It's Caving without really Caving Thing

Dear America,

it's fascinating what gets picked up as a story-line and carried like the wind in the effervescence of the free Internet air; the story leads on redflagnews.com, freerepublic.com, politichicks.com, jewsforsarah.com, yahoo.com just to name five. (and since we're keeping track -- it's day five of the strike -- the president still hasn't told the teachers to listen to their mayor, respect the needs of the children, and get back to work; and did you know it may actually be illegal? )

Neil Munro of The Daily Caller gave us this:

Obama Caves to Romney, 

Embraces Free Speech for Critics of Islam

as he then continues to unravel the nitty gritty details, and more, reciting Jay Carney's official clarification to the American people via the press corps briefing; he was speaking on behalf of the president, on board Air Force One...bear in mind, everyone was en-route to Vegas for that campaign gaffe.  Calling it that, considering nobody in the press seemed to be all that affected by the rush to stump in the midst of the chaos on the day. But be that as it may.

It was a great article.

And yet, when I pulled up the transcript of the president's remarks, I discovered the full text on the subject to be considerably choppy, sometimes biting, sometimes juvenile, sometimes amnesiac, and got a slightly different feel than from the headline -- and remember now, Jay is quoting President Obama to answer the question, pulling the response from an interview with Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes. I'm not even going to watch it; but no surprise there, huh?    So here's the Goods -- taking creative license to em-bolden a few of the president's remarks -- and as expected, G's commentary are in pink...carry on...

“I think most Americans, Democrats or Republicans, understand that there are times where we set politics aside [interesting -- from the guy who never sets politics aside -- and beginning by talking politics...he's brilliant, I tell you, simply brilliant], and one of those is when we've got a direct threat to American personnel who are overseas. And so I think that if you look at how most Republicans have reacted [but not romney], most elected officials [but not romney], they've reacted responsibly [but not romney], waiting to find out the facts before they talked [but not romney], making sure that our number-one priority is the safety and security of American personnel. [but not romney:  moving quickly into becoming the expert witness on speaking out of turn -- and ironically, before UPHOLDING FREE SPEECH he outright extinguishes that very right from Romney.  As luck would have it, his comments serve as an excellent example of Saul Alinsky's Thirteenth rule, under Tactics:  Pick the Target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it] 

It appears that Governor Romney didn’t have his facts right. [even though in the broader picture it doesn't matter; for the FACTS remain:  America APOLOGIZED and BEGGED for Mercy FIRST.   In other words, it immediately became akin to the moment when the Embassy decided to 'shoot first and aim later.'  The embassy, as part of our State Department didn't look down the road for "ramifications" to come.  Moreover, the COMMAND begins at the level of the Presidency.   Hence -- whether you want it or not -- the PRESIDENT IS responsible for our Diplomats around the world to act under his leadership and his messaging accordingly]  The situation in Cairo was one in which an embassy that is being threatened by major protests releases a press release saying that the film that had disturbed so many Muslims around the world wasn’t representative of what Americans believe about Islam, in an effort to cool the situation down. It didn’t come from me, it didn’t come from Secretary Clinton; it came from folks on the ground who are potentially in danger. [who apparently, acted stupidly; and so, doubling down -- the buck really doesn't stop with him --  "it didn't come from me" -- it's not my fault]

And my tendency is to cut folks a little bit of slack when they're in that circumstance, rather than try to question their judgment from the comfort of a campaign office. ["from the comfort of a campaign office"?   Clearly here, having misspoke, not recognizing that his duties of the Oval Office come first]

And I do have to say that, more broadly, we believe in the First Amendment. It is one of the hallmarks of our Constitution that I’m sworn to uphold. And so we are always going to uphold the rights for individuals to speak their mind [everyone except Romney, of course]. On the other hand, this film is not representative of who we are and our values, and I think it's important for us to communicate that. [don't ya just love mixed messages....so much for conviction, yo] That's never an excuse for violence against Americans, which is why my number-one priority -- and my initial statement -- focused on making sure that not only are Americans safe, but that we go after anybody who would attack Americans.”

The President continues, “There's a broader lesson to be learned here, and Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later. And as President, one of the things I've learned is you can't do that, that it's important for you to make sure that the statements you make are backed up by the facts, and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them."

First, we're gonna have to cut this president some slack when he said this --

 "And I do have to say that, 

more broadly, 

we believe in the First Amendment. 

It is one of the hallmarks 

of our Constitution 

that I’m sworn to uphold."   

On the other hand, no I'm not.  When he says "And I do HAVE to say" -- it's not that he really wants to at this time, but it's expected of him; and when he says "more broadly, we believe in the First Amendment"  -- you know, it's generally speaking; and when he adds "that I'm sworn to uphold"  -- but it's begrudgingly really, for he's studied it, he knows it, and in the end, he doesn't like it nor respects it.

"it's important for you to make sure that the statements you make are backed up by the facts, and that you've thought through the ramifications before you make them."

Get the facts first.   Is that what you just said?  okay, we'll get back to that.  but first --

When these remarks and reality meet and placed further into context -- considering the facts and all -- what happened in the Middle East was expected.  Intelligence reports were crystal clear.  The facts tells us that the State Department, the Embassy's in Libya and Egypt, and even the office of the president, were all well aware of the possibility of an uprising 48 hours before the outbreak on the anniversary of September 11th.  These attacks were coordinated and planned and this administration knew it was coming.

