President Obama Will Deliver A Performance, But NO New Information

This might be the last great speech of his presidency.
Choose the correct suit and tie.

Barack Obama has a problem that will always be a disadvantage to him in the world of business and politics (a code word for business).  Barack Obama is way too honest for his own good.  His natural tendency is to thoughtfully consider his position and deliver his thoughts with passion.  Passion is like blood to a vampire in the world of business and politics, and as non-political as international affairs used to be, they are highly political these days, and are a primary aspect of the office of the president.

Upon adding the title president to the name Obama, president Obama had to learn how to shun his passion and adopt his poker face.  Even when you do no intend to bulldoze your enemies, business and politics demand that you maintain the threat.  Barack Obama never had to learn that game in the world of community organizing, but he is learning its importance with every day in office.  When you listen to president Obama stutter through his words, it is because he is at war with his passionate nature and the demand of political prowess.  Poker players with too much passion get swallowed up by the dog eat dog nature of the game.  Misspoken words in politics  become bullets in the gun against you, so speaking slowly is smarter than speaking incorrectly.

President Obama is learning to slow down, but usually the day after he has already shown his entire hand.  I may not be the best poker player in the world, but I recognize a player who can't hide his cards.  Unless I am mistaken, is there another hand that Obama can possibly play?  The do-nothing congress squeezed the Pentagon for a vision of the plan weeks ago.  When president Obama finally took off that tan suit and started sharing preliminary details, it sounded just like the very suggestions that everybody in this war weary nation had already suggested; build a coalition of nations in the region to take the lead on the ground offensive and provide that coalition with surveillance, air strike support and weapons for the cause.

President Obama will declare that the same darn thing that we are doing in Iraq is what we will continue doing until it is no longer working.  How far we travel into Syria will be Syria's decision in the final analysis.

So why the speech tonight?

Congress is obsessed with the pomp and circumstance of history, and historically, presidents used monumental speeches to educate a nation when limited technology demanded the formality. Radio, television and computers insure that we get up to the minute information about ISIS, and our overly passionate president has done the rest.  Congress is full of disgruntled non-presidents who relish in the opportunity to force a sitting president to feed into their narcissism. Most in congress would rather not offer input on ISIS even as they insist on congressional permission.  In reality, the president only needs congress for a military action that will last beyond 180 days.  Finding out whether he intends to proceed with or without their permission is really the only reason to tune in tonight.

......and for the show of course.

President Barack Obama is stepping before America to perform for history sake.  He might say something that very few people expected to hear, but I seriously doubt it.  What is most important tonight is HOW he delivers his message to America.  Polls have already shown over 70% support for airstrikes against ISIS, but the poll doesn't even ask about boots on the ground.  WE are all more aware of the futility of long term war in the middle east, so even suggesting boots brings instant concern of mission creep.  President Barack Obama is attempting to lead the way on how we deal with worldwide terrorism, and it all begins with his opening act performance tonight.

No one will care much about what he says, but critics will spend a day or more dissecting the manner in which tonight's speech gets delivered.  Despite the heavy stake that a growing ISIS is to the entire world, defeating them comes with political points, and politics is serious business.  President Obama's speech could be step one in the process of securing political power into the hands of Democrats concerned with losing the Senate (and maybe the White House) to Republicans. A dynamic speech and a successful military campaign against ISIS might actually excuse president Obama for pushing immigration down the road.  Ruin tonight's speech and he'll need to put ISIS on the run just to repair the damage from talking about it wrong.

If you plan to watch this Superbowl (of sorts) in order to see the game, don't bother. It's been on display since we headed to Iraq, and there is nothing that we don't already know.  Tonight is totally about the halftime show.

Obama's Shock And Awe: The Tan Suited Man With No Syrian Plan

Honesty is clearly not the best policy when you are a maligned second term president.  Neither is pimping a taupe suit.

Its All In The Scheme

I remember my days as a suit salesman.  Guys like Barack Obama would often come in the shop asking for something that is more suited to their color scheme.  Inside of every human being is a color scheme that spews from the pores of who you are.  Hair color and skin tone play a significant role in determining what is your fashion focused color scheme.  When I look at Barack Obama, the fashion plate, taupe (or tan if you must) is clearly a color that suits his color scheme.

Assad will need the US to address his ISIS crisis.

