Leading from Behind--Except When It Comes to Victory Laps!
Satire by John W. Lillpop
In order to create a positive spin on President Obama’s dithering, tardiness, and general incompetence in dealing with the crisis in Libya, the Left once again raided the nation’s Fairy Dust Makeover reserve in the basement of the White House.
The objective was to float the notion that because of Obama’s exceptional intelligence and moral character, he prefers to “Lead from behind,” and, because he is soooooo special, deserves to exercise that prerogative with impunity.
According to this rebooting, intellectuals of Obama's genius are far more comfortable in leading conflicts from the back seats of power, away from the glitter and glow so brazenly exploited by less sophisticated, less-spiritually attuned cowboys from, say, the old South.
Especially those from old-school states like Texas, just to mention a state at random.
Thus, emerged the image of Barack Obama, the new-age president-warrior who would be above the fray and frill while Leading from Behind.
There would be no silly, “Let’s roll!” “Bring Them On!” or “Mission Accomplished!” incantations falling from the lips of this erudite Harvard grad.
To hell with simplistic, testosterone-blasted excesses!
Besides being a kinder, gentler way of killing people, Leading from Behind has other distinct advantages:
1. Plausible deniability is maintained for the president, just in case the war does not go well, an almost-inevitable result when Barack Obama is intimately involved, and
2. It leaves one in the best position from which to retreat, a vital mainstay in the military strategy of any truly progressive president!
As events have unfolded in Libya, it appears as though Obama’s LFB strategy has produced predictable results:
The war is in stalemate with no end in site, but Obama is not being held responsible for anything!
Cool, huh, Mr. President?
As so often happens with the precocious and gifted, Obama seems to have lost his focus in applying Leading from Behind Fairy Dust to other affairs of state.
Most notably, one immediately thinks of the Osama bin Laden great kill of May 1.
In the OBL kill, President Obama was anything but a shrinking violet. According to his own words, when it came to executing an unarmed terrorist during an illegal raid of a sovereign, foreign nation, Barack Obama was THE MAN, in every respect.
It was President Obama who planned the daring raid in every minute detail.
It was President Obama who selected the specific NAVY SEALS to carry out the mission.
It was President Obama who decisively gave the KILL order—and who required only sixteen hours of deliberation to overcome his liberal queasiness to do the right thing for America.
It was President Obama who ordered a sea burial for the abused remains of the OBL personage, in accordance with Muslim religious rituals, of course.
In fact, with the exception of actually pulling the trigger of the murder weapon, Obama seems to have done it all!
Still, this president was not satisfied upon fulfilling his role as Executioner-in-Chief.
Indeed, at great personal sacrifice and risk, Barack Obama took the OBL success story on the road to share his heroic and historic kill with the American people and with freedom loving people all across the globe.
From Ground Zero came the eloquent, but modest, declaration from America’s 44th president, paraphrased as follows: “The death of Osama bin Laden is living proof that when Americans put their minds to it, I can accomplish anything!”
And so it is in the quiet, unassuming world of Leading from Behind.
