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When is a Bat Just a Bat?

(White House photo)
By now, you may have heard about the diplomatic hub-bub created by this picture of President Obama grasping a baseball bat while on the phone in the Oval Office. Had he been speaking on the phone to a U.S. Senator or a Governor, or even Mrs. Obama, nobody would have given the bat a second thought. But the White House caption on the photo revealed that he was talking to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. And, so, second thoughts have given way to third, fourth, and fifth thoughts. And the White House was forced to issue a statement.
For starters, I dearly wish that the bat symbolized what many in Turkey probably took it to symbolize – that the President was getting tough with Ankara or with Syria. But…c’mon. It’s an election year and the bat was a gift from Hank Aaron to the President. If Hank Aaron gave me a bat, I’d probably never put it down.
But a columnist in the Asia Times saw the picture this way:
Why hold a baseball bat while on statecraft – and then publicize it? The Turks could see any number of reasons: Obama was likely grandstanding as a tough world leader; possibly, threatening Bashar; maybe, impressing Israel and Saudi Arabia – or, Iran and Russia. But they calmly concluded that Obama was conveying a blunt message to Erdogan to speed up the “regime change” in Syria: “Whack Bashar, Erdogan“.
While some have been critical of the Obama Administration for publishing the photo and captioning it as they did (and it’s interesting to see the American press leave this “gaffe” alone in contrast to their treatment of Gov. Romney during his recent trip abroad), I actually see this as indicative of Turkish self-consciousness and weakness. Turkey has long feared that the U.S. does not take them seriously; that the U.S. uses its relationship with Turkey for our own convenience and nothing else. Turkey longs to be – and, perhaps more importantly, to be seen as – a regional power. A country that is secure in its own importance doesn’t get huffy when the leader of the free world has a bat in his hands. Of course, a confident country also doesn’t send flotilla ships to break a legal naval blockade, or use its alliances to settle political scores.
So, Turks…seriously…chill out. It’s just a baseball bat.
Author: Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg | August 8, 2012
Posted in:  Obama, Turkey

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