In his memoir, Leon Panetta argued that for all of Barack Obama’s strengths, he is missing an essential ingredient of leadership. He lacks “fire,” wrote Obama’s former CIA director and Pentagon chief. “The president relies on the logic of a law professor rather than the passion of a leader.”
Obama has proved Panetta right again and again during his presidency, but never more dangerously so than with his shoulder-shrug approach to ISIS. Obama called it a “J.V. team” before it started beheading Americans. He said it was “contained” before it attacked Paris. Now he’s calling it “a bunch of killers with good social media.”
That’s how you describe a street gang—a bunch of killers with good social media. The Islamic State is no street gang.
Objective observers from across the political spectrum took exception to Obama’s tone. This from Frank Bruni, a liberal-minded New York Times columnist:
He was at his worst just after the Paris attacks, when he communicated as much irritation with the second-guessing of his stewardship as he did outrage over Paris and determination to destroy the Islamic State, or ISIS.
He owed us something different, something more. He’d just said, the day before Paris, that ISIS was contained and that it was weakening, so there was an onus on him to make abundantly clear that he grasped the magnitude of the threat and was intensely focused on it.
From Obama we needed fire. Instead we got embers, along with the un-presidential portrayal of Republicans as sniveling wimps whose fears about refugees were akin to their complaints about tough debate questions.
There it is again—“from Obama we needed fire.”
The man who so aptly diagnosed Obama’s tonal weakness, Leon Panetta, appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday to demand more leadership against ISIS. This time, he stuck to substance—and was no less devastating.
“I think the U.S. has to lead in this effort because what we’ve learned a long time ago is that if the United States does not lead, nobody else will,” Panetta said. He blamed Obama for under-serving his promise to disrupt and defeat ISIS. “I think that the resources applied to that mission, frankly, have not been sufficient to confront that.”
Panetta is not alone among Democrats worried about Obama’s approach. Leading Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein told Face the Nation that the United States is not doing enough to fight the Islamic State.
“We need to be aggressive,” she said. “Now.” …
Look at this Twitter feed from Ron Klain, a leading Democratic consultant who served as Obama’s Ebola czar. He recalls the irrational, politically charged calls to close U.S. borders to people from nations stricken by the disease—a panic not unlike the one over Syrian refugees today. “Ebola experience offers three lessons for managing fears,” Klain writes.
1. Acknowledge and address the public’s fear. Don’t dismiss it as illegitimate. “That only exacerbates fears and fuels doubts about leaders’ candor.”
2. Explain the dangers of “giving into fears.” Inaction is riskier than action.
3. “Show that government has a plan to manage the risk—not ignoring the risk, but taking active, serious steps to reduce it.”
Klain didn’t say this but I will: On ISIS, Obama breaks every rule. He minimizes the threat and dismisses our fears, which raises doubts about his candor and capability. An overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of his handling of ISIS, a new poll shows, and 81 percent think ISIS will strike the United States.
In July 2013, six months into his second term, I wrote a column that questioned whether Obama would fulfill his enormous potential, whether he even cared anymore about his promises to change Washington, whether he could write the modern rules of the presidency and build a new bully pulpit. I asked, “What if Obama can’t lead?”
I now have my answer.
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“I’m a Liberal Professor, and My Liberal Students Terrify Me,” read the headline of an essay for the liberal website Vox earlier this year. The author, who was frightened enough to write under a pseudonym, admitted that he “cut out anything I could see upsetting a coddled undergrad,” including books by Mark Twain.
The American Association of University Professors last year warned: “The presumption that students need to be protected rather than challenged in a classroom is at once infantilizing and anti-intellectual.”
The liberals who run U.S. universities can’t be surprised by the epidemic of grievances on their campuses. Their generation used political correctness to exclude conservative thought from the faculty. Now their students reject academic freedom for everyone. Administrators quickly cave in to their demands, abandoning centuries-old principles of open inquiry.
Students have been taught there are no limits, so they expect their most extreme demands to be taken seriously. “Be quiet!” a Yale undergraduate screamed to the master of her residential college: “It is not about creating an intellectual space!” Students insist on “trigger warnings,” protection from “microaggressions,” and “safe spaces” where no one will challenge their prejudices.
Protesters at Amherst demand a ban on posters favoring free speech. Johns Hopkins students want a mandatory class on “cultural competency.” Wesleyan undergraduates tried to get the campus newspaper defunded for an op-ed critical of Black Lives Matter.
