Posted by
RANT BRAZEN on Saturday, November 07, 2009 8:25:18 PM
What is it about President Obama that always seems to leave us short of real satisfaction – the “attaboy” feeling that means he’s in touch, and one of us?
Since the president speaks for himself, his words clearly speak for him.
Here’s what left me reaching for a tongue depressor as Obama, seemingly unmoved bythe horror and betrayal most of us felt, spoke to the nation in the Rose Garden of the wanton slaughter of valiant U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood:
“We don’t know all the answers yet. And I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.”
Well, is that sappy enough for you? Thirteen unsuspecting soldiers gathered in a readiness area are fiendishly shot dead in a heartbeat – and an officer of the U.S. Army is the accused killer. The officer is a Muslim. Whether or not this fact figures into the motive for the slayings is not known. Yet it is a fact.
Our president has Muslim influences in his background. Whether or not this fact figures into what he said and how he said it is not known. Yet it is a fact.
Obama, of course, soon fell into the obligatory condolences and utterances of respect for the fallen, but for me the damage was done.
Dare we ask – what conclusions was he so afraid that we might reach prematurely? That because the suspected murderer is a Muslim, we might somehow, as a nation implicate all Muslims?
I don’t know. I do know that I resist being tempted to fall into that trap, no matter how bitter I might be over this senseless loss. And I have confidence that most of us will not feel that.
In America, the accused are innocent until proven guilty. Yes. But our nobler inclinations may be tested by what we do know about this situation. And the implications are stunning. If Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is brought to trial, and if he is found guilty, I can promise that the bitter gall and sense of betrayal I will feel will be profound.
President Obama knows this. He is viewed as a man chronically unruffled by the vagaries of life in a world of conflict. So he paid homage to the pillars of justice that mark our society, as well he should have. It was the prudent thing to do.
But his words somehow sounded hollow when he spoke of what had happened. Forgive me if I’m wrong, and too harsh in my judgement, but insincerity, I think, is one of the telling flaws in this President’s character.