Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.
--------
Question: Obama's State of the Union fantasy world: We need a real national security strategy, VA reform. Here's a prediction: expect a narrative to emerge in certain media outlets in the coming days that Tuesday night's State of the Union speech was a grand return to form for President Obama . The elite, east-coast intelligencia line will be that the beleaguered lame duck president--facing a hostile, conservative Congress--regained his momentum with renewed energy and purpose . How Obama Got His Groove Back , Washington- style . Groove aside , the fact remains that Obama's next-to-last State of the Union address did not substantially address two of the most pressing issues currently facing our nation and that matter most to its military veterans: the lack of a clear United States national security strategy-- to include the crisis facing our military-- and the inability of the VA bureaucracy care to deliver timely health care to millions of our veterans . But you wouldn't know it by listening to Tuesday night's State of the Union address . President Obama is living in a fantasy world . The president says that we're "stopping ISIL's advance." But in reality, his campaign of airstrikes have not been successful , and ISIS controls more territory in Iraq and Syria today than ever before . He also boldly claimed that "we're slashing the backlog that had too many veterans waiting years to get the benefits they need," but this statement too just doesn't match up with reality . Today, nearly 250,000 veterans are still stuck in the VA claims backlog and another 290,000 languish in the appeals process . Is that still "too many," Mr  President? Unfortunate events will likely force the president's attention to these issues in 2015 -- just like ISIS did in Iraq and Phoenix did for the VA in 2014 . However ,  President Obama could be proactive and get ahead of these issues by pursuing the following four agenda items :. 1 \. Articulate a real national security strategy . The president's plan for"leading from behind"-- and that national security and foreign policy boils down to "don't do stupid stuff"-- is no substitute for a real strategy, as deteriorating situations in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Ukraine and elsewhere prove . Likewise, denying the nature of the enemy we face("ISIS is not Islamic") only muddies the water further , emboldening our enemies and confusing our allies . President Obama also touted ending the 14 year-long war in Afghanistan , but "ending" is different than"winning." His telegraphed withdrawals have pulled us out of conflicts before they're resolved , creating power vacuums in Iraq- and soon in Afghanistan- that leave America more vulnerable . And incredibly, for the first time since 9/11, the president failed to even mention the Taliban or Al Qaeda  - both of which are far from "on the run" as he proclaimed in 2012 and are advancing and actively challenging the West . 2 \. Get serious about fixing defense spending . Instead of cutting fat, the president's ill-conceived defense budget sequester has slashed into the muscle of our military force . The administration should strive to replace defense sequestration, by implementing serious and commensurate acquisitions and compensation reforms . Reforming these areas will reduce Pentagon budgetary pressures caused by massive weapons system cost-overruns and exploding personnel costs, allowing for a more strategic allocation of war-fighting resources . In order to live within a fiscally responsible reality, and most importantly maintain the world's most capable military, the administration and Congress must get serious about real DoD spending reform . His address last night didn't even mention sequestration . 3 \. Develop and implement a plan to tackle the national debt . Respected military leaders like Marine General James Mattis, Admiral Mike Mullen, and many others recognize that the biggest long-term threat to our national security is our massive national debt . At more than $18 trillion and growing, the debt is on track to double under President Obama . It is absolutely vital to the fiscal, economic, and military strength of our country that we have a serious plan to get our debt under control through reductions in spending and significant reforms across the government . 4 \. Implement more accountability and choice at the VA . The VA reforms passed by Congress last year were a good first step, but will not address the deeper, systemic culture problems at VA . In the next Congress, the president should champion even deeper reforms at VA to bring accountability for poor performing employees throughout the department and to expand health care options for veterans outside the VA system . These basic principles would not only address a campaign promise the president has failed to deliver on("fixing the VA") but would show that he is finally serious about improving veterans' access to the quality health care they earned . What the president misses, and even defies, in his latest list of proposals is that Americans don't think government isn't doing enough . They think government does too much, that most of what it does, it does poorly , and that it doesn't attend to the issues that matter to them . Focusing on the four agenda items above would send a message that the president is finally serious about governing in his last two years in office . It's probably too much to ask for Obama to change his approach at this stage in his presidency -- but it's essential if he wants to avoid a legacy of division, defiance and neglect . And if the president continues on his current course? Well, the items listed above will become part of a compelling agenda for his potential successors as they take to the campaign trail for 2016 .

