(REUTERS)
After his widely-panned speech to the nation where he did not lay out a single new strategy to defeat ISIS, President Obama held yet another highly staged and choreographed event on Monday to try to show the American people that he is capable of destroying the terrorist group.
Unfortunately for this president, rhetoric cannot defeat ISIS; leadership and action are needed from our commander-in-chief, and right now, those are two concepts that continue to elude him in his seventh year in office.
During his speech on Monday, the president said that the United States and our allies “are hitting ISIL harder than ever,” and while that is a start, why is it just happening now?
For over a year, ISIS has been on the march, capturing and murdering American citizens and creating more danger in the Middle East.
President Obama had a legitimate chance to stop ISIS in its tracks had he decided in 2011 to keep a transition force in the region that likely would have stunted their growth. Instead, he knew that he had a tough re-election fight on his hands and needed to make good on his campaign promise to end the War in Iraq. The result has been a Middle East that is more dangerous than ever that increasingly threatens our national security.
The president’s decision to look at polls and make a popular decision, rather than the right decision, is emblematic of the kind of leadership we have come to expect from Washington. It is certainly true with the likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who forms her political views based on poll numbers rather than principles and convictions.
On the Keystone Pipeline, for example, she said in 2010 that the State Department, which she ran, was “inclined,” to support the Pipeline, but in 2015, she came out against the Pipeline while locked in a contentious Democratic primary where voters are largely opposed to the job-creating measure.
Then there is the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, which Clinton championed several times as the Secretary Of State, extolling it as job-creating and even calling it the “gold standard." Fast-forward to her Democratic primary campaign in 2015 and Clinton now conveniently opposes the agreement since the voters she is trying to appeal to do not support it.
The same story can be said on a number of issues for Secretary Clinton, but it all goes back to the central point that, like President Obama, she is not prepared to take the challenging but necessary steps as president, which is why she is unqualified for the job.
For the past seven years, we have seen what happens when the individual in the Oval Office governs while focused on politics instead of policy. That will be the takeaway from the Obama administration, and it most certainly applies to Secretary Clinton’s political career as well.
Throughout her career in public life, Secretary Clinton has proven that she will always make the politically expedient decision over the politically tough decision, which is not what we need from our nation’s leader.
We need a president who has firm grounding in his or her beliefs and will not be swayed by public opinion or what is popular on one particular day.
Our country is best served when we have a president who ignores daily politics and will think about the best interest of our nation, first and foremost, when making a decision that impacts the lives of every American.
Because of the failures of the Obama presidency, the next president will take office in 2017 with a slew of problems to address and challenges to overcome.
That is why we cannot afford to elect Hillary Clinton, because she will continue with the failed idea of using politics instead of action to lead.
Get the recap of top opinion commentary and original content throughout the week.