Left and Right Agree: Obama Is Out of Touch on Terror

 

President Obama thought he could issue a shrug of support to Paris then go right back to fighting the only enemy he knows: those dastardly Republicans. As he flitted around Antalya, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur, Obama mocked conservatives for being little crybaby scaredy cats and reassured the world that the JV team that just slaughtered 100+ in the French capital were just social media managers who woke up on the wrong side of the prayer mat.

Perhaps the political reality is dawning on the White House now, since post-Paris polling is coming in and it’s … not good. According to a Fox News survey, out of registered voters:

  • 65 percent believe Obama’s ISIS strategy is not aggressive enough,
  • 67 percent oppose Obama’s decision to take in Syrian refugees, and
  • 83 percent believe an Islamic Terror attack will hit the US soon.

Polls taken by other news organizations are showing similar ugliness, demonstrating a widespread, bipartisan pushback to Obama’s indolence on Islamic terror. He was even pilloried by friendly panelists on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”:

When Fox News and MSNBC are united against the President, his team will be considering a drastic reassessment. If hashtag campaigns and sophomoric mockery can’t convince an adoring press corps, it certainly won’t impress voters discussing a world in flames over their turkey and candied yams.

With only 36 hours until Americans tune out the news cycle for an extended weekend, I expect Obama to issue rushed announcements of vague military action tomorrow and promises of enhanced homeland security measures to come.

Oh, what’s this coming across the transom? The State Department just issued a worldwide travel alert over possible risks due to increased terrorism threats.

The alert comes amid information that ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups continue to plan attacks in multiple regions by employing a “wide variety of tactics,” according to the State Department.

Authorities believe the likelihood of terror attacks will continue as members of ISIS return from Iraq and Syria, as well as the threat from “unaffiliated persons” planning attacks inspired by major terrorist organizations.

The State Department said that U.S. citizens should “exercise vigilance when in public places or using transportation” and “avoid large crowds or crowded places.”

Americans are also urged to exercise particular caution during the holiday season, and at holiday festivals or events. The worldwide travel alert expires on Feb. 24, 2016.

Thankfully, the alert only lasts three months. I’m sure the crack team hired by President Obama will have ISIS re-contained by then.

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  1. Fredösphere Inactive
    Fredösphere
    @Fredosphere

    Large majorities disagree with the President? He doesn’t care. I dread what might change his mind.

    • #1
  2. Ned Walton Inactive
    Ned Walton
    @NedWalton

    The DoD issued a travel ban on France last week for all military personnel, dependents, civilian employees and contractors. Guess it’s not just us scaredy cat Republicans here at home.

    • #2
  3. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    Worldwide, well that is certainly news you can use.

    Always pleasing to see those State Department fellows earning their salaries by issuing such useful and timely tips for the American public.

    • #3
  4. kelsurprise Member
    kelsurprise
    @kelsurprise

    I hadn’t seen that entire clip from the President, before.   I’d be interested to know why, in his eyes, AK-47s are such highly specialized (and especially scary) weapons that they merit an executive order to keep them out of all but the “hands of soldiers” and yet, when those very same guns, along with explosives, are used by terrorists to mow down and obliterate Parisians, he dismisses them, with his trademark shrug, as “fairly conventional weapons.”

    Nothing like being lectured on compassion by a guy who knows he’ll be surrounded for the rest of his life by trained guards, all of whom will be armed with “fairly conventional weapons” and whose sworn duty it is to take a bullet for him.

    Forgive me if, as someone who actually has to live with the risks and reap the consequences of his boneheaded decisions and dithering denial, I choose to exercise a bit more caution.

    • #4
  5. Richard Fulmer Inactive
    Richard Fulmer
    @RichardFulmer

    Apparently, the State Department – via its travel advisory – has joined Fox News and MSNBC in disagreement with the President.

    • #5
  6. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Jon,

    Now calm down Jon. I’m beginning to think that you are afraid of 5-year-old children.

    Worldwide travel alert: State Department issues warning for Americans amid increased terror threat

    ” Current information suggests that ISIL (aka Da’esh), al-Qa’ida, Boko Haram, and other terrorist groups continue to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions,” a statement from the department read. “These attacks may employ a wide variety of tactics, using conventional and non-conventional weapons and targeting both official and private interests.”

