Without any particular order:
- Respect for who is in charge: two observations here. First, Obama is sitting in a corner, the military in charge is in charge at the end of the table. Also, the secretary of state is the one carrying papers and folders and agenda. She could have been the one sitting in the corner today but yet she is just one worker at the table. Thus, if it is true that if Obama is the one that signed the papers to proceed, it is also true that he is letting the people do the work they are supposed to do, even if he does not have the best seat in the room to watch whatever it is that they are watching. Guess where Chavez would be sitting.....
- True team work and team solidarity: I may push it a little bit here but there is a genuine uniform concern in all assistants. All of them, no exception. No one is wondering whether they are sitting close enough to Obama, or Biden, or X. All are transfixed. True, I am sure that whatever they were watching was fabulous, but I can assure you that today at Miraflores palace if such a major development were to take place, some in the attendance would want to make sure that Chavez would see them....
- Why civilians should always be in charge of defense: this, I admit, is my favorite part. Hillary might have her hand over her mouth to contain some gasp but if you ask me Barack does look hardly anymore at ease than her. On the other hand Gates is clearly more composed, having witnessed more of such situations. And yet his tightly crossed arms betray uneasiness. That is why we should always have civilians ultimately in charge of such situations because no matter what, and at least for their first years in office, they do not lose that sense of fear, no matter how much courage they are able to muster to watch whatever it is blown away in front of them. Someone like Chavez would enjoy that probably much more and take the mic to say something like "throw a few more gas y del bueno on that escualido".
I can assure you, and I am willing to bet anything on it, that under Bush, with all appropriate nuances respected, the situation in time of major feats would have been quite similar. I am sure that soemwhere there is also a picture where Bush seats in a corner.
Such scenes happen only in real democracies, where the nasty job must be done and where no one enjoys it. And that is what makes US democracy so great, if you ask me, no matter how many flaws I could also list next if I wanted too.