Teh One Who Knocks
08-22-2014, 11:46 AM
By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor, MailOnline and Francesca Chambers for MailOnline
http://i.imgur.com/3NDAiDe.jpg
President Barack Obama teed off again on Thursday, just 24 hours after pictures of his wide grin on the golf course drew condemnation in the wake of the beheading of American photojournalist James Foley.
'Admit it,' a White House pool reporter emailed the press corps. 'You all made small-dollar bets that POTUS would be playing golf today. And ... you would be right!'
'We are at the Farm Neck Golf Club at 1:13 pm. and POTUS is hitting the links again.'
The president drew fire Wednesday after reacting to Foley's on-camera slaying for just five minutes, and then gripping his driver.
He had told a global audience minutes earlier that 'when people harm Americans, anywhere, we do what’s necessary to see that justice is done.'
Then he was seen laughing with friends and fist-bumping them during a five-hour round at Farm Neck on Martha's Vineyard.
Thursday's round is his eighth in 11 days. Wire photos of the president and his playing partners depict a more serious commander-in-chief with none of the yukking that characterized photos a day ago.
His high-fiving on Wednesday has brought a chorus of condemnation from TV commentators, journalists, conservative partisans and Twitter users.
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters could hardly contain his anger Wednesday night on the Fox News Channel as he discussed Obama's reactions to the ISIS terror network's beheading of Foley, an American who had been missing since 2012.
'There is no way the president should be stupid enough to go play golf' after such a somber speech, Peters said.
'Not only did he insult the Foley family; he sent a message to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (the leader of ISIS) and all of the other jihadi terrorist militants – now soldiers of a jihadi army – that he doesn't take it all seriously.'
Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert told Mailonline that Obama's detached attitude suggests he hasn't been engaged in the hunt for Foley's murderer.
'Unfortunately for those who want evil ISIS members eliminated before they kill more Americans,' Gohmert said, 'the president spent more time lining up his many putts than he did lining up efforts to stop the killers.'
His fellow lawmaker Lou Barletta, a Republican from Pennsylvania, told MailOnline that he 'cannot begin to imagine the anguish felt by the Foley family, and I offer them my heartfelt condolences.'
Obama, he said, went off the reservation.
'Within half an hour of announcing that one of our own – an American – lost his life to terrorists in a horrendous fashion, and with the whole world watching, our commander in chief decided to go golfing,' Barletta said.
'This image of our president is disheartening, and sends the wrong signals to our enemies. ISIS needs to be stopped, and fist pumps between the president and his buddies won’t stop them.'
Liz Cheney took to Twitter to say: 'Obama is more dedicated to golfing that he is to defending the nation.'
Her father, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, went on Fox Wednesday night to condemn Obama's continuing rest and relaxation.
'Every day we find new evidence that he’d rather be on the golf course than he would be dealing with a crisis that’s developing rapidly in the Middle East,' Cheney told host Sean Hannity.
ABC News political director Rick Klein told Fox host Greta van Susteren three hours earlier that the White House is 'well past the point of caring about the so-called "optics" of things like this. And the president himself clearly doesn't ... care about the way it looks.'
Klein said he found it 'jarring to see him on the golf course just minutes after giving an address like this.'
Twitter exploded with tens of thousands of tweets expressing disbelief that Obama was 'tone deaf,' 'clueless' and 'disrespectful.'
'Golfing today is in bad taste,' tweeted Vox editor-in-chief Ezra Klein, a long-time Obama backer.
'What message does it send?' asked the influential Drudge Report editor and Washington Times columnist Joe Curl.
David Horowitz, a conservative convert known for his slash-and-burn rhetoric, held nothing back.
'ISIS beheads Foley. Obama makes an empty statement and takes another round of golf,' he summarized. 'Is this an invitation to kill more Americans or what?'
http://i.imgur.com/4ntA4dG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZX1XEYE.png
The New York Times had digital egg on its face for hours while Obama golfed, publishing a story about his early afternoon speech headlined: 'Obama Outraged Over Beheading, Vows to Stay on Course.'
The grey lady eventually changed her headline.
In stark contrast to the somber mood of his speech, the president then returned to his vacation and the golf course where he was pictured laughing and smiling with friends just eight minutes later, according to Fox.
