Bring on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and every other unfriendly world leader and Obama will sit down and chat with them directly. And, according to the Associated Press, “In May, when a McCain adviser proposed a series of pre-convention appearances at town hall meetings, Obama said, ‘I think that’s a great idea…Obviously, we would have to think through the logistics on that, but … if I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that’s something that I am going to welcome.’”

Alas, not unlike the Lion from the Wizard of Oz, Obama was just messin’ with us.
Is Obama a Paper Lion, similar to the concept of Paper Tiger? The original use of the term was used by the Chinese to negatively characterize what they saw as imperialistic nations (such as ourselves and the Soviet Union). In 1956 Mao Zedong declared that despite the appearance of power there was nothing to be afraid of. Mao’s application was faulty back then (can you spell “nuclear weapons”?), but it may fit who Obama is now with regards to stepping up to the plate and fulfilling his promises: “Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain.”

I guess it would look too suspect for Obama to duck out of the three traditional post-convention debates, that is, if you can call asking canned questions (some of which are invariably stupid) with tightly timed answers and no opportunity for sustained interaction “debates.” (FYI, those dates are September 26th, October 7th, and October 15th.)

In the meantime we will just have to keep guessing who Obama really is and what it is he firmly stands for.

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