Obama's Speech Was Short On Passion, Long on Fantasy
President Barrack Obama's sixth State of the Union address on Tuesday night was not his best. What it lacked in passion was made up for with sheer fantasy.
He began with assurances that all is well - as all presidents do - and then pronounced that such success proved that "middle-class economics works."
If you are wondering what middle-class economics means, the president said it "means helping folks afford childcare, college, healthcare, a home and retirement." My father, who in a lifetime of 6 and 7-day work weeks never made more than $150 a week, would have been offended at the suggestion that he needed government aid to achieve middle-class status.
The president then spent 291 words on terrorism. Out of 6,673 words he devotes 3.7 percent of them to the issue that consumes the largest concentration of government effort in the world. He did not even mention al Qaeda or Islam. He asked Congress to approve the use of force against ISIL. How do you use force against an idea when you refuse to use the words that describe it? "Radical Islam!"
Then came a long list of foreign policy achievements that can only be described as sheer fantasy. The president argues that we shouldn't "make rash decisions...when the first response to a challenge is to send in our military." Who, pray tell, suggested that? Throwing up straw men and knocking them down may make for rhetorical flourish, but it serves no useful purpose.
He argued that he uses military power combined with strong diplomacy. "That is exactly what we are doing right now and... it is making a difference." Really? Is it working in Iraq? Iran? Syria? Libya? Yemen? Nigeria? Ukraine? Crimea?
In Afghanistan - "We've honored our troops' sacrifice by supporting that country's first democratic transition." Really? Wasn't Karzai also democratically elected? That turned into a corrupt hole in the ground with our troops still there. Now that we are pulling out - good luck.
"We're partnering with nations from South Asia to North Africa to deny safe haven to terrorists." Really? Where? There are no safe havens in Afghanistan? Iraq? Iran? Qatar? Oman? Yemen? Nigeria? Syria? Libya? Turkey? Gaza? Lebanon? How about France, England or Spain?
"We're upholding the principle that bigger nations can't bully the small - by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine's democracy and reassuring our NATO allies." That is just bizarre. Crimea is entirely controlled by Russia and eastern Ukraine may not be far behind. Our support for Ukraine has consisted of Meals Ready to Eat and blankets. They need bullets not blankets!
"In Cuba we are ending a policy that is long past its expiration date." While he was speaking a Russian spy ship was docking in Havana.
The president assures us that our diplomacy is at work in Iran where "we've halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material...between now and this spring we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran." This is embarrassing.
Iran has yet to begin reducing its stockpile and we released billions of dollars to them on the promise that the agreement would have been finalized by last July which was pushed off to November and has now been pushed off to next spring. Does Munich come to mind?
"Our troops, our scientists, our doctors, our nurses and healthcare workers are rolling back Ebola." We did respond in good faith in West Africa. We built isolation facilities for holding and treating Ebola victims. The facilities remain empty. Our good intentions ignored facts on the ground. The Ebola epidemic was receding before we arrived.
Finally, "No challenge - no challenge - poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change. 2014 was the planet's hottest year on record." Such sophomoric sophistry! That comes from a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with NASA whose author, Dr. Gavin Schmidt of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, admitted that he could only be 38% sure that it was true, which is to say that it is more than likely not true.
The planet has been warmer and colder. It has had CO2 levels 20 times higher than today, and that was during an ice age. The only threat we face from climate change is to our budget for waging a bogus war on a non-existent enemy for political purposes.
The president reports that we have reached an historic agreement in which "China committed, for the first time, to limit its emissions."
Hardly! The president committed us to double the pace by which we will reduce our carbon emissions. In return China agreed to consider it sometime after 2030. The agreement was reached with a Chinese government advisor who stated that he did not speak for the government.
In public life words are your only currency. You cannot spend them carelessly and be taken seriously. I refuse to take this president seriously any longer.
