President Barack Obama delivered his third round of empty promises Sunday night from the Oval Office in response to the San Bernardino, California mass shooting that killed 14 people.

The purpose of his address was to reassure American citizens that while terrorism is most definitely a threat, it is not insurmountable. While Obama made a valiant attempt, his speech did not accomplish his goal comforting Americans and could have been much more impactful had he presented an actual plan.

Throughout his presidency, Obama never appeared to have a firm stance against terrorism. It’s as if he has been hoping that the threat would simply recede without any strong action being taken. With this context, the most important part of his speech proves not to be its content, but the simple fact that the president finally took the first step in creating a course of action.

Now that Obama has gotten on the same page with pretty much every other American citizen, everyone can agree that terrorists are probably not going to change their minds. Terrorism can no longer be ignored, and it needs to be physically dealt with.

“And I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure … The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it,” Obama said.

But while his speech was definitely necessary, its impact was not as great as Obama would have hoped and America has dealt with Obama long enough to know that his promises might not necessarily be fulfilled. In a new CNN/ORC poll released Sunday, 60 percent of Americans disapproved of Obama’s handling of terrorism, which, according to CNN, is up nine points since May.

Fifty-three percent felt that the United States should send ground troops to fight the Islamic State group, and 68 percent simply felt that the U.S. response was not “sufficiently aggressive.”

Surprisingly enough, Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who was live-tweeting the event, accurately summed up the general sentiment when he tweeted, “we need a new President – FAST! Is that all there is?” Hopefully the new president is not Trump himself, but he is right in saying that a change in power is definitely coming at the right time.

Some of the only concrete action plans Obama spoke about had to do with no-fly lists and gun control. He discussed the importance of ensuring that those who are on no-fly lists have zero chance of being able to legally purchase firearms. A plan as extreme and ridiculous as Trump’s to ban all Muslims is not necessary, but one better than a no-fly list is. Rather than banning Muslims from coming to the U.S., an emphasis should be placed on preventing terrorists from ever entering.

The only thing Obama proved in Sunday’s speech is that he is filled with hot air. That is not enough. The U.S. needs a leader who will take legitimate steps to combat terrorism. What Obama needs to do now is act. The U.S. does not just “detest” these terrorist acts. The U.S. is at war.

Victoria Razzi is a sophomore advertising major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at vcrazzi@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @vrazzi.

Published on December 8, 2015 at 12:26 am