Every SOTU address has a handful of paragraphs that were drafted by a committee—and they usually expose issues where the president just doesn’t care enough to question the words on the page before he speaks them.
A couple of our Latin American neighbors got the brush off in this paragraph that was nuanced to within an inch of meaninglessness.
If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores…. And that’s why … we will strengthen our trade relations in Asia and with key partners like South Korea, Panama, and Colombia.
Nice words, I suppose. But the president doesn’t actually come out and ask Congress to ratify trade agreements with these countries, which were negotiated by President Bush and which have been languishing in the Congress for years. (Speaker Nancy Pelosi rewrote the “fast track” rules of the House with the express aim of shelving the trade accord with our best ally in the Americas, Colombia; last night, she choked when the president mentioned Colombia but recovered when she realized that he didn’t actually endorse the accord.)
A very compelling fact is that Colombia is a key ally in the fight against drugs and terrorism and faces almost weekly bellicose threats from President Hugo Chavez in neighboring Venezuela. Panamanians recently elected a new pro-American president, who was the object of a kidnapping plot discovered last week involving foreign-backed narcoterrorists. Ratifying both of these agreements now would send a very clear signal that these are strategic partners that enjoy our unmitigated support, which could back off warmongering by Chavez and other thugs. Instead, the Obama drafting committee opted for words that would pass muster with the anti-trade union bosses but left the president looking less than serious.
As a result, leaders in three friendly countries are left scratching their heads and wondering where they stand with us. Aren’t we supposed to sow doubts with our enemies and embolden our friends?