In the direct aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks – out of the simmering ashes of the Twin Towers and the smoldering remains of so many of our loved ones – America was momentarily united. Conservatives and liberals, Red America and Blue America … none of it mattered. We were one nation, united in common purpose, mourning and grieving together.

Before 9/11, there were some on the Left who hurled epithets at policemen. Directly after 9/11, the overwhelming majority of Americans weren’t just respectful of the police, we thanked them and wept with them because we understood that the police had suffered so greatly at the hands of radical Islamic terrorism. If a Black Lives Matter activist tried to shout, “Pigs in a blanket! Fry ’em like bacon!” in New York City, they would’ve been run out of town on a rail.

It was just 15 years ago, but it was a different time for our country. Everywhere you looked, Americans were proudly waving their American flag, expressing their unbridled love for the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.

We had a Republican president then, and for all the criticisms of how George W. Bush managed the Iraq War, he worked hard to keep us safe at home. “Never again,” President Bush promised us. And after 9/11, under his watch, there were no further terrorist attacks from radical Islamists on American soil.

None.

Fast forward to the end of the Obama administration:

The United States of America is united no more. We’re hopelessly polarized, more divided, perhaps, than at any time since the Civil War. Red America and Blue America are at a breaking point. The police are libeled, maligned, and demoralized. Our borders are a seeping mess, exploited by smugglers, drug-runners, and Heaven knows who else. Muslim immigration has spiked, with large numbers of these new arrivals supporting Sharia Law. Instead of waving the American flag, political rallies are now being disrupted by violent thugs waving the Mexican flag.

And the solemn vow we made of “Never again” after the Twin Towers collapsed? It’s become “Here we go again” because terrorist attacks by radical Islamists have become a way of life.

This is the reality of the Obama legacy.

In opposition to Congress (and the will of the American people), Obama released vast numbers of the terrorists in Guantanamo Bay. We now know for a fact that many of these terrorists have returned to the battlefield and resumed their jihad against us. Some have taken American lives. Others might be actively plotting terrorism on our homeland.

Early in his presidency, Obama left the Middle East in a precipitous mess so he could claim that he successfully “ended two wars”… without actually doing the hard work of winning the wars before leaving! But as he prematurely withdrew American troops, he also destabilized Syria and Libya with mismanaged, incoherent military policies, creating a territorial vacuum. He was the biggest cheerleader for the Muslim Brotherhood’s fundamentalist takeover of Egypt. He inexplicably alienated our strategic allies of Saudi Arabia and Israel, cratering our relationships with both countries. He freed-up billions and billions of dollars for Iran, giving the lunatic mullahs in Tehran a green light to pursue nuclear technology that can later be weaponized.

Almost immediately, the vacuum that Obama had carelessly created was filled by a brand-new terrorist group called ISIS, a.k.a. the Islamic State. Our beleaguered allies were not unified enough to stop them. And President Obama proceeded to mismanage the ISIS threat so stunningly, it almost defies belief:

First, he thought the Kurds would wipe them out, even though he restricted the Kurds from receiving the weapons they needed to fight. When the under-resourced Kurds couldn’t stop them, Obama assured us that ISIS was just a “J.V. team” and that they were “contained.” We were safe.

But once again, Obama was wrong.

First came the executions and mass murders. Then came the mass rapes and attempted genocide. Then came the slaughter of homosexuals, Christians, secular Muslims, Yazidis, and other minorities. Then came the terrorist attacks all over the Middle East. Then came the Paris attacks. And the attacks in San Bernardino. And the beheading of American journalists. And now, the bloodiest, deadliest terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, the horrific carnage in Orlando, Florida.

Given how spectacularly his policies haven’t just failed, but have explicitly led to the rise and growth of ISIS, what does Obama now have to say? Has he apologized or offered to change tactics?

No.

On the contrary, President Obama is demanding that Congress disarm Americans … because obviously, guns are the problem!

But blaming guns for what happened in Orlando is like blaming box-cutters for what happened on 9/11.

President Obama just doesn’t get it because his warped political ideology doesn’t permit him to get it. This is how he views the world.

In his mind, ISIS is mad at us because of Guantanamo Bay and imperial America’s colonial history, and terrorists will finally stop trying to mass-murder homosexuals if we avoid using hurtful words like “radical Islam.” And besides, America isn’t so great either. So who are we to judge others?

In a nutshell, here is President Obama’s approach to Islamic terrorism: Apologize for America being an awful country while overseas, withdraw troops, downplay America’s greatness, send in a few low-risk drones to mostly unpopulated areas, and free nearly all the prisoners from Guantanamo Bay … and then all will be well in the world, and we can move onto the issues that he finds more important.

Like transgender bathroom rights.

But he’s wrong.

The real world doesn’t run on P.C. “spin” or his socio-political theories; the real world runs on cause-and-effect.

Reality matters.

In the real world, it’s not a “hate crime” for a traditional American to voice skepticism over men using the women’s bathroom. It’s a difference of opinion over government policy. A “hate crime” is allowing a hateful, genocidal organization like ISIS to rise, flourish, control territory, export terrorism, and kill dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of Americans on American soil because the President is too damn incompetent to stop it.

We desperately need a president who understands that we’re living in the real world.

Reality matters.

And the only way to defeat ISIS … is to actually defeat ISIS!

Any rationale U.S. president would’ve quickly swarmed ISIS territory in the Middle East with an unholy buzz saw of American firepower if they dared attack Americans on American soil. Any rationale U.S. president would’ve demanded justice for the blood of the American people!

But for Obama, this is just business as usual. The real important thing, he piously tells us, is not to use hateful language, ’cause that just might make the genocidal terrorists mad at us. (Plus, we should pass new gun-control laws.)

“So there is no magic to the phrase of ‘radical Islam,’” lectured Obama, following the Orlando attacks. “It is a political talking point!”

Sigh. If only the President would attack the terrorists with the same gusto as he attacks strawmen.

Mr. Obama: Nobody ever claimed that the words “radical Islam” were magical! But what has been said is that your steadfast refusal to even utter the phrase is emblematic of your unwillingness to address the problem.

One of the great powers of the American presidency is the power of the bully pulpit. Instead of speaking with clarity, defining the enemy, rallying public opinion, and focusing like a laser beam on eradicating the enemy, Obama has opted to vacate the battlefield. He’s been a conscientious objector in the war against radical Islam.

He’s vacated the battlefield. It’s his Iraq strategy all over again.

We cannot defeat ISIS with P.C. gibberish, or by ignoring the problem, or by sacrificing the constitutional freedoms we’ve had since the days of our Founding Fathers. Because, whether we like it or not, we must defeat ISIS the same way we defeated the Nazis: by exposing them for what they are–and by killing them.