Obama relies on agitation for change

After last month's outrageous prisoner swap, there's no doubt the president is playing for the other team. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the prisoner exchange to a gathering of troops and was greeted with shocked silence. They already knew the Bowe Bergdahl story, and later they watched America's sworn enemies celebrate their victory over America on YouTube.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said the president's actions "violated the law," and Republican Sen. John McCain called the Taliban prisoners released "the hardest of the hard core."

What's going on here? Obama's world view has now been on display for over six years, and it's clearly rooted in a deep sense of personal grievance. As a community organizer, agitation was the primary tactic for tearing down the familiar order. Now as president, Obama agitates for "change" even as he regularly expresses his disdain for the familiar order of the political process. He regularly blames Republicans for causing gridlock, but he has no intention of ever finding common ground. This kind of agitation is devious and provocative and his reliance on straw-man arguments is particularly insulting.

In a recent speech, Obama cited his teenage daughters among those who could easily grasp threats to global climate systems. Thus, any skepticism makes you an idiot for not seeing what every teenager clearly understands. Such grievance-soaked tactics reveal a dark, chip-on-the-shoulder style that can only emanate from a man of very low merits. Americans must face the ugly truth about Obama's views and his reliance on agitation as political strategy. And, his actions make clear that his grievances extend to us as Americans; he views us as oppressors and our nation as a global bully. The familiar order of American exceptionalism must brought down to size. Precisely ... what our enemies think.

Steve Morrissey

Barrington