Our irresolute leader

Countless times, my mom would say to my sister and me, “If I have to tell you one more time . . . .” Of course, we knew what was coming. We never doubted Mom would follow through because she always did. Our mother was a force. She became my friend as I grew older, but as a child, there was only an iron-willed parent.

As the parent of a teenager, I’ve come to value my mom’s skill as an enforcer. She measured her words carefully. When she spoke, her message was clear.

I wish our president were as capable of such iron-willed clarity and resolve. Red lines cannot be drawn against despots like Syria’s President Bashar Assad. Bullies rub the toes of their shoes into those lines, blurring — often obliterating — them.

As for “shooting across the bow,” those words are better left for sea-dwelling novels where the hero wins, even when the ship is doomed. Our country cannot afford to become a doomed, rudderless ship. We must have that stodgy, annoying, iron-willed parent whispering in our ear, yelling at our enemies, “Enough is enough.”

And when it is, the time must come when we cross that red line ourselves.

VICKIE W. ZOLEZZI
BLACKSBURG

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