NBC's Chuck Todd: White House expected 'euphoria' over Bergdahl swap

They were expecting a day of national euphoria. We were supposed to ignore the fact that Obama illegally traded five of the world's most dangerous terrorists for one anti-American deserter. Instead, we were all supposed to rally around Old Glory in some kind of "rah-rah government is awesome" moment. Sure, the administration expected questions about the continued existence of the Gitmo detention center and it was ready to field inquiries about the five captives it released but, if NBC's Chuck Todd is correct, it was not expecting outrage.

Todd made his remarks yesterday, during an MSNBC segment with Andrea Mitchell.

"What's been interesting, Andrea, is that what's caught the White House off guard here. They were expecting criticisms of Gitmo. Criticisms of the detainees that were chosen. They did not expect this criticism of the attempt to go get Bergdahl and the way that it was done. That appears to be what's caught them off guard and that's why I think they look like they're on their back feet on this one."

Mitchell suggested that the administration was relying on a jubilant military to rally around the President. This elation was, apparently, supposed to shield Obama from the harsh criticism he's received.

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Todd agreed.

"Right. They thought that there would be some sort of rally around the principle of 'leave no man behind.' If you take one of the quotes from the Pentagon spokesperson today that appeared in the New York Times that I thought was interesting. When he said - 'when somebody goes overboard on a Navy ship, it doesn't matter whether they pushed, whether they fell, or something else happened. ...Or they jumped themselves. The boat turns around a goes and gets them.' But that wasn't necessarily what they were saying on Sunday. On Sunday I think they though there would be some euphoria around this."

So there you have it. According to Chuck Todd and Andrea Mitchell, Barack Obama thought America would be "euphoric" that he made the world a more dangerous place in order to secure the release of one deserter who despises his own country. A part of this, I suspect, stems from the fact that the left has never really understood, or liked, the military. To them, a soldier is a soldier is a soldier. They don't 'get' the concept of military honor, so they don't understand that those who served with Bergdahl - not to mention the families of those who died to find him - aren't interested in endangering the United States to secure freedom for a man they view as a traitor. Another part of this seems to stem from the Obama White House's ugly tradition of hubris. The problems surrounding this deal are so numerous - and so obvious - that they should have been easily foreseen. Yet, if Todd's right, the administration completely ignored them. Maybe it’s because the traditional media has never bothered to call them on their lies, shady deals, and constitutional overreach, but they still seem to feel that they're “above the fray” when it comes to criticism. The 'nattering complainers' (who make up over half the country) aren't really worth their attention, so they don't waste time taking them into account when making decisions. Whatever the reason, the very fact that they didn't see this coming is deeply disturbing. It speaks volumes about this administration's inability to predict the impact of its own actions, and it paints a picture of a White House mired in arrogance and detachment.