Open Thread: Which American President Would Be Best For Lebanon?

As Super Tuesday approaches, Lebanese Americans should think hard about the President that would be best for America and best for Lebanon. My two cents.

I’m a sucker for Barack Obama. I enjoyed watching every speech he made, twice. Yesterday, I started a nasty habit of mass emailing the “Yes We Can” Youtube video to everyone I think might care (my wife is already sick of listening to it). This guy makes me proud to be American. No wait, I’m not an American. In fact I wonder: if I were a Lebanese-American voting tomorrow, would I vote for him?

I started imagining him sitting with Bashar Assad or Walid Mouallem and “listening” to their trademark BS. He would probably be impressed by their “willingness to cooperate”. He might even give them the benefit of the doubt. Alas, like French President Sarkozy and many Europeans before him, it will take him at least a year to fathom the extent of their deception. That’s a learning curve that neither we, nor the U.S. has luxury for. Too bad.

What we need is someone who knows the ways of the Syrian and Iranian regimes. Someone that has been around for a while. That leaves us with Hillary Clinton and John McCain (Romney and Huckabee wont make it to the end, because even if one of them managed to win the Republican primary, he’ll be eaten alive by the Democrats). Hillary has Bill, and Bill knows a lot about the Assads. Unfortunately, the Clintons are too ready to cut deals with the devil if enough trouble was stirred in foreign lands. 

What we need is someone a bit more principled. Someone who would look a dictator in the eye and tell him: I ain’t shaking your filthy blood-soaked hands. Someone like John Mccain who’s been around the block for so long he’d be impossible to fool.

If I were an American, I would be voting for John McCain tomorrow and in November. 

Do You agree? Disagree? Who would you vote for? Why? Please let me know what you think because I know many Lebanese Americans out there could use a nudge.