Last week’s Thursday column looked at the presidential hopefuls to emerge from the GOP. It was interesting to learn that last Saturday, President Obama and Donald Trump were in the same room for the White House Correspondents Dinner in our nation’s capital. Only this time, the images shown around the world were those of Trump being grilled by the president just the day after holding a news conference to produce his birth certificate from Hawaii.
If only we had known what secret the commander-in-chief was hiding that evening. For a second, my Obama as Andrew Shepherd image faded, only to be replaced by the president sidling up to “The Donald” to say…”um, Mr. Apprentice, you think you’re so important. Guess what I’ll be watching on TV tomorrow?”
LIVE from the Situation Room, it’s KILL OSAMA!!!
In his opinion column today, David Squires of the Daily Press (VA) was right on target for noting the irony of Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” being interrupted for Obama’s announcement of bin Laden’s “termination.” There’s poetic justice somewhere in that message.
Like most Americans, I am proud of our troops for taking out the man responsible for the loss of over 3,000 Americans in September of 2001. It is also inspiring to see that the 25 members of Navy SEAL Team 6 assigned to the heroic task are based out of nearby Virginia Beach. Although the members remain anonymous (for now), it looks like a Lt. Commander fired the two shots that cracked Bin Laden’s coconut.
Perhaps the most unique aspects of this event have been 1) measuring the president’s approval bump and 2) seeing how the 2012 presidential hopefuls and pundits have been acting this week.
First, the approval bump. I am a bit surprised to see that the president’s approval rating only went up from 47 to 56 percent, according to the Washington Post’s latest poll. It was more amazing to see more people giving President Bush credit for the slaying of bin Laden, although later polls showed a mild reversal of that trend. To his credit, Bush turned down the offer to meet with the current president today at Ground Zero. Kudos on both sides – Obama, for making the offer and Bush, for declining.
My reasoning for the minor approval rise is that skepticism reigns supreme among the American populace. While many cheer for the events of late Sunday night, there is a feeling that all will be forgotten if gas prices hit $5 a gallon in August. Lest we forget that Bush the first (George H.W.) enjoyed a 90 percent approval rating after the first Iraq war, but ended up losing the next presidential election because Americans were tired of the poor economy. Will history repeat itself? Time will tell.
What remains true is that the cast of presidential hopefuls and prominent talking heads showed different reactions in their public comments this week. There is no doubt that the subject could not be avoided as approximately 56 million people watched the president’s late night address to the American public. What is undeniably true is that any commentator or future candidate with any sense could not go against the grain and say that the raid on Abbottabad was a poor idea. This made for a rare and entertaining glimpse into the thought processes of some people we know.
First in the batter’s box – Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh has made a living by bashing the Democrats. Knowing full well that he couldn’t say that the president did the wrong thing, the former Round Mound of Radio took a road less traveled. He was gracious, complimentary and civil, or was he? As quoted from his talk show in Yahoo News on Monday, Limbaugh said, “President Obama single-handedly came up with the technique in order to pull this off. You see, the military wanted to go in there and bomb as they always do…But President Obama, perhaps the only qualified member in the room to deal with this, insisted on the Special Forces. No one else thought of that.” There’s more, but many of his “dittoheads” had already picked up on the gag. Surprisingly, a few serious journalists thought that Limbaugh was somewhat serious, but realized that a talk show host can’t keep 15 million listeners happy by changing course and playing nice.
Other conservative hosts seemed more genuine. As also noted in the same article, Glenn Beck offered congratulations and said “Thank You” to the president twice. Fellow Fox host Sean Hannity called the mission “gutsy” and “the right thing to do.”
Even Trump communicated personal congratulations via statement to ABC News while offering a verbal cease-fire to remember the victims of 9/11. Said Trump, “we should spend the next few days not debating party politics, but in remembrance of those who lost their lives on 9/11 and those currently fighting for our freedom. God Bless America!”
Jon Stewart opened his “Daily Show” on Monday with a monologue that ended with the question, “Can they still do damage?” Stewart answered his own question with “I’m sure. But we’re back, baby.”
Stewart’s response may have been the most noteworthy because of the host’s connection to New York. He lives in lower Manhattan and watched the events of 9/11 play out from his apartment window. His first public response after the tragedy may have been the most surprising as it was a raw showing of tearful emotion from the usually sarcastic Stewart.
Many of the Republican hopeful candidates were low-key this week, and I’d imagine it was part of an effort not to interfere with the event. It’s bad politics to attempt to steal the spotlight. On the other hand, it’s even worse politically to exploit the spotlight which is why the president and White House staffers chose to not make the pictures of Osama’s mutilated body part of anybody’s “Kodak moment.”
Sarah Palin did offer a public response as part of her speech to a group of military veterans in Colorado. In fairness, this event was already scheduled, so it would have been a disservice to the veterans for Palin to drop out. It would have been a greater disservice for the press to avoid capturing her comments. Palin’s method of congratulations was also unique. She credited “the president” for showing “decisive leadership,” but did not call him by name. However, she did mention George W. Bush by name and thanked him for “making the right calls to set up this victory.”
It has been pleasant to see some civility in politics this week, especially when it comes after such a major capture. As the masses of computer files and data are sent to CIA headquarters in Langley, VA to reach the hands of the other heroes in this mission, one can only wonder. How long will this last?
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