How many times does POTUS Obama think he can recycle his “nation-building at home” empty promise? Does it have an expiration date?

The Hill reports that in his Saturday address today (video below):

President Obama marked the second anniversary of the end of combat in Iraq, thanking the nation’s servicemembers and vowing to focus on “nation-building here at home” in his weekly address …

“While the war itself remains a source of controversy here at home, one thing will never be in doubt – the members of our armed forces are patriots in every sense of the word,” said the president in his address. “They met every mission and performed every task that was asked of them with precision, commitment and skill. And now, with no Americans fighting in Iraq, it’s my privilege on behalf of a grateful nation to once again congratulate these men and women on a job well done.”

Obama said Washington’s attention should now turn to “nation-building here at home” and he pressed measures he said would help veterans return to civilian life and boost the nation’s economy.

This marks the third time this year, including his January 2012 SOTU address, that Obama has claimed that it’s time for “nation-building at home.”

Less than 90 days ago, on May 6, I reported:

In his weekly address to the nation yesterday, POTUS Obama bragged about the magnificent job he’s done in Afghanistan before announcing, “After more than a decade of war, it is time to focus on nation building here at home.”

Oopsies!!

It was only just this January, in his 2012 State of the Union address, POTUS Obama promised to do more “nation building at home” because nation building abroad was no longer a U.S. priority.

Six months prior, in his weekly address to the nation, on June 22, 2011, POTUS Obama said ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were in the “best interests” of U.S. Security and our economy. “Now is the time to focus on nation building here at home,” he said.

Which is a retread of Thomas L. Friedman’s November 27, 2010 retread of his own June 29, 2008 op-ed tirade:

I do not believe nation-building in Iraq is going to be the issue come November — whether things get better there or worse. If they get better, we’ll ignore Iraq more; if they get worse, the next president will be under pressure to get out quicker. I think nation-building in America is going to be the issue. …

We are the ones who need a better-functioning democracy — more than the Iraqis and Afghans. We are the ones in need of nation-building. It is our political system that is not working. …

We need nation-building at home, and we cannot wait another year to get started.

Matt Welch commented on the November 10 version:

But as a lifelong Prince fan, my eyes were drawn to the sheer dogged repetition of Friedman’s trademark sloganeering. The phrase “nation-building at home” makes two appearances, “nation-building in America” makes two more, and there’s a fifth “nation-building” in there, presumably for collectors. Since we’ve been down this road with the Flat-Worlder before, I thought it might be a public service of sorts to trace how long he’s been flogging this Molly. Turns out for 29 months at minimum.

More from Welch here.

John Hawkins at Rightwing News explained:

Though lofty and nearly unimpeachable as a safely vague slogan, it is hardly new or unique to Democratic speech making.

True. Here’s Ohio communist, retiring Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a few weeks prior, on April 23, spouting the same message. Nation building at home, he declared, will put Americans back to work. (Just google Democrat + “nation building” for many more examples.)

Hawkins continued:

There has been a chorus on the Left promoting this idea for years without fully explaining it. Nation-building at home is code for the implementation of far-left policies. Because the president and the liberals who feed him these slogans misunderstand our nation so badly, they can be forgiven to promote a false definition of nation-building.

Sorry. I disagreed in May and still do today. Neither POTUS Obama nor Thomas L. Friedman are to be forgiven. They know exactly what they are doing and what they are saying and what they want to do to America. Too bad for them. We do, too.