Oh, this is embarrassing! Our wimp of a President trying to fit into the hat of the Commander-in-Chief. Geez! He could at least take the "Kick Me" sign off his back.
Look. This is what you get when you put a guy in an office for which he is not suited, not ready for, and does not have the cojones to make hard decisions. And believe me, Mr. Obama is decision adverse! He hates making decisions of any kind but he hates hard decisions the most, dragging his feet hoping he can outlast the problem, run out the clock, and not have to make a decision at all.
I've known other people just like that. It strikes me that the people who delay making decisions are the very same people who condemn the final decision maker if the slightest thing goes wrong.
See, here's where I am having an immense problem with Obama's feckless behavior. Our national honor is now at stake and he, Obama, has caused it to be called into question and that just stinks!
We have this expression down south that covers situations like this. It is something like this: "It's is really bad to run a man down and THEN HAVE YOUR BUTT WHIPPED!"
Mr. Obama's mouth has written a check his butt cannot cash! The man is folding like a wilted suit before the gaze of -- NO -- not Assad! Putin!
Anyone running their mouths as often as our motor-mouth President must be prepared to stick his foot in it fairly often. Occasionally, he may step so deeply into it, that he must be willing to fight to back up his spoken rhetoric. If he isn't willing to go all out to preserve his honor, and the honor of those he represents, well then, he isn't much of a man.
The thing is this: You cannot take a nation like the US to the brink of war with threats unless you are willing to carry through. Apparently Obama, as is his wont, believed his own BS. He apparently believed that his just uttering the words would so fill the hearts of the enemy with fear and dread that they would shut-up and slink away with their collective tails between their legs.
Didn't happen.
Those of us who live out here in the real world never thought it would and said so publicly. All he has accomplished is to make America look like a paper tiger -- a reflection, perhaps, of its leader.
Oh, and he has emboldened our enemies the world over. By his feckless action, or lack thereof, he has made the situation exponentially worse.
Whereas, a few days ago, a pinprick, surgical, strike might actually have served a purpose, done some good, (The operative word in the preceding sentence is "MIGHT.") now, however, a pinprick, surgical, strike will do absolutely nothing besides provide a propaganda victory to the enemy.
Now, the US Forces must make a major strike, seriously damaging the command and control centers of Assad's government, his airfields, his harbor(s), his transportation modes, his communications, take out his air forces, his navy -- in other words, we have to throw that ole "shock and awe" at Assad, or -- do nothing at all.
Oh, dear reader, how many times have we reminded America that liberals have no understanding of military force nor its application. You are seeing it play out right before your eyes today. No matter how this Syrian adventure of Mr. Obama's plays out, it will not be good for the US.
Normally, I would say that calling off the attack would do the US less harm than if we carry through with a strike so surgical as to be perceived as a face-saving slap on the wrist. Not now.
Our national honor has been laid upon the altar of Obama's over inflated vanity by his words, vacuous words that demonstrated a distinct lack of intelligence or thought; that were, in fact, stupid and even silly. It is a sacrifice we cannot afford to make. No nation can.
Obama made this bed, now America must lie upon it.
Personally, I didn't want this war. I can find no definable US interest in Syria. Frankly, it appears (to me) to be more of a "micturition contest" between Obama and Putin than anything else.
Obama has brought us to the stage at which anything less than a full scale attack will be interpreted by the remainder of the world as turning tail and running. Sorry, folks, but that's the way it is.
As a conservative commentator has said so many times: "Words mean things." A President has a responsibility to measure his every utterance.
Someone once said: "A man is never so empty as when he is full of himself." I am very much afraid we have a Commander-in-Chief who has suddenly found himself backed into a corner by his own rhetoric. Unfortunately, he has forced the country into the same corner with him and that is unacceptable in the extreme.
© J D. Longstreet
J.D. Longstreet——
Bio and Archives
(Editor’s note: J.D. Longstreet passed away in 2014. He will be greatly missed.)
Longstreet is a conservative Southern American (A native sandlapper and an adopted Tar Heel) with a deep passion for the history, heritage, and culture of the southern states of America. At the same time he is a deeply loyal American believing strongly in “America First”.
He is a thirty-year veteran of the broadcasting business, as an “in the field” and “on-air” news reporter (contributing to radio, TV, and newspapers) and a conservative broadcast commentator.
Longstreet is a veteran of the US Army and US Army Reserve. He is a member of the American Legion and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. A lifelong Christian, Longstreet subscribes to “old Lutheranism” to express and exercise his faith.
