OPINION:
The term “man-caused disaster” never passed the giggle test as a euphemism for terrorism, but it fits as a description of some of the tomfoolery of Washington. No longer content with not letting a crisis go to waste, President Obama and his legion busied themselves during 2014 manufacturing a certain few. Life without change would soon get monotonous, but keeping America on edge with orchestrated turmoil is an abuse of power. There should be a New Year’s resolution in the White House to knock it off.
The most jarring crisis of the past 12 months was the invasion of children at the southern border, which peaked (at least for now) in August. More than 65,000 young people from Latin American countries trekked, rode on the roofs of northbound trains and gave themselves up to the dubious mercies of human smugglers to sneak into the United States. Such a mass migration of untended children would not have occurred without the welcome signals sent by the president’s immigration schemes of lax border enforcement and the promise of eventual citizenship for Dreamers. The long-suffering officers of the U.S. Border Patrol had to trade their security role for baby-sitting duty at makeshift refugee centers.
In November, Mr. Obama announced plans to deal with the illegal waves with an executive order enabling nearly 5 million illegals to stay in the United States without threat of deportation. The president and his party paid dearly for their failure to do their national security duty with a smackdown on Election Day, and 17 states joined to sue the president over his unilateral lawmaking. The Democrats’ long-range goal was nevertheless accomplished: to use children to seed an eventual harvest of millions of voters.
Race relations have been an opportunity for troublemaking. America’s first black president, breaking his early promise, has spurned the role of conciliator to fan the flames of racial resentment. After the deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York, the president said nothing to refute the liberal mantra that it’s open season on young black men for law enforcers.
By establishing Al Sharpton as the official oracle of black America, the president sent the clear message that the Obama era is payback time. Emboldened by officialdom, New York agitators marched through the streets following the recent assassination of two police officers, chanting for more dead cops.
The president brought America face to face with the foreign scourge of Ebola. News of the mushrooming epidemic in West Africa filled front pages and television screens for months, and in September a Liberian man arrived in Dallas carrying the lethal virus. Several more cases surfaced when health care workers who contracted the deadly disease in Africa were brought to the United States. With extraordinary medical care, all but the unfortunate Liberian survived. Mr. Obama refused to take the prudent step of barring travelers from the affected African nations.
Ebola fell from the headlines as the holiday season arrived, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that a researcher in Atlanta was exposed to the virus and another dozen might have been exposed. There was no word whether Ebola czar Ron Klain interrupted his holiday to manage this threat.
Americans who strongly disapprove of the president’s performance are now double of those who strongly approve, according to Gallup. The roller-coaster ride of 2014 is nearly over. A lot of us would like to try something else on the midway in 2015, but alas. No one gets to choose.
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