One is a babe in the woods when it comes to the realities of international politics and, possibly as a consequence, seems never to miss an opportunity to apologize for his people and their culture. The other has the most cruelly delivered knowledge of the consequences of the deadly ferocity of international quests for power and, possibly as a consequence, never misses an opportunity to advocate for his people and their culture.
President Obama first showed up on the public scene when was elected to his state senate in 1996 under dubious circumstances and with the strong support of ACORN. In his time in the Illinois state senate, he was protective of gang members, prisoners, and ex-cons but not of lawful possession of weapons. He pushed for lower taxes for the poor and for higher taxes for the businesses that create jobs. He liked choice when it came to abortion and the use of human embryos for research, but didn't like choice when it came to parents sending their kids to non-government schools. He wrote two books about himself. In these days of soaring national debt and unemployment, the rest is not yet history.
The Dalai Lama, on the other hand, first showed up on the scene in 1937, when a search party of Tibetan monks identified him as the 14th re-incarnation of Avalokiteśvara (pictured), who is venerated by Buddhists as the Bodhisattva of Compassion. (A bodhisattva is an enlightened being who willingly postpones entrance into Nirvana [heaven] to stay behind to help humanity.) Of course, if you are among the many believers who revere the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 13 previous Dalai Lamas, his first birthday as Dalai Lama occurred in the year 1391, giving him more than average accumulated life experience. Since 1959, he has received over 84 awards including the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. He has written more than 72 books on Tibetan Buddhism, non-violence, inter-religious understanding, universal responsibility, and compassion.One of these two heads of state will soon be visiting China for the first time. The other has vast amounts of experience with Chinese political posturing and an unsullied history of demonstrated goodwill and generosity of spirit. So you might expect a visit between them to be fruitful.
Unfortunately, as John Pomfret of the Washington Post reported today:
For the first time since 1991, the Tibetan spiritual leader will visit Washington this week and not meet with the president. Since 1991, he has been here 10 times. Most times the meetings have been "drop-in" visits at the White House. The last time he was here, in 2007, however, George W. Bush became the first sitting president to meet with him publicly, at a ceremony at the Capitol in which he awarded the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's highest civilian award.
The U.S. decision to postpone the meeting appears to be part of a strategy to improve ties with China that also includes soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights and financial policies as well as backing efforts to elevate China's position in international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund. Obama administration officials have termed the new policy "strategic reassurance," which entails the U.S. government taking steps to convince China that it is not out to contain the emerging Asian power.
Before a visit to China in February, for example, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said advocacy for human rights could not "interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate-change crisis and the security crisis" -- a statement that won her much goodwill in Beijing. U.S. Treasury officials have also stopped accusing China of artificially deflating the value of its currency to make its exports more attractive.
Obama's decision points to the consequences of imposing Obamanomics on the U.S. economy at the cost of ballooning debt to China, and it is not good for Tibet. According to an unnamed Asian diplomat quoted in the article, Obama's action "could set a precedent and make China feel even more arrogant than it already is."
Two, it could make it more difficult for the Dalai Lama to meet with the heads of state of other countries. China has launched a worldwide effort to stop heads of state from hosting the Tibetan leader. The Dalai Lama is to travel to New Zealand and Australia later this year and has yet to secure a commitment from their leaders to meet. "A lot of smaller countries will have the best excuse," he said. "They'll say, 'Give us a break. How about the big United States?' "
Finally, Tibetan officials worried about how Chinese authorities would portray the victory in China. "They would obviously tell the people of Tibet that His Holiness was rejected in Washington," the Asian diplomat said.
I'll be waiting with curiosity to observe the reactions of the Left to Obama's refusal to demonstrate to the beloved leader of the Tibetan people a bit of the support he squanders on despised despots. Here in my little corner of Progressive Paradise, Tibetan prayer flags are displayed at least as readily as Old Glory, and Tibetan monks are a lot easier to spot than conservatives. The Dalai Lama has visited here at least twice (twice more than Obama), forging bonds with thousands of people.
Over at RedState, Moe Lane suggested this possibility:
So much for those ‘Free Tibet’ bumper stickers.
I understand that they can be easily enough removed with a combination of WD-40 and a razor blade. Some people should get cracking with that…[snip] because [Obama's delay of his meeting with the Dalai Lama] is just the first step. Given the passive-aggressive nature of this administration, the next step will be to see whether enough people squawk at this; if they don’t, they’ll start making it ‘difficult’ for the Dalai Lama to visit the United States.
At first, I thought, I don't know about that, Moe. I hold with those who predict "squawking." Progressives are all too willing to throw their grandmothers' health care or the free elections of Honduras under the bus to give Obama "a little more time" to fulfill their dreams of Utopia, but, following the Liberal rule-of-thumb that "It's not a problem until it's a problem for me," when Obama starts messing around with their cherished icons and beliefs, well, then he'll have a problem. It won't be easy for Liberals to speak out at first, but with a little help from some concerned academics "in the field" throwing up some dust and assorted vocal Tibet supporters, room to criticize Obama will open up.
But then, Moe added:
And if [the Dalai Lama] passes away, expect the USA to keep its mouth shut and let the PRC do… whatever the PRC plans to do about the religious leader’s successor. All part of the task of the day - which is to improve the PRC’s IMF standing, apparently. Why it’s up to the USA to do that* is a reason known only to God and the President, and I’ll avoid the obvious sneer this time. It seems unfair to taunt people who now have to go out and do work on their cars because of this…
Ouch.
Making it all the more important for the Dems to hold onto Progressive support by ramming through ObamaCare, so call your Congressman or Congresswoman and tell them to stop and desist! Do it! Support of Obama's policies translate to weakening of people's quests for freedom the world over.
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