I would have preferred the president never mention anything about the war we’re in (not of our choosing, as someone once said), than him using Iraq and Afghanistan as red meat in a hyper-partisan and condescending speech. There’s something astounding about the president of the United States, two days before 9/11, being so transparently clueless. Strikes me as an abdication of leadership when one thinks of the men and women who died — in the service of freedom and in the attacks.