of International Studies at Johns Hopkins, reports Arab academics in Jeddah, who previously expressed admiration for the President, now just say, “He talks too much.”

           Dr. Ajami, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says academic chatter about Mr. Obama has cooled:  (quote) “In the Arab –Islamic world, Barack Obama has come down to earth.”  

He concludes, history has overtaken the Obama presidency.  Now, he says the Arab community needs more than just stirring speeches.  They no longer find novelty in the Obama persona.

          Professor Ajami notes a whole tradition of American diplomatic history should be utilized.  In contacts over decades, wisdom has been acquired, and accounts are discovered with what he calls, rogues and tyrannies, which need to be settled.  In his view -- the clapping has stopped.  Now it’s time for performance on the international stage. 

          If they do that, the Professor hopes, the Administration can find its way out of the labyrinth it has constructed for itself. 

          Let us pray the professor is correct.

<> I’m Jack Buttram

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