Panache.
Obama promises to find Usama, gives the kill order, and calmly makes fun of Trump at the big correspondents’ dinner (“well played, sir, well played”), all while his sailors are deploying to shoot Usama in the eye like Moe Greene regardless of what the Pakistanis think about it, and regardless of the fact that we weren’t sure Usama was there, and then send him off to sleep with the fishes. Doesn’t break a sweat. Then he waits until Trump’s “Apprentice” is on the air, and cuts Trump off with the “we got him” announcement. And then a sober speech calling for national unity.
He didn’t do a premature Hollywood-style carrier-deck “Mission Accomplished” photo op, with a tight flight suit showing off his package. He didn’t give a big political speech at Ground Zero. He didn’t have his political team package the “political narrative”: in fact his team made some factual errors in the first day or two, because Obama is more interested in leading than marketing a “message”. He actually sent his men out to correct their factual errors, instead of stonewalling. He didn’t do a victory lap, he didn’t exploit his victory for political purposes, he didn’t pander to emotion by publishing the Usama photos, he didn’t try to hog all the credit for himself, he didn’t use it to attack his enemies. Because he’s a leader. Not just a politician.
Style. And he gets extra style points for going to his Attorney General and asking if what he was doing was legal. Imagine Bush even giving a crap about the law.
One thing we can say beyond fear of dispute, is that Democrats outclass the Republicans by a country mile, in terms of showing loyalty to the Commander In Chief in wartime. Desert Storm, for example, proved that vividly. After 911, the Democrats did of course question Bush 43’s actions and motives, and were particularly incensed with the incompetence and lies about WMDs, Abu Ghuraib, the screwup with the armor, losing Usama in the mountains, prolonging the war for years by disarming and then mismanaging the Iraqi Sunni forces, the torture, failing to foresee the Iranian role, the illegal prisons, the illegal wiretaps, the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, endangering the troops for political advantage, “Mission Accomplished”, claiming Saddam was in bed with al-Qa’ida, contractor fraud, Blackwater. But generally the Democrats were incredibly patient, and kept the punches above the belt. Their objections were generally sane and fact-based, and rarely personal. A number of them even spoke up in favor of Bush’s intention to go after Saddam. They were, for the most part, classy.
Let’s remember, again, that this was a victory for all of those oft-maligned federal employees who, in the eyes of some, are overfed and overpaid: men and women in uniform, the Special Forces, the intelligence community, the Homeland Security people, our diplomats, the FBI, the Secret Service, all the people who have actually been fighting the War On Terror while everyone else was talking about it. This was also a victory, I think, for New York’s cops and firefighters, who still fight the War On Terror every day, the same kind of people under attack in places like Wisconsin for their collective-bargaining rights. So let’s take a break from telling these government employees how worthless they are, to thank them for helping to put a bullet in Usama’s head.
Classy Republicans?
Now it’s the Republicans’ turn. During the week of our most brilliant military victory in years, we heard a noise something like this: “Obama is still a Muslim who hates America! Obama didn’t do enough to thank Bush for screwing up the Usama hunt for seven years! Usama wasn’t that big a deal Obama took an extra day to decide to attack! Obama’s briefers initially only got 97 of 100 facts right in their briefings! Obama only got Usama because of Bush’s waterboarding! Obama should have taken Usama alive, even though he was resisting! Obama [and by implication the SEAL’s] faked the DNA evidence and the photos, Usama’s alive! Boehner gets credit for this, because it happened on his watch! Obama faked the photo in the Situation Room too! Obama is shamefully exploiting Usama by going to Ground Zero – Bush’s visit there was totally different!! Obama should have kept our stealth helicopters hidden! Obama refused to launch the attack – the “Go” order came from Leon Panetta! Obama made Usama a martyr! Naming Usama “Geronimo” is so mean!”
And so on. Some Republicans went back to the meme that Obama’s heart wasn’t really in this effort to kill Usama because he hates America. Scarborough insisted that Obama had to reject his party base and his own ideology to get Usama, which is GOP code-speak for “the Democrats couldn’t have really meant to kill Usama because they hate America and Obama’s a Muslim”.
