We heard it all over and over during the 2008 campaign; the charge that President Bush could not bring allies to the table.

So what happened to President Obama now that he is trying to put together a coalition?

So far it's not working, according to news reports:

"The German foreign minister says his country will not take part in any such strikes inside Syria, and, there are mixed signals coming out of Great Britain. 

The British foreign secretary says the U.K. supports America's approach of forming an international coalition to defeat ISIS while also saying there is a limit to what Great Britain will do.  

"Let me be clear, Britain will not be taking part in any airstrikes in Syria, I can be very clear about that. We've already had that discussion in our parliament last year and we won't be revisiting that position,” said Phillip Hammond, the British foreign secretary."

This is on top of another story about "tepid support" from the Arab countries:

"Many Arab governments grumbled quietly in 2011 as the United States left Iraq, fearful it might fall deeper into chaos or Iranian influence. Now, the United States is back and getting a less than enthusiastic welcome, with leading allies like Egypt, Jordan and Turkey all finding ways on Thursday to avoid specific commitments to President Obama’s expanded military campaign against Sunni extremists."

Frankly, I am not surprised that another US president can't get much of a coalition.  We saw it with President Clinton in Bosnia and Rwanda, and with President Bush in Iraq.

At the same time, it is shameful for our allies to be so "tepid."  ISIS is as much as threat to them as it is to the US. One could argue that ISIS is lot closer to a European city than any US city.

Finally, this is another reality moment for President Obama and all of the "yes we can screamers" who faulted President Bush. 

Welcome to reality President Obama - and all of the Bush critics who got drunk on the "yes we can" kool-aid."

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr