Thread: The Obama Tango

While Brussels, Belgium, was attacked with Islamic State bombs that killed at least 31 people and injured hundreds this week, President Obama watched baseball with Raul Castro in Cuba and did the tango in Argentina

The Barack Obama Tango | SuperCut

Obama’s Priorities

BY:Blake SeitzMarch 24, 2016 11:50 am

In the wake of the Islamic State-claimed terrorist bombings in Brussels, which killed over 30 people and injured hundreds, a visibly vexed Obama said defeating ISIS was his “number one priority.”

Obama was asked about the terrorist attacks at a press conference in Argentina, on the tail end of his diplomatic vacation to Cuba.

“You’ve resisted calls to alter your strategy for fighting the Islamic State and you said that your critics aren’t offering any better ideas. But the attacks keep happening. Did Brussels change anything for you?” a reporter asked.

“I think it is important to recognize that this is my number one priority. I’ve got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat ISIL,” Obama said.

Obama’s answer was a departure from past statements about his priorities.

Obama has used the phrase “my top priority” 29 times in his second-term public addresses, according to the American Presidency Project database.

Of those 29 instances, 28 occurred in addresses that had nothing to do with terrorism. Twenty-five instances, or 86 percent of the total, referred to the economy and domestic policy concerns like paid family leave and jobs training programs.

Only one instance out of 29 mentioned terrorism, and even that instance contained considerable ambiguity.

Obama issued a proclamation about hardening American infrastructure in October 2014 that said “the security of our nation is my top priority.” The proclamation included terrorism in a list of “physical threats to our infrastructure”—after “extreme weather,” “climate change,” “health pandemics,” and “accidents.”

The president’s de-emphasis on terrorism is not particularly surprising. For years, he has downplayed the threat that terrorism posed to the security and interests of the United States.

In August 2013, Obama pointed out that Americans are more likely to die in car crashes than from terrorism (critics responded that car crashes do not rattle world markets, and cars do not conspire to commit mass-casualty crashes).

In January 2014, Obama dismissed ISIS as a “JV” team, months before the group seized swathes of territory in Syria and northern Iraq. The president said in an interview that ISIS was “contained” the day before an ISIS cell killed 130 civilians and injured over 350 in Paris, France.

As has been documented, when Obama became president he hoped to pivot the country’s focus away from foreign affairs and toward domestic concerns like health care and cap-and-trade. Even the president’s signature foreign policy initiative, the Iran nuclear deal, seemed designed to wind down the U.S. commitment to contain Iran, and by extension the U.S. commitment to the Middle East.

Obama’s remarks on Wednesday, then, represented a shift from his past words and actions.

A very charitable observer could conclude from this anomaly that a recent string of deadly terrorist attacks led the president to change his priorities. A different observer could conclude that the president’s real priorities lie elsewhere.

Obama's Priorities

Once again, how can anyone here or there respect this president. Americans were killed in the attacks. Other people were killed as well from other countries. Hundreds were injured. As an American I have never been so embarrassed by our president. I previously wrote on several occasions how some of his actions could be construed as anti-American, but this one tops it. While he claims he is not a lame duck president, he is. The lack of serious and credible actions as a United States President should be the beginning of a campaign to remove him from office. His initial election and re-election is proof of how uneducated politically this country is and just how divided we are. The candidates need to focus as much of their attention on this despicable behavior and explain how they will deal with this growing menace (ISIS) that BO claimed months ago was the "jv team" and under control.

His top priority is contriving ways to flood our country with dangerous mentality hispanics; allow them to overproduce - all expenses paid by our citizens and packing our country with muslims from jihadists countries. Had border patrol take somalians up into Minnesota. They all get monies, health care, etc & eventually can petition for their entire nuclear family, parents, siblings, cousins etc.

Everyday there is a release on how O is adjusting our immigration policies - from extending Dreamers brought by their illegal parents to those entering before 2012 to now catch & release if here before 2014 - the fact that our courts are backlogged 6 yrs is not an excuse, turn them around instead of releasing them. Close the border already!

The incompetence is staggering or perhaps part of the plan. Inviting tens of thousands of central american "children" or "gang members" and placing them amongst us around the country with all their bugs, diseases and allowing more & more of them, to removing the time restriction on H-1b visas AND allowing their spouses entry,with work permit - the amount of these IT workers taking jobs from Americans is staggering.

India has TB, malaria & NO visa workers are checked for such upon entry into the USA. An IT worker from India that I was exposed to while he was on a 9 month course of 4 medications, was in this country for a couple of yrs in California, Nevada, Chicago, Philadelphia. His TB was in his spine so luckily he was not easily exposing others as if it were in his lungs. Another Indian It worker had RX for malaria to use when he had a flare up. That is common with malaria, does not mean it is communicable but still.

In another era, O would be hung for treason.