The Politics of Apologies - democracyarsenal.org

December 09, 2011

The Politics of Apologies
Posted by Michael Cohen

Over at Foreign Policy my new column looks at the false charge that Obama is our Apologist-in-Chief . . . and how it still affects foreign policy decision-making:

There are political lies; and then there are charges that fall squarely in the realm of pants-on-fire untruths. The repeated assertion by conservative politicians, commentators, and pundits that President Barack Obama has consistently apologized for America during his global travels -- the "American Apology Tour" as Mitt Romney calls it -- falls squarely into the latter category.

It is a lie that has been reiterated so often that it has become conventional wisdom on the right. The fact that Obama has never directly apologized for America; that he has never expressed direct sorrow or regret for U.S. actions; that alleged charges of contrition have been repeatedly and comprehensively debunked appears not to matter much at all -- particularly to those such as Romney, who in last month's CNN national security debate repeated the charge again. It's worth mentioning that Romney is so enamored with the topic of presidential apologizing that he titled his recent foreign policy book, you guessed it, No Apologies.

. . . All of this might sound like the inevitable back and forth of American politics. After all, politicians exaggerate the faults of their opponents all the time -- and it's hard to imagine that the Obama administration would take any of these obvious untruths seriously. But even the most mundane and misleading of political attacks can shape foreign policy decision-making. If, as Clausewitz suggested, "war is the expression of politics by other means," then foreign policy is often the expression of domestic politics by other means -- with often unsettling consequences.

You can read the whole thing here

While you're at it check out me and Robert Farley debating the implications of an Iranian bomb:

December 09, 2011 at 11:40 AM | Permalink

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December 09, 2011

The Politics of Apologies
Posted by Michael Cohen

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December 09, 2011

The Politics of Apologies Posted by Michael Cohen

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The Politics of Apologies
Posted by Michael Cohen