    “Authorities believe the likelihood of terror attacks will continue as members of ISIL/Da’esh return from Syria and Iraq. Additionally, there is a continuing threat from unaffiliated persons planning attacks inspired by major terrorist organizations but conducted on an individual basis. Extremists have targeted large sporting events, theatres, open markets, and aviation services. In the past year, there have been multiple attacks in France, Nigeria, Denmark, Turkey, and Mali. ISIL/Da’esh has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian airliner in Egypt.”

    The State Department must have been panicked by all that fearful Republican rhetoric. Didn’t their mothers ever tell them that there are no monsters, no real ones.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #6
  7. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    Wake me when 70% of the country wants the empty suit impeached and 2/3 of the Senate agree to convict.

    • #7
  8. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Why should he care? It’s not as though Congress is going to cut off his funding.

    • #8
  9. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I watch Obama in action and some significant part of my mind cannot fathom that this country elected him president… twice! I feel like I’m watching an extended (tortuous) season of Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing.

    If there’s any consolation in this (and there’s not much), it’s that all the lefties in Europe who were slavering over candidate Obama in 2007 are now living to regret it. At least until some Islamist terrorist guns them down in a crowded concert hall.

    Oof. Be careful what you wish for.

    • #9
  10. Brian McMenomy Inactive
    Brian McMenomy
    @BrianMcMenomy

    Western Chauvinist:I watch Obama in action and some significant part of my mind cannot fathom that this country elected him president… twice! I feel like I’m watching an extended (tortuous) season of Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing.

    I long for President Bartlet.  At least he, in the 1st season, had a militaristic rant that made George W. Bush look like an observant Quaker.

    • #10
  11. Muleskinner Member
    Muleskinner
    @Muleskinner

    Someone must have said this by now: “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic, but 100+ deaths is a setback.”

    • #11
  12. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    HE’S NOT OUT OF TOUCH.  HE’S ON THEIR SIDE.  WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE RECOGNIZE THE OBVIOUS??

    • #12
  13. Dex Quire Inactive
    Dex Quire
    @DexQuire

    Saturday night our blues band was driving to a gig (a restaurant opening in Tacoma, WA). My wife and I sat in front – sitting in back seats, our bass player (boomer, black) and our 1st guitarist (Gen X, white). For a good part of the trip the two in back carried on an involved conversation about famous and not-so-famous musicians — their histories and styles and influences. I was impressed that they both had such a wide appreciation of music going from country to jazz and classical and back through blues and rock. Then it occurred to me why Hillary and Obama’s repeated declarations that “We are not at war with Muslims” and “Islam is a religion of Peace” irritated me so much. Hillary and Obama make theses statements as a kind of condescending tic in reaction to a news loop or the latest jihad atrocity. They both forget that the only reason anyone in the west would bother to  think about Islam is that Muslims are killing people in the name of Islam around the world. Otherwise sane and decent people would never ever bother with Islam. Sane and decent people talk about their passions and hopes – never giving Islam a thought. The insertion of Islam in the modern world is a reminder of how awful the middle ages could be; H & O don’t seem to have any idea how vile jihad strikes one and all…ergo, they sneer at us…

    • #13
  14. TeamAmerica Member
    TeamAmerica
    @TeamAmerica

    @Western Chauvinist- “I watch Obama in action and some significant part of my mind cannot fathom that this country elected him president… twice! I feel like I’m watching an extended (tortuous) season of Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing.”

    Really? I feel more and more like I’m living in the 2005 movie ‘Idiocracy.’

    @Doctor Robert- “HE’S NOT OUT OF TOUCH.  HE’S ON THEIR SIDE.  WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE RECOGNIZE THE OBVIOUS??”

    I don’t agree. I agree with Dennis Prager that “Obama is a man of the left,’ and with law prof. Richard Epstein that Obama is “intellectually rigid.”

    IOW, leftism and its’ anti-Americanism is Obama’s secular fundamentalist religion, and he is far too close-minded, smug and full of himself to change his views because of reality and the facts.

    • #14
  15. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    That guy is a lousy speaker unless it’s written down for him.  He’s massively unconvincing.

