The practical minded President of the USA, Barack H. Obama Esquire, the ever confident and thoughtful leader, the gracious gift for us all, again proves himself to be well above his detractors, political adversaries both home and abroad, and executes the duties of the most powerful governmental office on this planet with distinction and valor. Bravo Mr. Obama, as I remarked in a previous blog, the gift to this country in the act of execution of required modern form of leadership, is the Citizen Obama story.
The notable detractors have obviously been the republican party elites and their uninformed but vocal pundits. It was not long ago when former Vice President Dick Cheney, after his failed prosecution of what he had preached to us all, "the war on terror", had the audacity and the gall to have incessantly decried and criticized Mr. Obama on foreign policy and national security. Mr. Cheney had been the right wing monstrous thrall who had captivated the imagination of the republicans and the discredited neo-conservative war mongers who had plunged the US into the invasion of Iraq under false pretenses and outright lies and mis-truths, and for some reason no credible experienced political conservatives with stature had questioned Cheney's credentials and tenure with the Bush administration over the years. Mr. Cheney and others had aggressively and publicly decried President Obama as being naive and inexperienced and not up to the commander in-chief status. Remember Cheney referring to the the thoughtful and deliberative approach of Mr. Obama as being indecisive and went as far as referring to Mr Obama's deliberative leadership style as 'dithering and indecisive'. It was sad to me that Gen. Colin Powell and others were somewhat slow to come to the defense of President Obama for a long while until prominent statesmen like Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff of Sec. of State Collin Powell, wrote that: "Cheney is 'evil', his fear mongering is 'assisting' al Qaeda." Remember, brain-dead operatives like Sarah Pailin kept the mantra of 'dithering' as a rallying cry for their failed political and ideological positioning.
What has been mystifying to most politically astute people in the USA over the last almost ten [10] years, has been the dexterity of the Bush-Cheney administration's political spin and communication machinery that has been able to divert attention from their colossal foreign policy and national security failures, but have been able to ride the fear of terrorism as a political strategy against a stunned and fearful nation and further exploited the sympathetic and supportive electorate through the 'us-against-the-world' mantra and imagery the administration has presented to us without blame or public admission of culpability in any form...!! Remarkable.. I say remarkable indeed!!
The reader should follow this observation: The Bush-Cheney administration is inaugurated into office on January 20, 2001. Richard Clarke [a bonafide non-partisan republican], the counter-terrorism coordinator, a veteran member of the US National Security Council under both G. H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations, and a hold over from the Clinton [until 2003], provides detailed briefing to the new administration's national security team, and stresses the utmost importance of Usama Bin Laden's al Qaeda, the same group that the Clinton administration has had as the top of their national security action items list, and Clarke further emphasizes the intelligence about the potential and eminence of a possible al Qaeda attack on the USA mainland. Mr. Cheney and his cohorts in their classic arrogance and disdain for opposing views, essentially ignored the urgent call for utmost caution and vigilance towards the anticipated actions of al Qaeda. [Read this in a detailed account revealed under oath in Richard Clarke's book 'Against All Enemies' and this link: Richard A. Clarke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and the section entitled 'Early warnings about Al-Qaeda threat']. Now with an open mind, imagine the Bush-Cheney being a democrat instead of republican administration, the blaming and vilifying of the democratic administration will be merciless and vicious to put it mildly. Some people might remember that in the early days, the Bush-Cheney media punditry tried but failed to put the blame on Clinton-Gore. The timid democratic party and their operatives, as usual did not exploit to their political advantage, but deferred to the republican party explanation, thereby completely seeding the subsequent formulation of appropriate response to the despicable terrorist act, to the same people who had been negligent in their sworn duty to maintain our national security, and the subsequent adventure and misguided pursuit of the Iraq invasion underscores my disgust. It reminds me of the creation of alternate reality of existence by incompetent leaders who are always convinced they can control their own definition of reality and get away with it, oh yea, the Bush-Cheney administration showed us all how to operate a failed government and still claim victory!
