From the Oval Office tonight, President Obama gave a speech about the War on Terror (as we used to call it, in the bad old days of George W. Bush). I have a few, stray points.

1) It was not nearly as bad a speech as I expected. It sounded like the speech of an American president. I know that’s a terribly insulting — and McCarthyite — thing to say, but that’s my view. He sounded like an American president. Like he was on our side.

Could that get me arrested by Attorney General Lynch? Well, at least that might leave time for reading …

2) The god of America is, not God, but race. I think this was proven again tonight, as the president began his speech:

Good evening. On Wednesday, fourteen Americans were killed as they came together to celebrate the holidays. They were taken from family and friends who loved them deeply. They were white and black, Latino and Asian …

Who the hell cares what color they were? America, that’s who. Race is the god this country bows down to, incessantly.

3) I think there should be some kind of national consensus: “ISIL” or “ISIS”? I don’t really care which it is, I just think we should narrow down to one.

Obama says “ISIL,” and so does Lindsey Graham (and their views are polar opposites). I think most people say “ISIS.” Again, I don’t really have a dog in the fight, as long as we don’t say “JV team.”

4) Unless I missed it, Obama did not mention climate change in this speech. Aha! Ducking the real issue!

5) Obama said, as he always does, “the right side of history.” I wish someone would write an essay, exposing the fallacy of this phrase and concept. Oh, hang on, I did, in 2011: “‘The Right Side of History: It’s bunk.”

6) Forget my stray, snarky notes. My view of the speech is captured in the posts of my colleagues, below, and in the one-paragraph statement issued by Senator Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), here.