“The Tail Wagging the Dog"

(Originally posted on my FB Site April 22, 2009)


Growing up in an era that I call “the last of the good ‘ol days,” when morals were held in esteem and you didn’t fear being kidnapped from your front yard, I remember my favorite TV Show, as well as America’s at the time, being “The Brady Bunch.” How I wanted to be like the beautiful Marcia but related more to the middle daughter, Jan. Oh come on, I know I am not the only one who watched this show. I have so many favorite episodes like “Bobby sees a UFO!” Today I am recalling one of the first episodes when Peter has to contend with the neighborhood bully. The parental advice from the Dad, Mike Brady, was to “reason with him.” You know, talk it out don’t duke it out, even though Peter was getting pummeled daily with black eyes offered as perfect evidence. Long story short, even Mike Brady realized in the end that “reasoning” and trying to be nice and diplomatic doesn’t work with bullies, especially when the bully has an even bigger bully of a father, an “adult” with who Mike cannot even reason.


This came to mind today because it serves as a great illustration of the dysfunctional thinking and world view of President Obama. He truly believes that “being liked” is a powerful force, so much so that to be liked by the world at all cost is what will keep us safe from another terrorist attack. He genuinely believes that to apologize for America, to appear more humble, and to try to “reason with” those that hate us, especially terrorist Nations and rogue Dictators, he will actually win them all over and they will no longer hate us so much and therefore will stop attacking us. He is trying to reason with bullies that cannot be reasoned with.

There are two significant points he completely misses, and until he finally gets it, he will transform America into a dysfunctional and vulnerable Nation. First, his narcissistic need to be liked is his Achilles Heal. It will become America’s Achilles Heal as well. Any Mental Health expert worth their salt will tell you that to want to be liked is not healthy. It is like the tail wagging the dog; instead of being in control of your life, your life will control you, and not so happily might I add. I spent all of my 20’s learning to NOT care anymore about being liked. It is called “self respect.” Once you have that, then others will follow suit. I used to be picked on and mistreated because I am a nice person, but coupled with the need to be liked, it was perceived as weakness and provided the impetus for others to enjoy picking on me. They did so because they could. Once I realized that respect was more important than being liked, I changed. I remember the neighborhood bully who enjoyed terrorizing me. One day I just got tired of it and smarted off. She came over and began to try to beat me up. I was so infuriated that even if she killed me, I couldn’t help but start swinging. I was later told it was a pretty fair fight. I think I surprised her as well as myself. I remember her hitting me but I never felt any of it. I also remember that after that she never bothered me again but still enjoyed telling everyone that next time she was going for blood. I am happy to report, she never got it. She never got anything from me ever again, but I got something – self respect. Because I stood up for myself, I am now a happy and healthy balance of nice and self respecting. Additionally, even though others may hate me, they do respect me and do not push me around anymore. My life no longer controls me through a need to be liked. As long as President Obama is guided by the dysfunction, America will be the vulnerable tail being wagged by the dogs of the World.

The second and more important missed point, dovetails from the first point. Our enemies, specifically Iran, radical Islamists, and terrorists, do not care about “reasoning it out,” “making nice,” or “kissing and making up.” Being liked is irrelevant to them. As long as President Obama thinks this is the Enemy Playbook, we lose every time. The truth is that for them, this is a religious and Holy War. It is the height of irony that at a time when America is fighting to hold onto our Judeo-Christian heritage in our own In-War against obliterating religion from our Country, radical Islamists, though wrong, could not be more passionately devoted. We have the truth on our side and we throw it away while they are willing to die for a complete lie! So fierce is their devotion that we could NEVER hope to change it. For them there exist two key truths that make this so:

1) Their own scriptures tell them that Islam will always be at war with us and to make peace with us is to sin against their god, Allah, a sin deserving of hell.

2) Dying as a martyr increases their honor and reward, SECURING their place in heaven. They WANT to die as martyrs hence becoming human bombs for the cause.

In an additional Journal Entry, I will take the time to outline how this Holy War started going all the way back to Abraham. For now, it is enough to know that President Obama can never win them over because that is not an option to them. In their minds, to do so will send them to hell. In fact, that Obama believes it will make all the difference is actually something that plays right into their hands, BECAUSE they don’t care. Obama’s naiveté and his need for America to “be liked again,” are the very tools the terrorists will use to hurt us. It is called a blind spot and this is the place they will enter in and harm us again. Until America acknowledges that this is a Holy War pure and simple, we will not win. We will be playing with the wrong Playbook, one that is filled with maneuvers and strategies that secure our demise.

My very first Journal Entry (dated 3/20/09, a reposting of the original from 1/26/09) details how my own personal encounter with an escaped former terrorist opened my eyes. Like Obama, I wondered what WE did to provoke the 9/11 attacks and Al Qaeda’s hatred for us. Unlike Obama, I learned that we didn’t do anything. They believe that it is Allah’s will for America and Israel to be obliterated from the earth. The sooner this happens the sooner their “messiah” will return and they will go to heaven forever. This is why Ahmedinejad invokes his coming and is doing all he can to hasten it. No matter how nice we are, we are not going to change this. It is literally us or them; they have not given us any choice. It was only after this encounter that I realized that Biblical Prophecy was playing out right in front of our eyes. All the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place, and with my upcoming Journal Entry I will do my best to lay it out clearly.

For now, suffice it to say, focusing on “being liked” on any level completely misses the mark. It’s like picking up a Basketball Playbook to win a Football game. It is a game we will never win. It is a War we cannot treat like a game. Our very lives depend on it. Like Mike Brady learned in the end, not only should we have a great defense and stand up for ourselves, we must also have a great offense and deck them. With bullies, there is no other option.