In his essay, Myron vs Atilla, Richard Fernandez observes that it is "the neglected, boring area of workaday life is the secret sword of the West." The Cold War was won because Reagan outflanked the Soviets, says Mr. Fernandez. America outproduced the Soviet Union, and Fernandez calls this America's "productive flank."
The productive flank solves scarcity problems by growing out of it, while Islamism and Socialism solve the same problem by plunder and rationing respectively.
So why, he asks, with threats looming throughout the world, why isn't America "rampaging down the productive flank?"
One possible explanation is that the president, Great Man that is, isn’t aware of the potential of plumbers or drilling or nuclear energy. For him, the field is still dominated by titans such as himself who will solve everything from the socialist equivalent of a pulpit: the teleprompter.
Yes, that would be one explanation. But is ISIS a problem that Obama feels obligated to solve? You wouldn't think so, if you were to judge by the number of conditions he puts on fighting it. There has to be a coalition. The U.S. will not be the leader. American troops will not be deployed in combat roles. Iraq must have a more inclusive government or America won't take part in the effort.
It was the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki that may finally have backed Obama into the corner. Al Maliki was the impediment to that inclusive Iraqi government, upon which military assistance depended. With him gone Obama had little choice but to commit America to the war against ISIS. So far, I'm aware of no deadlines that have been set for pulling America out of the impending fight, but Obama may set one later on to give himself an escape hatch.
In any case, the "secret sword" will remain in its sheath. While we may ultimately prevail by productively outflanking ISIS, I doubt that it will be while Obama is still in office. He'd really rather not unleash the productive might of America. Otherwise, the Keystone Pipeline would have been approved long ago. His promise to defeat ISIS is just so much talk, as transitory as any of his pronouncements, meant only to stave off a rout of the Democrats in the midterm elections. Obama's real enemy is not ISIS.
The coalition Obama leads to crush his real enemies is the one comprised of the IRS, the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Labor Relations Board, and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It's the only place where Obama shows any real leadership. Isn't it funny that he can never let that show up on his resume.
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