Thomas Friedman, "The Three Faces of President Obama": Or Is Obama Merely Two-Faced?

Obama apologist Thomas Friedman is back with us today to explain away his beloved president's procrastination and cowardice. In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "The Three Faces of President Obama" (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/friedman-the-three-faces-of-president-obama.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0), Friedman tells us that Obama is simultaneously facing accusations of being a "Pollyanna, John Wayne and Henry Kissinger all at once," and would thus have us believe that if such is the case, none of these accusations could possibly hold water.

Or is it possible that all three characterizations are correct?

A Pollyanna? How about a mere simpleton? One need only recollect Obama's open microphone request that Medvedev convey to Putin his promise of "flexibility" during his second term.

John Wayne? Friedman directs us to Obama's targeted killing of terrorists by means of drones. But Friedman fails to mention the president's approval of the "surge" in Afghanistan, which needlessly prolonged American ground involvement in that war at a horrifying cost of lives and capital.

Henry ("Let them bleed a little") Kissinger? Do you recall Obama's March 2011 declaration:

“Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different.”

Well, Obama subsequently proved himself every bit as cynical as Kissinger, watching from the sidelines as Syrian madman Bashar al-Assad unleashed countless horrors against a captive civilian population.

Friedman's solution for reining in Putin?:

"The way the United States and European Union help, which will take time, is by forging new energy policies that will diminish Europe’s dependency on Russian gas — the mother’s milk of Putinism."

Unbeknownst to Tom Terrific, freeing Europe from dependency upon Russian gas need not take much time at all. If Friedman were to take a few minutes to read a Commentary article entitled "Will Israel Be the Next Energy Superpower?" (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/will-israel-be-the-next-energy-superpower/) by Arthur Herman, he would quickly realize that salvation is to be found in Israel's enormous gas discoveries off its Mediterranean coast.

But heck, channeling Israeli gas to Europe might also demand that Obama put an end to his petty ideological war with Netanyahu, and this might be too much to demand of a president who has made the weakening of America's alliance with Israel a keystone of his foreign policy.

"The three faces of President Obama"? I think it is known to all that the man who once promised, "If you like your plan, you can keep it," is merely two-faced.