So if we knew something was coming -- just how come we were not better prepared?  How could this slip by you, considering your level of intelligence and information available to you?  But seriously, just why were our Marine guards carrying guns with no ammo?   but we digress.

Getting back to getting the facts first -- before speaking:

Like when you immediately lambasted the Boston Police Department for acting stupidly?

Like when you had to walk back and clarify remarks made regarding "the wisdom" of building a mosque a half block from the World Trade Center?

Like when you said, in the last campaign, first thing you were going to do, as president, is close Gitmo?  The facts back behind Gitmo made that a little difficult, now didn't it?

Like even after compiling all the facts, you still call something - something contrary to what it is.  Like when your administration considers the Fort Hood attack an act of "workplace violence", not an act of terrorism?

Like when you said, "you didn't build that" or "if you got a business, you didn't get there on your own"?

Like when you -- as a short-time-Senator running for office -- called President Bush -- the sitting president of the United States -- "unpatriotic" for growing the national debt (4.5 billion in eight years), before having rolled your own debt of 5.5 billion in less than four years?  (Hey, it was during the heat of the moment in the campaign , right?  How could you know that your policies would make things worse?)

...And, Mr. President, can you just imagine the ramifications if Romney called you UN-patriotic?

no, no, I got a good one --

How about when you said that Romney "seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later."

Isn't that a wee bit inappropriate, you know, given that Americans, at American Embassies throughout the Middle East, are under attack and on fire as we speak --  still -- and on it's fourth day? Where's your sensitivity?  Do you regret saying that?

I'm sure you regret this one by now --

Responding to a question on Telemundo, and considering all the facts to date are in -- and being that you are the president of the United States --  you say:  "I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy."    referring to Egypt... 

Like, what, you don't know?  the Muslim Brotherhood is cleaning our clocks here, there, and everywhere, and you don't know?...the Muslim Brotherhood wants to wipe Israel off the map, and you don't know?  All the facts are in.  Or did you just shoot without taking aim first?  Did you respond to that question too soon?  Cause this response sounds weak, at best, before easily deteriorating into wishy-washy.  

The thing is: the president's remarks are hardly a plug for embracing free speech -- but more of censorship; what's more, in full context --  make no mistake -- the words hardly sound like a president caving to his opponent.  It's a nice thought, but more wishful thinking.

Whole New Thought on a Brand New World

I heard an interesting analogy on the radio yesterday  - - think it was during the Sean Hannity show -- from a caller referring to our foreign policy coming out of the "Timothy Treadwell" philosophy.  Basically, and summarizing, that if we sit with that which is perceived as the enemy, try to make nice long enough, we can all live happily ever after together...out of mutual respect, or something like that.  But in reality, after something like thirteen summers, Treadwell, along side his girlfriend, were found mauled to death. 

In a review of a movie made on his life, Grizzly Man, a not so surprising conclusion is reached:

"Timothy Treadwell's problem was that he saw wild nature as essentially friendly; Herzog sees it as essentially hostile. Where Treadwell saw the signs of personality in the eyes of the bears, Herzog sees "only the overwhelming blank stare ... [and] a half-bored interest in food." It's a bleak vision, pitting Treadwell's American optimism against Herzog's Germanic pessimism, and sometimes during Grizzly Man you catch yourself wanting to believe in the former: those bears can seem awfully cute. But then you remember how fast they can run, and how they can smell their next meal from nine miles away, and at this point British pragmatism kicks in."

 
Let's make time for one more plug; from the German Press Review:  and yes, I picked what fit.

The conservative Die Welt writes:
"US President Barack Obama's Middle East policy is in ruins. Like no president before him, he tried to win over the Arab world. After some initial hesitation, he came out clearly on the side of the democratic revolutions. … In this context, he must accept the fact that he has snubbed old close allies such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian military. And now parts of the freed societies are turning against the country which helped bring them into being. Anti-Americanism in the Arab world has even increased to levels greater than in the Bush era. It's a bitter outcome for Obama."

"Obama was naive to believe that one only needed to adopt a new tone and show more respect in order to dispel deep-seated reservations about the free world. In practice, the policies of the Obama administration in the region were not as naive as they may have seemed at times, and the Americans have always been much more involved in the Middle East than the passive Europeans. But Washington has provided the image of a distracted superpower in the process of decline to the societies there. This image of weakness is being exploited by Salafists and al-Qaida, who are active in North Africa from Somalia to Mali."

wow.

So tying the day in the life of America all up with a bow:

Obama, the antagonist, "caves" to Romney, the pragmatist.

oh, and about those Radical Islamists --

simply savages;

essentially hostile;

animals behaving like animals, 

wreaking havoc upon civilization.

There is no common ground living by their rules.
They're kinda like bears --
they only get along with other bears --
and that's only on a good day.

Make it a Good Day, G

I know the day got long winded, but we got a long way to go...and not apologizing for it whatsoever.

But understand this --  jimmy carter was up six points in september, increasing to an even greater lead in october -- only to have Reagan win in a landslide in november.  thank you, media.