Obama’s new slogan should be…

By Todd Cefaratti
Editor of TPNN

Obama’s new slogan should be, “I am not a hands-on leader… But I play one on TV.”

The Obama Campaign has worked very hard to perfect the art of playing politics with Sandy while, simultaneously, appearing to be above it. They understand that overtly politicizing a tragedy would reflect poorly on them, so they have been very careful to show President Obama as a true leader who strives to command the situation and be on top of recovery efforts. While I applaud Mr. Obama on his newly discovered and long-absent zest for leadership, it would be more impressive if his aiding in recovery efforts were not secondary to his desire to appear presidential.

The sad irony is that if President Obama spent half of the time leading and behaving as a president should, he would not have to dedicate so much energy in springing to life and appearing presidential in the waning moments of his campaign. It’s great that governors are getting all the help they need from the president, but why are we just now, days away from an election that is not going well for him, seeing Obama strive to provide leadership?

Let’s rewind back almost two months. As we are now learning, repeated requests for additional security in Benghazi prior to the attack on our consulate were denied. Furthermore, the much-needed back-up for the Benghazi consulate was told to “stand down,” and America lost an ambassador, a diplomat and two Navy SEALs.

So, in the wake of this outrage, what did Obama do? Did he rush to the widows of those killed and console them? Did he suspend his campaign to make time to get the ball rolling on hunting down the terrorists or to console America? No…to all of the above.

He threw out some meandering words that are embarrassing to watch and then hopped a plane to Las Vegas for a fundraiser. He didn’t even have the decency to be straight with America and continued to blame the attack on a YouTube video for weeks, all the while reminding America to remain tolerant of different religions.

As Sandy wreaked havoc in the East, Obama has injected himself into recovery efforts. It’s great that federal and state governments are working together, but where was this level of concern when Americans were being slaughtered? The White House recently released a photo of Obama in a briefing room, getting up-to-speed on the damage that Sandy was doing. However, as hard as I search, I cannot seem to find the picture where Obama and staffers worked feverishly in the Situation Room to get reinforcements to the Benghazi consulate as it was under attack. It’s because there is no such photo.

While the federal government should be available to offer assistance, specifically, disaster preparedness and recovery, that is the responsibility of state governments. National security is the responsibility of the federal government. Why our federal executive refuses to do his job, but helps governors do theirs is beyond me. But, then again, Obama wasn’t as worried about his reelection prospects in September as he is only a few days away from being shown the door.

My advice for President Obama is simple: Stop acting like a President and start behaving like a President. While appearing similar, there is a huge distinction between the two concepts.