@bobsal u1553115,
Quote:What I do not do is take actions either because it is going to work politically or it is going to somehow, in the abstract, make America look tough or make me look tough.
Right.
What was drawing his line in the sand on Assad's use of chemical weapons? Too bad after looking like a Tough Guy he quickly backed down. (At some point bobsal or parados will tell us he was hellbent on punishing Assad but congress wouldn't act on his authorization for the use of military force, and his hands (clenched in fists of fury) were tied.
What was his reluctant acquiescence to doing anything at all about ISIS. It took public outcry (and the implicit political pressure) at the video of Jihadi John cutting off an American's head.
And how will he "intensify" target airstrikes? Increase them to 8 a day?
Why wouldn't he grow animated about suggestions about blocking Syrian refugees from coming into this country? He's a Third World kind of guy you know, and fundamentally doesn't care much for borders or denying the poor of the world the opportunity to get their fair share of America's wealth.
Only hours after it became known that one of the Paris attackers was a Syrian refugee who came to France via Greece in October of this year, the Democrats in their debate were bickering over who was the first one to call for an increase in the number to be allowed in, from the original 10,000 to 65,000. Of course Clinton and O'Malley added the caveat that there must be proper screening but the French thought they had proper screening and why would anyone feel confident about an administration that has mucked up the VA, produced a lemon of a website for it's signature legislation, allowed the Chinese to hack the personnel files of millions of government workers, has an EPA that is polluting rivers rather than seeing them cleaned up, a TSA that consistently flunks mock terrorist tests, and traded five hardcore terrorist masterminds for a deserter? (And that's all that immediately comes to mind)
Oh yeah, we can trust this government that these refugees will be properly screened.
Has he ever once admitted publicly that he made the wrong decision and was changing course as a result?
Nothing he does is politically motivated but everyone who disagrees with him is trying to profit politically. He acknowledges that he uses mass shootings to make a political point (despite this denial of the influence of politics in his thinking) and that's A-OK but jumps at the chance to accuse his opponents of politicizing the Paris attack.
Once this guys settles on something, if there has been any criticism of the decision, he is bound and determined to stick with it, no matter the consequences. Not admitting to being wrong is more important to him that the consequences of being wrong.
