A Man Is Known By The Company He Keeps

Its funny how little the media is saying about yet another embarrassment by the Obama Administration. Unable to understand the power and influence that he possesses as the leader of the free world, Obama has followed through on his campaign promises to buddy up to our nation's enemies. He has made overtures to Iran, Cuba, and now Venezuela. Obama's giant grin, and warm embrace upon meeting Hugo Chavez said it all. The leftist bond shared between the two leaders goes far beyond diplomatic niceties. The exchange was better than Chavez ever dreamed of. In fact, he was so thrilled by the encounter he appeared almost giddy. Obama even posed for a photo-op with Chavez, as the Venezuelan dictator gave him an anti-American book about American exploitation of South America.

The repercussions from the foreign policy disaster will be phenomenal. The anti-American book has already skyrocketed up the Amazon best seller rankings. But more importantly, as William A. Jacobson points out in his blog Legal Insurrection, Obama Threw Venezuelans Under the Bus. Obama lent a burgeoning dictator a great foreign relations victory to help prop up his credibility around the world. This coming after one of our strongest South American allies, Columbia, captured definitive evidence of Chavez's considerable support of the bloody, Marxist, narco, terrorist organization FARC.

Obama's foolishness could have serious repercussions throughout South America, as it undermines those still trying to oppose what is becoming a Chavez funded continental Marxist revolution. The spread of authoritarian socialism poses a serious threat to capitalist democracies in countries like Columbia that have tried to remain loyal to the U.S. With Democrats refusal to pass the free trade agreement with Columbia, it is uncertain how much longer the country can withstand the regional forces pressuring it from all sides.

Obama should have seized the conference as an opportunity to undermine Chavez, while he is facing trouble at home because of the steep drop in oil prices. A true leader would have used the conference as an opportunity to express commitment to the free trade with Columbia and other allies in the region, but alas we should all know by now not to expect so much. Given Obama's recently demonstrated disrespect towards Israel, France, and Great Britain, it is clear that he has little interest in our closest Allies. Just look at his insulting treatment of Gordon Brown and the English, his refusal to visit Normandy with Sarkosy, his snub of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and his heavy-handed and one-sided demands of Israel in the "peace process." (I put quotations because, I see little peace and a lot of process, much of which has done more harm than good.)

If anything is clear about Obama's time in office so far it is this: his past associations with terrorists such as Bill Ayers, and Bernadine Dohrn, leftist radicals such as Father Pfleger and Saul Alinsky, racists like Reverend Wright and Louis Farrakhan, and the corrupt and criminal Rod Blagojevich and Antoin "Tony" Rezko, were not flukes or youthful indiscretions. What is the connection between all these character from his past and Chavez, Castro, Ahmadinejad , and the King of Saudi Arabia? They are all either corrupt, leftist, powerful, or hate America. Is this the group of people we want our President snubbing our allies to hang out with? Not only is a man known by the company he keeps but by the company he chooses not to keep.