A demand borne of eminently understandable emotion, but ill-thought-out emotion nonetheless:
The parents of a SEAL Team 6 member who died in Afghanistan have called on President Barack Obama to resign, saying that his "cowardly lack of leadership" in handling the barbaric Islamic State threatens U.S. and global security.
In an open letter published at WorldTribune.com, Billy and Karen Vaughn, whose son Aaron died in 2011, wrote that they were stunned by Obama’s decision to go golfing directly after giving a somber speech about the beheading of American journalist James Foley by the jihadists, also known as ISIS.
"As commander-in-chief, your actions, or lack thereof, Mr. President, cost lives," said the Vaughns, whose son was killed in action when a Chinook helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan with 30 American soldiers on board.
"As you bumble about in your golf cart, slapping on a happy face and fist-pounding your buddies, your cowardly lack of leadership has left a gaping hole — not only in America’s security but the security of the entire globe. Your message has come across loud and clear, sir: You are not up to this job. You know it. We know it. The world knows it.
"Please vacate the people’s house and allow a man or woman of courage and substance to seize the reins of this out-of-control thug-fest and regain the balance we, America, have provided throughout our great history."
<sigh>
Since Ed Morrissey and I are on the same page on this one, I'll let him deliver the reality check to the Vaughns a lot more gently than I would:
Let’s get back to the idea that a resignation will produce “a man or woman of substance” as a leader. Actually, it’s very clear what it would produce, as a matter of constitutional law — President Joe Biden, whose instincts are probably even more isolationist than Obama’s. He might be more engaged, but he’s hardly the steady hand on the rudder that the Vaughns would obviously prefer. If both Biden and Obama resigned at the same time, that would make John Boehner President, which would improve matters but would never happen in a million years, as Democrats aren’t about to walk away from controlling the White House, especially not at the very moment that it appears Republicans are about to take control of the Senate.
Besides, it’s clear that the only part of the job that truly engages Obama is the set of perks the office provides, which means he’s not going to simply walk away from the Presidency, even if history provided more precedents for it than it does. He’s not going to marry himself to Richard Nixon for eternity, after all, not willingly at least.
As a strategic demand, then, this is an exercise in futility.
Which makes me wonder why it makes the Vaughns feel any better to make it. Leading, in turn, to my conclusion that their demand was given no pre-thought whatsoever.
The plain, simple, brutally cold fact of the matter is that the Vaughns should have made this video two years ago, when it might have made a difference. But then, Benghazi didn't make any difference in preventing Barack Obama's re-election, so it would probably have been no less futile then than it is now.
So take it from me, Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn: Leave the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness to the professionals, who know that there are only two modes to pursuing impotent venting that don't make you look foolish.
1) Candid denunciation of the Accessory-in-Chief:
The reason for President Barack Obama's lackluster response to rising terrorist threats against the United States is that he is a "Muslim sympathizer," former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says.
"Obama was raised as a Muslim for most of his childhood, so he is a Muslim sympathizer, and so that is also acting against us," DeLay, a Republican and former Texas congressman, said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
Note that "The Hammer" didn't say Obama was a Muslim, but a Muslim sympathizer. it's as I've always said: Barack Obama worships Barack Obama, and every American is required by Executive Decree to follow suit. He will never take a demotion to worship any other deity, faux or otherwise. In the mean time, he hates America as it was founded and everything that polity stands for, and sees the rest of the world through a Marxist-Alinskyist "anti-colonialist" lens, which makes him almost perfunctorily pro-jihadist. Best part is, though the difference is clear as it is nuanced, in practical terms, the outcome is the same, yet Mr. DeLay retained the presence of mind to not lose sight of it. The difference between legitimately aggrieved amateurs and a seasoned professional.
2) Sounding the alarm that the Accessory-in-Chief never will:
Islamic State (ISIS) cells are already in the United States, and some of them have entered by crossing the Mexican border says former CIA agent Bob Baer.
Baer told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Tuesday that people working in intelligence-gathering have told him they don't know what ISIS members' plans are, but "it's a definite concern.
Nothing we didn't already know. But wait, it gets better:
Other ISIS members are American citizens who have been to Syria and have returned, he said. While intelligence agencies are aware of some of the people they suspect of being ISIS members and are working to gather evidence to apprehend them, they fear there are more that they don't know about.
Alright, this isn't news either - to thee and me, anyway. But to low/no-information voters, it's at least theoretically possible that it will be news, and that it might stick in that windy space between their ears where their brains used to be. After all, somebody must be watching CNN, right?
Yes, yes, of course, the seasoned professionals' efforts will be as futile as the Vaughns' were. ISIS is pouring into our country and will literally set it afire in the very near future, Barack Obama will let them do it because for him that constitutes "saving face," and there is nothing anybody can and will do about it.
But for the former, at least it will be death with dignity. Or as much dignity as decapitation by a sneering demoniac will allow.
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