The following is an editorial reflecting the opinions of PoliticusUSA’s publishers, Jason Easley and Sarah Jones.
Purely from a political standpoint as we head into the precarious midterm elections, President Obama needs to stop trying to explain why he feels it’s necessary to strike ISIL and instead he needs to be focused on the issues at home and call out Republicans. Otherwise, he risks depressing the Democratic base to a dangerous extent.
We rarely agree with Sunday show pundits, so it was no surprise when Jeffrey Goldberg tweeted dryly, “Watching CNN at the airport. Sunday panelists suggesting that Obama is like Bush because he is now fighting in the Middle East, like Bush.”
We almost can’t bear this level of stupidity. If you fight in the Middle East, you are Bush? This makes all presidents who ever fight in the Middle East Bush. That’s convenient, if you’re trying to whitewash Bush’s record.
This conclusion is absurd because it is built upon the premise that Bush’s political failures regarding the Middle East had nothing to do with the fact that he started a war in Iraq based on a lie, had no exit strategy, and declared Mission Accomplished on his war on an idea (who declares war on an idea and expects victory over the world?). Oh, no. It’s just being in the Middle East that made him one of the worst presidents in modern history. Just fight there and you are also Bush.
Here is an example of the speciousness of the Obama-is-Bush-because-Middle-East argument: If Obama breathes through his nostrils, he is like Bush, because Bush was also rumored to breathe through his nostrils on more than one occasion. But then, the Sunday shows star fallacious arguments lacking any logic every week.
Sadly, stupid is paid and stupid does speak and stupid does seep into the national consciousness. Then stupid beats up the Democratic base, who just like their representatives tend to value civility and middle ground so much that they will avoid conflict even when they should not, gets depressed.
They go silent, because they don’t want to hear that their President is Bush. And since this is such a massively stupid premise that is not backed up by reality or facts so much so that anyone with one working brain cell should know the difference, Democrats often can’t even articulate a coherent response. Pearls after swine, they tell themselves.
It doesn’t help that Republicans have been working hard on selling this idea to the Democratic base for 6 years, including deceptively editing video to suggest that Obama wanted the changes in the NDAA that made him “just like Bush”. Only not, because he had actually asked for the opposite. But no matter, those were heady days for anti-Obama operatives in the “left” media.
So it hurts the base. They have been down this road before from their own “side” and it was ugly. Now President Obama is making what seem like daily appeals to explain the need to fight ISIL, which on the surface really does sound too much like Bush (sounds like is not IS, this is an appearance thing not a reality thing). Then the pundits looking for easy hits pile on, Obama is Bush! The knee jerk response is: Bush argued for war. UGH. Bush bad. Stop talking about war. Bad Obama.
This kind of simplistic reaction overrides our logical understanding that conflict is necessary sometimes. Emotions rule opinions.
But the base loves it when Obama gets the terrorists. So do Independents and even some Republicans. So instead of making the case for why we need to strike ISIL (and it would be foolish to paint Obama with the Bush brush of wanting war, of irrationally surging into war, of justifying it at any cost, because Obama is on the record doing the opposite), Obama needs to actually be more like Bush in one specific way.
President Obama needs to stop explaining policy in an effort to build a coalition of support among the people on this issue. Sure, he can’t make the news, but he can pivot from an attempt to talk intelligently and with nuance about an issue that people can’t/won’t/don’t want to hear.
The people aren’t going to support the strikes because they are tired of any semblance of war. But they will cheer the President for getting the terrorists. He’s already explained why he feels this is necessary, so he can safely pivot now and embrace the Big Daddy-Protector-in-the-White House persona that Americans love to believe in.
President Obama needs to be the decider who decided to strike ISIL, and hand out the terrorist gets to the public as something they can feel good about. The President should be associated with good news like getting the terrorists, while someone else in the administration handles the doling out of the bad news.
The base loves it when Obama disses Republicans even a bit, as he did last night. They hate watching this President get attacked over and over again, it dampens their morale. Low morale means low turnout.
Fight back or die. It’s that simple in politics.