The editorial board of Investor's Business Daily, a California-based business and international economics broadsheet, opined late Wednesday night that the president has lost his way amid a series of social klatches.
'Murdered ambassador. Beheaded American. Just what exactly would it take to keep Obama from a fundraiser or off the golf course?' the editorial board's official Twitter account blasted.
Through a spokesman, Former President George W. Bush declined to comment about Obama's 18-hole priorities.
He famously gave up golfing in 2003 'in solidarity' with families of American servicemen and women who were dying in an Iraq war that he launched after the 9/11 terror attacks.
'I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf,' he said during a 2008 interview with Politico.
'And I think playing golf during a war sends the wrong signal.'
Early in his presidency Bush was put on defense after a video clip circulated of his mid-golf reaction to a suicide bombing in Israel that killed 9 people.
'I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you,' he says in the clip. 'Now watch this drive.'
Now Obama, too, has his own moment of awful golf timing.
He was also pilloried online on August 14 when he played the Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown, Massachusetts while a military honor guard conducted the funeral of U.S. Army Major General Harold Greene in Arlington, Virginia.
Greene, shot to death by an Afghani soldier, was the highest ranking officer killed in hostile action overseas since the Vietnam War.
A day earlier Obama caught flak for dancing at a friend's birthday party while street riots overtook the town of Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police officer had gunned down an unarmed black teen robbery suspect just days before.
Obama has played roughly 35 hours of golf in the last week and a half alone.
http://i.imgur.com/qISNCY3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/H337BFf.jpg
As Obama was teeing off, his administration was briefing on its rescue attempts this summer and said it would not release more details on the raid.
It was revealed Wednesday that special forces attempted to rescue Americans – including James Foley – held hostage by ISIS in Syria earlier this summer. The mission failed because of flawed intelligence about where the captives were being held.
The mission to save the journalist and others was carried out in early July. The hostages – held by a trio of British jihadists known as 'The Beatles' – could not be found.
'This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL [also known as ISIS],' the White House said in a statement last night.
'Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location.'
Sources told The New York Times that the mission was carried out by two dozen special-ops members, who were dropped off in Syria in early July and were met with gunfire.
'While on site, it became apparent the hostages were not there,' one of the officials said.
The sources wouldn't say where the raid was held, but pointed out that if it had happened in a heavily-populated area, it likely would have already made news. They also wouldn't comment on how many hostages were believed to be held captive at the location, or their names.
The administration kept the raid a secret until now in order to 'preserve future opportunities' for future missions.
Details of the mission were revealed after President Obama spoke about the execution of James Foley and promised new strikes on ISIS.
On Thursday Liz Cheney criticized the Obama administration for volunteering information on the sensitive mission to the press.
'One more time we're seeing this president put politics above security,' she told Fox News' Bill Hemmer. 'The only reason to release the information that he released about that rescue attempt was for his own political gain.
'There was absolutely no national security reason to do it, and in fact, it weakens our national security,' she said.
Arizona Sen. John McCain told Hemmer it would have been 'far better' if Americans didn't know about the rescue mission.
'They see the negative . . . the disapproval of the American people of the handling of the situation, so one can't help but assume that this is sort of try to help their PR,' he said.
McCain said in releasing the information the administration was 'betraying some of our capabilities.'
'And it wasn't unintentional,' he added.
There were nearly a dozen new airstrikes near the Mosul Dam after the gruesome video of Foley's death emerged.
Before his tee time on Wednesday afternoon, Obama took a few minutes to address Foley's execution, declaring that 'the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder.'
Obama didn't mention any advance warnings when he delivered five minutes of remarks, while on vacation on Matha's Vineyard. But he said the U.S. won't back down from ISIS , the militant terror group behind Foley's death.
'No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day,' he said.
'ISIL speaks for no religion,' he said, aiming his words at the Islamist faction that claims to have established a Muslim caliphate in portions of Syria and Iraq. 'Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.'
Foley stood 'in stark contrast' to his captors and executioners, he said, blaming them for a series of 'cowardly acts of violence.'
Americans 'are all heartbroken at their loss and join them in honoring Jim,' he said, somber but not wearing a necktie, as has been his practice during his extended family holiday.
http://i.imgur.com/Wkc4YBo.png
But the president said the terror group has tortured and killed ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including women and children.
'They have rampaged across cities and villages, killing innocent civilians,' he said.