After students at Yale demanded that Calhoun College be renamed because its namesake defended slavery in the early 19th century, students at Princeton demanded its Woodrow Wilson School be renamed because Wilson was a segregationist in the early 20th century. Even Rhodes scholars are joining in: A group last year ended the tradition of toasting their Oxford benefactor because Cecil Rhodes was prime minister of segregated South Africa more than a century ago—never mind that he was a liberal in that era.
The University of Michigan canceled a screening of “American Sniper” when Muslim students protested (the school showed “Paddington” instead). Students at Smith refused media access to a sit-in unless journalists first pledged “solidarity” with the protesters. A University of Missouri professor called for “muscle” to remove a student journalist covering protests. Disinvited campus speakers include former Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice, International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a critic of Islamism. Comedians Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David avoid campuses for fear of offending.
The good news is that some universities are bucking the trend. The University of Chicago formed a committee under law professor Geoffrey Stone “in light of recent events nationwide that have tested institutional commitments to free and open discourse.”
The committee report, released in January, cited former university president Robert Hutchins, who defended a speech on campus by the 1932 Communist Party presidential nominee by saying the “cure” for objectionable ideas “lies through open discussion rather than through prohibition.” Another former president, Hanna Gray, said: “Education should not be intended to make people comfortable, it is meant to make them think.”
The Chicago statement on free expression echoes these sentiments: “It is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive.”
Instead, “the university’s fundamental commitment is to the principle that debate or deliberation may not be suppressed because the ideas put forth are thought by some or even by most members of the university community to be offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed. It is for the individual members of the university community, not for the university as an institution, to make those judgments for themselves, and to act on those judgments not by seeking to suppress speech, but by openly and vigorously contesting the ideas that they oppose.”
(Disclosures: I am a proud Chicago alum, an embarrassed Yale grad and a mortified Rhodes scholar.)
Purdue and the Princeton faculty have voted to adopt the Chicago principles. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is encouraging other universities to sign up. Meanwhile, expect students to find ever more microaggressions, perhaps including degrees in the names of offending founders: Elihu Yale made his fortune as a British East India Company imperialist. Exploited Chinese laborers built Leland Stanford’s transcontinental railway. James Duke peddled tobacco. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Mellon were robber barons.
Liberal academics are reaping what they sowed. They can now adopt the Chicago approach of tolerating “offensive, unwise, immoral” ideas or resign themselves to producing graduates knowledgeable only about their own pieties.
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The number one single today in 1968:
The number one single today in 1973:
The number one British single today in 1976:
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The college football and NFL schedule-makers have arranged things so that the Packers play Minnesota and the Badgers play Minnesota in the same week.
The Packers started the week correctly by ending their three-game losing streak in thumping the Vikings 30–13.
Given how the Vikings and Packers have been playing up until Sunday, how did that happen? The Minneapolis Star Tribune game story says:
Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers aren’t quite ready to give up control of the NFC North. The young Vikings weren’t poised enough to take it from them either.
In a showdown between the top two teams in the division, Rodgers threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns Sunday as the Packers beat the uncharacteristically undisciplined Vikings 30-13 at TCF Bank Stadium. The outcome put the longtime rivals in a first-place tie with identical 7-3 records, but the win gave the Packers the tiebreaker.
Rodgers and the Packers pulled away early in the fourth quarter when Rodgers rolled to his right and whizzed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Packers wide receiver James Jones at the edge of the end zone. Veteran cornerback Terence Newman had tight coverage on the play, but Rodgers completed a pass that few quarterbacks could.
That touchdown put the Packers up 27-13 and they were able to hang on for the win thanks to a fumble by running back Adrian Peterson inside Packers territory and a deep ball that quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw a half step ahead of wide receiver Mike Wallace, who had sped behind the Packers secondary.
Eventually, with Packers fans loudly chanting “Go Pack Go!”, running back Eddie Lacy, who topped 100 rushing yards for the first time this season, and the Packers ran out the clock. …
It looked as if the Packers would be taking a 9-6 lead into halftime, but Newman was called for a 50-yard defensive pass interference penalty while defending Packers wide receiver Jeff Janis down the right sideline. Rodgers capitalized with a 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Randall Cobb with six seconds left in the half.
The Vikings, who were one of the league’s least-penalized teams entering Sunday, were flagged for eight penalties for 110 yards, their highest total of the season.
The Star Tribune’s Chip Scoggins lists bullet points:
— The Vikings have been disciplined in terms of penalties this season, but they completely self-destructed with costly penalties. They racked up 85 penalty yards before halftime, compared to zero for the Packers.
— The Vikings offensive line had a rough game. Teddy Bridgewater faced consistent pressure, was sacked six times and Adrian Peterson had little room to run. Bridgewater also didn’t help matters by holding onto the ball too long on a number of dropbacks.
