Obama Waxes Bellicose, and Psychotic, in Hannover

Fresh from his tune-up with the British and Saudi monarchies, President Obama delivered a lengthy speech Monday morning at the Hannover industrial fair, in which he:

* Threatened Russia: “Russian aggression has flagrantly violated the sovereignty and territory of an independent European nation, Ukraine… And it seems to threaten the progress that’s been made since the end of the Cold War.”

* Rejected European demands for an end to sanctions against Russia: “I want good relations with Russia… but we need to keep sanctions on Russia in place until Russia fully implements the Minsk agreements.”

* Demanded that Europe cough up more money for his war policy: “Every NATO member should be contributing its full share—2% of GDP—towards our common security.”

* Praised the genocidal policies of the IMF and World Bank: “International financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund promote prosperity for all peoples.”

* And then ran off the rails altogether: “We are fortunate to be living in the most peaceful, most prosperous, most progressive era in human history… More people live in democracies. We’re wealthier and healthier and better educated, with a global economy that has lifted up more than a billion people from extreme poverty, and created new middle classes from the Americas to Africa to Asia.”

Obama put the icing on the cake in the afternoon, after his brief summit with the heads of state of Germany, the U.K., France and Italy. Italian President Renzi stated that “Barack Obama said he was willing to commit NATO assets to block the traffic in human beings and the people smugglers” off the Libyan coast in the Mediterranean.