    • #15
  16. Chris Campion Coolidge
    Chris Campion
    @ChrisCampion

    I would also like to make note of other things Barry is “out of touch” with:

    Economics

    Health Care

    US Military

    What it’s like to hold a real job

    Not being idolized for having done nothing his entire life

    Math

    Impromptu speaking

    History

    The Constitution

    • #16
  17. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Western Chauvinist:If there’s any consolation in this (and there’s not much), it’s that all the lefties in Europe who were slavering over candidate Obama in 2007 are now living to regret it. At least until some Islamist terrorist guns them down in a crowded concert hall.

    Oof. Be careful what you wish for.

    They didn’t all live to regret it.

    • #17
  18. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    TeamAmerica: Really? I feel more and more like I’m living in the 2005 movie ‘Idiocracy.’

    Oh, sheesh, confession time. I haven’t seen Idiocracy.

    My references to West Wing (that’s how long ago I regularly indulged in popular media) are because of the preening and self-importance of the man. He acts as if he has nothing of value to learn from history, from the centuries long and ongoing conflict between Islam and the West, from the intelligence services, the military, etc. He’s the anti-Churchill. He treats ISIS as if it’s a crime syndicate and not an ideological opponent of western civilization. Actually, he gives us reason to wonder if he’s even a fan of western civilization. He leaves little doubt he actively dislikes about half of Americans (or more).

    And worst of all, he seems to think the presidency makes his words a creative force — like God, he can speak and create reality. If someone wrote him as a character in a novel, it’d be a dust collector. No one would believe it. And, yet, here we are living it out.

    Makes you wonder if maybe these are the End Times, at least for the West.

    • #18
  19. lesserson Member
    lesserson
    @LesserSonofBarsham

    Chris Campion:I would also like to make note of other things Barry is “out of touch” with:

    Economics

    Health Care

    US Military

    What it’s like to hold a real job

    Not being idolized for having done nothing his entire life

    Math

    Impromptu speaking

    History

    The Constitution

    Things he’s not out of touch with:

    His caddy

    • #19
  20. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    You think he’s out of touch?  I think he’s completely in touch.  How could a president not be in touch.  I think he’s in touch and this is what he wants.

    • #20
  21. Jager Coolidge
    Jager
    @Jager

    TeamAmerica: Really? I feel more and more like I’m living in the 2005 movie ‘Idiocracy.’

    If the new plan to stop terrorism is to give drinks with more electrolytes I think I am going to check out.

    • #21
  22. Trink Coolidge
    Trink
    @Trink

    Western Chauvinist:I watch Obama in action and some significant part of my mind cannot fathom that this country elected him president… twice! I feel like I’m watching an extended (tortuous) season of Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing.

    If there’s any consolation in this (and there’s not much), it’s that all the lefties in Europe who were slavering over candidate Obama in 2007 are now living to regret it. At least until some Islamist terrorist guns them down in a crowded concert hall.

    Oof. Be careful what you wish for.

    Sis.  I just read this aloud to Jody.  Wow.  “Oof”.  And we are sharing a guilty streak of schadenfreude.  (Thank you:)

    • #22
  23. Quake Voter Inactive
    Quake Voter
    @QuakeVoter

    Boon to read a post which doesn’t class most Ricochet participants as demagogic, unAmerican cowards!

    Hope John is right.  Fear Manny is.  Ever since the Mule stepped out of The Foundation series and became chief executive I can’t even Tuesday morning quarterback many of his moves.

    I look at the game film.  The feeble tackles of strawmen; the Hail Mary rhetorical lobs.

    Yet we are always the Bills in the big game.

    Let’s be clear though:  the 10,000 is a clever device.

    We might like to think Obama consulted his faculty-lounge mind for the Platonic Form of the Arse Pull and found 10,000.

    The 10,000 is genius.  10,000 scrupulously vetted widows and orphans!  Clock boy times ten to the fourth power.

    The actual response to the misery between Damascus and Baghdad never concerned Obama:  the de-surge, redline retreat, nix on safe zone etc.

    Key is establishing that American foreign policy, immigration policy and refugee policy should never, never be based on the protection of and benefits to the American people.

    Give him credit.  When his “world citizen” pose is challenged by murderous events he goes small and doubles down at the same time.

    Obama is a political genius.

    Obama knows Republican concern (however erratic) for polices based on national security and national prosperity must always be framed as racist and cowardly.

    Preening conservatives joining in his chorus is a big sweet spike of the ball.

    Touchdown Team Obama.

    • #23
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