Presidential Platitudes

Presidential Platitudes

This is the email I got from “the White House.” Inserted are my thoughts as I read it.

Tonight, I addressed the nation from the Oval Office on my top priority as President: Keeping the American people safe.

(It should be protecting our Rights. In such an environment safety will take care of itself)

It weighs heavily on the hearts and minds of all of us in the wake of the terrible tragedy in San Bernardino. Fourteen Americans — dads, moms, daughters, sons — were taken from us as they came together to celebrate the holidays. Each of them a public servant. All of them a part of our American family.

(interestingly the leftwing media has been spinning this holiday celebration as a “mandatory meeting” in an apparent effort to portray this evil as an act of “workplace violence” and not what it is – a terror attack on American soil – like the Ft. Hood attack was spun. That erodes media credibility and is a clear demonstration of how the “press” has become the propaganda wing of the government. Very dangerous)

The FBI is still gathering the facts about what happened in San Bernardino, but here is what we know. We have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas, or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home. But it is clear that these killers had embraced a perversion of Islam, stockpiled assault weapons, and committed an act of terrorism.

(That is the problem with the government mindset – we do not face a nation bent on our destruction that can be defeated militarily. We face and idea that has taken root and is nourished by our bombing of the suspected and the innocent in lands and nations we are not even officially at war with.

“..stockpiled assault weapons,” really? Two rifles? – legally purchased by a friend or family member no less… background checks FAIL, AGAIN…)

Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Since then, we’ve hardened our defenses. Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless plots and worked around the clock to keep us safe. Our military and counter-terrorism professionals have relentlessly pursued terrorist networks overseas — disrupting safe havens, killing Osama bin Laden, and decimating al Qaeda’s leadership.

(And what has fourteen years of bombing, invading, training, equipping and toppling previously stable nation states got us? … A region in chaos, with at least a half dozen failed states and secular violence on a scale that should be unimaginable this side of two World Wars. And we are NO safer here at home. We have even more enemies now. Total Bull Shit Mr. President)

But over the last few years, the threat has evolved as terrorists have turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all-too common in our society. For the past seven years, I have confronted the evolution of this threat each morning. Your security is my greatest responsibility. And I know that, after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.

(More BS platitudes…)

So, tonight, this is what I want you to know: The threat of terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us. Here’s how:

First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary, using air strikes to take out ISIL leaders and their infrastructure in Iraq and Syria. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies – France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL.

(yeah, like that has worked so well… More bombing, more terrorists, more fueling the rage that burns inside those sympathetic with the jihadists. Idiotic! Unfortunately that is how statists think, ‘if it didn’t work we just didn’t do enough of it…)

Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we are deploying Special Operations forces who can accelerate that offensive.

(Again, like that has worked in the past. ISIL/Daesh/IS/ISIS can field tens of thousands of soldiers – equipped with arms and gear we’ve already supplied to “moderate” forces and puppet governments- and effectively take and hold large swaths of territory. The BILLIONS we’ve spent training and the years we’ve spent doing it have had NO impact on the rise of radical jihad. It is a total waste of money, time and lives. Idiotic!

Oh.. and so much for not putting “boots on the ground.” I pray those men will make it back safe but I fear that this clueless administration and its incompetent advisers will continue to put them in more and more dire circumstances. Insanity!)

Third, we are leading a coalition of 65 countries to stop ISIL’s operations by disrupting plots, cutting off their financing, and preventing them from recruiting more fighters.

(Our actions have proven to be the best avenue for recruiting jihadists. How do you expect us to believe that anything will change by us doing MORE of the same?)

Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has established a process and timeline to pursue cease-fires and a political resolution to the Syrian civil war. Doing so will allow the Syrian people and every country to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL.

(There is no example of the parties participating in these fights maintaining any ceasefire or finding any political resolution to any conflict in the region. “Peace” is short-lived and is probably more accurately described as a time to reload.)

That is our strategy — designed and supported by military commanders, counter-terrorism experts, and countries committed to defeating these terrorists. And we constantly examine further steps needed to get the job done. That is why I have ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review the visa program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that is why I will urge high tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.

(That should read; designed and supported by yes men and women so we will appear to be credibly doing something about something we don’t understand.)

Here at home, we can do more together to immediately address this challenge.

To start, Congress should act to make sure that no one on a No Fly List is able to buy a gun. What possible argument can be made for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of national security. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measure, but no matter how effective our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, we cannot identify every would-be mass shooter. What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill.

(The No Fly List includes thousands of innocent law abiding folks who were put there by incompetent and unaccountable bureaucrats. That list has included members of congress and their families, political (anti war, anti death penalty) protesters, journalists… It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL to deny someone basic rights – freedom to assemble, to speak, have privacy, defend themselves, have due process of law – because they are suspected to have links to enemies we have not declared war on. This erosion of civil liberties is the direct road to tyranny.

How about letting the the targets of these attacks shoot back? Disarming only those who obey laws has proven to only increase body counts – perhaps that is the goal … I write with only a  degree of sarcasm as it appears the only other choice is only believable to a lunatic.)

Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can know if they’ve traveled to war zones. And finally, if Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with ISIL, then it should vote to authorize the continued use of military force against these terrorists.

(Even the close relatives of these folks didn’t know what they were up to. Can we expect some unaccountable government worker to determine who is a jihadist and who is not?)

This is what we should do. But I’d like to also say a word about what we should not do.

We should not be drawn once again into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups like ISIL want. We also cannot turn against one another by letting this fight become a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, and account for a tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world who reject their hateful ideology.

If we are to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as our strongest allies in rooting out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization. It is the responsibility of all Americans — of every faith — to reject discrimination. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country. It is our responsibility to reject language that encourages suspicion or hate. Because that kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values, plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. We have to remember that.

(This I agree with)

I am confident America will succeed in this mission because we are on the right side of history. Even as we debate our differences, let’s make sure we never forget what makes us exceptional: We were founded upon a belief in human dignity — the idea that no matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like, or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law.

(Incomprehensibly the Presidents words do not match his actions – even within the same speech. He outlines how he will deny rights to some and then claims “…equal in the eyes of the law.” Complete Bull Shit. When innocents are caught in the net of insane policy the policy is wrong.

Let us not forget that “those willing to sacrifice freedom for security deserve and will get neither.”)

Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear. That we have always met challenges — whether war or depression; natural disasters or terrorist attacks — by coming together around our common ideals. As long as we stay true to who we are, then I have no doubt that America will prevail.

(Again I agree but his words to not mesh with his actions. It would be great if he could credibly utter those words, unfortunately I don’t believe he can. Like the time he told us we can “keep our doctors” the reality will play out differently.)

Thank you,
President Barack Obama

(Evil? Incompetent? I’m inclined to think the latter. What does that say about the electorate? I doubt there would be any difference even if the other party was elected. Sad.

To the NSA. I hope there are a few Patriot Heroes among you. If you are reading this it was a terrible waste of resources. I do not believe that the initiation of violence is the solution to anybodies’ problems – perceived or real. I am exercising my First Amendment Rights. Have we sunk so far that a law abiding American can no longer even do that without surveillance harassment?)