O IS FOR OBAMA -- AND OSTRICH

By Schmoel Yitzhak

Before the last presidential election, I fully digested three comments made by insightful friends about the possibilities of Barack Obama winning the White House.

* FRIEND ONE: (A Liberal Democrat who once ran for the New York State Senate and lost because he was too liberal:) "Obama is a racist."

* FRIEND TWO: (An equally-liberal Democrat who never ceased to ridicule George W. Bush): "Obama is a loser."

* FRIEND THREE: (A businessman with extremely liberal tendencies.) "The man (Obama) is an empty suit."

To those observations, I submit one other description -- he's a human ostrich.

When there's trouble ahead, the president buries his head or helicopters off to Camp David to play golf.

Some president.

And speaking of fauna, those are not ostriches being mowed down like clay pigeons by Assad's murderers in Syria. They are real humans and every day there are fewer Syrians than there were the day before.

You would think that America's Commander-In-Chief would do SOMETHING to protect Syria's innocent protestors from their homicidal dictator. You would think, wouldn't you?

So, what does the Talking Ostrich of Pennsylvania Avenue do about the daily massacres in Syria?

He looks, issues a hollow homily -- "We are watching events in Syria with horror" -- and buries his head once more. Ergo: the embattled Syria protestors get a blend of hot air and nothing.

Obama's pattern of avoiding action when he has all of America's might behind him is nothing new. We remember how he ineffectually looked on when the Iranian dissidents took to the streets, hoping -- praying -- for some kind of substantive American support and all they got from Washington was more looking and no action.

Remarkably, some of The Ostrich's most fervent supporters finally are taking their heads out of the sand. Yesiree, Bob, a few liberals actually are getting wise to him. Why, one such individual happens to be a columnist in the New York Times, the newspaper that effectively has been the president's public relations arm ever since Obama took office.

Columnist Maureen Dowd describes the president as "spectacularly unable to fill the leadership void. Obama seems at a loss."

Give Dowd points for understatement.

Not only is The Ostrich "at a loss," he's a loser. Big-time.

His instincts are to the left of awful.

Remember when he made that "I Love You Arabs" speech in Cairo? Then he embraced President Hosni Mubarak. Obama sure forgot about that fast because, when Egyptians took to the streets this year, The Ostrich speedily pushed his former friend right into the waiting arms of those who soon will murder Mubarak.

Meanwhile, Obama still doesn't know what he's doing with Libya and likely never will at the rate things are going in the Sahara.

While Obama regularly spews a diarrhea of words condemning Israel for building in its "settlements," The Ostrich still has not visited the Middle East's only democracy. Incredibly, three years since taking office, he does nothing but talk about "settlements." But since he dares not visit Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa or The Golan Heights, has no idea why calling Jewish developments in Judea and Samaria with the incorrect label, "settlements," is an egregious geographic and political sin.

It reminds me of the bromide; "If you haven't tried it, don't knock it." But, alas, The Ostrich doesn't get it; he just doesn't get it at all.

"Obama," explains Dowd, who once adored him, "turns out to be the odd case of a pragmatist who can't learn from his mistakes and adapt."

One of his mistakes was treating Benjamin Netanyahu as some sort of irrelevant Senate page boy instead of Israel's head of state on Bibi's first visit to the Obama White House.

But, as Dowd so accurately notes, The Ostrich didn't get it so the next time the Prime Minister came to call, Obama double-crossed Bibi with the totally unacceptable "1967 borders" declaration. That bit of White House chicanery just about set Arab-Israel peace prospects irrevocably behind Square One.

Half the time, Obama sounds like those faux-Jews who operate J-Street; they pretend to support Israel while undercutting it at every turn of the phrase.

Meanwhile, as August turns toward September and the Arabs -- otherwise mistakenly known as Palestinians -- push for United Nations recognition, we wait in vain for Uncle Sam's leader to boldly assert that he is unabashedly AGAINST such a hostile move that would once and for all kill any "peace process," whatever that means.

Really, all Israel can hope for -- long-range -- is that Hilary Clinton takes on -- and defeats -- Obama in a Democratic showdown next year. Surely, Clinton -- though pockmarked with defects -- or ANY Republican would be better for Israel and American Jews than The Ostrich masquerading as president.

Once liberal commentators such as Dowd begin to rip away Obama's coverings we discover that the emperor has no clothes or, as my buddy long ago asserted, "He's an empty suit."

Then again, you might prefer Ms. Dowd's pithy X-ray of The Ostrich.

"The politician who came across as a redemmer in 2008 is now in need of redemption himself."