On Sunday night, the nation finally received a belated presidential acknowledgement that the Islamic State is a serious problem, capable not only of causing trouble in the Middle East but also of infiltrating America through its immigration system.
The end of Obama’s public denial on this topic was a long time coming, and to get there it took a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., by terrorists loyal to the Islamic State.
Before Sunday’s speech from the Oval Office, the administration had spent two years downplaying concerns about the jihadis. In January 2014, Obama called Islamic State a junior varsity terror group. Then his intelligence services manipulated analysts’ reports to conceal the fact that it was thriving and that American action against it was largely ineffective. Finally, and right up until the Bataclan theater attack in Paris, federal officials strenuously denied that the Islamic State could pose any threat in the U.S.
So there is cause for relief that Obama finally caught up with what has been obvious to the public for more than a year — that the Islamic State is dangerous. Unfortunately, the president did not offer any new solutions. Indeed he promised to continue doing what has already been so ineffective. He told the nation he would stick with current strategy in Syria and Iraq.
Oh, and as usual he stooped to make a gratuitous and inappropriate jab at his political foes. True to form, Obama also used this supposedly serious address — it was only the third from the Oval Office since he took office in 2009 — to promote a gun control gimmick. He said Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun. “What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon?,” he asked in a disingenuous rhetorical flourish.
Obama knows the many answers to this, for the legislation is being opposed by civil rights groups across the ideological spectrum. The president was referring to a recent Democratic proposal to remove constitutional rights from people whose names are placed on suspect lists on the basis of suspicion, and sometimes on the basis of nothing more than bureaucratic error. Those on the list have no opportunity to challenge the evidence or confront their accusers. The fatuous proposal might help a blow-hard senator stage some disingenuous political theater — it is certainly galvanzing ignorant liberal know-it-alls on the Internet — but for Obama to wheel it out as part of a purportedly serious presidential address on terrorism is contemptible.
Obama himself said in this very same speech that “our success won’t depend on … abandoning our values.” Well, taking away Americans’ rights without due process seems to us like an obvious example of abandoning American values.
Obama and the Democrats need to learn that Islamic terrorism is not caused by Americans enjoying too many freedoms; the First, Second, or Fourth Amendments come to mind. Islamic terrorism is brought home to America primarily by lax standards for screening visa and immigration applicants, not because some U.S. citizens buy rifles with cosemetic similarities to those used by the military.
The presdient packed a great deal of lamentable content into his 11 minutes. He was defensive, grasped at straws, and in every way justified Sen. Marco Rubio’s description of him as “overwhelmed” by the difficulty of dealing with the Islamic State. It was a truly shambolic performance. Perhaps it’s a good thing Obama has used the Oval Office for so few prime time addresses.
