Will President Obama’s speech tonight be a concession speech?
Mr. Obama can blame this rising tide of disorder on George W. Bush, but the polls show the American public doesn’t believe it. They know from experience that it takes time for bad policy to reveal itself in new global turmoil. They saw how the early mistakes in Iraq led to chaos until the 2007 surge saved the day and left Mr. Obama with an opportunity he squandered. And they can see now that Mr. Obama’s strategy has produced terrorist victories and more danger for America.
Mr. Obama’s intellectual and media defenders were complicit in all of this, cheering on his flight from world leadership as prudent management of U.S. decline. Even now some of his most devoted acolytes write that Mr. Obama’s “caution” has Islamic State’s jihadists right where he wants them. It is hard to admit that your worldview has been exposed as out-of-this-world.
We hope tonight’s speech shows a more realistic President determined to defeat Islamic State, but whatever he says will have to overcome the doubts about American resolve that he has spread around the world for nearly six years. One way to start undoing the damage would be to concede that Dick Cheney was right all along.
I think that’s far-fetched in the extreme. Presidents simply don’t do that and expecting this president to do so is expecting too much.
However, I would go farther than that. It is true that “Dick Cheney was right all along”? Or are we looking in the wrong places for ways to make us more secure?
WSJ: One way to start undoing the damage would be to concede that Dick Cheney was right all along.
Ha, ha! Good one!!
I was pretty sure that would get a rise from someone.
The quoted opinion piece reinforces my view that neither ‘side’ in the halls of power know what they’re doing.
A leader can reconcile and mitigate prior mistakes by opening up their mind and taking new actions to problems that have plagued them. Verbally admitting them doesn’t really matter, as long as they admit them to themselves.
While I think Dick Chaney is a very bright man, I haven’t always agreed with his positions — nor did Bush, especially during his 2nd term. Chaney’s current comments are a mixed bag, IMO. While his remarks about ISIS’s menacing nature are well worth listening to, being out of the intelligence loop the rest of his remarks are essentially opinion-driven.
Turns out the speech was just a poor power point presentation without the graphics, delivered by a man who didn’t want to be there, as evidenced by his slouching off at the end. It notably lacked the verve with which he delivers his NCAA brackets every year.