SOWELL BLASTS OBAMA OVER HIS POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM AND IGNORANCE OVER VETERAN SUICIDE RATES

The smartest black man on the planet tears the man pretending to be the smartest black man on the planet a new one.

Now that Sen. Barack Obama has become the Democrats’ nominee for president of the United States, to the cheers of the media at home and abroad, he has written a letter to the secretary of defense, in a tone as if he is already president, addressing one of his subordinates.

The letter ends: “I look forward to your swift response.”

With wars going on in both Iraq and Afghanistan, a secretary of defense might have some other things to look after, before making a “swift response” to a political candidate.

Because of the widely publicized statistic that suicide rates among American troops have gone up, Obama says he wants the secretary of defense to tell him, swiftly:

-- “What changes will you make to provide our soldiers in theater with real access to mental health care?”

-- “What training has the Pentagon provided our medical professionals in theater to recognize who might be at risk of committing suicide?”

-- “What assistance are you providing families here at home to recognize the risk factors for suicide, so that they may help our service members get the assistance they need?”

-- “What programs has the Pentagon implemented to help reduce the stigma attached to mental-health concerns so that service members are more likely to seek appropriate care?”

Does Obama know how the rate of suicides or homicides among military veterans compares to the rate of suicides or homicides among their civilian counterparts? Do the facts matter to him, as compared to an opportunity to score political points?

Perhaps even more important, do the media even care whether Obama knows what he is talking about? Or is the symbolism of “the first black president” paramount, even if that means a president with cocky ignorance at a time of national danger?

The media have been crucial to Obama’s whole candidacy. His only achievements of national significance in his entire career have been media achievements and rhetorical achievements.

Perhaps his greatest achievement has been running as a candidate with an image wholly incompatible with what he has actually been doing for decades. This man who is now supposedly going to “unite” us has for years worked hand in glove, and contributed both his own money and the taxpayers’ money, to people who have sought to divide us in the most crude demagogic ways.

Hope and change that jackass. You just got punked.