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| Former Navy SEAL Ben Smith |
Last Monday President Obama said that he just isn't too worried about campaign ads that two groups of military veterans are currently running against him. The two groups, Special Operations Speaks and Special Operations OPSEC Education Fund, got together to criticize the President on national security and foreign policy, specifically citing the Osama bin Laden raid and intelligence leaks which many believe are originating in the White House.
When asked about the criticism from the two groups of veterans, President Obama responded: “I don’t take these folks too seriously. One of their members is a birther who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary .... "You’ve got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election .... This kind of stuff springs up before election time."
I'm not so sure that is the best way to treat this criticism from these groups. It makes the President sound somewhat arrogant and a little disparate. The people behind these ads are highly trained and highly skilled professionals who risk their lives doing incredibly dangerous jobs and ask nothing in return. But, they are in a unique position to know how the Presidents policies and how the intelligence leaks have real world consequences. And, they are Americans. They have a right to express their beliefs -hell, some would say that because of the fact that they are in a position to know so much about these topics, they have an actual obligation to speak up.
I think that when a group of these people are so concerned about something that they spend their own money and take their own time to bring those concerns to our attention -we should pay attention. President Obama should be trying to resolve those concerns, not dismissing them.
When asked about the criticism from the two groups of veterans, President Obama responded: “I don’t take these folks too seriously. One of their members is a birther who denies I was born here, despite evidence to the contrary .... "You’ve got another who was a tea party candidate in a recent election .... This kind of stuff springs up before election time."
I'm not so sure that is the best way to treat this criticism from these groups. It makes the President sound somewhat arrogant and a little disparate. The people behind these ads are highly trained and highly skilled professionals who risk their lives doing incredibly dangerous jobs and ask nothing in return. But, they are in a unique position to know how the Presidents policies and how the intelligence leaks have real world consequences. And, they are Americans. They have a right to express their beliefs -hell, some would say that because of the fact that they are in a position to know so much about these topics, they have an actual obligation to speak up.
I think that when a group of these people are so concerned about something that they spend their own money and take their own time to bring those concerns to our attention -we should pay attention. President Obama should be trying to resolve those concerns, not dismissing them.
Live Long and Prosper....
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