What I actually loved the most

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

First of all there was no ramping up of rhetoric, no bullhorns, no "tough guy" talk, no leaks of information beforehand, no "bring it on", no chest-thumping, no big-grinned "we got him!", no flight suits, no banners, no heavy theater aircraft carrier stage, no smirking.

What we got was a speech where we were told what had happened, with praise for the military operation and the people involved, and sympathy for those who were killed by Bin-Laden and his organization.

What was clear to me, was that this was done with intelligence and competence, and the confidence of carefully weighing the risks and making the decision that this was a huge risk worth taking.

Competence and intelligence. That's what is almost ALWAYS necessary to get a job done. And this is what it looks like.

[Lasher]

1. A lot of us agree. 10 recs despite no replies so far.

K&R

[eridani]

2. Exactly. And Obama made going after OBL a priority

Unlike Cheney and Bush, who preferred a live boogeyman to justify putting two wars on the national credit card.

[Hissyspit]

3. No codpiece.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

10. No cowboy boots, either

Just dignity.

[checks-n-balances]

4. I had been thinking along the same lines

Contrast that also with Trump's "I am so proud of myself" remarks last week over his own perceived "accomplishment."

[comtec]

36. I saw more of Obama's tear at the hair, and this was the perfect icing on the cake

"oh you're 'proud' of your self huh?.... well I just took out OBL, AND out-shined your little tv show, suck on THAT hair man!"

there are times I am seriously PROUD of this man, and glad he' in office.

which is ironic that these moment of pure competence also fuel my rage at what crappy compromises he's allowed to happen.

The man is VERY capable of getting stuff done... so how come we have such shitty health care?
and don't give me that "joe LIEberman isnt a majority" bullshit. Obama just proved he could have strong armed that little shit into voting the right way if he had wanted to.

The man is capable! and perhaps a little TOO humble.

[checks-n-balances]

39. Very good points! n/t

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JTFrog]

7. Fucking spam trolls.

[lamp_shade]

6. Leadership at it's finest.

[tanyev]

8. I keep thinking about how many ways the Bush team would have effed it up had they tried it.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

9. I don't think Bush had the courage to try it

It was risky and if it had gone wrong, well history shows up through Jimmy Carter what happens when it goes wrong.

Bush would have never had the courage.

[madamesilverspurs]

15. It wasn't courage he lacked.

He lacked the willingness to put the security of this country above the continuing health of his and Cheney's investment portfolios. There was just more money to be made by keeping OBL alive. Greed was the only principle guiding the Bush administration.


-

[BlancheSplanchnik]

11. kick and rec

Very big "Recommend"!!

[Blue Owl]

12. We were treated like ADULTS, not talked down to like children

The contrast between Obama and Bu$h is drastic -- what an improvement!

[great white snark]

13. K&R.

[politicasista]

14. Kick

:kick: :patriot:

[Oceansaway]

16. K&R...n/t

[Auggie]

17. K&R

[lucca18]

18. I agree!! nt

[livingonearth]

19. Yes, well said.

[PatSeg]

20. Obama was essentially "presidential"

I'm quite sure I will disagree with our president numerous times in the future, but I have to say after this past week, the man is inherently suited to be President of the United States. He couldn't have been more impressive if Aaron Sorkin had written the script. What an incredible week.

[bloomington-lib]

21. SNL should do a skit with Will Ferrell playing Bush

showing how he would have presented the Osama news.

[NJCher]

34. He keeps it cool

That's what I liked. That is what a professional does. It was necessary to do, but it isn't necessary to run around in a codpiece, it isn't necessary to pump your fist and punch the air, saying "I feel good" when sending out the world's largest military.

So the way he conducted himself reminds me of the SNL election piece called "I keep it cool." It is my all-time favorite piece about Obama, and I quote:

No matter the circumstances...I...keep it cool.

I take my kids to school
I don't lose my temper

I keep it cool.

I never play the fool

If given a choice
I keep it cool


Cher

[bluestateboomer]

22. I still disagree with the wars, but..

this is a grand improvement over what preceded. Let's keep the pressure on to bring the troops home.

[NewJeffCT]

23. Didn't you hear what Fox News said, though?

When he made his speech, Obama said "I" and "Me" too much, acting like it was Obama who went in there & pulled the trigger... and, this was strong evidence of him having a narcissistic personality.

Not joking on that.

(BTW, that was debunked - Obama used I/Me about half as much as Bush did during Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech... about 1/3 as much as Bush Sr did announcing the invasion of Panama... and about 1/5 as much as Reagan did in Reagan's Iran/Contra speech.)

[Honeycombe8]

24. K&R. nt

[nolabear]

25. Bigtime K&R

[Canuckistanian]

26. And no "We have a saying in Texas"

Believe me, it's appreciated.

[Historic NY]

27. Yup, but he had a little swagger & I don't begrudge that......

sorta a in your face to the Puke Party...he kept his promise.

[Catherine Vincent]

28. Good post!

And very correct!

[SadPanda]

29. Exactly

Rational people understand the situation Obama was placed into. From the early parts of his candidacy he clearly stated his plans for Afghanistan AND Pakistan. In fact, he was attacked by Republicans for saying he'd attack Pakistan if it meant killing Osama Bin Laden.

Turns out he was serious.

[kestrel91316]

30. And no "watch this drive"-style nonchalance about serious business.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

31. Right? You know what's really sad?

That we find a dignified demeanor, intelligence, and competence refreshing. When we should always expect the POTUS to be dignified, intelligent and competent.

Words that will never describe the likes of Bush, Palin, Trump, Bachmann, et al.

[russspeakeasy]

32. Cool. Cool. Cool. No chest beating, no talking about balls

just cool competency.

[donheld]

33. A class act

[jwirr]

35. They didn't even need a deck of cards. What I like about it most is

that no lives were lost among the soldiers who carried out the operation. Care was taken to make it as safe as possible for the people we sent in. No lying us into a war, no faulty armor, etc. The lives of the people we sent in where valued. You can see that on the faces in that picture of everyone setting there with the worried looks on their faces.

[groundloop]

37. I believe that 1 month into the intelligence gathering, Bush would have made a speech....

about how we were on the trail of Bin Laden, and on and on, with the end result being yet another Bin Laden escape. I was very impressed with President Obama's handling of all aspects of this operation, and as many have already mentioned no bragging. Exactly the right tone.

[Imagevision]

38. Good post, my only bitch is we were would lied to by Bush & Cheney to start this war in Iraq

[mtnsnake]

40. Thank you for bringing this up

The way Obama handled this from the very beginning of the process straight through his announcement of bin Laden's death serves as an important reminder to the American people of how competent a leader we now have in times of great crisis as opposed to the bad joke we had during the 8 years previous to his administration.

[Ninjaneer]

41. K&R. I hadn't thought about it,

but trying to imagine GWB handle this as well as Obama has almost made my mind explode.