Prompted by skepticism from Blackfive, Adam Serwer at TAPPED gets Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman to clarify President Obama’s role in yesterday’s rescue of Captain Richard Phillips’ rescue from the Somali pirates:

Bryan Whitman from the Office of the Secretary of Defense told me that "The Secretary of Defense requested the required authorities which were approved by the President to conduct this military operation." Whitman adds that "In this particular circumstance, it was a matter of providing authority to the folks on-scene to immediately react to a very fluid situation. Not really unusual."

Adam’s conclusion, at least, should attract broad support:

I’d say in general though, it’s probably a mistake to assign a great deal of credit to the President either way–I think it’s clear that those who carried out the operation deserve the plaudits.

Crossposted to The Streak but without this –

Meanwhile, this charming fellow who criticized me (and pretty much all of liberal-blogistan) for crediting Obama at all has this to add to the debate: "That fucking Magic Negro did not do a fucking thing, except pet his fucking dog and admire himself in the fucking mirror until the job was done." Ah, Nixonland; we missed you so, so much.