'They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than that they practice another religion.'
'One thing we can all agree on is a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century.'
He seemed to double down on the threat of airstrikes, even though Foley's executioner claimed another journalist will die if they continue.
'There has to be a common effort to expel this cancer so it does not spread,' Obama said.
The president took a vacation from his vacation on Monday for two days of meetings at the White House.
By early evening on Tuesday Obama was back on a plane to Martha's Vineyard as news about Foley's murder began to spread.
'Somebody made a mistake. They should have thought this thing through,' longtime Bush aide Karl Rove told Fox News on Thursday.
'They should have said the president is going to go out and make a comment on this . . . why don't we get the tee time tomorrow. Or why don't we get the tee time in 4 or 5 hours rather than eight minutes later,' he added.
http://i.imgur.com/AqyApZd.png
The political consultant, who earned the nickname 'The Architect' for masterminding Bush's reelection strategy, contended that the White House has been making more than it's fair share of missteps recently and 'there's been a gap between what the president has been doing and people's reaction to it.'
'I just think they're off their game,' he said. 'I don't know whether it's August, maybe the White House staff needed a break, maybe they're getting worn out, maybe the communications mavens over there have just lost their mojo.
'But something recently, the last couple of months has been going wrong, with their ability to handle situations like this,' he said.
In last two months the White House communications team has in fact seen a shake-up in staff.
Obama's top spokesman, Jay Carney, departed the White House in June. Carney was immediately replaced by his second-in-command Josh Earnest.
It's Earnest's principal deputy, Eric Schultz, who has been handling communications for the White House during the president's vacation though, as the new White House press secretary is currently on paternity leave.
In her interview with Fox on Thursday Liz Cheney said President Obama is to blame for his botched responses to recent global crises.
'The world is burning, and the president seem to not know how to handle that, so what he does is he makes a statement and he talks about how terrible the enemy is, and then he hits the links,' she said.
'And that is not going to defend the nation, and that is not going to protect us.
'I think frankly...it's a disgrace,' she said.
http://i.imgur.com/3NDAiDe.jpg
President Barack Obama teed off again on Thursday, just 24 hours after pictures of his wide grin on the golf course drew condemnation in the wake of the beheading of American photojournalist James Foley.
'Admit it,' a White House pool reporter emailed the press corps. 'You all made small-dollar bets that POTUS would be playing golf today. And ... you would be right!'
'We are at the Farm Neck Golf Club at 1:13 pm. and POTUS is hitting the links again.'
The president drew fire Wednesday after reacting to Foley's on-camera slaying for just five minutes, and then gripping his driver.
He had told a global audience minutes earlier that 'when people harm Americans, anywhere, we do what’s necessary to see that justice is done.'
Then he was seen laughing with friends and fist-bumping them during a five-hour round at Farm Neck on Martha's Vineyard.
Thursday's round is his eighth in 11 days. Wire photos of the president and his playing partners depict a more serious commander-in-chief with none of the yukking that characterized photos a day ago.
His high-fiving on Wednesday has brought a chorus of condemnation from TV commentators, journalists, conservative partisans and Twitter users.
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters could hardly contain his anger Wednesday night on the Fox News Channel as he discussed Obama's reactions to the ISIS terror network's beheading of Foley, an American who had been missing since 2012.
'There is no way the president should be stupid enough to go play golf' after such a somber speech, Peters said.
'Not only did he insult the Foley family; he sent a message to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (the leader of ISIS) and all of the other jihadi terrorist militants – now soldiers of a jihadi army – that he doesn't take it all seriously.'
Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert told Mailonline that Obama's detached attitude suggests he hasn't been engaged in the hunt for Foley's murderer.
'Unfortunately for those who want evil ISIS members eliminated before they kill more Americans,' Gohmert said, 'the president spent more time lining up his many putts than he did lining up efforts to stop the killers.'
His fellow lawmaker Lou Barletta, a Republican from Pennsylvania, told MailOnline that he 'cannot begin to imagine the anguish felt by the Foley family, and I offer them my heartfelt condolences.'
Obama, he said, went off the reservation.
'Within half an hour of announcing that one of our own – an American – lost his life to terrorists in a horrendous fashion, and with the whole world watching, our commander in chief decided to go golfing,' Barletta said.
