When Barack Obama vilified George Bush and warned of the dangers of four more years of Bush policies he also promised to change Washington. He promised a new day, hope, and to sweep away the old politics that plagued the government. With those pledges came a general euphoria and the media proclaimed the coming of “The One”, the world’s president. Foreign leaders lined up to welcome America’s change. They apparently felt Obama’s election signaled a better world.

Not so today. While the left rejoiced, Kenya celebrated, Oprah cried, and the media patted themselves on the back and made plans for ensuring his success, Obama, months away from taking office, began to show his true colors. Names like Podesta, Daschle, Clinton, and Holder have been penciled in to the key staff positions. We already knew we were in trouble when he picked his vice-president but who could have expected this line-up?

As more and more names surface foreign heads of state are beginning to experience déjà vu all over again. They were here sixteen years ago and they know what’s coming. To underscore their fears about government by focus groups and decisions by deliberative political expedience they’ve been shocked by the past two weeks of transition. It’s pretty clear that they don’t like what they see.

What the ROW (Rest Of the World) fears is a powerful single party American government throwing its weight behind American companies at the expense of the global economy. Bailing out banks is one thing, insuring the position of the auto industry quite another. You can be assured that they are watching closely what position Obama will take on the Union bailouts thinly disguised as help for the Big Three. As goes Detroit, so goes protectionism. In a world on the brink of economic calamity loss of competitive access to the largest market in the world spells doom for the rest of the world.

Where is the much vaunted Vice President Elect in all of this? Biden might know what the ultimate result will be on the world stage. I say “might” because he hasn’t been right on many things to date. I doubt that Obama is experienced or enlightened enough to realize that as much as the world disliked Bush’s unwavering war on terror they respected it. What they will not respect is an America ready and willing to take the food out of the mouths of their children.

What the world experience as discomfort at being held accountable under Bush was comparable to a child’s reluctance to eat their vegetables. If Americans want to experience real hate, the kind that manifests itself in dangerous liaisons and overt attacks on American interests abroad like those experienced under Carter and Clinton you won’t have long to wait. If Obama doesn’t start walking the walk quickly he may make history becoming the first president to destroy international relations before taking office.

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