Shock and Awe... In Two Parts

Two things dominate today’s news. First: Today is the five year anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war. My favorite milblogger recalls the day…and the weeks that followed this day… quite well. Because he was on the bridge of an aircraft carrier somewhere off the shores of Iraq, launching the Navy’s contribution to “shock and awe.”

As for me, five years ago I stood on the bridge of a veteran warship as wave after wave of F-14s and FA-18s, EA-6B Prowlers, E-2 Hawkeyes and S-3 Vikings rattled down the catapults, the thumping of the waterbrakes moving through the ship, the steam from the catapults rising, the afterburners lighting up the night. Heavy laden, wallowing off the deck rather than springing airborne. Worried for them over the beach, wanting desperately to be with them, but assigned other duties. Somebody had to do it.

It’s a good read. But then: Lex is always a good read.

Dubya had a few things to say about this subject today, as well.

―:☺:―

Second: Barack Obama gave his anticipated speech about the Rev. Wright yesterday. The best discussion I saw about the speech occurred on PBS’ News Hour last evening, and the transcript of that discussion is here. Judy Woodruff interviews Senator Obama, and the transcript of the roundtable discussion about the speech follows. A few salient points:

JUDY WOODRUFF: Earl Hutchinson, a speech like we've never heard before?

EARL HUTCHINSON, Author: Well, we have heard those speeches before. You know, politicians in the past, when forced to, have addressed race. However, they've done it in a very abbreviated and truncated way.

[…]

But the second problem that Barack had was he's walking the political tightrope. On the one hand, he's pitched his whole campaign around change, hope, and especially unity. And the whole point is to get the broadest appeal, a nonracial appeal.

But on the other hand, when you look at the primaries, you see about 90 percent to 95 percent of his support in some of the states, most recently Mississippi, is coming from African-Americans. So he's got to take another eye and look over there.

So that's the political tightrope he's walking, not to offend his largely black constituency, but at the same time stay in-sync with his broad "race, change, hope, unity" pitch.

[…]

So all of these areas, people have asked over and over, "You know, Barack, you make great rhetorical speeches. You're very eloquent. They're very poetic. They're even moving and inspiring, like today. But we really want to know a little bit more to really understand who you are and where you're coming from and what we could expect if you get the nomination and perhaps even win the election."

Namely, put some body. Let's see some initiatives. What can we expect, in terms of public policy changes? What are you going to put your political muscle in and behind if you're in the White House?

These are things that people are asking, not only about race -- although that's there -- but also in other areas. But especially we hear that a lot from, under the table, not overtly, but from a number of those who are sympathetic toward Barack Obama. "We want to hear more. We want to know more. We want to know specifics."

Mr. Hutchinson put his finger on exactly what I’m thinking. The senator from Illinois is one of the best orators of our time, but his speeches lack substance. That’s not a new or particularly deep insight, but it IS the truth. As Mr. Hutchinson notes…Obama’s supporters are saying this, not just his detractors.

There’s MUCH more commentary on this subject (like: everyone has something to say... including your Mom, most likely), and memeorandum is a good place to begin, if you’re interested. Click the screen-shot to see just how much there is…

The transcript of Senator Obama’s speech is here… and I’d recommend reading it, whether you support the man or not. While Obama left out a lot of what I was looking for in yesterday’s speech (me and everyone else on the right), his thoughts on racism in America are worth reading. America’s racial problem is THE elephant in our collective room.

Update: Video of Obama's speech here, if you're so inclined. I still recommend reading the speech, but I know this is America. We're a video culture. Except for you, of course, Gentle Reader.