Bumps in the Road

By William L. Garvin

The Middle East and Northern Africa continue to display their anti-America and anti-Obama attitudes in violent mob attacks and demonstrations.  In an interview, President Obama refers to the current state of affairs as “bumps in the road.”  In another late night comedic appearance, he blithely noted that he didn’t even know what the national debt was and it’s not “a pressing concern.”  Last year, when the United Nations was in session in New York, the President had thirteen meetings with heads of state.  The year, the President will have…ZERO!  Mr. President, where are your priorities?

When Ambassador Stevens was murdered along with three other American citizens, what did the President do?  Why he flew off to Las Vegas for a fund raiser.  Other than his presence at the arrivals of the coffins of the four Americans, the President paid scant attention paid to the raging conflagration.  For a week, the President, the Ambassador to the United Nations, and the Secretary of State failed to recognize an obvious terrorist attack.  While devoid of analytical ability or leadership traits, at least they showed a little more class than erstwhile journalist Geraldo Rivera, who referred to the ambassador as the “dead dude.” 

It took over a week for a representative of our counter-terrorist service to acknowledge the assault on the Consulate as a terrorist attack.  There continues to be an administration-wide allergy to calling a terrorist a terrorist!  Apparently, terrorist attacks continue to be viewed as crimes versus acts of war.  Maybe that’s why the FBI is allegedly conducting the investigation in Libya.  If and when they actually catch any terrorists, they will probably read the lowlifes their rights and provide them with attorneys and a trial in downtown New York that will drag on for years.

Meanwhile, the President has not been available to answer questions as to what appears to be either a massive failure of intelligence or a massive blunder in state security.  How does a CNN employee discover Ambassador Stevens’ personal diary on the floor of the burned out consulate?  Obviously, the FBI either failed to secure the “crime scene” or failed to identify obvious evidence.  For the time being, we’ll let the CNN reportage of the contents of the diary against the wishes of the family pass, but within the pages, Ambassador Stevens noted that he had concerns about his security and that he was an al Qaeda target.  Even without these concerns, how could one not have maximum security on any and every anniversary of 9/11?  Why isn’t each and every consulate and embassy guarded by our Marines?  Why weren’t the rampant rumors squelched about the Marines not being allowed to carry loaded weapons?  Why won’t the Sudan allow our Marines to land and protect our embassy in their country?  How many of our embassies and consulates have closed or suspended services?  Mr. President, what are you doing about all this?

Of course, there’s the Las Vegas fundraising.  Of course, there’s the interview with the “Pimp with a Limp.”  Of course, there’s the late night Letterman appearance.  Of course, there’s the daytime appearance on “The View.”  Just once, couldn’t you have put your country first and attended an intelligence briefing or a jobs council meeting?  Couldn’t you just once have noticed that over 8% unemployment is not a bump in the road but a superhighway of failed policies?  Just once, couldn’t you call Harry Reid into the office and tell him to produce a budget or bring one of the House jobs bills up for a vote?  Just once, couldn’t you explain to the American people how your policies in the second term will differ from those you promised in your first term?  Are you ever going to learn that an American president cannot “lead from behind” and be rehired!

One thing he has learned is never to go to another Univision interview.  Not only did their reporters ask questions that should have been asked by mainstream media a long time ago, they followed up on your non-answers.  Your answers were so bad in your “60 Minutes” interview that they only showed up online.  “Fast and Furious” did NOT start in the Bush Administration; Israel’s concern about Iranian nukes was just “noise”; his biggest failure was the “tone” in Washington; the falsehoods in his campaign commercials are just stuff that “happens in politics.”  And of course, the loss of lives in Libya and the massive destruction of airplanes in Afghanistan are just “bumps in the road.”  Some would say that the last four years wasn’t a bump but a series of sinkholes.