Awesome naval power showcased in a scary photo

You may have seen the photo of a large chunk of the American Navy carrier fleet tied up side by side in Norfolk.

A few websites have exaggerated the circumstances. But it still seems to represent a huge lapse in national security sense by the Navy folks who orchestrated the sureal circumstances.

NORFOLK (Dec. 20, 2012) The aircraft carriers USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), USS Enterprise (CVN 65), USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) are in port at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., the world’s largest naval station. (U.S. Navy photo) 

Once upon a time, enemy nations, subversives or terrorists had to work to get intel like this. Now the Navy releases an official photo.

And it has only been in the past week or so that one of the carriers, the Eisenhower, has finally put to sea.

Minnesota (of all places) Public Radio tried to put a positive spin on the circumstances. And it says the Navy claims the cluster is not unique.

But has any enemy nation (or terrorist faction) had such a tempting naval target since Battleship Row at Pearl? And one that remained there for months and months - and is still largely intact - in the age of satellite recon?

Heaven forbid, but it looks a lone operator with a suitcase nuke in a small plane or small boat has the potential to destroy or disable a huge percentage of America's naval power.

On a purely psychological level, what message is the Obama administration sending to the military with pictures like this? The photo was released with a home for the holidays story line, but it also screams unpreparedness to anyone with a hint of a strategic sense.

And I can't overlook the coincidence of it being released just a month before Marines were forced to march with bolts missing from their rifles as a condition of participating in an inauguration parade.

What kind of messages are being sent, are they intentional, and if so, who are the intended recipients?