Obama is supposedly a great orator.

The only memorable line he has ever uttered was this one from his inaugural address.

We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

Iran has responded. They have unclenched their hand—or at least one finger of it.

Obama has extended his hand to Iran. Iran has extended their middle finger to Obama.

Obama made the extending of his hand contingent on Iran unclenching their fist.

Obama, however, did not say what he would do if Iran did not unclench its fist.

I can answer that. Obama is the world’s biggest wimp. If you look up “All talk” in the dictionary, Obama’s picture will be next to the definition.

He will do nothing.

Contrast with John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address

Here are the pertinent parts of Kennedy’s inaugural.

For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans—born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.

We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.

So let us begin anew—remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms, and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.

And, if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor—not a new balance of power, but a new world of law—where the strong are just, and the weak secure, and the peace preserved.

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility—I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it. And the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

That, dear readers, is an inaugural address. It was given by a man who was four years younger than Barack Obama when he was inaugurated, but a man who had done far more things in his 43 years than Obama had done in his 47. One of the things Kennedy did was command a PT boat in the Pacific during World War II—a PT boat that was deliberately sliced in half, killing and wounding several of Kennedy’s men, by a Japanese destroyer. I saw the captain of that destroyer talk about the incident on TV. Kennedy had seen the faces of evil and war up close. He knew you could not merely talk everyone on earth into behaving properly and peacefully.

You can read all of it at http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres56.html.

Video of it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLmiOEk59n8

Iran is Obama’s cuban missile crisis

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev thought JFK was weak at the Vienna Summit, so he put nuclear missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev was wrong. Kennedy threw a naval blockade around Cuba and said he would stop Russian ships bound for Cuba to make sure they had no missiles or nuclear weapons. We wondered if World War III was about to start. Kennedy hung tough. Khrushchev backed down.

Iran’s apparent full-speed charge to nuclear weapons is the equivalent, if not worse. The Soviet Union was run by grown-ups who probably would not have used those Cuban nukes. Iran is not run by grown-ups. We cannot chance Iran having nuclear weapons and giving them to terrorists.

If and when such a nuke goes off in the U.S., the U.S. will not do what Hillary said during the campaign—swift retaliation—because we will not know for sure who did it. But we do know now, for sure, who is building nuclear factories as fast as they can.

John T. Reed