Opinion: President Failing to Step Up in Ferguson

“President Obama vacationed on Martha’s Vineyard as an American city fell into disarray,” is what history will say, Mr. President.

Monday, Aug. 18, the president is meeting with national security advisors and is scheduled to golf with NBA Hall of Fame inductee Alonzo Mourning. Simultaneously, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is calling in the Missouri National Guard to help quell unrest in Ferguson, a city that has fallen to the wayside.

The White House calendar for the president during the week of August 10 is nearly empty except for two speeches Monday, Aug. 11, and a statement Thursday, Aug. 14, on Ferguson, to which he showed up over a half-hour late.

The president is expected to return to Massachusetts for more R&R Tuesday.

Granted, the man needs his rest.

But, when someone has been elected to the most influential political position in a country, what is that person’s responsibility when a city in that country is subject to civil disorder?

The president’s lack of action is analogous to President George W. Bush taking over a week to tangibly respond to the catastrophe in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

It took President Dwight D. Eisenhower one day to respond to a request to help integrate Little Rock Central High School when nine African-American students were denied entry.

Granted, the historical comparison is not exactly analogous, but the point stands.

Mr. President, you’re commander in chief.

Be a commander.

As the streets of Ferguson, Missouri experience a military build-up, what will history say you did?

Golfing. The president was on Martha’s Vineyard golfing.

Do better, Mr. President.

Image credit: Flickr/U.S. Embassy, Jakarta