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PrintJanuary 14, 2015
He is not into terrorism
Many are speculating about President Obama's absence from the weekend march in Paris.
Yes, security is a very valid concern but other heads of state were there, specially the Prime Minister from Israel. I have to believe that there was very heavy security around him. Is there a bigger target for terrorists than PM Netanyahu?
Yes, AG Holder was in town but he didn't go. What was he doing? What else was more important?
The bitter truth is that President Obama is not "into terrorism" the same way that he's "into global warming" or other liberal causes. In other words, he did not run for president to fight wars, and specially not the wars started by Bush and Cheney.
Unfortunately for President Obama, presidents don't pick their agenda anymore than a batter selects the pitches that he will see.
Our great presidents governed and dealt with cards on the table. They didn't have the luxury of selecting the headlines. My guess is that Abraham Lincoln did not mean to spend his entire presidency fighting a bloody civil war and making awful decisions. More recently, George W Bush did not intend to be "a war president" but rather focus on more domestic issues.
The big problem is that President Obama is refusing to be "the leader of the free world," as Jonathan S Tobin wrote:
"This is a man who sought and embraced the power that comes with the presidency but even after six years in the White House, he has not learned that along with the ability to make important decisions, the essence of such an office is moral leadership. That means that presidents, like all world leaders, are not merely acting a part in a political play but are actually setting the tone for their nation’s national discussion and behavior on crucial subjects. Great leaders, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, understood this even as their critics attacked them for being theatrical showmen. Obama not only refuses to play such a role, he still seems to not to understand that such symbolic acts are in some ways as important as policymaking."
Let me put it bluntly: This is not the job that he ran for. He wanted to be president because he wanted to be president. He also wanted to be the un-Bush, whatever that means in the real world!
The world called him last weekend but President Obama was watching the NFL playoffs. I love the NFL playoffs but a serious president would have watched a replay on the flight back from France.
P.S. You can hear my show ( CantoTalk) or follow me on Twitter.
