Obama Adviser Fareed Zakaria: Today's Conservatism Has Lost Touch with Reality or Something

So nice to see Time's in-house Obama adviser passing along advice to conservatives. How could the conservative movement possibly survive without his sage advice?

Conservatives used to be the ones with heads firmly based in reality. Their reforms were powerful because they used the market, streamlined government and empowered individuals. Their effects were large-scale and important: think of the reform of the tax code in the 1980s, for example, which was spearheaded by conservatives. Today conservatives shy away from the sensible ideas of the Bowles-Simpson commission on deficit reduction because those ideas are too deeply rooted in, well, reality. Does anyone think we are really going to get federal spending to the level it was at under Calvin Coolidge, as Paul Ryan's plan assumes? Does anyone think we will deport 11 million people?

We need conservative ideas to modernize the U.S. economy and reform American government. But what we have instead are policies that don't reform but just cut and starve government — a strategy that pays little attention to history or best practices from around the world and is based instead on a theory. It turns out that conservatives are the woolly-headed professors after all.

And of course all liberals policies aren't based in theory but in a concrete reality with all the wonderful results pointing to nothing but success. Those Social Security and Medicare programs really worked wonder, didn't they?

And who out there is talking about deporting 11 million people? I don't see anyone campaigning on that. Of course, deportations have increased under the guy Zakaria is advising. Are you even aware of that, Fareed?

Always be wary of sleazy lefties when they're giving your side advice. They're not doing it out of your best interest, that's for sure.

Asian Born Muslim Praises Obama For Continuing Bush Plan in Iraq

An Asian born Muslim paraphrasing another allegedly Asian born Muslim, yeah I went there for the cheap shot, but with all of the not so cheap shots most of us average Americans have been taking lately I couldn't resist, in a recent interview Fareed Zakaria says that Obama is getting out of Iraq because he never wanted to be there to start with.

CNN: In light of that conflict, why is Obama proceeding with the withdrawal?

Zakaria: Obama believes this is a war we should never have gotten involved in, that it has been a waste of American resources -- most importantly American lives but also treasure -- and that his job is to minimize the exposure of the United States to this and reduce our commitments so that he can focus America's energy and efforts in other places. And he's been very disciplined about this, very unsentimental about it.

Zakaria who is being interviewed is the editor of Newsweek's International edition, a contributor to Slate, has written for the Washington Post and has his own show on CNN. This is a guy, who when the left get mad at him for not being progressive enough call him a neocon. For those that don't know all of those agencies listed above are about as liberal as you can get.

Obama and Zakaria have several traits in common. Obama likes to read Zakaria's book like "The Post-American World". They both went to Harvard with Zak going to Yale also while Barry went to Columbia.

In truth the groundwork for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq is in keeping with the guidelines set down during the Bush administration and enabled by the surge implemented by General Petraeus, not because of anything Barry O has done. Hell he was handed the keys and the best way to describe his contribution is he didn't mess it up. What is happening right now with the troop withdrawals was crafted years ago and we can simply see the visible signs of that now.

All I am saying is Zakaria is more likely to be a mouthpiece for Obama then he is any sort of critical analyst. We only have Zakaria's retelling of his interview so you can't say this is a direct quote or was even said and may only be what Fareed wishes Obama would say or he is engaging in some heavy mind reading.

An ability reserved for Asian born Muslims.

Besides we all know Barry O is an American born Black Liberation Theology member.

Newsweek Boob: Iran's Not a Dictatorship, Doesn't Want Nukes

There's naivete and there's downright stupidity. Then there's Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek hack, employing a robust combination of the two.

