Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting
Army Mom
By ROBERT A. GEORGE
Updated 2:56 PM CST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/politics/A-Disconnected-President.html
(better get it before the Muslim White House takes it down)
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 Housewas 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. The president should apologize for the tone of his remarks,
explain what has happened, express sympathy for those slain and appeal for
calm and patience until all the facts are in. That's the least that should
occur.
Indeed, an argument could be made that Obama should have canceled the Indian
event, out of respect for people having been murdered at an Army post a few
hours before. That would have prevented any sort of jarring emotional switch
at the event.
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.
It must have been disappointing for many politically aware Democrats, still
reeling from the election two days before. The New Jersey gubernatorial vote
had already demonstrated that the president and his political team couldn't
produce a winning outcome in a state very friendly to Democrats (and where
the president won by 15 points one year ago). And now this? Congressional
Democrats must wonder if a White House that has burdened them with a
too-heavy policy agenda over the last year has a strong enough political
operation to help push that agenda through.
If the president's communications apparatus can't inform -- and protect --
their boss during tense moments when the country needs to see a focused
commander-in-chief and a compassionate head of state, it has disastrous
consequences for that president's party and supporters.
All the president's men (and women) fell down on the job Thursday. And
Democrats across the country have real reason to panic.