Posted on 10/02/2009 5:03:40 AM PDT by Abathar
The latest Fox News/Opinion Dymanic poll is chock-full of bad news for the president. But on foreign policy, the results are nothing short of stunning. On who they trust more to decide the next steps in Afghanistan. 66 percent say military commanders, while only 20 percent say the president. Even Democrats have more faith in the military commanders (by a 45 to 37 percent margin). On Iran, 69 percent say Obama has not been tough enough, including 55 percent of Democrats. Sixty-one percent favor a U.S. military action, if needed, to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Fifty-one percent think Obama apologizes for American too much.
Less than a year into his presidency, this is a remarkable and widespread loss of confidence in the president’s handling of national security. This should actually come as no surprise. Neither his rhetoric or his decision-making to date has projected strength. He spent months arguing that we should close Guantanamo and dump the terrorists into the U.S. or into other countries. The voters disagreed. He dithers on Afghanistan, and the voters no longer see him as the best person to set our course. He sends video valentines to the mullahs, delighting in the notion that we can talk them out of their nukes, and waits for Russia and China to climb onto the Obama bandwagon (or Israel to do the dirty work for us). And Americans overwhelmingly see his performance as weak.
In short, Obama has already achieved what it took Jimmy Carter an entire term to attain: the conviction of a large majority of the American people that he is not protecting our interests or performing adequately as commander in chief. He can either stiffen his resolve to confront America’s foes or continue his decline. World events are unlikely to help him–they will only highlight his shoddy performance as our adversaries, seeing exactly what Americans do, begin to test and challenge the U.S. at every turn.
Joe Biden had a single correct insight during the campaign about foreign policy: Obama’s mettle would be tested, and “it’s not going to be apparent that’s we’re right.” For once Biden has proved to be the master of understatement.
Everyone I knew in the military is out now, had they been in still they to a man have said they would be leaving with Obama as CIC.
Many narcissists are over-achievers and ambitious. Some of them are even talented and skilled. But they are incapable of team work because they cannot tolerate setbacks. They are easily frustrated and demoralized and are unable to cope with disagreement and criticism. Though some narcissists have meteoric and inspiring careers, in the long-run, all of them find it difficult to maintain long-term professional achievements and the respect and appreciation of their peers. The narcissist’s fantastic grandiosity, frequently coupled with a hypomanic mood, is typically incommensurate with his or her real accomplishments (the “grandiosity gap”).
I never had faith in Obama.
My CIC was Ronald Reagan. The only salute I have for the current CIC uses one finger.
I never had any faith in this POS.
Hell, a Wise Latina has more rich life experiences on which to base command decsions than does Obama.
My pet dog has a richer life experience than Obama, and a higher IQ to boot!
I’m still in for two more years. I lost faith in the CinC on January 20th.
After almost 20 years of service I’m told I need to give a copy of my birth certificate to S-2. I told them not until I see a copy of Obama’s.
To use an “old” expression, Obama is the ultimate “dove”.
Although I agree with you....it’s very difficult for me to hear. My son is a Marine grunt.....he fights for the Country he believes in...and for his fellow Marines.
Please tone down such ominous statements....they are obvious to us all....and seeing them in print unsettles my stomach even more than it already is. I served as a Marine also...and raised my sons teaching them the core values that this nation was founded upon.
It sickens me also, but when career NCO’s and mid level experienced officers (those hardest to replace IMHO) decide they lost faith in the CiC to do what is right then that fact needs to be exposed as much as possible.
I know at this site it’s not dong a lot of good, but if more “sheeple” knew and understood these facts then it might help sink in that he is hurting our military. Morale is so important to the guys on the ground, if its dropping because of trust issues then perhaps people will push the fact Obama is a horrible commander and pay more attention to what our guys are dealing with.
I joined up under Regan and was very proud to serve in a time when the military was not looked upon very well. I appreciate how Reagan repaired the trust between Military and the American People. I served under Bush 1 and was proud to serve under a warrior of WWII. I left under Clintoon because I could not serve under a less than honorable man. I cannot imagine how our troops in the field feel about their current “commander”.
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