There are lots of things going on in the world right now that I don't understand. The need for a newspaper or magazine to poke fun at a religious leader to sell their writings is one of them. The violent reaction to a cartoon leading to the death of the cartoon's creators is another. The list goes on because the world is very busy right now and our social media sites are providing new examples of the insane problems instantly. And, the television news services make their presence known on every major network by providing details to the smart phone impaired. Maybe my rural values mixed with my professional work exposure cause me to see things that don't bother other people. Or it could be some of the things that trouble me perhaps aren't important to other people.
It seems every major newscaster on Fox has gotten into a discussion about our president failing to go to Paris to join the 40 plus other national leaders in a solidarity march against radical Islamic terrorists. Whether he should have gone himself or sent his vice president to represent us may be important in the very near future. When I see pictures of the leaders of many major world powers linked arm-in-arm and our nation is not among them, my questions abound. The news casts have done an adequate job of pointing out the White House error and one of the press persons even acknowledged the White House erred by not being represented. That's all history, but what do we do about the effect it has on the president's image here at home as well as abroad?
It may not be important to most people, but the lack of a meaningful reason for President Obama not going or at least sending Vice President Biden has me looking more deeply into something that will never have an honest non-political answer.
"Was the president actually advised of the event that brought all those national leaders together?"
Was it the lack of communication from his staff that prompted him to learn about the gathering on the television news as some reports indicated? Or is it a sign of a lack of respect for his decisions that allows or prompts a staff member to make the judgment call not to tell him? Has he been so protective of the Muslim and Islamic faiths that his staff made some assumptions for him? There is certainly a lot to question in the handling of this "incident."
If this is handled like so many things in the past, and the fault lies in the president's staff's actions no one will be fired or demoted. Also, there will be no "sudden resignations." Is there something in the handling of this situation -- from the manner in which the president learned of the gathering in Paris to the likely back room talk in the presidential suites in the nations that were there -- that will affect our foreign policy in the future? Can you imagine how the Russians will view the president's behavior? Putin has not seemed too impressed with our nation's strength politically or militarily. If Putin views Obama's absence as the result of fear of further violence during the demonstration, and he was just as vulnerable as the other leaders, President Obama probably didn't earn any points for bravery. If the president's staff failed to keep him advised of the situation and there are no consequences to those who failed to fulfill their responsibilities, that too can be seen as a sign of weakness. A major staff shake-up would be in order in many nations represented in the solidarity march and I doubt they will view the White House action as a strength. What we do not know and can never fully understand is how this will be seen by those nations we want to help in our fight against ISIS and al-Qaida.
The only time I observed the circumstances I think I see here, was when a leader had so failed at his role that the next level of the organization quit including him in decision making. That is not something that happens overnight and is a result of multiple factors. The outcome of the situation depends on the integrity and capability of those who end up making the decisions. A similar situation was portrayed in the World War II movie titled "Mr. Roberts." You may remember the "palm tree incident." But that was just a movie and the incident I observed was very localized and affected a few people, not a nation.
Maybe we need to watch and see how our emissaries are treated as we try to recruit help from some of these nations when we try to deal with the Russians militarily, the North Koreans on human rights and Europe in financial matters. It is important to me personally that our nation be seen as a leader in bringing unity to the world in all areas of our activities. If our elected leaders are seen as weak, disinterested or unable to be an example for other nations, we cannot hope to maintain our position as a super-power.
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Editor's note: Leo Lynch is an award-winning columnist. He is a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Editorial on 01/21/2015