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08.22.2014 1

Obama golfs while the world burns

ObamapathyBy Rick Manning

President Obama has officially become the laughingstock of the world, happily ensconced in the wonderland of Martha’s Vineyard on one of his many vacations, while a junior varsity terrorist group runs amok lopping off heads of everyone in their path, the borders remain a sieve, Gaza remains a battleground, and the Russians toy with taking the Ukraine among a few crises that are boiling over.

It is utterly appalling that Obama, the king of optics, would make a perfunctory statement about the beheading of an American journalist by the terror group Islamic State (ISIS) and then head off for another round of golf.

It is even more appalling that he has largely ignored the religious cleansing that is being perpetrated by this Islamic group that seeks to establish a new caliphate.

At a time when the Canadians, Brits and even the French have come to the fore as leaders, Obama hasn’t even led a hashtag campaign against the religious thugs that are attracting Islamic soldiers from around the world.

Now it is unfair to completely castigate the Duffer in Chief, as the U.S. and Great Britain are flying bombing sorties against ISIS positions. But that is not enough. Now is the time when the leader of the free world should be making the moral case against the spread of ISIS with the goal of putting an international coalition together. Instead, Obama is spending time with celebrities and wealthy friends on the links, and the world notices this abdication of power.

What really should make every American’s blood boil about this don’t care presidency is that it sends a message to the world that future President’s commitments are only as good as their term in office. If any Iraqi or Afghan tribal leaders, interpreters and others who allied themselves with the United States survive the next two and a half years, they will provide an indictment against taking America’s side in any conflict. An indictment sealed by their unanswered pleas for assistance and expedited relocation out of harm’s way.

No, Obama has not only wasted the blood of American and other allied troops that was shed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but through his dereliction of duty, he has wasted the blood spilled all over the globe over the past 73 years which established our nation as the only dependable beacon of freedom.

But at least when his term in office mercifully ends in 2016, Obama’s handicap will be low enough so he doesn’t embarrass himself in Pro-Am tournaments, and some other President can try to restore the world’s trust in America.

Unfortunately, they will likely have to do so by sending our young people back into much more significant and deadly battles as the price of Obama’s destroying America’s hard earned veneer of invulnerability. The price of freedom is always high, but it gets even more expensive when the rest of the world doesn’t believe that you are willing to pay it.

And that will ultimately be Obama’s legacy – a man too small for the job at a time when our nation needed a giant.

The author is vice president of public policy and communications for Americans for Limited Government – follow him @rmanning957.

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