President Obama

Natanyahu Ready To Present His Perspectives To Congress

/ softballpolitics / Leave a comment

By Sal Bommarito

The latest polls indicate that the majority of Americans are not satisfied with the way that President Obama is dealing with terror. The administration has been taking an empathetic approach towards radical Islamists as they conduct jihad in the Middle East and around the world. The murderous ways of the insurgents including public executions of innocent people should inspire outrage and aggressive action from the president, not proposals to correct whatever societal problems are inspiring terrorism among Muslims.

Unhappy, disenfranchised young people represent most of the ISIS fighting force. And, by the way, almost all of them are Muslims or Muslim converts. Disregarding these facts is not ingratiating the president with his fellow Americans or their allies for that matter. Admitting that Muslims represent the vast majority of troublemakers in the Middle East does not mean or imply that Islam is responsible for ISIS.

It should be noted that a minimal amount of outrage relating to ISIS’ murderous methods and public executions has emanated from the Arab community. This could mean that many Muslims are sympathetic to ISIS (which would be unfortunate and disappointing), or that Muslims are frightened to express outrage because of possible reprisals by terrorists. Recently, Jordan and Egypt have responded to atrocities affecting their countries. Hopefully, other Arab countries will follow suit before their people are assaulted.

For some reason, Obama has decided to lump together all terrorists into one pot. This methodology is faulty from a number of perspectives. The primary one is that terrorist groups have different agendas. Some are localized. Some are regional. And, some are global in reach. Each of these problematic groups needs to be dealt with differently.

So what is ISIS trying to accomplish? Over time, the goals of the insurgents have expanded. Initially, the rebels represented a localized band of thugs trying to establish a caliphate, a religious state, in Iraq and Syria.

The early ISIS threat has become more ominous over time corresponding to their evolving objectives. It’s entirely possible that the insurgents will move into surrounding countries. This has become a new possibility because the U.S. and Arab nations underestimated ISIS, its perseverance, its fund raising capabilities and its recruitment acumen. If definitive and substantive action had been taken against ISIS during its earlier days, the problem might have been mitigated to a large extent.

Sadly, our president and his Arab allies did not act with enough force against ISIS and the problem has grown exponentially. ISIS has affiliated with rebel groups that are now fighting under the auspices of ISIS in other countries. And, lone wolf organizations in western countries are planning nefarious acts. The uprising has become a global phenomenon that is very attractive to the downtrodden.

The murderous ways of ISIS should not be ignored or swept under the table. They deserve tough justice and a vicious response. Massive public executions and wanton violence need to be addressed immediately before they spread further.

Now is not the time to propose finding jobs for ISIS fighters or enrolling them into schools. They need to be exterminated before they kill other innocent people. All nations and religions must condemn ISIS and use all their facilities to stem the tide of violence. If not the cancer of ISIS will continue to spread.

Al Sharpton: Messiah Or Self-Promoter?

/ softballpolitics / Leave a comment

By Sal Bommarito

Recent incidents resulting in the deaths of young African American men are a reminder that police tactics need to be constantly reevaluated to ensure that the civil rights of suspects are respected. Additionally, these events have elevated racial issues to the highest level- consider the active involvement of President Obama and Attorney General Holder. We must change things to allay the concerns of the black community.

 

But African Americans have a responsibility, especially their leaders. For one thing, change is best made peacefully with a minimal amount of animosity. Poverty, unemployment, disenfranchisement and unhappiness in urban centers greatly influence the behavior of city dwellers, which are predominately black. The federal government should work diligently to rectify these conditions.

 

The death of one man is a dreadful tragedy. It has not been difficult to appreciate the extent to which this occurrence has affected the black community. We have been witnessing it non-stop for several weeks in the media, which has been prodded by the likes of the Reverend Al Sharpton. People like Sharpton are the religious versions of ambulance chasers. He hears of a white on black incident and rushes to the scene and to offer his services assuming the worst. Given his clout, the Reverend, and his people, would be better served spending more time addressing the issues mentioned above, which would help all blacks.

 

Sharpton is a self-promoter. He is often retained when an African American has been wronged by a white person or by the establishment. Click here to see a list of projects Sharpton has worked on over the years. Some of these situations were legitimate and some were not. In all of his adventures, he was able to embed himself into a tragedy and serve as the mouthpiece for the victims. But, are Sharpton’s actions empathetic, or just an opportunity to get in front of the media and build his reputation?

 

There are better alternatives for a troubled black family than retaining Sharpton. Some will say that the establishment abhors the man, so he must be doing a good job. Not necessarily. Sharpton certainly knows how to stir the pot, but are his black clients better off after he moves on to the next crisis? We know his celebrity is on the rise; he now has a program on MSNBC where he regularly interviews people he represents- a clear conflict in the minds of many journalists.

 

Sharpton is “working both sides of the street, and it’s paying off for him”- from the conservative Fox Network. In other words, “[you] can’t be a player and cover the game at the same time.”

 

To his credit, the Reverend lectured the black community about some of its social problems in his eulogy of Brown. But, he saved his most animated and inflammatory comments for the police and the establishment.

 

A lot of negotiation and soul-searching must take place before African Americans receive what they rightly deserve. But, these talks need to take place between men and women of peace and great wisdom, people like Dr. King and President Kennedy. It is understandable why the current negotiators have not been making progress in recent months.