So How's That "Smart Power" Working Out For You?

Why...it's working out just fine!

If you are a third-world, third-rate despot who hates America.

A little update on the international scene as we awake this morning via The Weekly Standard's weekly update:

The Middle East is on the verge of conflagration, with an ongoing Iranian nuclear weapons program, a belligerent and assertive Turkey, a desperate Syria, civil war in Libya, a state collapse in Yemen, deteriorating conditions in Egypt, and anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism on the rise. Meanwhile, the keystone cops at the White House are scrambling to avert a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood at the U.N., and Obama is pulling out troops prematurely from Iraq and Afghanistan.


I'm not finished. The eurozone may be coming undone. America looks like she's giving up on East Asia by denying Taiwan weapons, criticizing the Taiwanese opposition, and cutting defense. And then there are all the other nasties: Kim, Putin, Chavez, Castro. Can't forget about them.
Obama's answer? A tax increase of more than a trillion dollars and doubling down on Obamacare.

Funny that some "centrist" Democrats are fetishizing about a Hillary Clinton primary run against the president. She's secretary of state, and coined the phrase "smart power":

Hillary Clinton vowed to restore American leadership through a "smart power" mix of diplomacy and defence today as she appeared at a Senate hearing for confirmation as the next US Secretary of State.

Signalling a shift away from the militarisation of US foreign policy under President Bush, Mrs Clinton said: “We must use what has been called smart power – the full range of tools at our disposal. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy.”

And more recently:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the U.S. response to crises in Libya and Syria on Tuesday, saying the Obama administration is projecting "smart power" by refusing to act alone or with brute force to stop autocratic repression in the two countries.

Hmmm...I am not so sure if the "Clinton gambit" is as smart as some on the Left think it is.  Then again, these were the same folks that sold us "smart power", "smart energy", smart diplomacy", and Barack Obama...

It would be right if brawn could outright might.  But usually it takes a combination of both. That's a reality Barack, Hillary, and the Left close their eyes to, while repeating over and over like a voodoo chant, "smart power smart power smart power smart power..."