Oval Office Address Sucked Less Than Expected

Obama stepped into one of least favorite rooms in the White House on Sunday night to address growing concerns about the threat of ISIS. Very few Americans are confident in a commander in chief that has continuously downplayed the threat of radical Islam and refused to call it by its name. Following the tragedy that took place in San Bernadino, the President really had no choice but to respond.

I didn’t like the address, but I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. Did he seem sincere? Absolutely not, and I doubt he wrote that himself. But Barry did a better job than I thought he would, with a lot less partisan rhetoric at the expense of the right than I was expecting, and a lot less politically correct pussyfooting. I mean, let’s not kid ourselves; there was some, but a lot less than I expect from 44. I would have liked to hear him admit that he was wrong, but that would be too good to be true.

Knowing what I know about Obama, the military, and the relationship between the two, the strategies and plans of action he said that had been implemented and would be implemented didn’t make me feel any safer, but I’m just hoping that Congress will stall any disastrous moves between now and the day he leaves office.

I couldn’t help but facetiously chuckle to myself as he promised to investigate the vetting process that he boasted of just weeks ago when urging us to open the floodgates to Syrian refugees. He insisted on a “stronger screening process” for those wishing to come to this country, but the fact is that in many of these cases, there is no substantial way to verify any information.

And to address the subtle shot he fired at Ted Cruz, as bizarre and unorthodox as a religious test for refugees sound, Cruz has a point. While religious tests sound blatantly backwards and bigoted, the fact is that no Christian Syrian poses the threat of an ISIS affiliation. ISIS beheads Christians– and other Muslims– but the Muslims, while also brutalized by ISIS, are targeted for recruitment, and therein lies the dilemma and unfortunate truth.

I personally thought that his spiel about Islamaphobia was within reason, especially for Barry, and appreciated that it came at the end of the address. The thing I hated about the #MuslimsAreNotTerrorists hashtag that immediately followed the attacks in Paris is that the tragedy itself and the actual threat of radical Islam became secondary to making sure Muslim feelings weren’t hurt, which I found preposterous. The only eye roll I had during his talk about the Muslim community happened when he said, “If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate.” I understand what he’s trying to say; American Muslims shouldn’t be suspects just because they’re Muslim, but at the same time, what happened in San Bernadino might have been prevented if the terrorists’ neighbors were less afraid of being called racist or Islamophobic. We need common sense suspicion more than we need the “common sense gun reform” that liberals are always pushing.

Barack Obama was right about one thing: as commander in chief, he has no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. Almost everything he has done in office has further endangered us, and I doubt anything about that will change within the next year. It’s super awkward to me when Obama tries to lecture anyone about American values or appear as if he has some dynamic military strategy, but at least he’s making an effort to disguise his incompetence this time.