“President Dither” and His 3 PM Call
Tonight, President Obama finally got around to explaining to this country’s citizens why it is in the United States’ interests to oppose Syria’s use of chemical weapons. It’s good to know that world opinion is ostensibly no longer his sole concern, although now he wants Syria’s enablers, Russia, and the feckless United Nations to address the problem.
With all of his indecisive action and dithering on this matter, it’s difficult not to recall Hilary Clinton’s warning about a President Obama dealing with a foreign crisis.
Back in 2008 when Mrs. Clinton was cage-fighting with Mr. Obama in the Democratic primaries, she ran a tv ad that said “It’s 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep,” as images of sleeping baby after sleeping baby pass by. “But there’s a phone in the White House, and it’s ringing……Who do you want answering the phone?” This was a clear reference to Mr. Obama’s lack of foreign policy experience, if not his intestinal fortitude for decisive action.
Hillary Clinton was right: Barack Obama is weak at the knees as president
________________________________________________________
As tough as it is to stomach, Mrs. Clinton appears to have been right.
Mr. Obama did not receive the difficult 3 a.m. call but the underhanded softball of a 3 p.m. call. Opposing the use of chemical weapons by any country is a no-brainer for a U.S. President, as well as the civilized world, given over 100 years of international denunciation of such. And yet this president, so convinced that military action is wrong in seemingly all situations, has delayed and even telegraphed the action he would take resulting in Syria re-deploying its military assets well in advance of a half-hearted attack. Thank God this man was not in the White House in 1861 or 1941.
Someone should have told him when he was running for president that the job description of the office he was running for included foreign as well as domestic duties. It’s not just all about bashing Republicans and accusing them of taking food out of government worker’s and children’s mouths.
And not missed is the irony that when he ran for office, he wanted to restore the United States’ credibility on the world stage. He has done the opposite as enemies and allies alike see weakness.
This president needs to realize that Machiavelli was correct: it is far better for this country to be feared than loved by this world’s unsavory characters.
-I.M. Windee
