Obama's Critics Turn to Special Pleading

     That's how Ben White sounds here declaring that President Obama should start listening to his critics-after all, clearly they have his best interests at heart! White kind of admits himself that complaints about Obama playing gulf after speaking about the terrible murder of U.S. journalist James Foley by ISIS are kind of flabby, but, still Obama should worry about them because? Well the race between Scott Brown and Jean Shaheen is allegedly very close and it shouldn't be.

      "There are some who argue that criticism of President Barack Obama for happily golfing after speaking to the nation about the brutal terrorist murder of U.S. journalist James Foley is unfair and doesn't really matter anyway."

   
      "Those inclined to care about presidential golfing are never going to like Obama, this argument goes, so why should he trouble himself with theircritiques? Obama himself is reportedly of this view. The president, we are told, "long ago stopped worrying about what critics say."

        "He should start worrying again."

        "Because while it is true that Obama will never be able to win over his most ardent critics, he is starting to lose some of his base in a way that could cost Democrats the Senate this fall and turn his last two years in the White House into a nightmare."

          "Look no further than New Hampshire for evidence of Obama's dilemma. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, viewed as a fairly safe bet to win re-election, is now in a dead heat with former Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown, according to the highly respected WMUR Granite State Pollreleased Thursday night."

     http://www.cnbc.com/id/101939808

      Well obviously Obama's critics are right about everything, after all they sure were right that he was in deep trouble in 2012. Oh wait...  The Republicans are certainly worth listening to when they criticize Obama-after all, they know everything, I mean they have won 5 of the last 6 electoral colleges. Oh wait...  They actually lost 5 of the last 6. 

       To get specific here, White admits, this is just one poll in NH and others don't have it so close. Plus, if anything, he overstates Brown's haplessness-I don't like him and I was glad that Massachusetts where I lived a number of years got rid of him, but his resume is a little more impressive than White says-he really wants to make his overall point that Obama should listen to those who hate him-so he exaggerates here.

        The kvetching about golf is right out of Sean Hannity. I mean listen to him and Rush Limbaugh-if you lose a bet-and you'll hear the President destroyed for breathing. I remember listening to Hannity one afternoon during the 2012 election and him complaining that the President was costing 'you your tax dollars' everytime he took a bowl movement.    

         I'm sure there are those who would criticize him even for taking a bowl movement after speaking about the truly terrible beheading of James Foley. That's why he has to often tune out his critics-they cry so much wolf he simply has to-after all he has a country to run. Someone has to actually do the job while the naysayers bray in the backseat.

         Obviously even the Commander in Chief is a human being who can't stop living. The trouble is that so many Obama critics speak in such bad faith. They pick up the thread of any criticism no mater how crude just to knock hm. 

         So I doubt listening to them now will be anymore helpful than in 2009 and 2010 or 2012 or at any point in their unrelenting braying over the last 7 years. I can't speak for other members of the President's base that are allegedly turning on him because he was playing golf or took a vacation but I can say the bloom is not off the rose for me, nor ever will it be. I am so proud that this man has been our President, I just hope we can one day have a Congress that is not worth of a banana republic. 

         Off the beaten path, a more meaningful point of debate-not so much a criticism of just the President but of long standing U.S. policy is the payment of ransoms. Basically, we don't pay them-neither does Britain, but some of our allies like France does. 

          While Mr. Foley was beheaded many other journalists that were imprisoned with him were set free. This has touched up a debate where there are compelling arguments on both sides-nothing to do with the President being some terrible guy so no doubt his critics will find this of no interest. After all, it's certainly plausible that had the US paid a ransom, Mr. Foley would have been a free man and avoided his terrible fate. Perversely, we can go even further and put an exact dollar amount: ISIS had claimed they would release him for $132 million dollars. 

          Of course a life is priceless but his family didn't have this kind of money. The US government does, but this is against longstanding government policy. Should this policy change? At the least it may need to be rethought. 

          If anyone is in a position to discuss the question it's David Rodhe-who is not only a journalist for both the Reuters News Agency and The Atlantic but was held as a hostage himself in Afghanistan in 2008 for 7 months. No ransom was paid though he eventually got out. 

          As he himself says there are compelling reasons on both sides. Obviously from teh point of view of a hostage or their families, it gives a better chance of saving tehir lives. The argument against paying the ransom is that it will embolden terrorists-after all, kidnapping someone high profile enough could be a very lucrative business besides the ideology of the kidnappers. 

          What Rodhe does argue is that you can argue that the US and the UK are right not to pay or that France and others in Europe are right to pay but with  some governments paying and some not it creates the worse of all worlds. 

        http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/08/21/the-logic-of-not-paying-ransoms/

        http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/how-the-us-failed-james-foley/378863/

         Note that the full title of the Atlantic link asks not if just the US but if the US and Europe failed him-by together creating a worse of all worlds scenario.