Not long ago, reporters asked White House spokesman Jay Carney to
react to Iran's new "moderate" president Hassan Rouhani's tweet that as a
result of his negotiations with the United States, "world powers
surrendered to Iran's national will."
Mr. Carney, speaking for the Obama administration, had an answer, "It doesn't matter what they say. It matters what they do."
In
the context of world affairs, U.S. politicians have often made the
mistake of assuming our adversaries don't really mean what they say. We
like to think that, in their hearts, they share our values and concerns.
In
the 1930s, when Adolf Hitler talked about Jews and what should be done
with them, Western leaders discounted his words as empty rhetoric.
When
the Soviet Union's Nikita Khrushchev thundered in the 1960s, "We will
bury you," U.S. politicians concluded he was posturing for domestic
reasons and didn't mean it.
Today, when extremist Middle Eastern
leaders suggest that Israel should be destroyed, we comfort ourselves in
the belief that they don't really mean it.
History, contrary to
Mr. Carney's rhetoric, tells us that words do matter, and that we would
be wise to listen to what our adversaries say because they may, in fact,
act on what they say.
Of course, Mr. Carney's rejoinder tells us
more about the administration for which he speaks than about history and
reality, but even here there is a truly serious disconnect.
Mr.
Carney's boss too often seems to think that his listeners should pay
attention not to what he does, but to what he says, and that it is
unfair of his critics to point out that his actions and words are often
in conflict.
President Obama has stood behind a lot of
teleprompters as candidate and president to deliver speeches and
lectures that have meant very little. His words have contained promises
he knew he couldn't or had no intention of keeping and were seemingly
forgotten as soon as they scrolled off the screen.
When his
actions don't jibe with his words, he and his defenders go back to
revise the record and at times argue, as Obama defender Rep. Charles B.
Rangel did at one point, that politicians shouldn't be held accountable
for what they say when they are campaigning.
Still, words matter
even when those uttering them do so to mislead. The words provide
insights as to the true feelings of the speaker. Thus, it was with Mr.
Obama's State of the Union speech last night.
(Click link below to read more)
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- Judy Chaffee
- This site is the inspiration of a former reporter/photographer for one of New England's largest daily newspapers and for various magazines. The intent is to direct readers to interesting political articles, and we urge you to visit the source sites. Any comments may be noted on site or directed to KarisChaf at gmail.

Wednesday, January 29, 2014
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