Nikita and Mahmoud

Posted By Grim

What's the difference between character and statecraft?  This is a question that apparently never crossed the mind of historian Rick Perlstein, who wrote an interesting but badly mistaken piece comparing Nikita Krushchev's visit in 1959 to this week's visit by the president of Iran.

Let me put before you an illustrative example: one week in September of 1959, when, much like one week in September of 2007, American soil supported a visit by what many, if not most Americans agreed was the most evil and dangerous man on the planet.

Perlstein suggests that the respectful welcome granted to Krushchev pointed to a confident, mature American character; whereas the rude reception given Ahmadinajad  at Columbia was the mark of immaturity.  To be specific, he thinks the immaturity comes from the fact that American character has been damaged by years of "conservative rule," which he says is "rewiring our hearts and minds" in bad ways.

Given that hypothesis, I would have liked to have seen some evidence that conservatives exercise some sort of rule at Columbia.  It's beside the point, however, since the analogy is even more deeply flawed than that:  the reception of Kruschev was an act of the United States government, whereas the business at Columbia was an act of a private entity.  The actual US government reception was to ignore the visit as much as possible, so much so that Bush played down the Iranian issue in his own speech at the United Nations.

How to explain the difference in Krushchev's reception and the current one?  It isn't a question of character, but statecraft.  In 1959, the United States was aware that the Soviet Union was increasingly powerful, and not going anywhere.  There was no choice but engagement.  Krushchev got the full reception because the whole point of his visit was to engage him.  We wanted to talk to him, and we wanted to do so with all the diplomatic formalities that smooth the process.

In the current case, the strategy is to avoid doing anything that might legitimize the Iranian president, or increase his base of support within his own country.  His government is not popular with its citizens, and it is in our national interest not to do anything to make them seem more powerful or legitimate.  It's noteworthy that Bush's speech at the UN went on about Zimbabwe and Myanmar, but had fairly little to say about Iran -- at least, directly.

The visit to Columbia, far from being part of the plan, was not welcome because it gave him more attention on the world stage.  I'd say it went about as well as it might have, and in any event, America is a free country whose citizens are not bound by the desires of their government.  That said, the Columbia visit wasn't part of the State Department's vision.

It ought to be fairly obvious that diplomacy is driven by the statecraft aims of a given administration, rather than by our "national character" at large; for that matter, it ought to be relatively clear that whatever "rule" conservatives may exercise in America, they exercise little at Columbia.  Perlstein accuses his country of "bed wetting" at the spectre of having a bad man visit; but really, America was content to ignore him.  It was Columbia that wanted to give him a platform, and it was their administration that chose to be rude to him.  Neither the American character in general, nor conservatives in particular, had much to do with it.

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Comments

[Lands’nGrooves]

Obviously, historian doesn’t equal intelligent.

So the rude reception at Columbia given to the leader of the Minuteman Project was by conservatives!?!

[vet66]

I was living in L.A. at the time. We were practicing air raid alerts while crouching underneath our desks while Kruschev was visiting the "Magic Kingdom.

That being Disneyland. Although, given the state of Russia, the U.S. could be considered the "Magic Kingdom" by comparison to this day.

[Arch]

Columbia president Lee Bollinger greeted Ahmedinijad rudely because he made a mistake giving voice to this madman. His alumni, the source of much of the school's funds, are in open revolt. Also, Sheldon Silver, the republican majority leader of the NY state senate who happens to be jewish, has threatened to redline Columbia's state grants, loans and support.

Rick Perlstein was born in 1969, ten years after Krushchev's visit. His own bedwetting is still fresh in his mind. Perlstein, liberal democrat, is a frequent contributor to one of our favorite publications - The New Republic.

Enough said.

[Synova]

If you'll remember, the "don't tase me bro" thing was all Bush's fault, too.

[bthun]

I agree Arch. Bollinger behaved like students at a Jim Gilchrist or David Horowitz speaking engatgement for no reason (IMO) other than to save the money.

I will say that the tough questioning was a nice surprise since I expected the shoe on the podium to come from Ahmahmadman and at the UN.

Vet66, you remind me by recalling how we used to practice the dive under our desks in order to save ourselves during a nuclear attack drill how strange it seems today. Serious and sincere effort on the part of the Civil Defense folks and our teachers back in the day, but Monty Python-esque today...

[David M]

Trackbacked by The Thunder Run - Web Reconnaissance for 09/26/2007
A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day...so check back often.

[Francis Marion]

Grim, I can identify your writing without looking at the by-line. You take a subject all the way to its logical conclusion right away and leave us thinking that the subject was so obvious only a fool would think differently.

There is a big difference between dealing with a rival world power and dealing with a two-bit hack that wants to force his beliefs on the world. And, an obvious difference if forums too.

[Kat-Missouri/USA]

Every time the little moron ahmadinejad speaks I feel like I'm listening to Baghdad Bob's younger brother Tehran Ted:

There are no gays in Iran. (gays being hung by the neck, check)
We want peace with America (signs and screaming "death to America", check)
Nuclear energy is for peaceful development (3000 centerfuges, nuclear material suitable for weapons grade enrichment, assistance from NK in form of missiles and materials, CHECK)

Seriously, he's not Kruschev. He is Baghdad Bob. Any day now I expect to see him declaring their are no US forces in Tehran as a tank runs over him.

