Is Obama experiencing a Leon Lett moment?

I sometimes like to use sports analogies to get my point across.  This time is no different. Let me start off by apologizing to all my readers who are Dallas Cowboy fans.  I’m about to force you to relive some painful memories.  I want to talk about a player named Leon Lett.  For those of you who don’t know who Leon Lett is let me give you a little background.  Leon Lett was a talented defensive tackle who played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1991 to 2000.  His career was marred with controversy as he was suspended three times for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.  But the main thing people will always remember about Lett’s NFL career were two plays; the first ranks #1 in ESPNS fan list of tops sports blunders while the other ranks #3.

The first was during Super Bowl XXVII in 1993. Dallas was beating up on the Buffalo Bills pretty bad.  A Buffalo player fumbled the ball late in the fourth quarter, Lett scooped it up and began running for a touchdown.  The field was wide open as he rumbled for what looked to be an easy score.  Just as he started to cross the goal line, Lett decided to slow down and showboat by holding out the ball to the side.  What he didn’t see was Buffalo wide receiver Don Beebe running him down from behind.  Just as he stuck the ball out Beebe knocked it out of his hand before he crossed the goal line preventing the score.  Below is the clip.

The second play he will be remembered for was less than a year later on snowy Thanksgiving Day in Dallas. The Cowboys were beating the Miami Dolphins 14-13.  Again it was late in the fourth quarter when Miami attempted a 41 yard field goal.  The kick was partially blocked by the Cowboys and the celebration began as the ball rolled around harmlessly on the ground towards the goal line.  Game over, Dallas wins; well that’s how it should have worked out.  Instead Leon Lett scrambled down to the goal line, slipped on the snow an attempt to cover a ball that the rest of the team had the good sense to steer clear of.  As he slipped down the ball squirted loose from his hands and Miami recovered.  With three seconds left in the game Miami lined up and kicked a chip shot field goal for the win.

These two painful examples display how the acts of one person can negate a score or turn a win into a loss in an instant because of poor judgment.  I think this is what is happening with President Obama in regards to the bin Laden killing.  Follow my logic here.  On April 30^st the President made the call with the intel he had to take out the world’s number one terrorist, Usama bin Laden.  Navy Seals were inserted deep into Pakistan using stealth helicopters.  They superbly carried out their mission in within 40 minutes the architect of the 9/11 attacks was dead.  On May 1^st the President addressed the nation and informed us that Usama bin Laden was indeed dead.  They had pictures and DNA proof to validate it was him.  People hit the streets and celebrated as chants of USA…USA…USA rang out into the night.  It was a good night for America and a slam dunk for the President.  He was on top of the world.  Then May 2^nd came and everything began to change.

We all observed a number of mixed messages about the mission and the way the administration handled the disposal of the body.  First we were going to see pictures then not.  Bin Laden used his wife as a human shield then not.  He was armed then not.  As the week continued the more perplexing it became in regards to the message the White House was fumbling around to get out, then all of sudden it stopped and mum was the word.  No further communication on the topic was going to come from the Obama administration.  It was decided not to reveal the pictures of bin Laden due to sensitivity issues.  By Wednesday the seeds for a full blown conspiracy were planted and already sprouting.  Was he really dead or not?  What were they hiding?  Why couldn’t we see the pictures?  The tin foil hat wearers were coming out of the woodworks because of the way the administration handled this.  My 14 year old niece could have done a better job.  What was an easy score for the President turned into a Leon Lett moment.  They fumbled the ball right before the goal line and made what should have been one of America’s finest moments into a three ring circus.  And because of this we’re starting to look foolish as a nation.

As sad as this is, it shouldn’t really surprise us.  Just as Leon Lett was prone to use poor judgment again after his Super Bowl blunder, so it is with this administration.  We’ve seen this before with their response to the gulf oil spill.  We’ve seen it with the way they have handled our energy and economic problems.  We’ve seen it with the ground zero mosque debate, the police officer who acted stupidly, and their budget proposal.  And now we ‘re seeing it again here.  There is indeed a pattern so as I said we shouldn’t be surprised one bit.  We just need to recognize that Leon Lett is not the only person who is prone to using poor judgment.

Liberty forever, freedom for all!