Among the usual suspects saying the usual things in the Sunday shows on this last day of August, 2014, NBC put up one stand-out segment. Correspondent Richard Engel told Andrea Mitchell on Meet the Press that senior military officials he talked to were “apoplectic” over the president’s “no strategy” gaffe regarding the ISIS threat:
“Well, I spoke to military commanders, I speak to former officials, and they are apoplectic,” he explained. “The think that this is a clear and present danger. They think something needs to be done.”
“One official said that this was a Freudian slip,” he continued.
We’re not sure POTUS’s now-viral characterization qualifies as a “Freudian slip,” precisely. It seemed pretty straightforward and intentional. Perhaps a better expression would be “stream-of-consciousness burble,” as yet again, the president says whatever comes to mind: explaining himself rather than deliberately communicating U.S. policy.
