People Died. It Wasn’t Optimal. What Can A President Do, Really?

On October 18, 2012, in Today's News, by Jimmie Bise Jr

President Obama went on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” Thursday for a hard-hitting interview, part of which touched on the attack in Libya and the administration’s less than honest responses over the past few weeks. Stewart tossed the President a gentle softball of a question, which he should have jacked out of the park like he was Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Instead, the President whiffed. Badly.

Jon Stewart: “Is part of the investigation helping the communication between these divisions? Not just what happened in Benghazi, but what happened within. Because I would say, even you would admit, it was not the optimal response, at least to the American people, as far as all of us being on the same page.”
Obama: “Here’s what I’ll say. If four Americans get killed, it’s not optimal. We’re going to fix it. All of it. And what happens, during the course of a presidency, is that the government is a big operation and any given time something screws up. And you make sure that you find out what’s broken and you fix it. Whatever else I have done throughout the course of my presidency the one thing that I’ve been absolutely clear about is that America’s security comes, and the American people need to know exactly how I make decisions when it comes to war, peace, security, and protecting Americans. And they will continue to get that over the next four years of my presidency.”

Somewhere in that answer is a point, but I’ll be doggoned if I can find it. What stands out to me is probably what stood out to you — the President thinks the murder of four Americans, including a United States Ambassador, is “not optimal”, which is like saying the eruption of Mount St. Helens was an unfortunate geological event. The rest of the answer is pure rhetorical gas, vast billowing clouds of chaff that boil down to “Hey. Stuff happens. What can you do?”.