The president has been on the receiving end of a whiplash of criticism from conservatives for his warm greeting’s with Hugo Chavez Chavez is the current leader of Venezuela and has made clear his ill feelings of the United States. He has denounced former president Bush as the ‘devil’ and America as the root of all capitalistic evil. Pictures and videos depicting president Obama smiling and shaking hands with Chavez has riled up the conservative base. Calls of treason and disrupting the moral values of America rain down on the president from conservatives for his actions. The events occurred at the Summit of the America’s, a international meeting concerning North, Central, and South America, which discuss a variety of topics and issues. So the question is, was the president out of line in greeting so warmly a leader of nation that has such an heated view of our way of life?

What has happened with this out lash at the president is simple, its called hypocrisy, and will continue with any new president. The opposing political base will cry and denounce any and all actions of the president. Assuredly, one would not expect the President to take the to the floor of the Summit and outright attack the leader of Venezuela. Such an act are reserved for those who lack political clout and those who cannot garner the attention of their peers to have their word heard. These tirade’s of are the tools of leaders such as Chavez himself, and Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Matter of fact Ahmadenijad did has such a tirade at the United Nations World Conference against Racism. Ahmadinejad political outburst caused an uproar and many of the attending members walked out during his speech. Assuredly if President Obama should not conduct himself in such a way. The office of the President is the most powerful in the world, and should conduct itself in a way befitting of its responsibility, as the leader of the free world. Warm greetings between leaders should be expected and respected. The interaction between leaders is much more than about the leaders themselves, but is also a sign of the relationship between the people of their countries.

President Obama conducted himself as a person in his position should, as the most powerful man in the world. Now why would I use the word hypocrisy to describe the criticism over Obama greeting of Chavez. Well conservatives have forgotten that when Bush greeted Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, shortly after 9/11, it was warm; Richard Nixon was pictured gripping and grinning with Mao Zedong of China; Ronald Reagan smiled and greeted warmly Mikhail Gorbachev of Russia. There are formalities that are expected to be respected by all leaders of the world; and holding true to these customs should not be criticized.