This news probably caused some last minute changes to the grand speech Obama planned to deliver at Jacksonville NAS this afternoon. He had to acknowledge the deaths, and they overshadowed his real message, – which was essentially a public retort to Dick Cheney: “No, I’m not dithering, I’m being deliberate”.

OBummer's Grand Self-Image

It was planned as grand presidential theater. I’d venture a guess that the giant flag had to be flown in for the occasion. The speech at JNAS has a second more important purpose. It provided legal cover to use AF One [most of the way] to Miami, where Obama gave a rah-rah fundraising speech this evening to his wealthy believers at the Miami Beach Fontainbleau.  He raised another $1.6 million. With his stop at JNAS, the Dems will only have to reimburse that last leg of the trip.

So here is the real story – as I see it.  By the time OBummer was on stage lying to our Sailors and Marines, they already knew that among the bodies in Afghanistan were three DEA agents. Clearly our anti-Taliban / anti-al Qaeda mission has become intermeshed with a drug [poppy] eradication mission. Uninvolved Afghan farmers might not welcome a re-emerged Taliban, or the foreign fighters of al Qaeda, – but they will fight to protect their sole source of income, – the poppy crop.

Mouth and Faces

Most of our servicemen understand these complex and interwoven threads.  They also understand what it means to be part of a staged event, to be used as props on the national stage for a moment.

Look at the faces in this photo.  See any burning pride or joy? I see troops who are doing what they’ve been told to do,  and not liking it much.  To hear the bloated oratory, “I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm’s way”  probably wasn’t helping.  So OBummer may have collected $1.6 million tonight, but it won’t buy many of these votes.  It’s damn near becoming blood money.

   /s/ Iron Mike
   Old Soldier, – Still Good for Parts!