![President Obama was described as "impatient" and "disengaged" during briefings on last year's Syria crisis. That sense of detachment lead him to a constructive resolution of the NSA snooping controversy. [Credit: Pumas Unleashed]](https://i0.wp.com/www.dougsbriefcase.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/credit-pumas-unleashed.jpg?resize=300%2C181)
President Obama was described as “impatient” and “disengaged” during briefings on last year’s Syria crisis. That sense of detachment could lead him to a constructive resolution of the NSA snooping controversy. [Credit: Pumas Unleashed]
Even as the debate about arming the [Syrian] rebels took on a new urgency, Mr. Obama rarely voiced strong opinions during senior staff meetings. But current and former officials said his body language was telling: he often appeared impatient or disengaged while listening to the debate, sometimes scrolling through messages on his BlackBerry or slouching and chewing gum.
New York Times, October 22, 2013
A President has enormous demands on his time and attention. He can’t focus on everything. He must choose. President Obama, if the New York Times account is to be believed, chose to be “impatient” and “disengaged” as his advisers last year presented him with options on Syria, perhaps explaining why he followed what the Times termed “an uncertain path amid Syrian bloodshed.”
The disengagement from matters of national security that served him so poorly throughout the Syrian affair might uniquely suit him to resolve the controversy over whether the government should continue to gather large volumes of data about US citizens. Continue reading
