Every few weeks we have a day when many in the media or the government seem to be living on different planets. Indeed, sometimes I picture some of the reporters or officials wondering just where they are. This morning is no exception.
The best example yesterday was the White House reaction to the fall of Ramadi in Iraq to ISIS. We were told that the loss of the capital of Anbar Province is no big deal. It is just a minor setback in a successful campaign against ISIS. At least that is what the official story is.
It makes me wonder if the folks in the White House actually believe this stuff. They understand that something more than another 100,000 people are now under the control of ISIS. If ISIS operates true to form, about 40,000 will escape as refugees, but thousands will be executed for "crimes" like opposing ISIS or being a Yazidi. The White House also understands that for the Sunni tribes in Anbar, watching the government troops flee from the fight against the smaller attacking force from ISIS makes clear that the Iraqi army cannot protect them from ISIS. There is no reason to get on the list of those to be executed by opposing ISIS if there is no one who seems able to stop the terrorists. In other words, the fall of Ramadi is a big deal, perhaps the worst development in the fight against ISIS in the last six months. It shows that the Obama strategy is failing, not succeeding.
Another example are the articles today about how Hillary Clinton's campaign for president is succeeding. Really? Since she announced, there has been a long string of negative events and stories regarding Hillary. Her success so far is that she has not yet been forced to withdraw from the race, but that is not what these articles say. I actually read one piece that announced that Hillary met her goal of showing that she was just an ordinary person who is accessible to the average American. This is a woman who went a month without speaking to anyone who was not screened in advance. She took no questions except those that were planted by her staff with the preselected people she got to meet. She ran from the press and refused to comment on essentially every issue facing the country. When she did comment, she waffled on issues like the Pacific trade treaty. In other words, no one looking at her campaign could ever conclude that she had shown herself to be accessible or just one of the folks.
The best example yesterday was the White House reaction to the fall of Ramadi in Iraq to ISIS. We were told that the loss of the capital of Anbar Province is no big deal. It is just a minor setback in a successful campaign against ISIS. At least that is what the official story is.
It makes me wonder if the folks in the White House actually believe this stuff. They understand that something more than another 100,000 people are now under the control of ISIS. If ISIS operates true to form, about 40,000 will escape as refugees, but thousands will be executed for "crimes" like opposing ISIS or being a Yazidi. The White House also understands that for the Sunni tribes in Anbar, watching the government troops flee from the fight against the smaller attacking force from ISIS makes clear that the Iraqi army cannot protect them from ISIS. There is no reason to get on the list of those to be executed by opposing ISIS if there is no one who seems able to stop the terrorists. In other words, the fall of Ramadi is a big deal, perhaps the worst development in the fight against ISIS in the last six months. It shows that the Obama strategy is failing, not succeeding.
Another example are the articles today about how Hillary Clinton's campaign for president is succeeding. Really? Since she announced, there has been a long string of negative events and stories regarding Hillary. Her success so far is that she has not yet been forced to withdraw from the race, but that is not what these articles say. I actually read one piece that announced that Hillary met her goal of showing that she was just an ordinary person who is accessible to the average American. This is a woman who went a month without speaking to anyone who was not screened in advance. She took no questions except those that were planted by her staff with the preselected people she got to meet. She ran from the press and refused to comment on essentially every issue facing the country. When she did comment, she waffled on issues like the Pacific trade treaty. In other words, no one looking at her campaign could ever conclude that she had shown herself to be accessible or just one of the folks.
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