Maybe its just my background, but I appreciated the bright color and the open dialogue. President Obama spoke about a significant concern to American's that are focusing on the rapid advancement of the IS (Islamic State).  At this point, calling them anything less is to glare upon this newly established terrorist nation with blurry glasses on.  If the devastation that they've enacted upon Syria, and now in Iraq, is not a clear statement of their Jihadist (holy war) intention, then let this idea sink in a bit. We are soon to become allies with both Syria and Iraq in order to thwart this advancing enemy.

Just one year ago, Syria's president Bashaar Al Assad was being considered for crimes against humanity as his insistence on the use of chemical weapons inside of Syria could not be disregarded by the Obama administration or the world at large.  With support from Putin (who is seen as a key surrogate to the Assad regime), the international community was able to forcibly remove Assad's chemical weapon cache, without a need for war. Misguided revisionist have questioned why Obama did not send troops to Syria then, unclear that those boots would have been against Assad and not with Assad against ISIS.

Click Here to watch the video

So forget about that suit and focus on the scheme. In the grand scheme of ideology towards terrorism, Obama has the right idea.  Sharia Law does not offer much wiggle room in the eyes of the extremist'. The infidel's must be removed from the land by conversion or otherwise.  Those who follow in this extreme expression of Islam, have made their intentions clearly stated. If you anger them into honesty, as FOX news analyst Sean Hannity achieved when interviewing London Imam Anjem Choudary, you will learn all that you  need to discover about our sworn enemies.


Choudary, and those of his kind, simply do not see a place in this world for any alternative other than the worldwide Islamic state (typically called a caliphate).  That is right.  Extremist' do not believe in world wide religious freedom, but that someday we will be shrouded in Sharia Law as the overriding law of the world at large. This, they believe, is their promised prophecy according to the religions founder, Mohammed.  How we transition from the world we live in to the one extremist' envision is exactly why ISIS represents such a significant concern.

Convert or Die

What do you do with an enemy that says you must convert or die? That is what we considered when America chose to intervene in Iraq recently. As it turns out, President Obama had his own flawed characterization of an imminent threat, similar to the one Bush used to usher America into Iraq the first time.  No, he did not pretend that WMD's were the reason for our attack, but the trapped Yazidi people (Christian Kurds) in Iraq were originally reported at 40,000 people who risked death if not rescued from their mountain perch.  It turned out to be several hundred people, but not nearly the volume estimated before the initial rescue mission began. US air strikes may have opened up supply lines to that mountain, but leaving was not part of the plan for some Yazidi's. Did he fluff the figures to justify his disregard of congress?  Probably, but congress is proving to be more willing to let the president go it alone than Obama originally expected.

mis-Calculations?

As the president spoke on this threat, he appeared to make a couple of significant miscalculations.  The first was assumed to be that taupe suit he spoke in.  The traditional blue or black suit that is common among politicians, had clearly been side stepped when president Obama walked out in that taupe number, but he made this suit choice amid an environment that  has decided he is no longer fully engaged in his job. Nothing says disengagement like a fashion forward suit color, but did he also have to admit that he doesn't have a plan for Syria?

Which was the bigger error, the suit or the truth?

How do we storm into Syria with troops and not get stuck there forever?  Is that a problem to be dealt with by some future president or should it matter that we find the doorway out long before we storm our way in?  The plan for dealing with ISIS is one that should involve the entire world and should involve a lot of deep thinking.  American's do not often buy into that waiting and planning concept, especially when concerned about an imminent threat.  The ease at which we waged war in Iraq the first time proves that.    However, the war weary and those ashamed of our last misstep might unwittingly allow this threat to reach our soil before addressing it.

If ISIS or Choudary get their way, we should expect to wage this war until the end of time, and WE shall always need an evolving policy to address the fervor of our evolving enemies.  That is the truth, and its not really what most Americans care to hear.  Much like that tan suit Obama wore, sometimes the choice you make will not be the one most people expect.

POSTSCRIPT:

As President Obama left the podium yesterday, he was called to comment on the immigration issue as protesters had gathered outside of the white house that day to push the issue of immigration further along.  In definitive words, the president urged congress to create a comprehensive plan for immigration so that he doesn't have to do it himself.  Listen to the man in tan because unpredictable people do love shock and awe.