How Has Obama Disappointed You Today

The Neo-Conservative Playground

So, to recap the week.

Qaddafi?  Dead.

Iraq War? Over.

Republicans?  Spiteful and petty.

Mittens says that Obama getting us out of a quagmire with no end in sight represents a failure of leadership.  I was going to link, but I think I'll just cut and paste, because... damn.

"President Obama’s astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women,“ Romney said in a statement. "The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government. The American people deserve to hear the recommendations that were made by our military commanders in Iraq.”

In psychiatry they call this "projection".

Look everyone but the hard core neo-cons wanted this war over eight years ago.  Obama managed to both slow walk the withdrawal to keep Iraq together and adhere to the deadline he set.  A lot of Left commentators have said whenever Obama offers up a timeline to do something, "I'll believe it when I see it."

When has he ever failed to deliver on something within his control?

Lindsay Graham is mewling plaintively that letting the Libyans control their own destiny sucks because there have been LITERALLY MONTHS when we haven't been pulling Libyan oil of the ground.  Senator Huckleberry said the following:

"Let’s get in on the ground. There is a lot of money to be made in the future in Libya. Lot of oil to be produced. Let’s get on the ground and help the Libyan people establish a democracy and a functioning economy based on free market principles.”

As Charlie Pierce notes, we have an economy based on free market principles.  How is THAT going to help the Libyans?

One of the points behind Klein's The Shock Doctrine is that the real goal in Iraq was not democracy but "free market principles" namely privatizing state industries, most obviously oil.  Lindsay is very upset that Libyans will be able to decide for themselves what to do in the future.

The Walrus of Freedom also weighs in.  Booman links to NewsMax, but I won't do that.  I'll give you the quote from Bolton:

“If we had acted swiftly and decisively at the beginning of this thing instead of having it drag out for six months with a much higher toll in civilian deaths, we might have shattered Gadhafi’s government near the beginning of the conflict and brought it to a resolution sooner,” 

OK, I see your point, John.  Or maybe we would have shattered the credibility of the resistance movement.  Maybe we would have gotten Americans killed.  Maybe we would have discredited the entire Arab Spring by bigfooting around the Middle East showing everybody how tough we can be, how brave you can be with other people's lives.

You know, John, like you did in Iraq.

Just today, I was writing about how the GOP refuses to do anything - even good, helpful things - if it will help Obama.  I don't see why they care.

Even when he wins the ungraciously little pricks say he's a loser.