LATIN AMERICAN FLOP – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  In the post below we report Obama's latest blunder, refusing to side with Britain in its dispute with Argentina over the Falklands.  The refusal has not gotten Obama anything from the leftist Argentinian government.

But there's more from Latin America.  Last week's Americas summit, which Obama attended, was catastrophic for the United States, in part because no one fears the American president any longer.  The conference literally broke up over the demands by the leftist governments of the region to invite Cuba to the next summit.  Obama, in an election year, had to oppose that, but did not get his way.  No decision was made.  In the past, the U.S. had but to wink, and the Castros would have gone unmentioned.

And then we had Obama, in high groveling mode, welcoming Brazil's new president, Dilma Rousseff, a former Communist guerrilla, to the White House.  Brazil now has the world's sixth largest economy, although that economy has started to falter under Rousseff's heavy socialist hand.  More worrisome, Rousseff is a professional anti-American.  From the Washington Times:

Ms. Rousseff is an exemplar of the anti-American hard left that is uniting in the developing world to check U.S. power. One of the main goals of her mission to Washington is to get Mr. Obama’s seal of approval for Brasilia’s ambition to acquire a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. U.S. support for this scheme would be self-destructive as Brazil would provide a reliable vote against American interests in the world body. Ms. Rousseff, a former communist guerrilla herself, is a strong supporter of anti-U.S. dictatorships such as the Castros in Cuba and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. She has backed the Iranian mullahs’ efforts to acquire nuclear capability while leading a club of nations pressing for U.S. nuclear disarmament. If the planet is divvied up between those who are for us and those who are against us, Ms. Rousseff is on the wrong side.

And...

This tale matters because Brazil is now the world’s sixth-largest economy and a leader of the coalition of second-tier states looking to extract revenge for years of perceived Western “first world” imperialism. The narrative mirrors Mr. Obama’s kneejerk “Blame America First” worldview. Brasilia also shows how left-wing bureaucracies mobilize to stifle dissent through censorship and confiscation of property when faced with public opposition. This week’s confab between Mr. Obama and Ms. Rousseff was more than a photo-op for two leftists whispering about what the world could be if they had more power. It’s about what the world is already becoming.

COMMENT:  Which is why we desperately need a change in Washington.  We already know that Obama has, not realizing a microphone was on, pledged to be more "flexible" with Russia once the election is over.  We have no way of knowing what he pledged to Rousseff, but he did a lot of smiling.

April 18, 2012