Give Us Liberty

he is an Armchair President that apparently watches MSNBC to get his security briefings, plays golf and basketball, and requires three days to formulate a verbal response to a terrorist attack

Being There
By William R. Mann Tuesday, December 29, 2009

“I like to watch.” - Chance the Gardener [Chauncey Gardiner]

What if we have a President who is not really what the “Mainstream Media” bought into and sold to the American Public.

What if, as a candidate, this President was so carefully managed that millions of voters were hoodwinked about the true agenda of him and his radical handlers.? What if, as a candidate, this President’s mastery of the issues was really, truly limited to an ability to read a teleprompter or memorization. What if, as a candidate, this President’s every utterance, no matter how resoundingly vacant, was portrayed as brilliance where there was none? What if millions of voters were totally hoodwinked by a negligent or complicit media to convince a sadly informed majority of voters to elect an absolute ideologue with no mastery of issues, leader skills, or administrative abilities? What if you think these are silly questions now because they were prescient questions that no one would probe in 2008? What if…?

One of my favorite Peter Sellers’ films is “Being There.” Chance the Gardiner [Peter Sellers] is an illiterate man of dubious intelligence who is the gardener for an old man in a big house. Chance loves his gardening duties, his garden and he enjoys watching TV. When that old man dies, Chance is put out on the streets of D.C. Luckily [?] he encounters a wealthy businessman who, by a series of erroneous assumptions and conclusions, understands Chance the Gardener to be “Chauncey Gardiner.” The man gives Chance refuge. Chance’s simple and totally innocent answers to many questions [usually given as gardening solutions] are misinterpreted as deeply philosophical utterances. Chance is calm, unflappable, remarkably consistent and direct. Chauncey Gardiner becomes a hot item on the D.C. political and social scene. Many of his “followers” promote his brilliance and he eventually becomes a Presidential Advisor. By the end of the film, we are left wondering who Chance really is. As the film ends we see Chance stroll upon the water of a pond, stop, bend over and probe the water with his umbrella. We are left wondering if: “Life is a state of mind.”

Is “Chance the Gardener” our President? I don’t think so. Obama can’t measure up to Chance. But, he is an Armchair President that apparently watches MSNBC to get his security briefings, plays a lot of golf and basketball, and requires three days to formulate a verbal response to a terrorist attack. He rushes home from the golf course in Hawaii because a guest receives minor injuries while surfing, but waits three days to respond to a terrorist attack? Please!

Obama worries me. I ask: What exactly is Obama “good at,” besides reading teleprompters, scolding America, jet-setting to lame conferences, throwing flashy White House dinners, and taking splashy Hawaiian vacations? We certainly have a media who are still worshiping him as some long awaited healer and messiah, despite an ample record of evidence to the contrary! I am sensing that Obama’s demeanor [unlike Chance’s] appears to be the result of confusion and not resolution.

The Christmas Day 2009 terrorist attack, and the one before that in Fort Hood, and the one before that in Arkansas, and the repeated probing of our airlines by groups of Muslim men has me wondering at the incompetence of President Obama. First, be clear, this was a terrorist attack on Christmas Day and a statement against Christianity. It happened, but it did not succeed. Terrorist incompetence, brave passengers, and a bit of good luck saved the day. Janet Napolitano, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama can take absolutely no credit. But, they can take 100% of the blame. Maybe we were spoiled by seven years of no attacks during the Bush Presidency. Maybe we became weary of being on watch. Maybe we let down our guard because we have been consistently lied to … yes, lied to… about the security of our country. You know: Terrorism is a “law enforcement issue.” We are not at war; we have “overseas contingency operations.”

The President’s #1 responsibility is the National Security of the United States. If he gets this wrong, you do not need to worry about anything else. It is not about the Economy, stupid! It is not about National Healthcare, stupid. It is not about “Cap & Trade,“ stupid. It is not about expensive vacations, stupid! It is about National Security! Our country was attacked, willy-nilly, by a 23 year-old Jihadist from a wealthy Nigerian family, who is on a watch list, and whose father even warned the American Embassy in Nigeria. Where is our Secretary of State? Where is the Attorney General? Where is the Secretary of Defense? Why does Janet Napolitano still have her job? Where is the accountability? I know: Obama inherited this mess from the Bush Administration ... Wrong!

What is it going to take for Obama to realize that he is in a real war. No matter what calm and inane statements this man and his Katzenjammer Kids make to the contrary, all is not well. Things are not O.K. More of the same and worse is coming our way. What will it take? Will it take coordinated attacks and bombs detonating in Times Square and in other city celebrations nationwide on New Year’s Eve? Will it take a dirty bomb wiping out the port facilities in Houston, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, or Miami? I tell you, there is not one of you who would fly if you knew the plane was going to be bombed in mid-air. So why should we be so upset at the prospect of airport scanners displaying your dirty underwear, or bomb sniffing dogs getting fresh with our private parts. Many of these same folks have no problem wearing Speedos, thongs or worse at a public beach. A job as a screen scanner or dog handler is certainly not a job to be coveted in this situation, but they are necessary jobs. If you don’t like it, drive, take a train, a ship, a bus, or walk to your destination. Of course the other option is to kill the terrorists before they kill you.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are a Nation at risk. But: Khalid Sheik Mohammed is still going to have his dog and pony trial in New York City; Two Hundred Jihadi killers are still going to move to a prison in Illinois from Guantanamo; the Afghanistan War is still going to be conducted with insufficient forces; the Houses of Congress are still going to distract you from legitimate concerns about National Security with their ill-advised debates and scare tactics about healthcare and global warming end-of-the-world scenarios. But who is watching our borders? The Obama-Holder Justice Department has intimidated the CIA, the FBI, the Border Patrol, the DEA and other agencies with past prosecutions and the threat of prosecution. The National Security level of vigilance has been compromised by adopting a flaccid attitude and inept reactions to attacks and incidents. We are denuded and vulnerable.

Can you even imagine if George Bush had waited three days to respond to an attack on Christmas day? Let’s not go there, I don’t want to hear from the loons with BDS [Bush Derangement Syndrome].

Life is not a state of mind. I expect a lot more from my President than just “being there.”