Our “Clueless” President?

Forget ideology for a moment – ignore the fact that Barack Obama is a leftist – certainly the President, any president, wants to be respected as a leader, doesn’t he?

When Americans are frightened, they want reassurance that our president understands and is committed to fighting the threat. Instinctively, almost, an effective leader recognizes that this is what he must do. So how, time after time, can President Obama act in ways that disregard this obligation?

The serious worries of the people deserve to be – need to be – taken seriously. But repeatedly, our president fails to do so.

Consider some examples:

-                   -     An American being beheaded is shown on an ISIS video. The visual is shocking and unnerving. The President expresses his “outrage” at a brief press appearance and then leaves promptly for a golf outing.

-                -      Terrorist kill over 100 people in Paris. Americans fear the same could happen here. Major world leaders travel to Paris to join in a march pledging solidarity with the French in the fight against such terrorism. Obama does not attend.

-              -       Bombs explode in Brussels, killing dozens and wounding hundreds. At the time, our leader is in Cuba. He expresses his anger with the terrorist attacks and then attends a baseball game in Havana. While at the stadium, he joins in the lighthearted fan activity known as “the wave”. (On the next stop of his Latin American visit, he does the tango in Argentina.)

Does Barack Obama not understand how inconsequential he appears by his displays of frivolity? Is he really clueless?

Or, is he actually showing a high contempt for the fears and worries of the American people? After all, Obama has expressed the view that “global warming” poses an existential threat – ISIS does not. So, maybe the President is simply inclined to dismiss what he believes are unwarranted concerns of the public. And, he does not intend to humor us by providing genuine solace and leadership.

The Left: Giving Aid and Comfort to Donald Trump

Prominent members of the American Left are (inadvertently?) providing aid and comfort to Donald Trump’s campaign.  Bill de Blasio, the radical mayor of New York City as well as the head of the Congressional Black Caucus, call him a “racist”.  Young Sanders supporters cause havoc at a Trump rally, resulting in its cancellation.

The Trump campaign couldn’t be happier. 

As The Sensible Conservative detailed last week, Trump supporters are motivated by a variety of concerns.  But certainly anger over the Left’s efforts to silence dissent by epithets is seemingly shared by most of them.

 

Labelling an opponent as a “racis” is standard liberal fare and has long been a tiresome slur.  It has been tossed about with such abandon over recent memory that its sting has been greatly reduced.  But it remains an insult designed to impugn the target’s motives.  And being called one remains a source of anger.  Using the term against Trump simply adds fuel to his campaign.  Such enemies are reminding voters why they are supporting the New York billionaire. 

Unruly protests serve the same function.

The irony is that the often uncivil candidate is being aided by the incivility of the Left.  

Understanding the Trump Phenomenon

Understanding Donald Trump is not the objective of this piece.  After all, he’s not complicated.  Trump is, at heart, a very insecure person who craves attention because he needs it.  That is why he blusters, brags, belittles and insults.  He refuses to be ignored.  He doubts his worth if he is. 

The more interesting and challenging study is to understand why so many are attracted to him. 

I’ll confess that even if I thought that Donald Trump was a true blue conservative and was the second coming of Ronald Reagan (I don’t), I would recoil at the prospect of voting for him.

Why?

The Sensible Conservative would be unable to tolerate his manner.  His obnoxiousness, his seeming preference for vulgar language, his reflexive personal attacks when questioned on policy or anything else make stark his lack of respectability. 

Even if there was a close ideological affinity between us, the conduct of the candidate would disqualify him in my view.  How can you support someone you don’t respect?  Whether I like him or not is an irrelevant concern.

Plainly, millions of Americans do support Donald Trump.  Do they respect him?  Does it matter?

For some, Trump is viewed as the person they envy.  He has the nerve to speak to people in angry, unsettling ways they wish they could.  They are titillated by his obscenities, vulgarities and bad manners.  He gives them a vicarious thrill.

For others, Trump gives voice to the palpable anger they feel toward powerful forces in society they believe are ruining America.  They hate politicians, the media and big business.  Trump’s language and conduct is proof of the depth of his anger.

Still others have hopes that since Donald Trump says he’ll “make America great again”, he’ll find ways to do so, despite the absence of specifics.  They love America and are disgusted that so many elites run down their country rather than staunchly defend her and do nothing about illegal immigration. 

And there are many who feel betrayed by the Republican establishment.  They believed that if they helped bring about GOP control of Congress, which they did, Obama and the liberal control of Washington would be reversed, not merely stymied.  Obamacare was supposed to be defeated and government spending reined in significantly.  Neither has happened.  The reasons for the failure of the GOP agenda simply have not been explained to the party’s rank and file.  No wonder they are upset and willing to throw a “hail Mary” pass.  Can Trump do worse?  Very likely, some may respond.  But nothing else seems to make a difference.  

Also, don’t forget the pangs of fear by those whose jobs are threatened by free trade.  They want protection, not foreign competition.

And finally, there is the celebrity factor.  Donald Trump is known to millions.  They like him, his overblown personality enlarged further by TV.  He seems larger than life.  Fame puts him on a different level.  So, his fans believe, he’ll be able to do extraordinary things. 

Trump’s candidacy is a vessel filled with the hopes of his supporters (anyone remember Obama in ‘08?).  That they have fallen for the siren calls of a demagogue is not entirely – maybe not mostly – their fault.  

How Can a Mom Abandon Her Child to Become a Terrorist?

It’s awfully hard for a normal person to understand how a mother of a six month old baby could hand off the child to a relative and then embark on a killing spree from which she had to know she would not survive.

The San Bernardino female killer, however, did so.  Serving her radical Islamist objectives overcame her maternal instincts. [Of course, maybe nature’s instinct wasn’t that strong for her.  Some women certainly feel it more than others.  But, still, she embarked on a suicidal mission which would leave her baby an orphan.  How could she do that?]

It’s not that she was willing to suffer death to serve her cause.  Anyone serving in the military as a combat soldier can say that.  Rather, it’s that she sought death, displaying simply the mindset of a suicide bomber.  But, thinking that way, when one has a young child, places the action in a different category.

It’s a reminder that fanaticism can overcome all sense of human decency, instinct and survival.  In the form of radical Islamist terrorism, we face an enemy that is unrestrained.  Anything – and everything – will be used against us.

Are we prepared to reciprocate?  Do we need to?  Effective defense requires that we do all that is necessary - and to err on the side of aggressiveness, not restraint.