In all the clatter about how well Obama nailed the populist substance, which he has been nailing with impact and effect for months now, is how well he is highlighting his foreign policy and military effectiveness and successes.
He said he would end the war in Iraq - he ended the war in Iraq.
He said he would keep us out of dumb wars while still leveraging the might of our military in the best interests of America and the world - CHECK - see Egypt, Libya, Central Africa, Australia, China, et al.
He said he would take the fight to the insurgent where ever they are and by whatever means necessary/available - I'm guessing the drone manufacturers are surviving the downturn just fine, while the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan are a bit less hospitable than a half decade ago.
He said, with specificity and without hesitation that he would go into Pakistan, a sovereign nation, and kill Osama bin Laden - and honeybadger went into Pakistan in the middle of the night, with some badass SEALS, and killed that bastard.
Back to the speech. While it is getting noted that Obama both began and ended his address with a focus on our military and their successes, what is getting leas focus is that he is being very clear that he
Killed. Bin. Laden.
At the end of the speech, when he was likening the teamwork of those in the situation room and on the ground in the compound during the raid, to the kind of teamwork necessary in DC to drive results, it was more than that. When he talked about the SEALS going up the steps of the compound into uncertainty and darkness, he was making more than the point about teamwork and how the SEALS rely on each other without question and focus only on the mission. He was also reinforcing the visual. Taking us up the steps.
He - as the leader of this team - went up the steps. In the dark. In a daring mission on foreign soil. And killed our greatest enemy of the 21st century.
Sure the populism is going to pay benefits and enthuse the base. But killing Bin laden, and making sure everyone knows it and can visualize it. Will win this election.
Jimmy Carter has said that he would not have done it. But he'll assuredly be voting for the honeybadger come November. As will the majority of the middle. Because most of us are scared of those steps. And glad we have a President who is not.
Honeybadger don't give a shit about those steps.
UPDATE>>
Honeybadger and the SEALS keep on killing:
MOGADISHU, Somalia — U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early Wednesday and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, nine kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed.
President Barack Obama authorized the mission by SEAL Team 6 two days earlier, deploying the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year. Minutes after the president gave his State of the Union address to Congress he was on the phone with the American's father to tell him his daughter was safe.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...