On the terrible killings at Fort Hood -- may all the victims rest in peace, and God help their families -- Victor Davis Hanson writes:

In his reaction to the horror at Fort Hood, Obama, in detached fashion, urged Americans not to rush to judgment about the motives of the killer Major Nidal Malik Hasan—despite immediate reports that Hasan had screamed out “Allahu Akabar,” as well as been known to post on the Internet inflammatory anti-American, and radical Islamic messages. Each day more incriminating information is released about a clear past record of inflammatory hate speech directed at the U.S. military.

What if the President had said something quite different?—something a little bit more angry like, “All Americans have had it with these mass murderers, whether formal terrorist plotters or individual assassins. I promise you we will find out what motivates a Major Hasan—and do my best to ensure that there are no more Major Hasans in our future.”

Yes, what if President Obama had done that? I fail to see how a more visceral display of emotion would've accomplished anything. Given the choice between a president who is "too emotional" or "too cool and calculating" I'll take the latter any day -- the POTUS is the most powerful man on earth, and if he is wont to act based on his emotions, rather than restraining them, we're all going to be worse off for it. It seems that Mr. Hanson is looking for emotional succor more than for sound policy decisions, whereas I'd rather be under the leadership of Michael Corleone than Sonny.

Of course, as facts emerge, all evidence is pointing to the fact that the shooter at Fort Hood was a radical Islamist. So when President Obama next speaks on this matter, he should coolly, collectedly acknowledge as much, and explain what measures are being taken to prevent a repeat of this tragedy.