Harf and Psaki as Lucy and Ethel; Contrast Obama's State Department silliness with Islamist malevolence

Before reading about the interview below with Marie Harf, for contrast and perspective go to this intelligent commentary on dealing with ISIS:

The Atlantic: What ISIS Really Wants  "The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it."  Full Atlantic article here.

We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.

NRO: Lucy and Ethel Take Foggy Bottom

"Never in the history of public relations have an institution and its representatives been so mismatched as at the current U.S. Department of State, where, tasked with articulating America’s position toward Middle East terror outfits, Russian aggression, and the world’s other vicissitudes, are Jen Psaki and Marie Harf, currently in the midst of an interminable Lucy-and-Ethel routine as Foggy Bottom’s spokesperson and deputy spokesperson, respectively. In an administration that has always given the distinct impression of being directed by second-year poli-sci majors from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Psaki and Harf are the only two under the impression that Legally Blonde was a documentary — one which they are apparently trying to recreate, with little success, at Foggy Bottom."

Sure, it is easy to be hard on the Obama administration’s press people. The have the undesirable task of putting a serious face on an administration whose conduct is usually laughably unserious. 

The Daily Caller   "As Al Weaver reports, State Dept. Pledge Director Marie Harf appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball last night. When noted chickenhawk warmonger Chris Matthews started rattling his saber about ISIS, Harf shut him down real quick."

. . . "“We cannot win this war by killing them. We cannot kill our way out of this war. We need, in the longer term, medium to longer term, to go after the root causes that leads (sic) people to join these groups. Whether it’s lack of opportunities for jobs…”

Good point. ISIS just needs a good jobs program. And maybe midnight basketball, stuff like that. Hey, what could it hurt?" . . .

This all caught Rush Limbaugh's eye today: Marie Harf: We Can't Win War on ISIS by Killing Them, We Have to Find Them Jobs . . . "This woman is an absolute throwback to 1960s, feel-good liberalism that is senseless. It's chickified, it denies reality, and this is the number two spokeswoman at the State Department. Her boss is not very much more cogent. That would be the infamous Jen Psaki." . . .

Last night Marie Harf, the State Department spokesman with those glasses, showed once again why they are the smartest thing about her.   . . . " This is not the responsible approach of any commander in chief. If the destruction of ISIS is a just and necessary priority of the United States, the president ought to do it, and do it right. The longer he waits to be dragged into this conflict, the more people will die." . 

These are the people the Obama Administration chooses to put out in front, to answer important questions of policy for Obama himself, and the State Department.