In my post yesterday, after quoting White House press secretary Jay Carney’s expressions of frustration and disappointment with Hong Kong and China, I wrote, “the Chinese must be shrugging their shoulders and asking, ‘Who cares?’” Then I opened the New York Times today and came across this headline: “China Shrugs at U.S.’s Snowden Warning.”

I’d love to take credit for prescience, but this was about as hard to predict as the sun rising in the east. And as Seth points out, Secretary of State Kerry is already backing away from his initial tough talk aimed at Russia. And why not? Everyone in the world knows that the Obama administration is good at blustering but little else. The humiliation of America continues in ways large and small. It’s quite a depressing spectacle, and it will likely continue until Barack Obama finally leaves office. And even when he does, the damage will be very hard to undo.