The question most of us keep wrestling with is, how is it possible that the Bush-Cheney administration under whose trusted custody 9/11 attacks happened, is never held accountable for their negligence and incompetence, but are able to ride the outpouring of benevolence from the citizenry of the USA, and subsequently embarks on the extremely expensive Iraqi invasion based on the same level of incompetence perpetrated by the same people in leadership that had shown heightened levels of ineptitude, lack of prudent and thoughtful execution of their sworn solemn duties, and their flawed understanding of foreign policy and national security, prior to and during the 9/11 nightmare? That is what I call the arrogance of stupidity and the price we all pay for rewarding ignorance and incompetence in the mindless and corrupt political infrastructure we allow in the USA. Mindless because the entrenched special interest controlled political structure that dominate the political landscape is more interested in protecting and concealing their incompetence than being truthful about their limitations. This in turn exacerbates manageable national difficulties into practically intractable problem monstrosities which devour our precious national resources and in turn leave us less secure. When will we the electorate learn to discern between flamboyant proclamations of grandeur in contrast to calm, resolve and thoughtful leadership? The later is what a great nation requires and should cherish.
The redeeming value for a resilient and exceptional nation as the USA is the built-in correction for our system, which eventually allows competence to rule the day. This leads to President Barack Obama, the most competent, steely resolve and accomplished leader to date [in most of our adult political lives] by any objective measure of leadership and 'can do-ism' required by the greatest nation on earth, called USA.
On my April 18, 2011 previous blog [ http://koamac-critiquepolitics.blogspot.com/2011/04/obama-foreign-policy-doctrine.html] I theorized a possible Obama foreign policy doctrine, which I should confess was on the money. We have all marveled about the level of determination, resolve and competence President Obama has shown, the result of which is the hunting down and killing of Usama bin Laden in the prophetic delineation of the promise he [Obama] made during the presidential election campaign of 2008. Mr. Obama's campaign promise was widely and publicly mocked and ridiculed as being naive and coming from inexperience, proclaimed by Mrs. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]. To now know that one of the first tasks Mr. Obama undertook after his inauguration speech on January 20, 2009, was to write a top secret memorandum instructing the director of the CIA Leon Panetta to provide him [Obama] with a detailed plan to capture and/or kill Usama bin Laden as the top priority for his [Obama] administration, a true mark of a strong leader who understands his solemn oath and utmost obligation to protect and maintain the national security infrastructure required for the USA. It is remarkable the doggedness, resolve and steely determination, calm and confidence that Mr. Obama has shown all through his presidential leadership on practically every issue he has had to confront and resolve with flying colors but without fanfare and brassy bravado, compared to at least the previous administration, and not to hold back my glee and approval for his leadership, I can say President Obama is a gracious gift for us all, I surmise, the likes of which we have not experienced in the USA for many years.
Now that Mr. Obama has proven himself beyond any doubt for his domestic policy solutions' acumen, his foreign policy effectiveness and global impact [note the Arab/Middle East awakening], and his well defined and showcased credentials on national security bolstering his commander-in-chief leadership mastery, all citizens and admirers of the exceptional USA should not be shy for expressing pride in our choice of Barack Obama as the President and leader of the USA, without reservation but admiration.
I am sure many detractors and especially the right wing and republican pundits would want to deflect attention from the proven successes of President Obama, and in some cases attempt to ascribe his national security performance to the incompetent Bush-Cheney administration and their inept policies, honorable citizens will forever be indebted to President Obama's leadership in restoring the strength and credibility of USA. I whole heartedly have a renewed level of utmost respect for Senator John McCain [R-AZ] for his stalwart portrayal of class and honor in his vehement rebuttal against the Bush-Cheney misinformation and false claims of credit for Usama bin Laden's demise. The citizenry of the USA are forever proud and grateful for President Barack Obama and his Tactical Prescription for US National Security..!!
