WASHINGTON — With a pained face and a voice laced with somber reverence, President Obama yesterday properly mourned the dead and wounded at Fort Hood.
And, wisely, the commander-in-chief steered clear of all the knee-jerk justifications we have heard this past week from his trusted friends in the media.
Last week, in his first stab at addressing this horrible tragedy — a terrorist attack on domestic soil — Obama stumbled badly, tacking on some feeble words at the end of an unrelated event in Washington that began with his usual flippant shout-outs to the assembled crowd.
Not this time.
The stage was set with the seemingly endless line of wounded survivors hobbling from behind a giant American flag.
The mournful wail of bagpipes was the only sound.
When Obama finally emerged after visiting for much more time than scheduled with the wounded and their families, a cheer interrupted the sober decorum.
Obama’s face remained stone.
As leg-tingling Obama speeches go, it was fine. Nothing off the charts, nor should it have been.
The president properly stowed his most soaring oratory for this occasion because it really wasn’t about him and his legendary speechifying.
It was about 13 dead soldiers and their 19 children who so senselessly lost parents.
It was about how a home-grown Muslim terrorist had shattered the peace and safety at home of the very people who dedicate their lives to ensuring our peace and safety at home.
Obama’s highest note came when honoring the legacy of the fallen in a line that will be remembered.
“Your loved ones endure through the life of our nation,” he said, using the most exalting language he has ever used to describe our military.
“Their life’s work is our security and the freedom that we too often take for granted,” Obama said.
“Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — that is their legacy.”
The most important thing about Obama’s speech yesterday is what it did not contain.
There was none of this business we have heard where the media depicts the murderous coward as a head-shrunk conscientious objector who opposed the war because of his honorably devout faith.
Even for Obama, that’s a bridge too far.
And remember, this is the guy who stood in Cairo earlier this year and actually said he considers “it part of my responsibility as president . . . to fight against the negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
Yesterday, there was none of that endless explaining that sounds suspiciously like some sort of justification for something so unjustifiable.
As the president pointed out, “No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts; no just and loving God looks upon them with favor. And for what he has done, we know that the killer will be met with justice — in this world, and the next.”
It’s only too bad that God hasn’t already had the opportunity to show his disfavor in “the next.”