President Obama gets it right on photos.

President Obama is taking flack from some critics that say he should release the photos of a very dead OBL — so that we can prove he's dead and deter others from following in his steps.  The president got it right when he told CBS News that "we don't trot this stuff out as trophies ….  we don't need to spike the football." 

 Well thought out Mr. President and as you said, "that's not who we are." 

Think back to when bin Laden and his sick followers — this small twisted group of cowards — killed innocent Americans, whether it was the 9/11/2001 attacks or the atrocities carried out since.  Remember their videos of gloating and taking responsibility?  Remember them dancing around the campfire with rifles in the air, burning the American flag or the effigy of our president Bush?  They were spiking the football.  And we, as a nation, wondered how man can take that sort of pride in killing his fellow man — wondering what sort of sick mind can carry out those actions then dance with glee, all full of themselves.  We had seen the devil himself in those videos, in their taunting, as they trotted out the trophy with sinful pride.  

We collected ourselves as a nation and allowed the minds at the top of our democracy go about their business in hunting these cowards down, bringing justice.  We trusted in the men and women at the top of our federal government to plan, fund and execute the campaigns necessary to keep us safe from those who wish us ill.  So who are we now to play Monday-morning armchair quarterback and second guess those same minds?  What would make us any different than those sick bastards we've watched over the past decade and more if we were to figuratively spike the football now?  Do we really need to sink to their level?

And for those that say releasing photos will deter others.  Are you kidding?  Open your eyes.  A sick mind knows no deterrent and acts out indiscriminately.  Look around you — do our gun laws deter robbers?  Do photos and video of public execution deter murderers?  Did the public hangings of horse thieves in the glory days of the Old West deter bad guys?  The answer to all of the above is NO.  So bad people that hated us as a nation last week still hate us as a nation today after OBL's death.  They still want to inflict hurt on us and released pictures or not, the threat is still there.

President Obama and his team have done the right thing for now in not allowing the photos to be released.   Let things cool down and let's continue after bin Laden's number 2 guy — let our Special Ops folks go kick some more ass and bring others to justice.  And somewhere down the road, maybe a month from now, maybe a year, the photos will become declassified and the public who still cares can take a look.