Obama Abandons Oval Office

On how many levels is Obama prepared to denigrate the office of President of the United State of America? On Monday night he invented a new one. 

Presidents, for as long as presidential addresses have been televised, have spoken to to the people from the seat of power, the Oval Office at the White House, at their own desk, on matters of such great importance as militarily attacking another sovereign nation and putting American lives in jeopardy in the process.

Image via Wikipedia

Obama, looking and sounding disconected as usual, gave a speech as if he was campaigning, selling you on his brand. I thought back to Lyndon Johnson and JFK; Ford and Reagan, pausing and looking up from their difficult to deliver printed address, and staring right into the camera – letting the citizens know, without a doubt, that the information they were conveying, and their reasoning, was dead serious to them. They let you know, as a citizen, that they took your security seriously, and understood the power of the office they held. They were very careful about the image of their office in the eyes of the world.

In this way, they they showed respect for the American people. You might disagree with their actions, but they made sure to address every American family, and all of the world, much of which is looking to the USA for leadership, in the most dignified and statesman-like manner. 

Obama, Mr. Casual, lives in a different word, where he thinks all we, and the world need to know is that he is at the helm, so don’t ask too many questions. The National Defense University is not the seat of power, and his speech was confusing, to say the least. He no doubt left major concerns and questions in the minds of all of our allies, and those countries who would like to have better relations with the United States.

Reaction to Obama’s speech itself was came quick and was harsh. For a speech billed by the Obama White House as meant to clarify the US mission in Libya, comments ranged from Rudy Giuliani’s “murky” to John Bolton’s “pathetic”. Sarah Palin thought the speech “dodgy and dubious”, while Donald Trump wondered if we aren’t actually assisting rebels aligned with Iran. Many Democrats refused to comment at all.

By the end of his address, Obama looked and sounded like he was not in the loop with either the Joint Cheifs or the State Department, and displayed little interest in actual leadership, which might explain why his actions came four weeks too late. Many thousands of innocent Libyan citizens died while he was playing golf and vacationing.