Obama’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan ruffles feathers

If you love great theater, yesterday was your day to watch MSNBC and the other “major” cable news outlets.  To virtually a person, each one had their own take on how disappointing the president’s plan was.  It was too much for some and not enough for others.  The scary part was, much of the disagreement with Obama spanned the political spectrum and was mostly centered on the cost and how broke this country was.  Sad to think that these same “heavy hitters” were not screaming as loud when we were being lead by the nose into these wars.

Many, who would normally be on opposite sides of any issue, now bands together and scream that since we killed Osama bin Laden, we can now bring all of our troops home and then use that money to help restore this economy.  I can somewhat understand their premise but I have to chuckle at the thought that those who are supposed to know really do think that bringing all the troops home will really allow us the use of the money currently going overseas.  I laugh because this president has done nothing but propose things to create jobs but have been blocked and often dismissed by congress so what makes them think that this money would find it’s way to job creation.  I am aware that the midtermers did campaign on it but I have yet to see anything closely resembling anything to create a job.  We have seen assaults on unions, the poor, seniors, women’s rights and veterans but nothing to create jobs.  Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place or the voters and media has been asleep at the helm when it comes to holding those elected accountable for not doing more.  Just blame it on the president because his is, however, a one-man show.

What might be missed in this drama about Obama is maybe we are holding on to these troops not because of Afghanistan but Pakistan.  I mean if the Pakistan President really can talk out of both sides of his mouth, should not we be proactive instead or reactive?  Pakistan does have nuclear weapons or was that just my imagination.  During the surge, we may have just understood why India has always had a problem with Pakistan.  We may be getting clear evidence that Osama’s residence in Pakistan was no accident.  Many of our media elites say that President Obama is risking his re-election on this plan; I say that if this president was only concerned with getting re-elected, he would have done things a whole lot differently than he did.  He is not making decision based on getting re-elected, he is making decisions based on what he believes is in the best interest of this nation and if memory serves, that was what we elected him to do.  Some say that his poll numbers are falling and it is because the public does not see him doing enough on the economy.  I saw that if the news covered the things he was trying to do right as hard as they cover Sarah Palin, Anthony Weiner or the things he doesn’t, his poll numbers may be better.  But then I guess it’s unfair to blame the media since it’s not their call about which story they cover.  It’s the job of the little man behind the curtain who decides what the top story will be.

There is plenty of blame to go around for all of us to share but to concentrate on just one aspect is not news, its TV radio talk.  The voters sat on their hands during the midterms and now have to face the responsibility of those who got elected because of it.  Politicians have been chasing big business since hatchet was a hammer and because we failed to demand better, now we have to deal with it.  I allowed my dog to run around without a collar and that’s my row to hoe.  Just tell the whole story and stop using airtime to prove your point.  Have an opinion but offer solutions as well.  We do not need to be reminded of what we do wrong unless we can also be advised of how to fix it.  Just my opinion, I could be wrong.