Live from Caribou Coffee: A strange piece from the sharp Ed Luce on Obama:
: Barack Obama’s Achilles Heel on Terrorism: "It is hard to fault the content of Mr Obama’s response [to ISIS]...
...Leaders should avoid stoking panic and weigh the evidence before acting. Yet his air of detachment has fed the perception that he is indecisive--or worse, that the measures he has taken so far to combat Isis have been reactive.... Each move [of his] has been laden with caution.... The gulf between Mr Obama and his critics, particularly Republican White House hopefuls, is becoming rapidly more glaring.... Whether they were inspired by Isis, or directed by it, the implications are daunting. Mr Farook was US-born and in a comfortable middle-class job.... Critics question why the FBI did not pick up on the fact that they were assembling such a large battery of firearms. Perhaps it is better to ask how the US police and domestic intelligence should have been expected to do so. The couple’s gun purchases were legal.... The risk of more such atrocities is real and growing. So, too, is that of a counter-productive backlash.... The stage is set for further polarisation that may play straight into the hands of Isis...The two parties are looking at different realities.
Shorter Ed Luce: "Obama's policies toward ISIS are smart, but he should be doing s--- that is stupid--or at least say that he is going to do stupid s---!!" Forgive me if I do not find this terribly compelling. Or coherent. Or constructive.
I want a president in the White House who does not do stupid s--- or say that he is about to do stupid s---. I want a press that doesn't push the president in the direction of doing stupid s--- by encouraging us to be scared and cowardly. I don't think that is much to ask for.
