Three bad moves by the president

There was a TV show in the 1960s hosted by David Frost called "That Was the Week That Was." It was a satire that spoofed politicians and events of the day. What a field day Mr. Frost and his cohorts would have had with the last couple of weeks.

Let's start with the VA scandal, in which our best and bravest were consigned to secret waiting lists where they lingered for days and sometimes months waiting for the treatment that never came. Many of those vets died while the bureaucrats who consigned them to those lists received bonuses. Only after extreme pressure from both sides of the aisle did President Obama reluctantly accept the resignation of Eric Shinseki, secretary of Veteran's Affairs.

During the president's trip to Afghanistan, the CIA's station chief's name was included on a press list of attendees at a meeting at Bagram Airbase circulated by the White House press corps. Not only did it out him, this incredible blunder put his life at risk.

Let's go for the trifecta. When you thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, Obama may have made the worst trade since the Cubs traded Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio. Not only did we return five detainees who have been described by some in the military as four-star Taliban generals, one of them, Mullah Noorullah Noori, is wanted by the U.N. for war crimes including the torture and murder of thousands of Shiite Muslims. In return, we got Bowe Bergdahl, more than likely a deserter. In negotiating this release, Mr. Obama failed to give Congress a 30-day notice, required by a law he signed. But as we have learned, U.S. laws mean little to Mr. Obama.

Jim Osterhout

Palatine