The speech was imperfect. The six months of furrowed-brow pondering were inexcusable. Even considering pulling out after years of calling Afghanistan the “necessary war” is just ridiculous.

But yes, rational people can applaud the decision to send more troops (even if it is less than the amount requested). It’s the right decision. And he even spoke a little tough – you know, for a wishy-washy lefty.

The problem is VIRTUALLY EVERY SINGLE OTHER THING HE DID.

And there’s also his inherent lack of trustworthiness. The man has never hit one of his own deadlines. He has given birth to vast federal bills which don’t even manage to achieve a single element of the plans he laid out at their conception.

So when he tries to sound hawkish on foreign policy, frankly my response is just like the liberals who smiled through his pro-forma speeches about ‘defending marriage’. I know it’s an act, just like they do. The man doesn’t really stand for anything except building himself a legacy as a domestically transformative president, damn the cost.