[Lands’nGrooves]

Kat,

Yes, yes! That's beautiful.

BTW, can't remember were I got this:
None of this should be surprising since certain Muslims believe that lying and deceit in general are legitimate in Islam, if one is trying to empower or defend Islam and Muslims. This is known as the doctrine of Taqiyya, and al Qaeda has made clear in its numerous treatises that it endorses this doctrine. Bin Laden’s right-hand man, Aymin al-Zawahri, writes: “We grin to the faces of some peoples, though our hearts curse them….Protection is not accomplished with deeds but with the tongue …. [D]emonstrate friendship to the infidels with your tongues, while harboring hostility towards them….

[jordan]

What a good example of psuedo-academic pap. This "intellectual" certainly takes a simplistic view of things. Aside from your points Grim, he fails to consider that America in 1959 had markedly different social and cultural mores than we do today. Much of this is thanks to the hippie free-love, liberal, do your own thing revolution of the sixties that followed Kruschev's visit.

Perlestein is obviously an heir of that cultural movement, and yet he bemoans the loss of "mature" decorum and tradition that very movement killed off. If anything, conservatism has been trying to bring it back, while his ilk still struggles against it.

He's also left off one of the most important aspects of Akhmadenijid's welcoming: the lack of any large scale or vocal protest against Iran's brutal treatment of gays and women. Today, I watched an appropriations committee hearing with Sec. Gates, Pace, and Negroponte. Pace got a harsh dressing down for making comments against gays, even though his comment was in the context of a supportive argument for letting DADT continue, and the honorable service gays provide.

Pace then got loudly hammered by protesters in the audience yelling, of all things, "Thou shalt not kill!". They further verbally abused him by yelling vile anti-military slogans caught on CSPAN. Funny, Pace and his soldiers are what would prevent the killing of gays by ideological fanatics. Yet, Ahkmidenagad, who actually does hang gays, gets off scott free. It would have been more appropriate to yell "Thou shalt not kill" at his speech, than at Pace's.

For some reason, these little facts seem beyond the grasp of people who think like Perlestein, who, as another commenter noted, would not be well treated at Ajkmaengisd's hands either. They continue to bite the hand that keeps them free and alive.

[Deltabravo]

Jordan,
Any similarity between WashDC and Alice's Wonderland is not at all coincidental. Up is down and down is up.

It would be funny if it weren't so tragic.

[Marcus Aurelius]

1959 America knew what to think about NK - he was the head of a brutal nation & system. There was no hand-wringing and trying to be loved by every last single person in the world.

I do not mind such appearances as long as we know who are dealing with, but today too many people in this society believe Ahmednuttyjihad is the liberal and President Bush is the tyrant.

Diplomacy is part of this effort but not the limp-wristed effete champaign-glass-clinking diplomacy the left believes diplomacy to be.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

I happen to note how President Arachnid runs to hide under the skirt of El Barabadaiaedaie, the Un WatchKitty for NUKLAR expansion, (USA mind you business, I will submit to El Barabadabbadoo) who gets a Nobel Peace Prize for making sure that anyone who want a nuke Gets one.

Well, Screw him and his weird sounding girlfriends... BAAAaaa.

And to Hell with Ahmadeanajohn... Achi'mahairball...Mackmood Amafuggahead...Whoever the hell he is.

[OldSoldier54]

Yep. Direct hit, Grim. Fire for effect!

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Yes sir, down is up, and up is down to the libiots. They literally beg for communism.
They beg for censorship.
They beg for government control of anything and everything.
One idiot that calls the local talk radio often was making the case that the government should 'level the playing field' by making Toyota compensate each employee at the same level GM does. (GM is 75 per hour w/benies, Toyota, 48 I believe)
Well, when government gets involved with the cost basis or profit structure of a business, it becomes communism.
Worse yet, instead of calling for GM to become as healthy as Toyota, they want Toyota to become as diseased as GM...
They want national health care. Even though Canada has been at it a while, and I hear a story just yesterday that a child dies in Canada while on a waiting list to get an EKG and a cat scan. Fk=me (Einstein Theory of Realization that one lives on the Planet of the Apes...)
And I already posted a link about the 'Canadian Liberal Female Parliament Member' who Beamed herself to California to take care of some breast cancer'. This is how communism works folks. Those in the majority get the shaft and those at the top are immune and above.

They think Global Warming came about January 22, 2001.

They think They are smart enough to determine what the climate of the Earth should be, let alone make it happen.
They are 180 reality. It is amazing.

I happened to think about the last Democrat Presidents today. LBJ, Jimmy C, Clinton. DISASTERS! I honestly don't know if this country can absorb another term of the moron brigade.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

PS - The child was on the waiting list for Months

[Deltabravo]

Well, Bob, the Queen of Hearts (Verdict first... trial later... off with their heads) seems to be making a steamroller pass in the general direction of the White House.

The thought of her as CIC gives me the willies. It could get worse. Way worse.

[Cincinnati_Bob]

Deltabravo.. Loud and clear.

I was talking to a lib friend the other day, and said this "I can't prove any one of 100+ things the clintons are accused of, but I know that because there are 100+ things, I know they are guilty of much."

Anyway, Can you imagine someone wanting the Government! making decisions about their personal medical needs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow.
My niece thought it was a great idea until I asked her if she ever had an experience with a government agency in which she felt like a customer.