Fine Words

While Obama's Nobel Prize speech was beautifully turned, informed commentaries like this one and this one reveal inconvenient details that give his carefully nuanced blend of tough practicality and idealism a definitely hollow ring. Arianna Huffington, meanwhile, points out the obvious question that Obama left begging: how will escalating the war in Afghanistan make Americans more safe?

I'm sadly reminded of G.I. Gurgieff's description of modern civilization as "based on violence and slavery and fine words." Also what Tariq Ali said about Obama at the Blue Met last April: “Unfortunately, if you wear Caesar’s robes and put on Caesar’s crown, you have to act like Caesar. The previous one was like Caligula. This one is more like Claudius.”