No New Urgency for Leadership: Obama Golfs and Plans Week of Campaign Fundraising

Anyone hoping Obama might suddenly undertake some serious leadership on critical problems is disappointed...AGAIN!

So, Obama headed to Camp David over the weekend.  He followed that getaway to the president's mountain retreat with another round of golf on Sunday. One might have hoped he would take this time to collect his thoughts and prepare newer more effective policies to address the multiple major crises like Ukraine, Gaza and the Border.

But that doesn't appear to be the case. The best Obama could do in responding to this surfeit of trouble was make the following statement on Monday mainly concerning the Russian shootdown of the Malaysian jetliner and the larger situation in Ukraine. Here's the portion that deals generally with Ukraine:

OBAMA: As I’ve said throughout this crisis and the crisis in Ukraine generally, and I’ve said this directly to President Putin, as well as publicly, my preference continues to be finding a diplomatic resolution within Ukraine. I believe that can still happen. That is my preference today, and it will continue to be my preference.

But if Russia continues to violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and to back these separatists, and these separatists become more and more dangerous and now are risks not simply to the people inside of Ukraine but the broader international community, then Russia will only further isolate itself from the international community, and the costs for Russia’s behavior will only continue to increase.

Now is the time for President Putin and Russia to pivot away from the strategy that they’ve been taking and get serious about trying to resolve hostilities within Ukraine in a way that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and respects the right of the Ukrainian people to make their own decisions about their own lives.

He admits that he's just repeating words that he's used a dozen times before with no result. Putin simply ignores Obama knowing that these vague "costs" for Russia are nothing compared to the gains perceived by Putin.

Again, I contrast Obama's weak statement,entirely lacking any dimension of positive action, with that of President Reagan in the wake of the Soviet shootdown of Korean Airlines flight 007 in September 1983.

Has Obama announced any meetings with world leaders to build a coalition to address the matter? Nope. His schedule this week includes 3 days of fundraising and multiple campaign events. Whose leading the world in condemning Russian action? No one!

It seems that after or during every major crisis Obama is campaigning and fundraising. Whether it's Benghazi or the Border, Ukraine, Syria you name it! We don't have a President in the White House. We have a fundraiser in chief!