— Aaron Rodgers showed that he’s perfectly fine. His tight-rope dart to James Jones for 27-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter killed the Vikings’ brief momentum and was a throw very few quarterbacks can make.
— Cordarrelle Patterson’s personal foul penalty for head-butting kicker Mason Crosby after a long kickoff return in the fourth quarter was foolish and completely unnecessary. It was a guy not using his head at a critical moment in the game.
What kind of butthead head-butts a kicker?
The St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Bob Sansevere was paying attention when Packers wide receiver James Jones was talking:
James Jones came up huge Sunday for the Green Bay Packers, particularly in the second half when he made a spectacular sideline catch in a drive he punctuated with a touchdown reception and two-point conversion catch. …
In the scoring drive that ended with his 27-yard TD catch as he fell out of the end zone early in the fourth quarter, Jones beat Xavier Rhodes down the left sideline and made an eye-popping 37-yard catch, bobbling the ball and regaining control of it just before hitting the ground. Fox showed numerous replays of the catch from several camera angles.
Jones was a bit cantankerous afterward.
“People wanted to throw us in the garbage after the last three weeks, but everybody knows what we have in the locker room,” he said. “Teams around the league that are 5-5 are getting praise like they’re the best team in the league. We’re 6-3 and we’re (perceived as) the worst team in the league. We’re 6-3. We knew we could play good football. We just had to come out and show we were in a drought. We came out and made some plays.” …
BS: What was different about this game from the past three, all losses?
JJ: We made plays. Like I told you guys all week, the tough plays, the tough catches we were making the first six weeks, we weren’t making. We made them today. Tough catches. Ran the ball very well. Aaron (Rodgers) made some crazy throws, and we made plays. We did what we do.
BS: Did you play with a chip on your shoulder after three straight losses?
JJ: I play with a chip on my shoulder every week. I’ve been cut by two teams. …
BS: Safe to say the Packers sent a message to everyone else that you plan to be a factor come playoff time?
JJ: We’ve got a lot of work to do, man. We can’t jump to that. There’s a lot of football left. Hopefully, we can catch our stride and be playing some good football when playoff time comes. …
BS: Do you think wearing a hoodie under your uniform will start a trend among wide receivers?
JJ: It’ll be a sweet trend. I’ve been practicing in it every day, hot, cold. I’m used to it.
Others were a bit cantankerous too for different reasons. The Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson:
When the eyes of America are on the Vikings, they too often haven’t shown up. And cornerback Captain Munnerlyn is getting tired of it.
In the battle for first place Sunday in the NFC North, Minnesota was manhandled 30-13 by Green Bay at TCF Bank Stadium. It ended a five-game Vikings winning streak and left both teams with 7-3 records — and Green Bay with the tiebreaker advantage.
“Every time we seem like it’s a bigtime game, excuse my language, but we (urinate) down our leg every single time,” Munnerlyn said. “We’ve definitely got to fix this if we want to take this team to the next level, to the playoffs, to the Super Bowl.”
Munnerlyn pointed to the Vikings getting walloped at San Francisco 20-3 in the nationally televised season opener on Monday Night Football. In their continued quest for a marquee win, they also lost last month at Denver, but at least that one was close at 23-20.
“You’ve got to be able to win when the whole world is watching,” Munnerlyn said.
Sunday’s game was televised to most of the nation on Fox. Fans saw a Vikings team leading the NFL in fewest penalties get flagged eight times for 110 yards.
Coach Mike Zimmer takes great pride in the Vikings being the more physical team. Against the Packers, they were pushed around in all facets.
Minnesota quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was sacked six times. And with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completing just 16 of 34 passes for 212 yards, running back Eddie Lacy pounded his way for 100 yards on 22 carries.
“Offensively, defensively, they were the most physical team,” Vikings running back Adrian Peterson said. “They outplayed us. They wanted it more than us.”
After rushing for 529 yards the past four games, Peterson managed just 45 yards on 13 carries as the Packers keyed on him. When he did have a chance to redeem himself, he fumbled.
With the Vikings trailing 27-13 early in the fourth quarter, Peterson gained 10 yards to the Green Bay 32. He passed the 1,000-yard mark for the season on that run but lost a fumble, and that was the game.
“They caught me slipping on that one, and it really hurt us,” Peterson said.
Plenty, though, hurt the Vikings. The Vikings came up flat in a game that was big enough for Zimmer to have T-shirts made up for the players that said “Beat Green Bay.”
