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The Answer is Blowin' in the Wind

Posted by Dan Abbett on Sunday, September 13, 2009 7:31:33 PM
 As it is with some who excel in academics, they learn well how to take a test but they never learn the lesson. They are first to quote statistics and principals and last to be able to implement them. So it would seem to be with Barack Obama. 

We were tested by our enemy on 9/11 and we answered what we believed to be the question of their test by a righteous display of anger. We failed the lesson however, as it was a test of our resolve, not our ability to strike back. 

Now, we find ourselves taking a test we failed once before, the test of the futility of fighting an enemy we declare we must defeat shackled by the constraints of politics. We should have learned our lesson from the disaster that was Vietnam and the consequences of losing a war for the sake of political expediency. We are similarly being tested now in Afghanistan. It appears that we are about to answer the question with the same answer we gave to the Vietnamese in 1972.

Should we give that answer to the question of resolve and commitment, we will fail the lesson and receive our grade in the form of the disastrous consequences that will result. It is Barack Obama who is now being tested. How will he answer the question? Will he draw on the lessons of history or simply decide that it is all academic? 

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Reasons to Stay Involved

Posted by Dan Abbett on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 1:36:36 PM
Michael Barone's recent column on the tough issues facing Obama moving forward sparked my own thoughts on how Obama will respond.  Mr. Barone pointed out three areas that will challenge Obama in the next few months, healthcare, Afghanistan and Iran.  I have listed my thoughts on these issues. 
 
1.  On healthcare, Obama will give more false promises in his address to Congress. He will offer a plan that appears to drop the public option but it will just be rhetorical sleight of hand, the people will see through it, the Dems will pass it anyway, strike one.

2.  On Afghanistan, Obama will punt. He will announce that he will either appoint or call for a council to "study" how to proceed in that country, vowing to take the results of their findings seriously. Time will pass, conditions in Afghanistan will deteriorate, calls to get out will grow louder and Obama will punt again. Strike two.

3.  Obama has cast the die on Iran. He has and continues to insist that he will meet directly with Ahmadinejad in negotiations to end Iran's nuclear weapons program. Iran insists that it will not negotiate on this issue; Ahmadinejad has repeated that position this week. Obama will press for talks, Iran will press ahead with its nuclear weapons program, Israel will attack Iran as a result, major strike three.

Why the pessimistic prognostications? To date, Barack Obama has proven himself incapable of actually making a decision.

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