AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

“Marketing is what you do when your product is no good” - Edwin H. Land

Near the end of his time as the CEO of the Polaroid Corporation, Edwin H. Land - also the inventor of Polaroid film - made this statement as he struggled to keep the fledgling enterprise from folding after years of success.

President Obama and the Democrats have resorted to the use of marketing as a way of dealing with the big issues of the day, instead of engaging in open debate and the free exhange of ideas. Of course, marketing is nothing new to the President. After all, he is where he is due to to the use of marketing.

But, are the citizens of the United States of America being swindled by these marketing techniques, or to paraphrase Mr. Land, are we being sold a product that's no good?

Since taking office, the President and the Democrats have mishandled several issues in the areas of national security and the war on terror. As a result, we've seen marketing and other focus groups hired to change the discussion on these issues. For instance, the "Global War on Terror" has been eliminated and is no longer a part of United States policy, being replaced with "Overseas Contingency Operation." In addition, "terrorism" is now called "man-caused disasters" and the word Islam has been dropped completely.

Another national security issue that has been handled poorly is the closing of Guantanamo Bay. Barack Obama made closing it one of his primary policy objectives when running for office, and only two days into his new Administration, he issued an Executive Order requiring that the closing be completed within an arbitrary 365 days. Unfortunately, as is the case with the majority of Obama's policy objectives, he had no specific plan for how this task would be completed. The result has been a political nightmare for the President and the Democrats as they deal with what to do with the prisoners held there.

To deal with this backlash, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) has proposed a type of "Gitmo 2.0." In his words, "If we have transparency and accountability, than you can leave Gitmo just like it is." Hastings is a former judge and feels that Gitmo could be handled in the same way he handled a problem prison he had ordered closed when he was still on the bench. "We just changed what was going on inside and therefore the perception changed." He feels that Obama could then reopen "the new Guantanamo." Talk about marketing.

In these vital areas of our nation's security, Obama and the Democrats have been pushing some poor products on the American people, so they've had to resort to marketing to cover their tracks. Marketing has a valid place in our society, but is the right way to deal with these vital issues?

More articles by David: G.M. now stands for Government Motors,  Obama's "fair minded words" doesn't apply to everybody,  ASU was right - Notre Dame is wrong,  Charlie Crist is just another RINO,  Liberals rejoice as Obama ends funding for abstinence-only programs,   Nancy Pelosi's outrage is phony -- and a lie