As IF Times

link A stunning turn that could silence Syria war drums – CNN.com.

It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye is the old saying.

Now that the issue of how to deal with Syria has pushed all other domestic issues to the background, the competence of the President is under genuine critical  scrutiny.  Even erstwhile loyal supporters and apologists are figuratively taking a few steps back from their unwavering support.  When you have the clinical nutbar Alan Grayson openly questioning the policies of his party leader, we know that the façade of solidarity is crumbling.

Barack Obama has come under as much critical scrutiny as he ever has since appearing suddenly on the national stage.  The partisan knives are growing in their number and even stalwart party soldiers are waffling.  But is this fair?

I think not.  I think Barack Obama has been unfairly treated.  The fact is, the President did not suddenly become incompetent.  Anyone who paid attention will know that he brought that “skill set” to the job from the very beginning.   What has finally changed is that the portrayal and obfuscation of this exaggerated skill set by the media fan boys has now turned.  In the past, we’ve made reference to the Chauncy Gardner character from the 1979 satirical film “Being There” and what we observe now is an apt parallel as life tragically imitates art.

Barack Obama was the perfect foil for championing the sundry issues of the political left, from income disparity, racial disharmony, religious tolerance, social change,  immigration reform, global warming etc etc etc.  All of these issues had one common feature;  they segregated the populace into us versus them.  With the emergence of the Syria crisis, one largely of Obama’s own making, it’s clear that America’s interests as a nation are being challenged and the other side is not going to be guilted or lobbied into submission.

Syria lays clear what has been apparent to many from the beginning.  The administration’s policies lack depth of thought or planning.  What’s worse, it’s more and more obvious that the administration has no depth.  It’s bad enough that the first string guy is going up against players like Russian leader Putin, Chinese leader Li Keqiang as well as all manner of assorted Mullahs and despots but imagine if Joe Biden had to step in as relief.  As it is, John Kerry is getting the policy beat-down from Putin in the international ring  while Susan “Pinocchio” Rice is looking for another video to pin the blame for Syria onto.

But again, while all collectively incompetent, they are mostly not to blame.  That falls squarely on the shoulders of the journalism industry, the institution that’s supposed to be charged with looking after the public’s interests.  Instead, over the past 6 years, they have been acting like used car salesmen hiding the blatant imperfections and exaggerating the features of an obviously defective vehicle.  Only now, the warranty has expired.

 link Putin calls for bombers to be ‘scraped from sewers’ | Reuters.

What a tyrant.  Though only a short comment, we don’t see any contriteness for any Russian activities that may have brought on the bombings.  No introspecting touchy feely blather about how Russia may have brought this upon themselves.  No mollifying words to the Muslim community to assure them that they will not  be vilified. 

Pretty unambiguous words, “scrape from sewer”,  which to my mind, doesn’t imply let’s bring them to trial and see how it goes.  Putin voices the anger and frustration of an entire nation expressing outrage at the unprovoked attack on civilians. 

Despite a somewhat different way of running an economy, the Russians too have fallen victim to terror acts, much as Spain and Bali, Indonesia some years back.   Only in the U.S. do we observe official tiptoeing around sensibilities and rights.  Something tells me Putin is not going to worry about offending any one’s sensibilities in pursuit of those responsible.  A leader of a country has as his primary obligation, to maintain the safety of his nation.  Putin gets it.