'This image of our president is disheartening, and sends the wrong signals to our enemies. ISIS needs to be stopped, and fist pumps between the president and his buddies won’t stop them.'
Liz Cheney took to Twitter to say: 'Obama is more dedicated to golfing that he is to defending the nation.'
Her father, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, went on Fox Wednesday night to condemn Obama's continuing rest and relaxation.
'Every day we find new evidence that he’d rather be on the golf course than he would be dealing with a crisis that’s developing rapidly in the Middle East,' Cheney told host Sean Hannity.
ABC News political director Rick Klein told Fox host Greta van Susteren three hours earlier that the White House is 'well past the point of caring about the so-called "optics" of things like this. And the president himself clearly doesn't ... care about the way it looks.'
Klein said he found it 'jarring to see him on the golf course just minutes after giving an address like this.'
Twitter exploded with tens of thousands of tweets expressing disbelief that Obama was 'tone deaf,' 'clueless' and 'disrespectful.'
'Golfing today is in bad taste,' tweeted Vox editor-in-chief Ezra Klein, a long-time Obama backer.
'What message does it send?' asked the influential Drudge Report editor and Washington Times columnist Joe Curl.
David Horowitz, a conservative convert known for his slash-and-burn rhetoric, held nothing back.
'ISIS beheads Foley. Obama makes an empty statement and takes another round of golf,' he summarized. 'Is this an invitation to kill more Americans or what?'
http://i.imgur.com/4ntA4dG.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZX1XEYE.png
The New York Times had digital egg on its face for hours while Obama golfed, publishing a story about his early afternoon speech headlined: 'Obama Outraged Over Beheading, Vows to Stay on Course.'
The grey lady eventually changed her headline.
In stark contrast to the somber mood of his speech, the president then returned to his vacation and the golf course where he was pictured laughing and smiling with friends just eight minutes later, according to Fox.
The editorial board of Investor's Business Daily, a California-based business and international economics broadsheet, opined late Wednesday night that the president has lost his way amid a series of social klatches.
'Murdered ambassador. Beheaded American. Just what exactly would it take to keep Obama from a fundraiser or off the golf course?' the editorial board's official Twitter account blasted.
Through a spokesman, Former President George W. Bush declined to comment about Obama's 18-hole priorities.
He famously gave up golfing in 2003 'in solidarity' with families of American servicemen and women who were dying in an Iraq war that he launched after the 9/11 terror attacks.
'I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the commander-in-chief playing golf,' he said during a 2008 interview with Politico.
'And I think playing golf during a war sends the wrong signal.'
Early in his presidency Bush was put on defense after a video clip circulated of his mid-golf reaction to a suicide bombing in Israel that killed 9 people.
'I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you,' he says in the clip. 'Now watch this drive.'
Now Obama, too, has his own moment of awful golf timing.
He was also pilloried online on August 14 when he played the Vineyard Golf Club in Edgartown, Massachusetts while a military honor guard conducted the funeral of U.S. Army Major General Harold Greene in Arlington, Virginia.
Greene, shot to death by an Afghani soldier, was the highest ranking officer killed in hostile action overseas since the Vietnam War.
A day earlier Obama caught flak for dancing at a friend's birthday party while street riots overtook the town of Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police officer had gunned down an unarmed black teen robbery suspect just days before.
Obama has played roughly 35 hours of golf in the last week and a half alone.
http://i.imgur.com/qISNCY3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/H337BFf.jpg
As Obama was teeing off, his administration was briefing on its rescue attempts this summer and said it would not release more details on the raid.
It was revealed Wednesday that special forces attempted to rescue Americans – including James Foley – held hostage by ISIS in Syria earlier this summer. The mission failed because of flawed intelligence about where the captives were being held.
The mission to save the journalist and others was carried out in early July. The hostages – held by a trio of British jihadists known as 'The Beatles' – could not be found.
'This operation involved air and ground components and was focused on a particular captor network within ISIL [also known as ISIS],' the White House said in a statement last night.
'Unfortunately, the mission was not successful because the hostages were not present at the targeted location.'
Sources told The New York Times that the mission was carried out by two dozen special-ops members, who were dropped off in Syria in early July and were met with gunfire.
'While on site, it became apparent the hostages were not there,' one of the officials said.
The sources wouldn't say where the raid was held, but pointed out that if it had happened in a heavily-populated area, it likely would have already made news. They also wouldn't comment on how many hostages were believed to be held captive at the location, or their names.
