To the Editor:

Ah, August. Vacation time. Yeah!!  

Never mind that ISIS is beheading its way through Syria and Iraq. That Christians are being driven into death or despair. As our esteemed leader said a few weeks ago, referring to ISIS; “The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a JV team puts on Laker uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.”  Surprise — looks like they put on Chicago Bears uniforms and need to be taken seriously.  

Can you imagine the State Department being surprised, with John Kerry at the helm? The same John Kerry who recently was ignored by diplomats from Egypt and Israel when cease-fire talks were held. A perfect moment to display his impotence as diplomatic spokesman for a country rapidly earning third-world status.

How I yearn for the days when Hilldebeast (Kerry’s predecessor) was “resetting” our relationship with Russia. Just push the reset button (“reset” was misspelled in Russian) and Putin will be our friend. Remember a couple of years ago when the commander-in-chief was heard through an open microphone appealing to Dmitry Medvedev to allow him space on the contentious European missile defense issue, claiming he could be more flexible after his reelection? I wonder how the folks in Eastern Europe feel about that.

We have every right to advise others how to manage their affairs and protect their borders. After all, we’re doing such a stellar job of protecting ours. With the cartels and coyotes running the show, killing our border agents and ushering in disease and drains on our already depleted treasuries, surely we are the go-to experts.

When the going gets rough, our president and Congress get going — on vacation, that is. After all, it is August.

Don Swanson

Franklin