Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 Likely Shot Down by Russian Backed Ukranian Separatists Killing 295-- Obama Makes Jokes During Speech

A plastic reenactment of Obama's speech.

The king of tact and empathy has struck again...

Obama scarcely mentioned the loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 during a speech in Delaware. I guess he didn't have a fundraiser to go to.

From The Daily Mail:

President Barack Obama provoked fury in the U.S. on Thursday by casually devoting less than a minute to the deaths of 295 people aboard a Malaysian airliner, as he began an often jokey 16-minute speech about the need to expand America’s transportation infrastructure. 

There are no confirmed American dead and the White House issued a statement on Thursday evening which said they were still seeking any 'information to determine whether there were any American citizens on board'.

An earlier Reuters report claimed that it was feared that as many as 23 U.S. citizens had perished.

Obama declared in Wilmington, Delaware that 'it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy,' but not before enthusiastically declaring that 'it is wonderful to be back in Delaware.'  

'Before I begin, obviously the world is watching reports of a downed passenger jet near the Russia-Ukraine border. And it looks like it may be a terrible tragedy. Right now we’re working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority.' 

'And I've directed my national security team to stay in close contact with the Ukrainian governemnt. The United States will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why. And as a country, our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and passengers, wherever they call home.  

Obama then jarringly quickly returned to his prepared remarks.   

'I want to thank Jeremie for that introduction' he said. 'Give Jeremie a big round of applause.' 

'It is great to be in the state that gave us Joe Biden. We’ve got actually some better-looking Bidens with us here today. We've got Beau and his wife, Hallie, are here. Give them a big round of applause. We love them.'

Obama also acknowledged the presence of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew with a joke. 

'Jack Lew’s signature is actually on your money,' he said, 'although it's kind of illegible. We teased him when he first became treasury secretary that he was going to have to fix his signature a little bit because it looked just like a caterpillar running along the bottom.'  

From there he launched into a 16-minute speech about transportation projects he wants Republicans to fund, complaining bitterly about their objections to his end-runs around the federal legislature.  

[...]  

National Review reporter Charles Cooke tweeted: 'Shorter Obama: 'Something awful has happened with a plane. It’s awful. Awful. Republicans are bastards for not funding new airports".'

I wish I could be surprised by Obama's behavior. I wish I could think to myself "Wow, this guy's a lot less astute and savvy than I thought." Alas, no. Shall we remember that Obama jetted off to a fundraiser after learning of the deaths in the attack of the American embassy in Benghazi, that he publicly blamed an innocent filmmaker for the attack-- even to the bereaved families of the those lost. There is nothing beneath this man.

I'm sure he'll find a way to blame Bush, a YouTube video, or the GOP for this, and then resume his full-time job of punishing his (American) enemies, and claiming that Americans are ungovernable and racist.