Just words. . .

. . .to be sure, but "cannon fodder" doesn't seem like the best way to describe our troops, even if you're in front of an east coast elite crowd, in Manhattan. But, that's precisely how Sen. Obama described them.

Between this kind of nastiness, his casual dismissal of small-town America's values, and belittlement of everyday gestures of sincere support for our troops, Barack Obama has really put himself in a tight spot with unaffiliated and socially conservative Democrat voters.

The fact is, what Obama sought to do in that statement was to demonize President Bush as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. The idea that he would use our troops as "cannon fodder" is deeply offensive. The fact that he would do so while, at the same time, professing to be the herald of a "New Kind of Politics" is breathtakingly hypocritical.

If he is willing to characterize our troops and their commander in chief in such a way, what must he think of the families who express such pride in those men and women serving our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan? Would he describe the disabled veteran who gave him the flag pin as mere "cannon fodder"?

How would he describe Sen. McCain? "Vietcong Whipping Boy?"

H/T -- Rich Lowry at The Corner.