Recent Photo Ops Don't Show the Full Picture

Politics make for strange bedfellows. So do photo ops. Photos this past week show Pope Francis and Argentina President Cristina Kirchner warmly embracing each other with a slight kiss from the Pope bestowed on the President. Imagine they kissed and made up. Photos show another warm embrace between President Obama and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with broad smiles and effusive praise. All is right in the world. President Kirchner and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio did not like each other. It’s fair to say they held each other in contempt. The Cardinal was outspoken in his opposition to her social agenda, including gay marriage. The Cardinal called her policies an “attack on God’s Plan.” She called him “medieval” He will be even more orthodox in ascending to the Papacy. Yet, President Kirchner was the first foreign leader to greet the new Cardinal Francis. She asked him to help convince England to return the Falkland Islands (The Malvinas) to Argentina. Popes can work miracles, but it’s almost 4 centuries since a Pope had a direct line to the British government. Imagine the John Lennon song “Imagine.” Imagine the Pope and the Argentina President really kissed and made up. Imagine if President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu either like or even respect each other. Imagine if President Obama had not insisted Israel revert to the 1967 borders. Imagine if President Obama hadn’t told French President Sarkozy what he really thought of the Israeli prime minister. Imagine if President Obama found time to meet with the Prime Minister rather than David Letterman in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. Imagine if the President had broken bread with the Prime Minister rather than ostracizing him. Imagine if President Obama had not so enthusiastically supported the Arab Spring, pushed out President Mubarak of Egypt, or did not send hundreds of millions of dollars and F 16’s to the Muslim Brotherhood government of Egypt. Imagine that President Obama had a coherent foreign policy. Imagine if President Obama responded with alacrity to Benghazi rather than feckleness. Imagine that the people of Israel really believe President Obama. Imagine you can believe photos.