by Christopher Cerami, Class of 2010
The President of the United States is often called the “Leader of the Free World” but for Barack Obama, preference falls more to this embellished title than his principle duties. His first term thus far has been filled with everything from an apology tour across Europe to his recent rebuke of America as a superpower at the U.N. President Obama, the First Lady, and Oprah also spent much of the last week campaigning for the 2016 Olympics in Chicago, a campaign that fell quickly to Rio de Janeiro. This effort, which on the surface seems noble, leaves conservatives asking the question the media has avoided: what about America?
At the same time that the president had begun operation Olympics our commanders in Afghanistan are in dire need of new troops, an issue the president has yet to address. Back before elections President Obama, railing against the war in Iraq, called Afghanistan a “war of necessity”. Yet suddenly, with the left in this country perusing the end of that conflict as well as in Iraq, our commander-in-chief is getting a severe case of weak knee syndrome. Even worse, the same man who criticized President Bush for his wartime leadership has only spoken to the Afghan General once in a staggering 70 days. What has he been doing these last three months that prevented him from speaking to the generals? Cleary destroying capitalism and economic liberty are immensely time consuming.
It has become abundantly clear that Obama only cares about one thing: himself. Everything this man has done has been just another attempt to enrich his already massive ego. The speech at the UN was far more about himself as this world’s savior than about the interest of the people of the United States. Obama sees himself as a white knight of global politics and has no problem speaking ill of his country and his countrymen to further his reputation amongst the international community. The Olympics were just another way for Obama to demonstrate his clout as the “president of the world”. Yet Obama’s latest attempt leaves one lingering question.
What happened to the “war of necessity”? All throughout campaigning, Obama ridiculed the Bush administration for blowing it in Afghanistan. Obama was such a hawk on Afghanistan that even conservatives had to give him credit. Yet why the sudden reversal, why is this war suddenly so unimportant that Obama can leave his generals stranded in the dessert? Forty three U.S. soldiers have died since General McChrystal alerted the president that he needed more troops. Perhaps President Obama should stop being “president of the world” and start being President of the United States.