Iran isn't a dictatorship. It is certainly not a democracy. The regime jails opponents, closes down magazines and tolerates few challenges to its authority. But neither is it a monolithic dictatorship. It might be best described as an oligarchy, with considerable debate and dissent within the elites. Even the so-called Supreme Leader has a constituency, the Assembly of Experts, who selected him and whom he has to keep happy. Ahmadinejad is widely seen as the "mad mullah" who runs the country, but he is not the unquestioned chief executive and is actually a thorn in the side of the clerical establishment. He is a layman with no family connections to major ayatollahs—which makes him a rare figure in the ruling class. He was not initially the favored candidate of the Supreme Leader in the 2005 election. Even now the mullahs clearly dislike him, and he, in turn, does things deliberately designed to undermine their authority. Iran might be ready to deal. We can't know if a deal is possible since we've never tried to negotiate one, not directly. While the regime appears united in its belief that Iran has the right to a civilian nuclear program—a position with broad popular support—some leaders seem sensitive to the costs of the current approach. It is conceivable that these "moderates" would appreciate the potential benefits of limiting their nuclear program, including trade, technology and recognition by the United States. The Iranians insist they must be able to enrich uranium on their own soil. One proposal is for this to take place in Iran but only under the control of an international consortium. It's not a perfect solution because the Iranians could—if they were very creative and dedicated—cheat. But neither is it perfect from the Iranian point of view because it would effectively mean a permanent inspections regime in their country. But both sides might get enough of what they consider crucial for it to work. Why not try this before launching the next Mideast war?

So let's just bury our head in the sand while the Iranians say one thing and do another.

Sure, that'll work.

It should make us all really comfortable to know this is a favored author of Obama.

Meanwhile, in the same issue of Newsweek, Mr. Potato Head declares the Iranians aren't fanatics. More comforting thoughts.

The Iranians have always been extremely well briefed on the details. They know what they want. They are excellent on the strategic goals, excellent on waiting for the right price. I don't want to make them sound like superhumans; you do see a lot of infighting among them. And part of it is about who is going to get credit for finally breaking out of this 30 years of fighting and confrontation with the United States. Everybody is positioning himself to be the national hero who would finally put Iran back onto the world map as part of the mainstream. They are not like the stereotyped fanatics bent on destroying everybody around them. They are not.

Really?

Fresh Pile of Poop From Newsweek

No, I'm not talking about them hiring some nutroots twerp, rather this nonsense from Fareed Zakaria, who sees something ominous in an alleged drop in tourists visiting the United States.

Every American who has a friend abroad has heard some story about the absurd hassle and humiliation of entering or exiting the United States. But these pale in comparison to the experience of foreigners who commit minor infractions. A tourist from New Zealand, Rick Giles, mistakenly overstayed his visa in America by a few days and found himself summarily arrested for six weeks earlier this fall. Treaty obligations say his country's embassy should have been informed of the arrest, but it wasn't. A German visitor, Valeria Vinnikova, overstayed her visa by a couple of days and tried to remedy the situation—so that she could spend more time with her fiance, the Dartmouth College squash coach. Instead she was handcuffed and had her feet shackled, then was carted off to be imprisoned. She now faces deportation and a 10-year ban on entering the United States.

Of course, apparently none of these innocents are responsible for seeking a visa extension.

And who is Zakaria's source for such information?

(Thanks to AndrewSullivan.com for drawing attention to these.)

Enough said.

Sullivan, naturally, pats himself on the back and notes the above anecdotal stories came from reader comments.

Fareed echoes some of my readers' testimony about the police state atmosphere that tourists and foreign visitors have to confront when entering the US. Tourism has declined markedly in the US these past five years, despite booming elsewhere.

Surely, they've all been verified, no?

Zakaria offers no solution to this alleged crisis and just points to allegations of harassment and anecdotal evidence, of which he offers none.

The administration and Congress say the right things, have passed a few measures to improve matters and keep insisting that the problem has been solved. But the data and loads of anecdotal evidence suggest otherwise. The basic problem remains: no bureaucrat wants to be the person who lets in the next terrorist. As a result, when one spots any irregularity—no matter how minor—the reflex is to stop, question, harass, arrest and deport.

I suppose letting our guard down would be preferable to this mythical police state liberals fret over.

Of course, as Andrew Stuttaford points out at NRO, we're on pace for a record numbers of tourists this year, so if you're a Newsweek print subscriber, you have some fresh birdcage liner.

More from Right Voices.