Didn't want to upset his base.
Posted on 09/07/2014 12:04:27 PM PDT by Kaslin
Within minutes of addressing the nation following the Islamic State’s brutal beheading of American journalist James Foley, President Barack Obama had resumed his August vacation on the golf course. More than a few observers, even the president’s supporters, said that the decision to continue golfing immediately after announcing to the country that ISIS had executed what administration would later call a “terrorist attack” on the United States was unwise.
On Sunday, Obama acknowledged that he had erred, not only in seeming detached but also in failing to consider the “optics” associated with appearing callous and disinterested in the wake of that attack.
“I should’ve anticipated the optics,” Obama said on Sunday in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press. He said that he did not adequately consider how some would feel about his dispassion in the aftermath of that attack on the United States by ISIS.
“But part of this job is also the theater,” he said. “It’s not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters, and I’m mindful of that.”
Displaying compassion for the Foley family and those Americans rocked by this gruesome affront by appearing somber and reserved – even at the expense of a whole day of vacation – is, in Obama’s opinion, just more of the burdensome performance art that the public has come to expect of their commander-in-chief.
That may be slightly more insulting than if he had just golfed away the day and never acknowledged it again.
Obama sounded a bit resentful of the fact that the media had made the post-Foley speech golf outing an issue. “I think everybody who knows me, including, I suspect, the press, understands that that, you know, you take this stuff in,” Obama said. “And it’s serious business. And you care about it deeply.”
“The possibility of a jarring contrast, given the world’s news, is always — there’s always going to be some tough news somewhere — is going to be there,” he added. In other words, one day it’s an American beheaded, another day it’s some other horrible development. There will always be something critics will point to in order to say Obama shouldn’t be golfing. What more do you people want from him?
If Obama’s intention was to convey to the public the depth of his concern over the beheading of Americans by ISIS fighters, he failed to achieve that objective.
A charitable interpretation of Obama’s remarks would allow for the possibility that he was expressing his genuine regret for the hard-edged display that followed the Foley speech in an artless manner. Obama played pundit, as he often does, and sounded callous by making an assessment of the political implications surrounding what the public saw as a lack of empathy for those wounded by Foley’s execution. But the president’s implied scolding of the media for amplifying that criticism indicates that this interpretation of his remarks may be a bit too forgiving.
Obama capped off his venting to NBC’s Chuck Todd by insisting that he needs another vacation, but this time from the Fourth Estate. “Part of what I want is a vacation from the press,” Obama said.
Todd reminded him that his permanent break from professional responsibilities begins on January 20, 2017, but does the vacation really ever end if you’ve already checked out?
man he just dug a hole so deep he will never get out. never. fully admitting that this is all about what it appears and how HE appears.. not giving a g*damn about the poor Foley family.. all about him and the optics.
slime... pure motherf*cking slime..
how I hate this man.. let me count the ways....
As he digs that hole with his shovel ready optics - as they say in the Theatre at the end of a scene “Fade to Black”...
I hope he never comes out of his a-hole.
Didn't want to upset his base.
Yeah because his media lets him get away with it
Surprised he did not blame the golf ball.
You said it
I despise and loathe this arrogant pos and curse everyone of those morons who voted for him. Especially those who voted twice for him
I don't believe it. First time in six years and he's finally speaking the truth.
Ok, so not we know that theatre doesn't come naturally to him. Is he saying that the remorse he did show over Foley's beheading is just theater? That's much worse than saying NOTHING!!
Doesn’t he realize that he’s saying he should have faked a little concern?
Only a string of cuss words can adequately describe this little Bas$#*@.
King Putt.
I'm sure Foley's family was comforted by these remarks.
All talk.. NEVER any follow through action.
He’s just an evil S.O.B. and there’s no one to blame for that but him.
Joe Scarfart (Morning Fart) said it was “Art of War” type stuff
He has never taken responsibility for anything in his miserable life. It’s time people realize that the Narcissist in Chief has been a place holder in office of POTUS who may have led the nation past the point of a recovery. What a legacy.NOT!
Freegards
LEX
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