Is Rhetoric Replacing Reality?

[Jeanfromfillmore]

Is Rhetoric Replacing Reality?

By James Jay Carafano PhD | May 25, 2010

White House rhetoric was America’s worse enemy last week.
Though the Director of National Intelligence was fired, the White House acted like nothing was wrong. Fox news reported, “President Obama asked for Blair’s resignation just 16 months after appointing him to the position of top counterterrorism chief. The president’s press secretary on Friday praised Blair’s tenure and credited him with refocusing the government’s attention on terrorism and threats of radicalization, never once indicating that the White House was displeased with his performance record.”
The firing actually raises many questions about the administration’s strategy for fighting transnational terrorism. Much of the speculation over the resignation revolves around his role in directing counterterrorism operations. Regardless, of this speculation the conduct of global counterterrorism operations by the Obama administration is a legitimate concern. Thirty-one terrorist plots have been foiled since 9/11—two out of the last three in this administration have been by shear luck. The White House continues to deemphasize the threat of Islamist terrorism and the Long War against al Qaeda. It has also failed to craft a responsible long-term detention and interrogation policy, even suggesting that Miranda rights of all U.S. citizens should be weakened.
The administration also continued to bash the state of Arizona for trying to enforce public safety and the rule of law with its own borders. Senior White House officials have – in the presence of foreign dignitaries – castigated a law passed in the state of Arizona. This new Arizona law directs that when law enforcement officers engage in a lawful stop, detention, or arrest, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to ask about a person’s legal status if reasonable suspicion exists that the person is unlawfully present in the U.S. The administration has used the public controversy over the Arizona law to push for its own political agenda – granting amnesty to millions unlawfully in the United States.
The week ended with an address to cadets at West Point. This too proved a disappointment. It would have been a great speech – if it were not so divorced from reality. The plan for Afghanistan was great – except for the part about setting a concrete guideline for pulling out military forces which makes no sense – unless politics rather strategy is driving the agenda. Likewise, the national security strategy was just more “anything but Bush” rhetoric – empty words, not a strategy – well, maybe a political one.
What made the speech so inappropriate was not just that it was all about politics, but that it was that the audience who will have to live with the consequences of putting politics ahead of strategy…sad, really.
For not speaking straight to the American people the administration gets a grade of “F” for the week.
http://www.aim.org/guest-column/is-r...acing-reality/