Reagan Weeping: Obama Dribbles While Crimea Burns

by Jerry Novick
Clash Daily Guest Contributor

Crucial to being a good leader is the ability to set priorities. For instance, as President of the United States, a basic list of priorities should run something like this:

— Defense – including border security
— Foreign Policy and International Standing
— Economic Stability & Growth
— Protect the Liberty of American Citizens

Now, if you notice, that pretty much lines up with the Preamble of The United States Constitution:

…provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…

Unfortunately, President Barack Obama has nothing but contempt for the Constitution. But he sure has a love for two things: Himself and Basketball.

Obama’s list of priorities gets a bit fuzzy after that. However, his actions speak volumes, and it’s pretty obvious that Foreign Policy and Domestic Prosperity don’t make his top ten.

In stark contrast stand the priorities of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been making a fool of Obama on the world stage for the past five years. From Syria’s chemical weapons to the Crimean Peninsula and beyond, Putin has taken action while Obama offers empty words.

Lets compare and contrast Obama and Putin – but just for fun, let’s also bring in another American President, you know, to show that America is capable of doing better than Obama. At random, let’s say, oh, Ronald Reagan.

1. As Obama weakens America’s military through troop cutbacks equaling our pre-World War 2 footing, Putin increases the size of his armed forces. Ronald Reagan’s policy was Peace Through Strength, which prompted the former USSR to come to the negotiating table to produce a real weapons’ treaty with some teeth.

2. Obama has his Arab Spring, which cripples Egypt, first with the oppressive Muslim Brotherhood faux-Presidency and then a military coup. The Arab Spring also emboldened Bashar Hafez al-Assad in Syria (the Red Crayon Line not withstanding).

Putin, meanwhile, has Syria right where he wants it – on the end of his leash. Ronald Reagan’s presence in the White House had the Arab nations loosening their grip on the flow of oil and on the necks of their own people, who began to see some real freedom for the first time.

3. Obama treats the United States’ former closest ally, Israel, like a red-headed step child. Putin’s various terrorist friends step up their rocket attacks on Israel and talk more than ever about finally eliminating the Jewish State. Meanwhile, Israel and the US were closer than ever with Ronald Reagan at the helm.

4. Reagan’s mere election had Iran releasing its American hostages and shutting its mouth for decades to come. Obama, however, lifts the sanctions and puts Iran several billions of steps closer to having their own nuclear weapons, and Putin gains influence over a country that just can’t wait to kill Americans and Israelis.

5. Putin, realizing that Obama’s word means nothing, marches right into …

6. the Crimean Peninsula, and the Crimean people hold a referendum to break away from Ukraine and rejoin Russia. Obama stammers some idle political hoo-haa about never recognizing the vote as legitimate. And by way of past contrast, Ukraine originally became free in the 1980s due to the bold influence of Ronald Reagan.

So, basically, under Obama we have a world that is giving back all of the peaceful gains it made during and directly after Ronald Reagan’s time in office. Reagan tore down the wall, Gorbachev gave in and gave us a new Russia plus a bunch of independent Eastern European countries, and the Cold War came to an end.

Unfortunately, now we have Obama helping Putin rebuild the Soviet Union and the wall, a Middle East that is less stable than ever, a soon-to-be nuclear Iran, and a world that laughs at Obama’s effete foreign policy. The new Cold War promises to be red hot with action, none of which will favor United State’s interests.

But hey – we have Obama’s picks for the next college basketball tournament. And it was on time – unlike any of the five budgets he’s submitted and seen soundly defeated. And he’s about to launch an ObamaCare membership drive, using the aforementioned sporting event as his advertising hook. Then he’s probably going to slip away for a quick 10-day vacation at the taxpayers’ expense. Meanwhile, Putin will probably pick himself up another Russian satellite state, and maybe see what he can do to help his pals in the Middle East.

It’s all about priorities people. And Obama’s priorities have nothing to do with the safety or prosperity of the United States.

Image: Courtesy of: http://chuck-thompson.com/2013/05/the-buck-stops-somewhere-else/

Jerry Novick lives in a Liberal-Progressive, high-tax Blue State where he dreams of the day when his hard work and judicious savings program allows him and his family to head off to more Conservative climes. Jerry’s resume as a professional writer spans nearly 30 years and pretty much every genre and form you can think of. When not contributing to ClashDaily, he writes political commentary at TheWriteAmerica.com.