“Arab Spring” shows little hope

By William L. Garvin

Ever since we had a past president wrestle with what the meaning of “is” is, politicians of every stripe have developed a pernicious and pervasive habit of making technically accurate statements with the intent to deceive.  High level witnesses before congress have now developed the same despicable pattern.  As a result, every single word uttered, even under oath, must be closely examined.  Unfortunately, the only I’s being dotted during this presidency are those in “inconsistent, inexplicable, and ineffective.”  The T’s they have failed to cross are “terrorism, tyranny, and transparency.”  This government is doing its best to keep citizens in the dark.

Apparently, it is too much to ask of main stream media to stick to an issue and actually perform solid investigative reporting.  Only in a fantasy world will Charlie Gibson look down his nose over his scholarly half-glasses and dare someone to explain “the Obama doctrine.”  Only in fantasy world will Charlie ask why “leading from behind” isn’t the same thing as “following.”  Only in fantasy world will reporters ask what the basis is for intervention in Libya and Egypt but abstention in Iran and Syria.  Only in fantasy world will government witnesses who utter “the least untruthful statements” be confronted with their “LIES!”

Only in fantasy world will the media point out how disastrously the president performed on this last trip abroad.  He made so many gaffes that even Joe Biden is embarrassed!  Forget the First Lady staying in the Princess Grace Suite at $3,300 per night while the White House tours are shut down because of a lack of funds.  Forget the President insulting both Catholic and Protestant schools but saying nary a thing about madrassas.  Forget the President continually confusing British Finance Minister George Osborne by calling him “Jeffrey.”  In his awkward apology, the President said Jeffrey Osborne was his “favorite r and b singer.”  How badly must Al Green be feeling?  Forget that the 200,000 crowd Senator Obama commanded dwindled to 4,500 for his presidential speech in Berlin.  Forget that media press secretary Chris Mathews excused his tepid and mundane delivery as “too much sun on his teleprompter.”  Instead, just look at his one on one with Russian president Vladimir Putin.  Our President threw up more bricks than his last basketball shooting video.  This was the ultimate “never bring a knife to a gun fight” scenario.  Never bring a community organizer to a negotiation with a KGB operative.

Remember, in his first term, President Obama had already been snookered by the Russians with the START treaty and the cancellation of the European missile defense system.  The “reset button” and “increased flexibility” don’t seem to be serving the President or the United States any better this time around.  For instance, please explain how the United States buying Russian helicopters for use in Afghanistan is advantageous to our country and our own aerospace industry.  This is especially puzzling when Russia then uses the proceeds of those sales to send arms, munitions and other war supplies to the Assad regime in Syria.  After you shake hands with Putin, you better not only check your rings (ask Robert Kraft!), you better also count your fingers!

Only in fantasy world will the White House be asked how much influence the Big Dog wielded in saying the president might be perceived as a “wuss” or “a total fool” if he continued to dither.  Goaded into action, President Obama now says he will supply small arms to Syrian rebels.  This will be the equivalent of President Clinton bombing an aspirin factory.  Additionally, how about some background checks before you walk weapons into the hands of crazy people who are bent on our destruction?  One would think you would have learned some lessons after gun walking weapons into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, but apparently not. 

The highly touted “Arab Spring” shows little hope for the future.  Likewise, the North Korea situation and the Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons seem undeterred.  Russia is totally intransigent in their support of the Syrian government and Hong Kong refused to extradite an American charged with treason.  The Muslim Brotherhood rulers of Egypt get fighter planes, tanks, and millions of dollars of American money and what do we have to show for it?  Hillary Clinton traveled millions of miles as Secretary of State but what tangible results did she achieve?  Maybe she could explain the Obama Doctrine but only in fantasy world will she ever be asked.  After all, at this point in time, what difference does it make?