The Republicans came up with a hysterically funny line of attack, arguing that Obama had Usama in his sights, but refused to pull the trigger, presumably because he’s a Muslim who hates America, so Panetta had to launch a coup d’etat and take over, giving the kill order to the SEALs himself. There are many absurd aspects to this argument, but my favorite is the fact that they are now crediting Usama’s death to Leon Panetta, an Italian grandpa and purebred Democrat. Clearly none of these people making this accusation has ever served in uniform, because even the most lowly buck private knows that the SEALs only take orders from the commander of SOCOM, and SOCOM only takes orders from Obama or Gates, according to federal law. If Panetta tried to issue orders to the SEALs, the SEALs would ignore Panetta, and Panetta would be fired, if not arrested, within hours. Republicans just don’t want to believe that a black Democrat had more brains and more balls when it came time to kill a Muslim terrorist target in a risky operation.
Then the Republicans blocked a House resolution thanking the SEALs who executed the mission. Because they were afraid people would think they were praising Obama.
Do you think Bill O’Reilly will apologize for saying this, just before the 2008 election? ....“You’re not gonna invade Pakistan, senator, if you’re president. You’re not gonna send ground troops in there. You know it.”
I tried to be generous. I said to myself, the Republicans weren’t always such a bunch of treacherous dirtbags, were they? They were all loyal Americans when, for instance, Roosevelt won World War Two, right?
Sigh.
The leader of the GOP back then was Thomas Dewey. He was the GOP’s presidential nominee in both 1944 and 1948. What did he do when we were just on the point of winning WWII? He drafted a speech in which he accused FDR of knowing in advance that Pearl Harbor would be attacked, and deliberately letting all those people be killed without doing anything. Dewey said of FDR, “instead of being reelected he should be impeached”. Seriously. Dewey’s attack was so appalling that even Republican military leaders were appalled and told him to knock it off, particularly since Dewey also intended to tip off the world that we had broken the Japanese codes; this was in keeping with the actions of two of the biggest Republican newspapers in America, which treasonously leaked FDR’s military strategy to the public two days before Pearl Harbor and risked American lives. General Marshall, who as the military leader for the WWII effort had more important things to do, had to go back to Dewey several times to get him to shut the hell up, until finally Dewey backed down.
So, judging by history, the Republican penchant for betraying their country and their President in wartime, for exploiting the misery of thousands just for cheap political points, goes back decades. And they are perfectly likely to act like treasonous scumbags for as long as there are Democrats to attack unfairly.
Obama promises to find Usama, gives the kill order, and calmly makes fun of Trump at the big correspondents’ dinner (“well played, sir, well played”), all while his sailors are deploying to shoot Usama in the eye like Moe Greene regardless of what the Pakistanis think about it, and regardless of the fact that we weren’t sure Usama was there, and then send him off to sleep with the fishes. Doesn’t break a sweat. Then he waits until Trump’s “Apprentice” is on the air, and cuts Trump off with the “we got him” announcement. And then a sober speech calling for national unity.
He didn’t do a premature Hollywood-style carrier-deck “Mission Accomplished” photo op, with a tight flight suit showing off his package. He didn’t give a big political speech at Ground Zero. He didn’t have his political team package the “political narrative”: in fact his team made some factual errors in the first day or two, because Obama is more interested in leading than marketing a “message”. He actually sent his men out to correct their factual errors, instead of stonewalling. He didn’t do a victory lap, he didn’t exploit his victory for political purposes, he didn’t pander to emotion by publishing the Usama photos, he didn’t try to hog all the credit for himself, he didn’t use it to attack his enemies. Because he’s a leader. Not just a politician.
Style. And he gets extra style points for going to his Attorney General and asking if what he was doing was legal. Imagine Bush even giving a crap about the law.
One thing we can say beyond fear of dispute, is that Democrats outclass the Republicans by a country mile, in terms of showing loyalty to the Commander In Chief in wartime. Desert Storm, for example, proved that vividly. After 911, the Democrats did of course question Bush 43’s actions and motives, and were particularly incensed with the incompetence and lies about WMDs, Abu Ghuraib, the screwup with the armor, losing Usama in the mountains, prolonging the war for years by disarming and then mismanaging the Iraqi Sunni forces, the torture, failing to foresee the Iranian role, the illegal prisons, the illegal wiretaps, the Patriot Act, Guantanamo, endangering the troops for political advantage, “Mission Accomplished”, claiming Saddam was in bed with al-Qa’ida, contractor fraud, Blackwater. But generally the Democrats were incredibly patient, and kept the punches above the belt. Their objections were generally sane and fact-based, and rarely personal. A number of them even spoke up in favor of Bush’s intention to go after Saddam. They were, for the most part, classy.
