N.B.: UPDATED BELOW
Shortly after the religion of peace’s terrorist at Fort Hood, Texas, shouted “Allah Ackbar!” and opened fire on the heroic soldiers there, President Obama properly felt the need to address the nation. Writer Ben Johnson summed up the Obama speech well.
Huge Military Slaughter — But First A “Shout Out” to Obama’s Bud
Shortly after police say Major Malik Nadal Hasan opened fire at the largest active duty armored post in the United States, Ft. Hood in Texas, President Barack Obama held a press conference to address the issue. Before getting around to the shooting that had already claimed a dozen lives and wounded at least 31 people, he began his remarks by saying:
I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It’s good to see you.
The quotation says it all: our commander-in-chief feels there is no event so serious that it cannot be prefaced by a moment of glib hipness, no solemn loss so sacred he will deny himself a moment of wry self-indulgence. Soldiers were killed? Let’s say hi to Joe first. An entire theater of war needs a plan to defeat the terrorists who struck America on 9/11? No reason I can’t go golfing, shoot some hoops, and hit the town with Michelle.
President Bush used to break into tears when addressing soldiers and was reviled as a stone-hearted warmonger; …
UPDATE:
Another good observation at NBC affiliate station websites including Chicago and New York, by New York writer Robert A. George, who blogs at Ragged Thots (note that the URL for the report reads ”…/A-Disconnected-President.html”):
Obama’s Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting
A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama.Updated 9:18 AM CST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009
President Obama didn’t wait long after Tuesday’s devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.
After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.
But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a “shout-out” to “Dr. Joe Medicine Crow—that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.” Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?
Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned. An incident like this requires a scrapping of the early light banter.
[…]
Did the president’s team not realize what sort of image they were presenting to the country at this moment? The disconnect between what Americans at home knew had been going on—and the initial words coming out of their president’s mouth was jolting, if not disturbing. …
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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