Infuriating

It is both indecent and unintelligent that the Coast Guard decided to stage an exercise on the Potomac near the site of September 11 memorials at the Pentagon. Unless there is an extremely compelling reason why the exercise needed to be performed today, someone is going to have some very embarrassing explaining to do. As Sen. George Voinovich said in a statement:

"I am extremely concerned about the report of a Coast Guard training exercise being conducted on the Potomac River as September 11 memorial ceremonies were in progress nearby at the Pentagon. The anxiety caused by this situation on such a solemn day is extremely disturbing. I look forward to hearing from Secretary Napolitano about the decision-making process leading up to today's events. It sounds very much like the left hand didn't know what the right hand was doing."

Updated: I may have overreacted a little. Jen writes in comments:

While it may not have been the best decision to hold a training event today at that location, calling it indecent is ridiculous and insulting to the USCG. The USCG had alerted all area officials and just because the media didn't stop for half a second and check their facts doesn't make this event disrespectful. This is the alarmist media looking for something negative to report. Shouldn't they spend their time today reflecting on our country and respecting those who defend it?

A couple of thoughts: "not the best" is an understatement. Unless there is a substantive rationale for doing this exercise on September 11, this seems unnecessary. Alerting area officials isn't the same thing as alerting area residents and businesses, where the people who might get upset and confused work, including the folks who defend our country at the Pentagon. I still think there's some explaining to do, but "indecent" is probably an overstatement.