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As the horrific details of the Fort Hood shootings were unfolding on t.v. yesterday, Shep Smith of Fox News throws it to the President’s live comments addressing the situation. Americans, looking for the reassurance we were not under attack, thinking this could be a successful Fort Dix Terror Plot? Nope. Obama begins with 2 minutes of oddball shout-outs to a few people in the audience of the gig he was attending. Feel the disconnect…

Opening comments:

THE PRESIDENT: Please, everybody have a seat. Let me first of all just thank Ken and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference. I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor* winner. It’s good to see you. (Applause.)
My understanding is, is that you had an extremely productive conference. I want to thank all of you for coming and for your efforts, and I want to give you my solemn guarantee that this is not the end of a process but a beginning of a process, and that we are going to follow up. (Applause.) We are going to follow up. Every single member of my team understands that this is a top priority for us. I want you to know that, as I said this morning, this is not something that we just give lip service to. And we are going to keep on working with you to make sure that the first Americans get the best possible chances in life in a way that’s consistent with your extraordinary traditions and culture and values.
Now, I have to say, though, that beyond that, I plan to make some broader remarks about the challenges that lay ahead for Native Americans, as well as collaboration with our administration, but as some of you might have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.

There. Feel better? Reassured? While he eventually addressed Fort Hood, literally reading his “heartfelt compassion” from note cards as though he had no heart, we need to remind our President he is the glue that holds our country together and start behaving like it. Stop campaigning and start leading!

Many thanks to Hot Air for the video and transcript.

Also, best online coverage seems to be at Hot Air using many media sources with open discussions.

Update: Why was Nidal Malik Hasan still in the Army? And is Obama having problems addressing this situation because:

Fort Hood shooter was member of Homeland Security Panel advising Obama!