Let’s remember, again, that this was a victory for all of those oft-maligned federal employees who, in the eyes of some, are overfed and overpaid: men and women in uniform, the Special Forces, the intelligence community, the Homeland Security people, our diplomats, the FBI, the Secret Service, all the people who have actually been fighting the War On Terror while everyone else was talking about it. This was also a victory, I think, for New York’s cops and firefighters, who still fight the War On Terror every day, the same kind of people under attack in places like Wisconsin for their collective-bargaining rights. So let’s take a break from telling these government employees how worthless they are, to thank them for helping to put a bullet in Usama’s head.
Classy Republicans?
Now it’s the Republicans’ turn. During the week of our most brilliant military victory in years, we heard a noise something like this: “Obama is still a Muslim who hates America! Obama didn’t do enough to thank Bush for screwing up the Usama hunt for seven years! Usama wasn’t that big a deal Obama took an extra day to decide to attack! Obama’s briefers initially only got 97 of 100 facts right in their briefings! Obama only got Usama because of Bush’s waterboarding! Obama should have taken Usama alive, even though he was resisting! Obama [and by implication the SEAL’s] faked the DNA evidence and the photos, Usama’s alive! Boehner gets credit for this, because it happened on his watch! Obama faked the photo in the Situation Room too! Obama is shamefully exploiting Usama by going to Ground Zero – Bush’s visit there was totally different!! Obama should have kept our stealth helicopters hidden! Obama refused to launch the attack – the “Go” order came from Leon Panetta! Obama made Usama a martyr! Naming Usama “Geronimo” is so mean!”
And so on. Some Republicans went back to the meme that Obama’s heart wasn’t really in this effort to kill Usama because he hates America. Scarborough insisted that Obama had to reject his party base and his own ideology to get Usama, which is GOP code-speak for “the Democrats couldn’t have really meant to kill Usama because they hate America and Obama’s a Muslim”.
The Republicans came up with a hysterically funny line of attack, arguing that Obama had Usama in his sights, but refused to pull the trigger, presumably because he’s a Muslim who hates America, so Panetta had to launch a coup d’etat and take over, giving the kill order to the SEALs himself. There are many absurd aspects to this argument, but my favorite is the fact that they are now crediting Usama’s death to Leon Panetta, an Italian grandpa and purebred Democrat. Clearly none of these people making this accusation has ever served in uniform, because even the most lowly buck private knows that the SEALs only take orders from the commander of SOCOM, and SOCOM only takes orders from Obama or Gates, according to federal law. If Panetta tried to issue orders to the SEALs, the SEALs would ignore Panetta, and Panetta would be fired, if not arrested, within hours. Republicans just don’t want to believe that a black Democrat had more brains and more balls when it came time to kill a Muslim terrorist target in a risky operation.
Then the Republicans blocked a House resolution thanking the SEALs who executed the mission. Because they were afraid people would think they were praising Obama.
Do you think Bill O’Reilly will apologize for saying this, just before the 2008 election? ....“You’re not gonna invade Pakistan, senator, if you’re president. You’re not gonna send ground troops in there. You know it.”
I tried to be generous. I said to myself, the Republicans weren’t always such a bunch of treacherous dirtbags, were they? They were all loyal Americans when, for instance, Roosevelt won World War Two, right?
Sigh.
The leader of the GOP back then was Thomas Dewey. He was the GOP’s presidential nominee in both 1944 and 1948. What did he do when we were just on the point of winning WWII? He drafted a speech in which he accused FDR of knowing in advance that Pearl Harbor would be attacked, and deliberately letting all those people be killed without doing anything. Dewey said of FDR, “instead of being reelected he should be impeached”. Seriously. Dewey’s attack was so appalling that even Republican military leaders were appalled and told him to knock it off, particularly since Dewey also intended to tip off the world that we had broken the Japanese codes; this was in keeping with the actions of two of the biggest Republican newspapers in America, which treasonously leaked FDR’s military strategy to the public two days before Pearl Harbor and risked American lives. General Marshall, who as the military leader for the WWII effort had more important things to do, had to go back to Dewey several times to get him to shut the hell up, until finally Dewey backed down.
So, judging by history, the Republican penchant for betraying their country and their President in wartime, for exploiting the misery of thousands just for cheap political points, goes back decades. And they are perfectly likely to act like treasonous scumbags for as long as there are Democrats to attack unfairly.
All while insisting that it’s the Democrats who hate America.
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