The President’s speech last night at Arlington, Virginia, demonstrated his ability as an activist commander that America hasn’t seen in a long, long time.
His most interesting achievement was how he managed the mainstream media, easily a monopolistic threat to fair-and-balanced freedom-of-speech in the US. Few may have noticed how the after-speech attack pundits on every network were decisively eliminated. The public was able to let the president’s ideas steep and sink-in without being immediately told how to think and what to think by obvious detractors, even from within the liberal ranks of the GOP itself. People could finally hear the president himself.
This media strategy actually parallels his almost Sun Tzu-like emphasis on not revealing military strategies in advance to the enemy, including information about withdrawals, deployments, and other timetables. He seems to remember how the prowess of WWII Germany and Japan took a nosedive once their secret communication codes were broken by the Allies.
The national media almost achieved what it wanted: to have all political discussion pass through their own venue as the sole source of all political matters. This way they can also become the judge-and-jury that passes judgment on everything well before elected officials have a chance.
Once more, the president used creative indirection to make his point. He talked about giving generals and admirals in the field much more responsibility to size-up what’s happening, then have freedom to respond as-needed without strict rules-of-engagement and other defeatist strategies. Bureaucrats in air-conditioned Washington offices, far from the realities of the battlefield, won’t be able to call the shots—or withhold them. More importantly, smooth media personalities won’t feel that they have the last words, able to put military leaders in politically correct hot seats to establish control.
