Obama On National Security: Hear No Evil and the Buck Stops Elsewhere

Ever since President Obama gave his '60 Minutes' interview and, basically, threw his national security team under the bus by claiming that "they" (not him) underestimated the ISIS threat, we have been seeing stories that expose a rather careless attitude by him on matters of national security.

However, even before the interview, there was that infamous JayVee team reference that he made about ISIS.  This was  8 months ago in January and it came just after ISIS flew their Black Flag over Fallujah.  This, again, after they had made massive gains in Syria and were on their way to Ramadi and Mosul.  Obviously, the taking of Fallujah should have been anyone's wake-up call since it had been one of the longest and bloodiest battles that our Marines fought in all of the Iraq war.  But ISIS was able to take that town in short order.  Not hardly a JayVee effort in contrast to our well trained Marines.

Then, since the '60 Minutes' comment, the DailyMail exposed the fact that Obama knew of the rising threat of ISIS prior to the 2012 elections.  Yet, because that threat didn't square with his Al Qaeda-on-the-run stump speeches, there was no effort to alert Americans to the threat or to take any action. 

Now, we find out from a report by the Government Accounting Institute, that the President only attends 42% of his Presidential Daily Briefings where he would have been informed of any national security issues.  I guess fundraising, speeches, and golf outings were more important than hearing about ISIS and other threats that we face.  Maybe that's why Obama is always being blindsided by scandals and international incidents and has to respond with a weak comment like: The first I heard of it is when you all head of it.

Our dedicated national security personnel are really upset with the President not owning up to having known about the ISIS threat.  In essence, his comment can easily be interpreted as him calling them incompetent.  And, if they didn't get it right on ISIS, shouldn't heads roll?  Doesn't this also mean that the Intel we're getting on other bad guy countries such as Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, etc. might also be underestimated?  And, if that be true, isn't America at serious risk?

My guess is that Obama was told but, chose not to hear.  This is a huge problem with this President.  As many have said, he sees the world the way he thinks it should be and not how it really is.  That's a clear recipe for disaster.

References:

Obama: “They underestimated” ISIS: http://hotair.com/archives/2014/09/29/obama-they-underestimated-isis/

Jihadist ISIS captures Fallujah from Iraqi forces: http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/18112

Al-Qaeda force captures Fallujah amid rise in violence in Iraq: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/al-qaeda-force-captures-fallujah-amid-rise-in-violence-in-iraq/2014/01/03/8abaeb2a-74aa-11e3-8def-a33011492df2_story.html

Obama has had accurate intelligence about ISIS since BEFORE the 2012 election, says administration insider: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2774122/Obama-accurate-intelligence-ISIS-BEFORE-2012-election-says-administration-insider.html

Government Accountability Institute Report: Presidential Daily Briefs: A Time - Based Analysis: http://www.g-a-i.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/GAI-Report-PDB-Update-9.29.2014.pdf

Obama Dismisses Al-Qaeda Resurgence: They’re JV: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/20/obama-dismisses-al-qaeda-resurgence-theyre-jv/

 'We did not know': 9 times the Obama administration was blindsided: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/20/obama-administration-caught-by-surprise/

In the Dark: Obama, Staff Learn of Scandals From News Reports: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/Obama-scandals-media/2014/07/11/id/582216/

Obama Showing Restraint

During last week's 60 Minutes interview, President Barack Obama placed himself in fourth place against the legislative accomplishments of all other Presidents in American history. In fact, "he sees himself" just behind Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. For an "I-me-my" narcissist like Obama, this shows amazing and, I'm quite sure, mentally torturing restraint. For sure, he really wanted to say that he was "Numero Uno" but, instead, decided to "try and be humble" and seem a little less "audacious" by only pronouncing himself as history's fourth greatest President. Of course, in his mind, there's no doubt that all the Presidential historians, both now and going forward, will see him in that top slot; anyway. And, if you don't think so...just ask him!

Watch "Drain The Swamp" Pelosi Dance Around Her Own Questionable Activities

On Friday, poor, poor Nancy Pelosi got ambushed by a 60 Minutes reporter, Steve Kroft. Kroft went after her on a Visa Initial Public Offering (IPO) stock deal that Nancy and her husband were involved with in 2008. The deal, estimated to be between one and five million dollars, netted the Pelosi's a nice profit in three separate transactions. But, the problem lies in the fact that, at the time Pelosi was buying into the Visa deals, she and her fellow Democrats (and the White House included) were also involved in passing credit card legislation that would greatly affect how companies, like Visa, would operate.

The timing begs the question as to whether or not the Pelosi's Visa deal was, at the very least, a conflict of interest. Then too, one might conclude that the convenient access to the Visa deal was intended to soften the legislation against that company and the industry as a whole. Obviously, Kroft smells a rat. The video (below) is the actual exchange between Kroft and Pelosi. Note how she completely dances around the issue without ever directly answering Kroft's question; or, for that matter, even acknowledging the deal. This, from the woman who, in 2006, said she would "Drain the Swamp". A swamp that, naturally, had no Democrats in it. Only Republicans.