海角大神

Typically my Saturday post centers on a trip back using the WayBack machine to revisit some presidential archive, but I confess I鈥檓 too distraught over the president鈥檚 monumental gaffe to even bother with my usual topic. You know the gaffe I mean 鈥� Obama admitted during his press confidence two days ago that he didn鈥檛 have a clue regarding how to defeat the Islamic State (IS) that is currently overrunning Iraq and Syria before coming to attack us here. It鈥檚 hard to exaggerate how big a gaffe it is. But don鈥檛 take my word for it. Here鈥檚 Human Events John Hayward鈥檚 measured analysis: 鈥淵ou can save your breath, frantic Obama apologists. There is no way to spin the unmitigated disaster of this hapless President toddling to the podium yesterday and announcing to the world that he doesn鈥檛 have a strategy for defeating ISIS yet. The pants-wetting terror that immediately gripped everyone in the White House, and every dead-ender Obama-worshiping pundit, tells the true tale of how epic a blunder this was.鈥�

OK, John 鈥� who admittedly leans a bit conservative 鈥� might be slightly hyperbolic in his assessment but still, when he says this gaffe was 鈥渘othing less than Barack Obama conceding victory to ISIS in Round One of the new great war鈥� I get concerned. This is particularly the case when 鈥渘onpartisan鈥� media sources seem to concur. For example, Time鈥檚 Zeke Miller, referencing the 鈥渘o strategy鈥� statement, wrote that, 鈥淧resident Barack Obama seemed to commit the worst of Washington gaffes Thursday when he updated the American people about the ongoing threat from Islamist militants wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.鈥� The New York Times agrees: 鈥淟awmakers and television commentators expressed bewilderment and alarm that Mr. Obama had no plan for dealing with a militant group in a war-torn country where the death toll is nearing 200,000.鈥� The Washington Post鈥檚 Jennifer Rubin was more concise: 鈥淥bama鈥檚 speech was a train wreck from start to finish.鈥�

The Twitterverse was no kinder to Obama. For example, CNN鈥檚 The Lead鈥檚 Jake Tapper, publicizing his upcoming program, tweeted: 鈥淥bama鈥檚 foreign policy criticized in wake of 鈥榥o strategy鈥� gaffe http://cnn.it/VTFP90 鈥� @jaketapper reports #TheLead." Stephen Hayes tweeted 鈥溾�橶e don鈥檛 have a strategy yet鈥� not only describes Obama admin & ISIL now but six years of Obama admin & Al quaeda/terrorism." Even the BBC piled on in noting that the president had committed the very definition of a gaffe: 鈥淢r Obama鈥檚 line is a textbook example of veteran journalist Michael Kinsley鈥檚 definition of a political gaffe, which occurs when a politician tells an 鈥渙bvious truth that he isn鈥檛 supposed to say."

Telling the truth?聽 No one will dispute that we are in deep trouble when the president begins doing that!

Note that the gaffe doesn鈥檛 just affect Obama鈥檚 political standing. The Washington Post鈥檚 Aaron Blake suggests that Obama鈥檚 gaffe may cost the Democrats control of the Senate: 鈥淏ut it certainly helps the GOP make the case that Obama鈥檚 foreign policy continues to 鈥榣ead from behind.鈥� And to the extent foreign policy matters in the coming election (which it鈥檚 starting to look like it could), that could put some red-state Democrats in tough positions.鈥� This is because, as the Washington Examiner鈥榮 Brian Hughes notes, the remark cements the prevailing view that when it comes to foreign policy, Obama is in over his head: 鈥淩ather than the average inartful comment that disappears after a few news cycles, the no-strategy line could help cement charges that Obama lacks the competency to handle multiple crises at once.鈥� Politico鈥檚 Josh Gerstein concurs: 鈥淸H]is awkward choice of words to describe a policymaking process still in midstream seems likely to haunt him for some time.鈥�

This is because the president鈥檚 remarks, as Gerstein reminds us, are part of a longer pattern in which the president consistently underestimates IS鈥檚 threat: 鈥淭he impact and the danger of the no-strategy remark could be exacerbated by earlier Obama comments in which he seemed to dramatically underestimate the ISIL threat.鈥� More importantly, Obama鈥檚 statement, as CNN鈥檚 Barbara Starr points out, could embolden IS: 鈥淏ut perhaps worth remembering that ISIS fighters, ISIS leadership will hear this statement that the U.S. right now has no strategy to deal with them. I don鈥檛 think anybody thought a military strategy was the whole answer, but no strategy?鈥�

And what does this do to Obama鈥檚 historical legacy? Blake thinks the gaffe 鈥渟trikes us as a legacy problem for Obama. For a president confronting a bunch of overseas crises in the final two-plus years of his presidency 鈥� including ones that involve or could involve US force 鈥� 鈥榳e don鈥檛 have a strategy yet鈥� could become pretty unhelpful shorthand for his foreign policy if things don鈥檛 go well.鈥� The American Spectator鈥檚 Thomas Lifson,聽in an article titled 鈥淥bama鈥檚 no strategy gaffe may become the 鈥榬ead my lips鈥� signature of a failed presidency鈥� is more candid: 鈥淧resident Obama has now placed himself in an extraordinarily vulnerable position should ISIS act against the American people with its customary savagery. His arrogant dismissal of it with a sports metaphor, his admission of no strategy, and his track record of dithering and unseriousness combine to make his gaffe into what could become his political epitaph.鈥�

I could go on citing sources proving what an unmitigated, crisis-inducing, presidency-ending Titanic-like foreign policy blunder this statement was, but fortunately IJS does it for me, linking to 鈥�17 Reactions to the 鈥榃e Don鈥檛 Have a Strategy鈥� Gaffe That May Haunt the Rest of Obama鈥檚 Presidency."聽 And, let鈥檚 be honest 鈥� it鈥檚 not like Obama didn鈥檛 realize his presidency had essentially ended when he made that remark; as the New York Daily News notes, Obama sent out his press secretary Jon Earnest to try 鈥渂acktrack from his 鈥榥o strategy鈥� gaffe," but then the President realized the enormity of the gaffe and said essentially 鈥淭he hell with it, I鈥檒l go golf and raise some money.鈥�

At this point the damage is already done. Frankly, it鈥檚 not clear to me why the president soldiers on in the face of this enormous mistake. As gaffes go, this is pretty devastating 鈥� worse even than 鈥渉e didn鈥檛 build this," or Obama鈥檚 reference to bitter, gun-toting Bible-thumpers with no teeth.聽 I don鈥檛 need to state the obvious 鈥� journalists covering the presidency are not the types to exaggerate an incident for the sake of wooing viewers or increasing site visits. No, this isn鈥檛 about hyping a story to generate ratings 鈥� it鈥檚 a sober, clear-headed analysis of a presidential statement that is likely to go down in history as perhaps the greatest presidential gaffe of all time.

Sigh. I鈥檓 going back to bed. Wake me when the president resigns.

Matthew Dickinson publishes his Presidential Power blog at http://sites.middlebury.edu/presidentialpower/.