The Devil You Say

It's entirely understandable if the bloodthirsty leaders of ISIS (and everyone else) are a little confused about the messaging coming out of Washington these days.

In a speech on Wednesday, a mistakenly unmedicated Joe Biden started foaming at the mouth while talking about ISIS, eventually roaring that we will "follow them to the gates of HELL!" After which we presume that Uncle Joe will step out on Hell's balcony and fire his shotgun into the air to scare the terrorists away.

Joe's boss, on the other hand, is taking a decidedly more moderate tone. When speaking about the ongoing terror crisis while overseas, B. Hussein initially said that he planned to "degrade and destroy" ISIS, but then quickly backpedaled and said "if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISIL's sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities, to the point where it's a manageable problem."

The main problem we see in this strategy is that Obama hasn't demonstrated any management skills whatsoever since taking office.  Is he doing a good job of "managing" unemployment? The VA health system? Obamacare? The IRS? Race relations? Border security? And what about all of those "shovel ready jobs" he claimed he could manage?

Seriously, this guy couldn't manage the graveyard shift at a Whataburger, let alone the deadliest terrorist organization on Earth.

From the president's statements, it's clear that he's actually looking for a way to co-exist with the murdering hordes of ISIS. Perhaps because, unlike blustering Joe Biden, Obama doesn't want to stage a battle at the gates of Hell - he just wants to open them.

Dark Days

There's a storm coming - and it's not like one we've ever seen before.

Another American journalist, Steven Sotliff from Miami, was brutally beheaded in the latest video released by ISIS. The killer, thought to be a failed British hip-hop wannabee calling himself "Jihadi John," is the same man who recently beheaded James Foley.

"I'm back, Obama," says the masked killer, "And I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State."

Currently, that policy includes using airpower to kinetically turn some ISIS members into rapidly expanding clouds of pink mist. And despite the human tragedy of the beheadings, it is a policy which should be increased.

Whether or not the president has a strategy, it's clear that ISIS does. These monstrous lunatics represent the cultural and spiritual equivalent of the ebola virus. Neither can be "cured," but with enough diligence and the right use of technology they can and must be eradicated.

But...that will take an effort of will and leadership which is clearly and frighteningly missing from the White House.

Consider this: new leaks have revealed that Obama has been getting specific and detailed intelligence briefings on the growth, ambition, and ruthlessness of ISIS for over a year - a time when he publicly declared the war on terror to be at an end, and described ISIS as a feckless "JV team" unworthy of his attentions (which is pretty tough talk from a scrawny member of the Debate Club).

There are reports that at least some of the intelligence was highly actionable: pinpointing terrorists who desperately needed blowing up. But someone refused to take action. Surely the same someone who now claims we have no strategy, even though increasingly frustrated military and intelligence experts are telling us exactly the opposite.

Indeed, the reason Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has gone public with his warnings of the ISIS threat, and the reason the president's top secret briefing materials were leaked, is indicative that the terrorist threat of radical Islam is known all too well inside the White House - and concerned officials who can't make the president listen or act are desperately going public in hopes of forcing his hand before we suffer the next 9/11 attack.

We hope they succeed. But those fast-moving storm clouds are awfully dark and frighteningly near.

The Tweets Smell of Excess

Following his stunning admission that his administration pays so little attention to ISIS that "we have no strategy," Barack Obama attended a fundraiser (surprise!) and said that the real reason people are terrified by terror threats and "feel like the world is falling apart" is because "the world has always been messy [but] we're just noticing now because of social media."

In other words, the world hasn't really gone to hell during Barry's two terms as president - it just seems that way because we're paying too much attention!

You can prove this phenomenon to yourself quite easily: turn off your computer, your smartphone, your radio, and your television...and you'll stop hearing worrisome news about ISIS, terrorists crossing our southern borders, Russian aggression, Hamas, and the wildfire spread of Ebola.  And this great relaxation technique works even better if you happen to be on a golf course!

Sadly, there are some people who continue to pay waaaay too much attention to social media, like British Prime Minister David Cameron who just said "ISIL is a greater threat to our security than we have ever seen before." Similarly, our own Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel shows signs of Twitter overexposure when he says that ISIS is "an imminent threat to every interest we have [and is] beyond anything that we've seen."

Clearly, these nervous Nellies need to take the wise advice that Barack Obama once gave Lois Lerner: "Destroy every communications device you've ever touched!"

Because, like a fallen tree in an empty forest, if a journalist is beheaded and nobody tweets about it, it doesn't make a sound. 

Or require a strategy.

Bonus Cartoon: Border CrISIS

Among the news stories that Obama is actively ignoring in the "social media" are reports of a possibly imminent terrorist attack on the United States from the southern border.

Intelligence sources say there is increased "chatter" suggesting that such an attack might be carried out to commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

And frankly, Hope n' Change is glad that the intelligence agencies are raising the alarm now since, as demonstrated by the deaths of Americans in Benghazi, it never occurred to anyone in Obama's entire freaking administration that September 11th just might be a day each year to be especially vigilant.