Why Oh Why Are We Ruled by These Morons?

Ivo Daalder writes that the Bush administration today has not a "multilateral" foreign policy, but rather no foreign policy at all. He sees no method at all:

Has Bush Gone Multilateral? | TPMCafe: A consensus seems to be emerging, at least in the mainstream media, that Bush has given up on the unilateralism of his first term and is now firmly committed to a multilateralist foreign policy.... But how much of this change is real? While there has been a shift in foreign policy during Bush's second term... it's not so much a shift from unilateralism to multilateralism as it is a shift from relying on the use of force to doing nothing.... [U]nilateralism, preemptive force, and regime change... made Bush's foreign policy revolutionary. Abandon the idea of preemptive force, and you're left with nothing more than hoping for change. And hope, as Colin Powell was wont to say, is not much of a strategy.

Instead of force, Bush and Co. now emphasize the importance of "diplomacy."... But what the administration is doing isn't diplomacy.... Rather, what Bush is doing is just talk (or talking about talk)... the constant refrain that just sitting down with North Koreans, or Iranians, or even Iraqi insurgents would be a concession or reward or, worse, legitimize the interlocutor, rather than a means to solving problems.... For Bush, negotiations are the weapon of the weak. The strong don't negotiate with the weak....

With neither force nor diplomacy, Bush is pursuing a foreign policy of empty gestures... trying to kick the proverbial can down the road -- far enough so the next president can deal with it... we're now talking about a trash can rather a soup can...