Answer: The elite, east-coast intelligencia line will be that the beleaguered lame duck president--facing a hostile, conservative Congress--regained his momentum with renewed energy and purpose


Question: President Obama, here's how you build a legacy. Two years from now, the country will be on the verge of inaugurating the 45th president of the United States . The presidency of Barack Obama will be over , and to the joy and relief of many Americans, there will be a new beginning . To quote President Obama's 2008 campaign slogan "Hope and Change" will be the order of the day . Certainly "change" will come with the new occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue . The certainty of who that man or woman will be two years from now is unknown . It will depend on who can survive the already begun long campaign that will easily be the most expensive in history . Immediately after the oath of Office is taken at noon on January 20th, 2017 on the West Portal of the Capitol, the pictures on the walls of the White House and the personal artifacts of Barack Obama and his family will be removed . The legacy left behind and the permanent White House staff will stay on awaiting the new leader of the free world . "Hope" is always in the minds of Americans along with good will for any new president . Much of that good will and almost all of the "hope," that this president could or would be different, is gone . With a little more than half of the president's second term remaining, judgments have been made and speculation is rampant that the White House decisions are now being made is to define that legacy . His expected veto decision on the Keystone pipeline is to appease the environmentalists . His executive orders allowing millions of illegals to stay in the country rather than be deported is also viewed as a pandering to the fastest growing voting group . His alteration by executive order creating changes in his health care law have enraged members of Congress that have the real power to change laws . His attempt to close Guantanamo prison over the objections of Congress is another critical debate . But the biggest and most long lasting mistake maybe his withdrawal of ground troops from both Iraq and Afghanistan . And one he has not yet made may be more severe and dangerous to world peace -- his headlong rush toward an attempt to get a nuclear deal with Iran . A deal that, in spite of all the reassurances from Secretary of State John Kerry, will enable Iran to make nuclear weapons . The mainstream media is feeding into this legacy debate . One of the latest examples, The New York magazine cover story of January 11, called the "Obama History Project." The magazine asked 53 historians to weigh in on Barack Obama's legacy and how they think he will be measured 20 years from now . Historians play a vital role in measuring presidents . Usually their histories are written decades after the fact when they can go back and review documents and gather facts and see the results of presidential actions from afar and in a cold dissected view . Historians have certainly altered the view of many former presidents and have actually restored the reputations of a few . Harry Truman being a perfect example . A man greatly respected today , Truman left office with a tattered reputation, was very unpopular with the public, and could not possibly been reelected when he left office in 1952 . Today, he is ranked among the top 10 presidents by most presidential scholars . A review of Eisenhower is going on now and his marks are high . Lyndon Johnson and George Herbert Walker Bush are getting favorable reviews by the historians after being out of office for decades . I am a partisan Republican who has worked in the administrations of three presidents and served two tours of duty at the highest level of Ronald Reagan's White House . As an American and as the father of a young college-aged daughter, I don't want any president to fail . I want this country to be led by the very best people we can find . It isn't always so . Every president, or people on his staff are looking out for his legacy . But the boss I worked for, President Reagan, operated under a different theory . One day we were returning from a trip out somewhere in the country . We were flying aboard Marine One, the presidential helicopter, across Washington, after leaving Air Force One at Andrews Air Base . The president was very tired and as we landed on the South Lawn, he looked up at pictures of his ranch displayed on the walls of the chopper . He said, pointing to the ranch pictures,"I wish we were landing there!" Not knowing what to say to the leader of the free world who obviously didn't want to go back to work . I said,"Mr  President, it will all be worthwhile. History will be very kind to you someday." He chuckled and said right back."Ed, I don't care about history. I am going to be dead and gone and they will distort it anyways. What I care about is those great young people we saw out there today and making sure they have the same opportunities we all had." He turned to his closest friend, also sitting there, Senator Paul Laxalt (R.-Nev .). He said Paul's father was a Basque immigrant sheepherder and his mother a hotel cook . He turned to me and said:"Your dad was shipyard worker and my own father was a travelling shoe salesman. We are all here because this great country gave us opportunities. We have to make sure that's what we leave behind and those kids out there get those same opportunities. Now let's get back in there and go to work!" Ronald Reagan loved this country and was proud to be the leader of the greatest group of people in the world . President Obama, that's how you build a legacy! President Obama's life story is one of inspiration . To come from a broken home, abandoned by his father as an infant, to be raised by grandparents from the Midwest and to achieve, as a black man, the highest office in the land is inspirational . Unfortunately, he has not been an inspirational president . Mr  Obama, let me speak to you directly . Right now your legacy is that your party suffered historic losses across the country at every level in 2014 . Your health care plan will cost enormous sums above your estimates and even those who didn't have health insurance and now do, can't get health care . The Dodd-Frank bill has cost American business billions of dollars and thousands of lawyers are working around the clock to deal with the implementation of it . You pulled our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan before the job was done . And your lack of strength as a leader has made the strongest nation in the world look weak and vulnerable . You have the greatest political tin ear I've ever seen in a president . Someone should have told you to take your place at the front of the line with other world leaders in Sunday's million person march in Paris, against worldwide terrorism . Or you should have known yourself . Yes , Mr  President, they are terrorists and they hate everything we stand for . You want a legacy? Work with the Congress the American people chose and get something done!

