All those news outlets that slavishly started calling ISIS “ISIL” during the Obama administration — are they still doing it? If not, what changed?

Rhetorical question, I know.

Why Obama Calls ISIS ‘ISIL’
Arutz Sheva | 20/12/15 | Hillel Fendel

Obama, alone among virtually all world leaders and most news media, consistently calls ISIS, the world’s worst terrorist scourge, by the name ISIL.

The former stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, while ISIL stands for The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The Levant is a much larger area than merely Syria, including also Cyprus, parts of Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and parts of Egypt.

Some analysts say that Obama is quite purposeful in his terminology. Chuck Todd, of NBC’s Meet the Press, has opined that “since the Obama administration has shown much more willingness to attack ISIS in Iraq than they have to attack them in Syria, they seem to have decided it is in their best interest to leave the ‘S’ out of the name.”

…

Analyst Liz Peek of The Fiscal Times wrote last year that by referring to such large territorial magnitude, the U.S. President “takes the focus off the two countries that many believe define Obama’s continued failure in the Middle East.”

“Most likely,” Peek continued, “he would rather eliminate the connection between the chaos in Iraq with his inaction in Syria.

Interestingly, Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump said — well before he became the front-runner in the race — that “there’s a reason” why Obama prefers to use “ISIL” but he declined to reveal what it was.

While we’re on the subject . . .

Bonus items that popped up while I was looking up this nonsense: No one really call ISIS “ISiLly” —

Jimmy Carter: President Obama Blew It on ISIL
Politico | 10/8/2014

Former President Jimmy Carter is criticizing President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy, saying he has shifting policies and waited too long to take action against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

In an interviewed published Tuesday in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the 39th president said the Obama administration, by not acting sooner, allowed ISIL to build up its strength.

“[W]e waited too long. We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” he said, using an alternate name for the terrorist group. “Then when [ISIL] moved into Iraq, the Sunni Muslims didn’t object to their being there and about a third of the territory in Iraq was abandoned.”

That must’ve been before Carter shrunk. (Obama learned from the master.)

Fury as Obama Blames Intelligence Agencies for Isil Surprise
The Telegraph | 09/29/14

With his foreign policy approval ratings at a historic low, Barack Obama meets furious reaction after blaming US intelligence agencies for failing to predict rise of Isil in Syria…

” . . . It Was the Fault of Everyone But Me!” (Biden learned from the master.)

Video of the Obama TV persona saying this without laughing:

Obama: “ISIL Is Not Islamic”
Real Clear Politics | September 10, 2014 | Ian Schwartz

“And one of those groups is ISIL — which calls itself the ‘Islamic State.’

“Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not Islamic.”

Yeah. And Biden said in July that it was “unlikely” the Taliban could take over the whole of Afghanistan. And, previously, that they weren’t anti-American. He did indeed learn from the master. The worry is, who’s learning from him? Kamala?