Yesterday, Barack Obama delivered his final lecture, er, speech to the U.S. military. In his all-too-familiar pattern, Obama wove an eloquent farce. Seeking to deflect responsibility for facilitating the rise of the Islamic State, Obama said, “There’s been a debate about ISIL that’s focused on whether a continued U.S. troop presence in Iraq back in 2011 could have stopped the threat of ISIL from growing. And as a practical matter, this was not an option. … In addition, maintaining American troops in Iraq at the time could not have reversed the forces that contributed to ISIL’s rise.” Obama seeks to have it both ways: Claim credit for keeping his ideologically driven campaign promise to end the war in Iraq, while blaming George W. Bush for allegedly creating a situation where Obama was unable to keep a sizable military presence in Iraq.

Obama then pivoted and suggested that ISIL is not really the significant threat to the U.S. that many Americans know it to be. He stated, “Today’s terrorists can kill innocent people, but they don’t pose an existential threat to our nation, and we must not make the mistake of elevating them as if they do.” For Obama, the only significant “existential threat” facing the nation is climate change.

The outgoing commander in chief has at times acted as though he were the most limited president in history, while at other times he has exercised almost dictatorial power to go around Congress in order to implement his agenda. Obama has always had an excuse ready for why his policies have failed. Either A) it wasn’t his plan so it’s not his fault or B) Congress prevented him from acting according to his policy plans so it’s not his fault. Some people might think Obama is an eloquent speaker, but speeches don’t create reality. There’s a reason fairytales are sold in the fiction section of the local book store.

After eight years under Obama’s watch, America finds itself facing a terrorist threat every bit as dangerous as we faced on 9/11. Sadly, Obama, rather than take the enemy seriously, has sought to convince the American people that the Islamic State really isn’t that big of a problem. It makes one wonder if he believes he can perform what he once errantly called a “Jedi mind meld” on the American populace.