War talk got Bush re-elected, but war talk is toxic to the Democratic base and the larger public right now. A war on obstructionists? That’s a war the base wants to hear all about.
The base needs their President to get them fired up. They will turn out for him, but first he has to lead them into the fight.
Obama has no spine for direct confrontation. The base has been waiting for six years for him to take on the Repubs. He never fails to disappoint.
Here, now, this November, the rubber hits the road. If he goes postal with hard-hitting no-holds-barred unvarnished truth-telling about the treasonous conduct of the radical right and its GOP enablers, an energized base will vote and the Senate will remain in Dem hands. Obama may even have the opportunity to re-align SCOTUS. Absent that aggressive posture our goose is cooked.
Do it, Obama.
Take off the gloves.
J.u.s.t … D.o. … I.t.
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Geeze man, he doesnt have to confront them directly, he has made them look like fools a thousand times
As always – Obama tries so hard to do what is right for all concerned. Yes – even the folks who damn him at every turn. I do not know how he keeps from lashing out – but then I do not know what goes on inside his head.
After so many years of trying to work with the Repubs/TP’ers he needs to give it up and go – excuse me – “balls to the wall” for whatever needs to be done.
I was so excited when he was elected pres. – I honestly felt our country had taken an important turn. I did not foresee the hidden hate that was out there. OK – be that as it may – now he needs to just move forward and do what is right.
From your pen to God’s ear. I so wish the B.O. would arrest a passel of those bastards, strip them of their fortunes and outlaw the republican party just as Germany outlawed the Nazi party. I am so sick of their lies, obstructionism, in fact pretty much everything about them.
Prez Obama(Smoothe if you will) Expose them for what they truly are. Self destruct in the eyes of the public, let us all see what kind of Roaches we’re seeing in action and, what they’d like to make of our life & children’s lives about. Every move they’ve made is a trap once again, expose them for what they hide & lie about when the light comes on. We have a smart leader, thoughtful and top tier(much better than the Roaches)and well educated. He contimues to do the job he was elected to do, with grace. The Roaches? Well, seeing is beleiving and doing as they do. Nothing for us. We pay them for nothing. They lied to us.
Can’t make corrections for grammar, page disfunction. Can’t be any worse than the Roaches.
Well…
Making them look like fools hasn’t worked,
has it?
Yeah it sorta has, but not well enough.. Personally I wish he would show the world just exactly what the republican party has turned into. I think the world would respect him, just like true Americans do. Not to worry about negative news.. The republicans have already taken care of that. Now it is time for him to call them out on every single lie and every crooked deal. No need to worry about Israel and the US men and women fighting their endless wars. Show us where the the money has gone and exactly what it has bought America. Certainly not any loyalty from the MSM or the ones buying and selling America for blood and profit.
Yes!! To keep the the treasonous , traitorous , teabagger terrorists is of no benefit to America , to destroy them would be no loss . Why waste American military strength killing innocent muslims overseas when it could be turned against the real enemies of the state .
To me Obama is saying: Why bother?
Maybe. But just in case it is so, I see why: The Republicans will self destruct. They put their foot in their mouths so many times its any wonder they don’t have Foot in Mouth Disease. Plus their obstructiveness and bully boy activities does not sit well with a large majority of the electorate, not to mention overseas partners. Republicans have closets full with the clowns that embarrass their party, those keep coming out at wrong moments. The face of the GOP start with Rush Limbaugh, Sara Palin, and all the rest of the morally ugly politicians. Republicans are at the fore-front of Shutting down the Government…led by who? You guessed it: Ted Cruz himself–an ugly Republican. So, why bother with them, Obama does not need to get his hands messy. Let Republicans deal with their own messy house. Yes?
It must be easy for these two writers to say come Obama forget these problems you have been dealing with all summer and just go after the GOP.He has been calling the GOP out all summer,guess they haven’t been paying attention.If we Democrats and Progressives don’t know what is at stake in the midterms than we aren’t as smart as I thought we were.From what I have read and seen we are the ones that don’t vote in the midterm elections.So we can blame Obama or we can get off our asses and vote.
I think the day before the election have news questions and answers session on tv , and call them out for all the bad things they have done to the country,the last six years.