Right call made on decision to not release Bin Laden pictures...

  As I drove from my first performance this afternoon to my second, I spent some time with Sean Hannity. He did most of the talking. One of the things he railed about today was the decision made by President Obama to not release any of the Bin Laden death photos. Likewise, we won't be seeing any of the burial video either. Hannity trashed the decision as the wrong one and rambled on and on and on and on.

  As chance would have it, on my ride home, I switched on Fox news on my XM radio and caught the end of The Factor and the first segment of Hannity's evening broadcast. Hannity's first guest was Col. Oliver North, who laid out several reasons why the choice Obama made was the correct one. Doesn't really change anything, it could make things tougher for US troops abroad, including Spc. Bowe Bergdahl, who is currently being held prisoner by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Also, people who doubt the Government's claims that Osama Bin Laden is dead, won't likely believe photos from that same Government.

 Hannity thrashed about and said he disagreed and moved on to the next topic. Which I'll get to in a moment.

 Also agreeing that President Obama made the right choice to not release anything were several other Republicans, including Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI). GOP Rep. Buck McKeon, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC that “I don’t see much to be gained by it.” “I think that that’s the president’s decision – he has a lot more information than I do,” he said. “I see some downside to it, but I think that’s his decision to make."


  To be fair, the jury is pretty divided on whether the photos should be released or not. I think its fair to say Obama (again) isn't choosing the more politically friendly path by holding on to the images. If he released, domestically, he'd win. No way to lose. I heard virtually no credit being given to him for that. RW talk show hosts can score cheap points by beating Obama up over this. Which is akin to someone trying to make a big deal about how many I's, me's and we's were in Obama's speech Sunday night. Its bullshit of the first order. I have to accept that some people apparently enjoy consuming large, seemingly endless quantities of hot, steamy bullshit day after day. Yuck...


  Now, back to Hannity's next topic. President Obama will be visiting with some of the 9/11 families tomorrow in New York City. He'll also visit Ground Zero and lay a wreath in memory of that terrible day. Hannity called it "Obama taking a victory lap...disgusting..." 


  Trouble is, a victory lap usually conjures up images of large, racous crowds, cheering wildly. Big speeches, too. That won't be the case tomorrow. Obama's visit with the 9/11 families is closed to the press and he'll be making no public remarks. I heard an interview with Carie Lemack of Families of September 11, who thought it was good that President Obama was coming. She was disappointed that former president Bush has declined his invitation to attend. 


  Hannity can certainly disagree with Obama's decisions to regarding both the release of the photos and his trip to NYC. Its his right. But for someone who wraps himself in both the Republican Party as well as the US Flag, you'd think he'd be more tolerant of his fellow GOP-ers who supported Obama's decision. That wouldn't make for good ratings, I guess. His criticism of the NYC trip as a "victory lap" is imbecilic and childish. What's hard to stomach is that given his popularity, a lot of people will go to sleep tonight thinking that our President has once again put the Country behind his ambition. 


  Which he most certainly isn't.