title:  Why Conservatives Need To Stop Whining About Obama Being In Cuba During Brussels Attack (VIDEO)
text: Terrorists attacked Brussels, Belgium in a tragedy that has left at least 30 people dead, and that means conservatives quickly attacked President Obama for being in Cuba at the time.On Twitter, conservatives did not waste any time using the act of terrorism to attack President Obama, who became the first American President to visit Cuba in 88 years since Calvin Coolidge did so in 1928.The historic trip is an effort to open the island nation to trade by normalizing relations enough to convince Congress to end the longtime embargo which remains one of the last remnants of the Cold War. It represents an opportunity to strengthen relations between our two nations and a chance to change Cuba from within via American tourism and business opportunities.Thus far, the trip has been successful as Cuba has welcomed President Obama with open arms. But once news broke of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, conservatives immediately sounded off about how President Obama is in Cuba while Europe suffers yet another attack and further criticized Obama for not cutting his trip short to run back to the White House.Here are some of the tweets.Brussels under attack. Obama on a tourist trio in Havana with his family. Says it all.  Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) March 22, 2016 Terrible optics: ISIS attacks Brussels and Obama is with the Castro Brothers in Cuba.  Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 22, 2016Obama should leave Cuba and head back to the White House Situation Room immediately. #brusselsattack  Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 22, 2016The two bozos above are Fox News contributors so it really comes as no surprise that they would shamelessly use a terrorist attack to launch their own attack on President Obama.Even Ted Cruz got in on the Obama bashing, calling for the president to leave Cuba and come back to the states or go directly to Brussels.And do what exactly?President Obama has been planning this trip to Cuba for months, and it s not like leaving now will change anything. The truth is that there is very little President Obama can do beyond offering American condolences and offering assistance, which he has already done via phone call with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.Furthermore, President Obama already receives constant briefings on the situation even though he s not at the White House. And as president, he can order any actions necessary from wherever he happens to be on the planet. In other words, he doesn t have to be in Washington or in Brussels to handle the attacks.In addition, this major terrorist attack did not occur in the United States. And if it had, it is likely President Obama would have hopped on Air Force One as soon as possible, but still would have the power to make the necessary communications with his staff while preparing for takeoff. In short, leaps in communication technology have made it possible for presidents to be in several places and deal with several situations at once from anywhere in the world.Let s not act like Brussels can t handle the situation. NATO is based there and Belgium has plenty of allies around them ready to help when asked. A visit from President Obama would just be a distraction because it would require security and police forces pay attention to keeping him safe instead of paying attention to the attack, the victims, and who perpetrated it.And the one really big reason why conservatives need to shut the hell up about President Obama not dropping everything to respond to a terrorist attack overseas is the fact that former President George W. Bush did the same thing in 2001, except the terrorist attack was the worst ever on American soil.That s right, even as New York City and Washington D.C. were under attack on September 11th, Bush kept his plan to read a story book to children at Emma T. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. Even after being told of the attacks in the middle of reading My Pet Goat, Bush continued to read instead of immediately jumping on board Air Force One to get to the Situation Room. And if there were ever a time to cancel plans and return to Washington, that was it. But Bush not only finished the book, he delivered a short scheduled speech and remained at the school for 30 minutes after being told about the attack the first time. And then he headed to the airport.But it left an image of a president who didn t seem to care about doing something as commander-in-chief to deal with the unfolding tragedy in our own country that would scar us and this nation for more than a decade and beyond.I don t recall conservatives whining about President Bush then, so they really shouldn t be whining about President Obama now. Featured image via Wikimedia