Four Americans Killed by Somalli Pirates and nothing from President Obama

It's been about three days now that four Americans were killed by Somali pirates in waters off the coast of East Africa, and still President Barack Obama has said nothing himself about the tragedy.

One of the pirates involved in the killings was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, "From now on, anyone who tries to rescue the hostages in our hands will only collect dead bodies.  It will never, ever happen that hostages are rescued and we are hauled to prison."

Despite such bravado, the only senior American official to say anything was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who called the killings "deplorable," and then called for international cooperation among nations to fight the pirates who terrorize ships off the East African coast.  It was the standard we are outraged but won't do anything statement.  Somehow I get the feeling that if either Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush were still President, there would be fragments of some pirate ships floating in the water after a counter attack by American war vessels.

Although we have a news media in this country that was overwhelmingly invested in getting Obama elected President, even some liberal commentators have questioned the weakness of the President during a very chaotic period.  In addition to the murder of the four American, there is turmoil all over the Middle East as despicable dictators have fallen or are about to fall.  It appears they will be replaced by nothing more than anarchy since these despots have not allowed for a sound government structures to evolve in their respective countries.

Some longtime observers of foreign affairs are looking at the world situation and forecasting that the chaos in the Middle East could descend into a major world war.  Despite these fears, Obama has said very little, and when he has spoken, his words seem meek and ineffective, even to some of his strongest supporters.

It appears that Obama has different priorities.  He spent much of the week informing Americans that he won't have his justice department defend the constitutionality of the "Defense of Marriage Act," a law designed to prohibit federal recognition of gay marriage.  Evidently that is where Obama believes he should focus his attention during this perilous time in the world.

Last year, my wife told me about a bumper sticker she saw on a truck while driving down Carefree Highway in the far northern part of Phoenix, AZ.  It read:  "OBAMA, One Big Ass Mistake America."  I certainly thought that the bumper sticker was funny, but it may have been a little harsh.  Today, I believe it is right on target.