“The president of the United States is not the Godfather”

Official White House photo by Pete Souza.

It’s odd, you know, when I first read in the NY Times of President Obama’s personal culpability in selecting targets for death by drone, I was stunned.  I believed this would effectively end Obama’s hopes for a second term. Americans simply would not stand for this. 

After all, Obama was originally elected on the basis of his anti-war speech as an Illinois state representative. Recall also that shortly after his inauguration, he received a Nobel peace prize for his lofty vision. We had a right, I thought, to expect this man to lead the nation toward a more ethical and just role in the world.

So then I began to read accusations from Republicans that the Administration intentionally leaked the story to the Times to bolster Obama’s image as a tough, macho leader who had no qualms about dealing death to alleged enemies and any noncombatants who happened to be within range of his drone-fired missiles.

Could this be true?

Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen writes:

What is remarkable about the recent leaks is the coincidence -- it can only be that -- that they all made the president look good, heroic, decisive, strong, and even a touch cruel -- born, as the birthers long suspected, not in Hawaii but possibly on the lost planet Krypton. The leak that displayed all these Obamian attributes was the one that said the president personally approves the assassinations of terrorists abroad. He gives his OK and the bad guys are dispatched via missiles from drones.

Cohen continues:

The leak that troubles me concerns the killing of suspected or actual terrorists. The triumphalist tone of the leaks -- the Tarzan-like chest-beating of various leakers -- not only is in poor taste but shreds a long-standing convention that, in these matters, the president has deniability. The president of the United States is not The Godfather.

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Obama’s Afghanistan speech (video)

Let me repeat: along with most of the members of my congregation, I signed a resolution opposing the invasion of Iraq, but unlike Rep. Barack Obama, not once did I consider myself qualified for the presidency.

The issue arose again this evening in President Obama’s speech to the nation regarding the draw down of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. As Chris Good at the Atlantic points out, “The spectacle of this speech, in many ways, centered on Obama's identity as an anti-Iraq-war politician, and his efforts to bridge the gap between his anti-war appeal in 2008 and his needing to steward a difficult effort in Afghanistan today."

In his takeaways from this evening’s oration, Good failed to mention that on President Obama’s watch, as noted recently by Walter Russell Mead, our nation is embroiled in five shooting wars: “in Afghanistan, tribal Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and now, apparently, Yemen.”   

And that’s only a couple of years after the president received the Nobel Peace Prize for his good intentions. There’s also that little dustup going on regarding the War Powers Act of 1973 as it applies to the conflict in Libya.

But never mind all that. Good does give a concise summary of tonight’s speech and in case you missed it, I’ve included the video.

President Obama appeared before network TV cameras at the White House Wednesday night to answer one of the biggest questions of his presidency: how many troops will come home from Afghanistan beginning next month, and how fast will they leave?

Since Obama announced his "surge" of 30,000 troops to that country in December of 2009 -- a move the U.S. public supported, but not by overwhelming margins -- the pace of Afghan withdrawal, and the public's acceptance of whatever plan he chooses, has been seen as a major factor in Obama's long-term prospects for public confidence in his presidency and his hopes for reelection in 2012. With security gains in Afghanistan described to Congress this spring by Gen. David Petraeus as "fragile and reversible," and with a majority of Americans now favoring immediate withdrawal for the first time, President Obama explained Wednesday night that 10,000 troops will return this year, with 30,000 returning by next year.

Now that he's made this announcement, here are 10 short takeaways from his brief speech to the nation:

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