The Pioneer Press’ Tom Powers:
The parking ramps filled up early. There was a steady, guttural rumble in the air. And walking toward TCF Bank Stadium we could observe a gaudy mix of green, yellow and purple all simmering in a toxic 80-proof broth. There are people today whose eyeballs are throbbing.
What happened after that? Don’t be silly. The same thing that always happens.
The Vikings lowered their horns in deference to the alpha males of the NFC North. The “new” Vikings? The “crumbling” Packers? Not until the Vikings quit clutching their petticoats at the mere sight of those Green Bay helmets. Packers 30, Vikings 13. The king is not dead.
No matter what happens the rest of the season, it remains clear that the Vikings still will have to get past the Packers on the way to anything important. And it remains just as clear that they are helpless to do so.
“That’s just not Viking football,” guard Brandon Fusco said. “Viking football is playing physical, which we did not do. It’s beating our man in front of us, which we didn’t do. It’s controlling the game.”
Which they didn’t do on either side of the line of scrimmage.
A lot of hard-earned credibility was lost Sunday. The supposedly poised Vikings got all twitchy. Disciplined play, proper execution, fierce determination — in other words, the hallmarks of the 2015 Vikings — were absent against the Packers. Well, old habits die hard. Green Bay now sports a 10-1-1 mark against Minnesota in their past 12 meetings.
And I don’t like the Vikings’ chances in Green Bay in the final game of the season at Lambeau, either, especially if the Packers are playing for something that they consider important.
“I wouldn’t say we took a step backwards,” linebacker Anthony Barr said.
A giant leap, then?
“I think coming off a three-game losing streak they were going to come out and give us their best shot,” Barr said. “And that’s what we got today.”
Yes, and right in the mouth.
How does the least-penalized team in the league get flagged eight times?
“I don’t know,” coach Mike Zimmer said.
What about Teddy Bridgewater getting turned into hamburger by the Packer onslaught?
“I don’t know,” Zimmer said.
Are the Vikings physical equals to the Packers?
“I don’t know,” Zimmer said.
Me either. In all, Zimmer prefaced eight answers during his postgame news conference with “I don’t know” before adding “I’m not trying to be coy.” I’m not sure if he was just trying to keep from overreacting or truly was baffled.
“I think people are looking at this like it’s uncharacteristic and this and that, but (the Packers) played good,” Zimmer said. “We knew we’d get their best shot. There was no doubt we were going to get their best shot today. So they came in and played good.”
That didn’t sound very alpha male-ish. Yet Zimmer did not look panicked. He left that to every other living soul that watched the game. This was not the signature, marquee victory that was supposed to mark the changing of the guard in the division.
In some ways, Sunday’s contest showcased the NFL at its finest. With Roger Goodell on hand dishing out compliments with regards to Adrian Peterson’s character, we witnessed a true spectacle — a frenzied populace that left behind in the wake of head-banging music a trail of empty beer cans, queso drippings and disappointment.
It was temporary life and death. And now, the wilding over, people return to their offices on Monday hoarse and exhausted. Distress will permeate the atmosphere. At least, around here. But Minnesota fans, at some point, will have to ask themselves if it’s all worth it. This series has not been competitive. At the end of Sunday’s game, the cheeseheads still can laugh and ask: “Who’s your daddy?”
Sunday’s game was supposed to mark a turning point. A victory would have put Minnesota in the catbird seat for a division title. And perhaps it would have signified a last gasp from the Aaron Rodgers era Packers. In truth, Rodgers looked like his old magical self on about every other throw. But that’s all he needed against the Vikings.
The Vikings got beat up. All their bad old traits resurfaced against the confident Pack, from failure to pick up the blitz to a crucial Adrian Peterson fumble. It was like old times, like it always is against the Packers, who now are technically in first place.
Maybe the Vikings will go into Atlanta next week and win. Then maybe they’ll come home and beat Seattle. People would enjoy that. But in the back of everyone’s mind, the Packers still lurk. They continue to stand in the way of everything. And the Vikings don’t yet have an answer.
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Today in 1899, the world’s first jukebox was installed at the Palais Royal Hotel in San Francisco.
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Today in 1963, the Beatles released their second album, “With the Beatles,” in the United Kingdom.
That same day, Phil Spector released a Christmas album from his artists:
Given what else happened that day, you can imagine neither of those received much notice.
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The number one British single today in 1954:
Today in 1955, RCA Records purchased the recording contract of Elvis Presley from Sam Phillips for an unheard-of $35,000.
The number one single today in 1960 holds the record for the shortest number one of all time:
The number one British single today in 1970 hit number one after the singer’s death earlier in the year:
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 