The administration kept the raid a secret until now in order to 'preserve future opportunities' for future missions.
Details of the mission were revealed after President Obama spoke about the execution of James Foley and promised new strikes on ISIS.
On Thursday Liz Cheney criticized the Obama administration for volunteering information on the sensitive mission to the press.
'One more time we're seeing this president put politics above security,' she told Fox News' Bill Hemmer. 'The only reason to release the information that he released about that rescue attempt was for his own political gain.
'There was absolutely no national security reason to do it, and in fact, it weakens our national security,' she said.
Arizona Sen. John McCain told Hemmer it would have been 'far better' if Americans didn't know about the rescue mission.
'They see the negative . . . the disapproval of the American people of the handling of the situation, so one can't help but assume that this is sort of try to help their PR,' he said.
McCain said in releasing the information the administration was 'betraying some of our capabilities.'
'And it wasn't unintentional,' he added.
There were nearly a dozen new airstrikes near the Mosul Dam after the gruesome video of Foley's death emerged.
Before his tee time on Wednesday afternoon, Obama took a few minutes to address Foley's execution, declaring that 'the entire world is appalled by the brutal murder.'
Obama didn't mention any advance warnings when he delivered five minutes of remarks, while on vacation on Matha's Vineyard. But he said the U.S. won't back down from ISIS , the militant terror group behind Foley's death.
'No just God would stand for what they did yesterday, and for what they do every single day,' he said.
'ISIL speaks for no religion,' he said, aiming his words at the Islamist faction that claims to have established a Muslim caliphate in portions of Syria and Iraq. 'Their victims are overwhelmingly Muslim, and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.'
Foley stood 'in stark contrast' to his captors and executioners, he said, blaming them for a series of 'cowardly acts of violence.'
Americans 'are all heartbroken at their loss and join them in honoring Jim,' he said, somber but not wearing a necktie, as has been his practice during his extended family holiday.
http://i.imgur.com/Wkc4YBo.png
But the president said the terror group has tortured and killed ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, including women and children.
'They have rampaged across cities and villages, killing innocent civilians,' he said.
'They have murdered Muslims, both Sunni and Shia, by the thousands. They target Christians and religious minorities, driving them from their homes, murdering them when they can, for no other reason than that they practice another religion.'
'One thing we can all agree on is a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century.'
He seemed to double down on the threat of airstrikes, even though Foley's executioner claimed another journalist will die if they continue.
'There has to be a common effort to expel this cancer so it does not spread,' Obama said.
The president took a vacation from his vacation on Monday for two days of meetings at the White House.
By early evening on Tuesday Obama was back on a plane to Martha's Vineyard as news about Foley's murder began to spread.
'Somebody made a mistake. They should have thought this thing through,' longtime Bush aide Karl Rove told Fox News on Thursday.
'They should have said the president is going to go out and make a comment on this . . . why don't we get the tee time tomorrow. Or why don't we get the tee time in 4 or 5 hours rather than eight minutes later,' he added.
http://i.imgur.com/AqyApZd.png
The political consultant, who earned the nickname 'The Architect' for masterminding Bush's reelection strategy, contended that the White House has been making more than it's fair share of missteps recently and 'there's been a gap between what the president has been doing and people's reaction to it.'
'I just think they're off their game,' he said. 'I don't know whether it's August, maybe the White House staff needed a break, maybe they're getting worn out, maybe the communications mavens over there have just lost their mojo.
'But something recently, the last couple of months has been going wrong, with their ability to handle situations like this,' he said.
In last two months the White House communications team has in fact seen a shake-up in staff.
Obama's top spokesman, Jay Carney, departed the White House in June. Carney was immediately replaced by his second-in-command Josh Earnest.
It's Earnest's principal deputy, Eric Schultz, who has been handling communications for the White House during the president's vacation though, as the new White House press secretary is currently on paternity leave.
In her interview with Fox on Thursday Liz Cheney said President Obama is to blame for his botched responses to recent global crises.
'The world is burning, and the president seem to not know how to handle that, so what he does is he makes a statement and he talks about how terrible the enemy is, and then he hits the links,' she said.
'And that is not going to defend the nation, and that is not going to protect us.
'I think frankly...it's a disgrace,' she said.