Updated with today's "Protect the Precious!" award for media shielding their beloved President from criticism: http://t.co/QHYSgubN28
— John Hayward (@Doc_0) September 3, 2014...When last we left former President Barack Obama, he was scooting off to Europe to do something-or-other that will persuade Vladimir Putin to halt his slow-motion invasion of Eastern Europe. A herd of reporters chased him to Marine One and begged him to make some kind of statement about ISIS beheading another captive American, journalist Steve Sotloff. Hope that Obama would reconnect with the real world, spin on his heel, and provide a burst of leadership was written on the faces of his media admirers.
They went home with nothing, and spent the evening half-heartedly pecking out op-eds that argued Obama’s determination not to let a few dead Americans get in the way of his plans was actually a form of steely resolve that would have the head-choppers shaking in their boots. ...
And Obama’s response to the firestorm that erupted after he admitted he has no strategy to defeat ISIS is to… repeat that he has no strategy to defeat ISIS. He’s hoping no one will notice that “regional strategy” is political code for “I’m really hoping the Kurds, Iraqi army, and ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels tackle these guys for us,” a possibility that serious strategic planners have grown increasingly dubious about, especially since nobody in the region looks at Barack Obama and sees a war leader that will back them every bloody step of the way to glory. Obama’s penchant for turning on American allies and making doomed outreach efforts to adversaries has definitely made an impression....
Update: Today’s “Protect the Precious!” award for heroic media efforts to shield their beloved President from criticism comes from the Obama stalwarts at the New York Times, who briefly refer to Steven Sotloff’s family at the beginning of their report on his murder… and wait until literally the last two paragraphs of the story to casually mention that they’re furious at the Obama Administration for its “inaction.”
A person close to the Sotloff family expressed outrage at what he viewed as a pattern of deliberate leaks in Washington suggesting that Mr. Sotloff was killed the same day as Mr. Foley — a strategy he said the family sees as an attempt to absolve the administration of inaction.
“It was incredibly frustrating for us, because it was as if basically they were saying, ‘Don’t hope for any positive outcome,’ ” said this person, who requested anonymity because he did not have the family’s permission to speak publicly.
“Don’t hope for any positive outcome” would make a fine slogan for the Obama lame duck years.