Answer: Two years from now, the country will be on the verge of inaugurating the 45th president of the United States The presidency of Barack Obama will be over


Question: Ferguson: Obama contines to undermine police departments around the country. As a response to the police shooting of Michael Brown, President Obama proposes $263 million for police training and body cameras . But more police training wouldn't have prevented the Brown shooting and the president's proposal plays into the hands of those who blame the police . President Obama has continually undermined police departments around the country , and his demand for more training fits that pattern . In 2009, he jumped to the conclusion that Cambridge, Massachusetts police "acted stupidly" when they arrested Henry Gates . He personalized the Trayvon Martin investigation in a way that to many implied the murder was radically motivated . And yet again last week, he emphasized that the anger to the verdict was "an understandable reaction" and blacks' distrust of police is "rooted in realities." Nevertheless , whatever Obama implies, there was absolutely no evidence Officer Darren Wilson was motivated by race and he did exactly what he should have done . Brown's robbery of the convenience store, his decision to reach into the police car and punch Wilson while trying to take his gun, and finally Brown's decision to charge Wilson was what caused the teen's death . Under Missouri law, people can defend themselves with deadly force if they have a "reasonable belief" they need to use it to protect themselves against serious injury or death . Wilson claimed:"I felt that another of those punches in my face could knock me out or worse... I've already taken two to the face and I didn't think I would, the third one could be fatal if he hit me right." When Brown later charged Wilson, despite repeated warnings to stop, Wilson worried that he no choice but to shoot Brown . But we don't have to take Wilson's word for what happened . The forensic evidence is overwhelmingly consistent with his story . There is no doubt that Brown reached in Wilson's car and hit him . Brown's DNA was found on Wilson's gun . Despite strong social pressure, three black witnesses confirmed Wilson's testimony . Police officers in America have a more dangerous job than many people realize and they behave remarkably well under these circumstances . In 2013, the assault rate for the general public in the United States was 229 per 100,000 people . But the rate police were assaulted that year was 9,300 per 100,000 officers- a rate 41 times higher . The only reason that police don't die at as high of a rate as people in other professions is because of their training and the fact that they are armed . Would you consider it "dangerous" to live in Detroit? After all ,  it has by far the highest assault rate in the country, at 1,257 per 100,000 people . But police are still 7.4 times more likely to be assaulted(=9,300/1,257) . Aggravated assaults don't necessarily involve injuries, just the attempt to cause serious bodily injury , but police are injured at a very high rate - 2,700 per 100,000 police officer . That is still much higher than the total assault data for civilians . This data also suggests that police are not actively looking for excuses to fire their weapons . The number of justifiable killings by police equals less than one percent of the assaults on police . Thus even when assaulted, police rarely resort to killing their attackers . As Ferguson is showing us, physical risks aren't the only risks that police face . On Saturday Officer Darren Wilson resigned from the Ferguson police department , fearing that protestors would use his continued presence to justify rioting . He is going to have a hard time getting a job , and he didn't get any severance pay . Who will hire him now? Surely no other police department will hire him . And, any company that would hire Wilson would fear the same protests . With Wilson facing civil suits and Attorney General Eric Holder's federal investigation still ongoing, the pressures on Officer Wilson are not likely to fade away anytime soon . It's safe to say that other police officers will be carefully watching what happens to Wilson . Yes, racism is despicable . And there have been abuses by police in the past . But 2014 isn't 1960 . Police have a difficult and dangerous job , and President Obama could help to calm things down if he and his administration weren't so quick to assume that police officers are the only ones at fault . John R  Lott, Jr  is a columnist for FoxNews.com . He is an economist and was formerly chief economist at the United States Sentencing Commission . Lott is also a leading expert on guns and op-eds on that issue are done in conjunction with the Crime Prevention Research Center . He is the author of eight books including "More Guns, Less Crime." His latest book is"Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench" Bascom Hill Publishing Group (September 17, 2013) . Follow him on Twitter@johnrlottjr .

Answer:
President Obama has continually undermined police departments around the country his demand for more training fits that pattern