You Say Malvinas, I Say Maldives

Following the introductory chapter of "How to Manage the Populous During Economic Crisis", Argentina has diverted attention from her horrific economic problems--and her equally horrific sham solution--by hectoring the British over their territory in the South Atlantic, The Falkland Islands.

In a Colombian news conference on The Falkland Islands, President Obama, seeking to use the Spanish term "Malvinas" for the islands (as Argentina prefers--and Great Britain does not), said "Maldives", which are islands off India. People were understandably confused. He then stated that the United States would be neutral in the dispute between Argentina and Great Britain. “This is not something that we typically intervene in.” Since the U.S. famously supported Britain the last time this happened under Reagan--support that led directly to a serious naval defeat for Argentina, people were understandably confused.

Whispering with Russian president Dmitri Medvedev about implied surreptitious defense deals, the Fast and Furious scandal involving the United States selling guns to Mexican drug runners, the attack on the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as if he never heard of Marbury v Madison and 209 years of judicial review, making an ugly local shooting international news--what is going on here? This is not just the possible rhetorical goofiness that can occur like the "Austrian language" or traveling to "all the 57 states." There is something much more basic that implies some very loose thinking in this administration.

There may well be a belief here that you deserve some slack when your intentions are good. But there is, at this level, at least some demand for competence.