You asked for the job. You got the job. Now do the job. The safety of the world may depend on it.
Don't fix blame. Fix the problem.
Taking an attitude that says, "Do things my way, or else" often brings this response: "Or else what? You gonna beat me up?" Among juveniles, such threats sometimes work. Then again, sometimes they don't, and the result is violence.
But in international political affairs, the art of this kind of deal can easily prompt middle finger diplomacy, since leaders of other, independent nations serve the needs and wishes of their own constituents, not those of an arrogant, incompetent leader of another country who is so naive as to think his high-pressure sales pitches work on other nations as well as on subcontractors for building projects.
That, however, is one partial definition of the term "naive." The word is borrowed from the French, and describes a person who does not know or is unaware. As with many terms that the English language borrows from French, it takes some of the sting off the description.
An equivalent term rooted in Anglo-Saxon would be "ignorant." Alternatively, an even stronger term would be "stupid."
So someone familiar with French terms might well refer to an innocent, uneducated, unsophisticated person unfamiliar with some of the more delicate connotations of words and deeds as a naïf, or a naive person. Another might well choose more blunt, plain English terms, especially when dealing with someone in high elective office who claims to an expert and knowledgeable in all things but repeatedly proves himself otherwise.
In any case, the U.S. now has a president who has claimed that he "knows more about ISIS than the generals." Or who has said, "Who knew health care could be so complicated?" Or who spends much of his off-time broadcasting 140-character insults at those who disagree with him. Or, perhaps most important, when he doesn't get his way immediately on anything, blames others, especially his predecessor in the Oval Office.
Yes, Mr. President, perhaps you did inherit a mess, as you put it. But a harsh reality is that every newcomer to the Oval Office faces a harsh learning experience, and things often are a mess.
Nevertheless, you asked for the job, and now you have it. It is what it is, as a favorite New York saying puts it. So rather than spend your time fixing blame, how about you fix the problem?
And as you whiz around the world demanding that leaders of other, independent nations do as you say, don't be surprised when the response you get is best described as middle finger diplomacy.
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