The pirates are a sideshow, but politics is Kabuki. President Obama has given the order to take a life; he's been blooded.
The pirate saga off the coast of Somalia was a sideshow. While the issue of piracy is a problem, on the real scale of powers it's not as important as, say, our policy regarding genetically engineered crops, or the banking system, or our relationship with China.
But sideshow that it is, we've seen another step in the Campbellian mythic story of Barack Obama - he's given the order to kill.
He's used the power of state-sanctioned murder and the order was carried out. He's no Jimmy Carter, he's tough.
Given the vitriol of the Republican attacks, I think it's a great pushback. The flip from that retread Newt Gingrich to the freed captain was prime judo.
Pirate-wise? I think it was a crappy solution. I liked the 'this administration can talk to folks' angle, and they tossed around peaceful 'we can talk' rhetoric. While sighting in the guns.
I'm not outraged; people who pirate are seizing property by force and will therefore run the risk of getting shot up.
See 'The Chicago Way' "What are you prepared to do"
But again Obama understands his Chicago street. He knows he needs to have that tough. Depending on how things go, he might be tough enough to keep us out of the next adventure that corporate America wants to get Uncle Sam to kick ass on.
crossposted much more sloppy at nihilix