Game of Politics?
There are people that, either affectionately or derisively, regard politics as a sort of game. After all, there are players. There are winners and losers. There’s strategy. There’s gamesmanship. There are rules. Sometimes there are cheats. There are scripts. There’s an element of chance. There are MANY things that make politics look, on first blush, like a contest or a game. And many people, either overtly or covertly, subscribe to this point of view.
As I was looking over the evening paper a few days back, I realized how far this view of politics is from the truth. I was looking at a simple headline: “Attacks on Police Escalate”. A simple headline. Simple and profoundly sad.
In San Antonio, Officer Benjamin Marconi is shot during a TRAFFIC stop. In Saint Louis a police officer is shot twice IN THE FACE while SITTING in his squad car. In Sanibel Island, an officer was shot while writing a TRAFFIC TICKET. All of this within 24 hours of each other.
Expanding the time window to include the past year, there are MANY more examples: In Dallas, FIVE officers were shot as they worked to control a riot. In Baton Rouge, two officers were fatally ambushed in two separate shootings. In New York City two officers are shot dead while they sat in their patrol car. This tragic list goes on and on. In fact, the police officer body count is now 63 for this year alone! And NOT all of these murders are racially motivated. Some are black on black, and some white on white. But ALL are a manifestation of abject contempt for police. A contempt that has been tacitly supported by the attitudes and prejudices of our President. Recall, if you will, some of his many agitprop statements: “Black Lives Matter is the modern equivalent of freedom fighters”. And, “If I had a son he’d look just like Trevon….” And, on and on! (and egged on by the way, by a fawning, misguided press). Yes, the murders of law enforcement personal are part of the legacy that Mr. Barack Hussein Obama will leave behind. A bloody legacy. People have died. Good people. It should be clear, with this in mind, ladies and gentlemen, that politics is NOT just a game. It has consequences, some of them deadly. (Since the initial draft of this post, there have been two MORE murdered police officers to be noted: Justin Martin and Anthony Beminio in Iowa).
Reflecting on this further, my thoughts turned to the mid eastern victims of Mr. Obama’s international legacy. In this group, there are two broad categories.
In the first category, are the victims of horrific atrocities at the hands of ISIS. These victims are also a part of Mr. Obama’s legacy. By withdrawing ALL of our troops from Iraq (against, by the way, the strident advice of every major analyst) Mr. Obama created a power “vacuum” that was quickly filled by the ISIS army of terror. The result was countless BEHEADINGS of Christians, Jews, Yazidis and even Shia Muslims! (Many of the severed heads were proudly displayed in Raqqa [I’ve seen the actual photographs] on the spikes of a wrought iron fence surrounding a public space in the center of town!). Some of them were CHILDREN! There were crucifixions! There are mass graves. There were countless rapes. Sexual slavery abounded. There were amputations of fingers and limbs. There was every manner of barbarism known to man. And all of this a consequence of Obama’s sought after legacy to be the person who ended the Iraq war! People died. People were tortured. People were maimed. Again, ladies and gentlemen, it should be apparent from all of this, that politics is NOT a game.
The second category of mid eastern victims of Obama’s legacy, are the citizens of the countries in which Mr. Obama meddled: Egypt, Libya and Syria. By destabilizing long ruling stable governments and by arming so called “moderate rebels” (which turned out to be Al-Qaeda and ISIS) Mr. Obama’s legacy is countless deaths in those countries. Deaths of combatants and non combatants alike. All of this due to Mr. Obama’s long sought after goal of a “progressive” mid eastern legacy. Again, people have died, many of them horribly. And, once again, it should be obvious that politics is NOT a game.
And, let’s finish with a look, perhaps, into the future. As a consequence of Mr. Obama’s JCPOA (Iran treaty) in 10 years, possibly much less, Iran WILL have successfully assembled nuclear bombs. All Iran will then have to do, at that point, is make a couple extra bombs (there are CURRENTLY thousands of uranium enrichment centrifuges STILL operating), and “donate” one to Al-Qaeda or ISIS and sit back and watch the fireworks! Tel Aviv, Washington, or New York City would be on the short list of targets. This extreme danger is the result of Mr. Obama’s longed for legacy of prowess at negotiating and peacemaking (he WAS, after all, awarded a Nobel Peace Prize BEFORE even taking office!). If this scenario plays out, MILLIONS may die. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it should be very evident that politics is not a game. Not a game at all.
This game is starting to scare me.
With good reason Geri! I have faith, though, that we can turn things around!
Glad you take the time to research and write so all of us can learn and think .