One of my favorite shows is “Buying Alaska.”  I particularly like the part where people are willingly moving to homes with no indoor plumbing.  The American public is being re-introduced to the outhouse.  Sometimes it is really fun to watch.  I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and while we were far from rich, we always had indoor plumbing.  Although my brother did have an outhouse on his property, it was no longer used.  However, there were still a lot homes with outhouses.  That is one reason the night before Halloween was called “Gate Night.”  That was when the kids would think up all kinds of mischief.  One of the favorite stunts my classmates loved was moving an outhouse about 4 feet.  The theory was than when someone went out in the dead of night to use the “facilities” they would encounter a really unpleasant surprise.  I frankly am not sure if anyone actually did this and if they did I am not sure it worked.  However, I am absolutely positive they all talked about it.  I still smile at the thought of someone discovering, the hard way, that their outhouse had been moved.  Now we have a modern version of Gates night.  Once again there could be quite a stink.

Robert Gates has published his memoir and it is astonishing.  He shreds Barack Obama as Commander in Chief.  What makes this particularly devastating is that Robert Gates is highly respected on both sides of the aisle.  He has a reputation for being even tempered.  He is known for not taking cheap shots at anyone.  I don’t recall another Secretary of Defense or any other top cabinet official turning on a sitting President like this.

For years I have been reading rumors on various blogs reporting a similar opinion of Obama by top military commanders.  However, no current or former top commander was willing to go public with this.  That may change after this book.  At a minimum, the people mentioned in Gates’s book will be asked direct questions.  These military men are pretty disciplined and they have clearly kept quiet about this, but that does not mean they are willing to lie about it.  I think if they are asked a direct question they will give a direct answer.  That does not bode well for Obama.

It didn’t seem possible for Obama to drop lower in public opinion polls.  But then, who could have predicted this.  President Obama was really hurt by his well-documented lies about ObamaCare.  Very few Democrats even try to defend him with regard to that.  The most he gets from anyone is a vague hope that eventually people will like ObamaCare.  I doubt that many people really believe that any more.  But that was just about politics.  This is about national security.  This is far more serious than lying about ObamaCare.

Gates made an accusation that is devastating, both to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.  He said both admitted to him that they opposed the surge in Iraq solely for political purposes.  What an incredible statement to make about two candidates for Commander in Chief.  If a candidate is willing to put politics about national security, during the campaign, how could we ever trust them to act responsibly later?

Another thing that makes this book so devastating is that it is easy to believe.  It has the ugly odor of truth.  Everything Robert Gates describes is totally consistent with what we know about this President.  You must admit, this really fits.

But perhaps the most important question is why did Gates do this?  His personal anger is not a satisfactory explanation.  Neither is his personal disgust with Obama.  He also doesn’t fit the mold of someone desperate for publicity and he doesn’t need the money.

Robert Gates is a man of honor and integrity.  He is a man who has sacrificed a great deal to serve his country.  Regardless of his personal distain, one would not expect him to publish this while Obama is still in office.  This book will do great harm to our national security.  Gates knows that.  He knows our enemies can read too and they will use this information to our disadvantage.  Robert Gates must have thought long and hard before he went through with this.  The fact that he thought it necessary is more important than what he said.

Since he was Secretary of Defense, it is safe to assume that our top military commanders agree with what he said.  It is quite possible that they were encouraging him to speak out.  If the rumors I discussed before are true, our military commanders do not trust Barack Obama as Commander in Chief.  I am not saying they don’t like him.  I am not even saying they dislike his politics.  I am saying they do not trust him to act responsibly as Commander in Chief.

Our President swears an oath to preserve protect and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  The President has a duty to do the right thing, regardless of political consequences.  Robert Gates has just gone public with his opinion that Barack Hussein Obama is unwilling or able to do his duty.  It does not get any worse than this.

I do not know where we go from here.  It will be interesting to see how top Democrats respond.  Robert Gates, former Secretary of State, has said that Barack Hussein Obama is not fit to hold the office of President.  If top Democrats care anything about their country, they must fight back against these accusations.  This is far too important to ignore.  Yet, I really don’t expect Democrats to respond at all.  I think they will just try to ignore this and hope it goes away.  That might be the smart political move, but it would be beyond irresponsible.   If Gates is wrong about this, than Democrats should unite around their President.  If they don’t, it will tell us everything we need to know.  Unfortunately the bigger problem is what to do if Gates is right.   Keep in mind that Gates trusts Joe Biden even less than he trusts Obama.  WOW!

TDM