It's When the Press and Presidencies Collide Thing

Dear America,

praying for Houston this morning...as catastrophic, Revelations proportion, rains continue to pour down.  upon awakening this morning, the news has spawned my own inclinations to shelter down, to remain in place, to seek refuge in the words of our Creator, and make whatever peace I can with the circumstances thousands of my fellow Americans are facing -- and in that light, here I am.  

It's been a rough ride here in America this past summer.

We can call it past summer, as kids are already returning to school -- like, tomorrow.

And right on cue, this girl has taken down the patriotic bunting that waved handsomely over the doorway for months now; this girl has taken down the baby flags posted into the half dozen flower pots, since Memorial Day; for a new season is upon us, that it is, indeed -- while the irony hangs in the lazy gray haze outside my window, leave it to the month of August to have its light's out like a lion.

For some -- as in Houston and the surrounding areas hit by Hurricane Harvey...Corpus Cristi, Rockport -- this new season begins with unshakable faith that each and every one will rise from the apocalyptic force and unrelenting rain and unimaginable flood waters by the grace of God, while the rest of us bear witness in stunning awe.  While for those Americans who can't just sit back and do nothing, they may already be on the ground -- in spite of whatever horrendous conditions there may be -- with arms carrying bottles of water, provisions of all sorts, and rescuing people from total disaster; while others may simply be sending money to the Red Cross.

This is really and truly who we are --- right, America?  Right.  

We are Houston; we are not Charlottesville, be it scrutinized by our defining moments, by precedent, or by every good deed. (No offense to Charlottesville...it is just about the metaphor of time and place, context and circumstances, alongside the difference a couple of weeks may bring.)

Which, all being said, leads me into an even deeper thought:  no matter what happens around the nation, we, the people, are held captive to the story, to the reality, by whatever point of view that comes via the media source.  [um, duh ---  just a girl meet Captain Obvious -- oh nice to meet you, come here often?   teehee]

Anyway, while the whirlpool of context and catastrophe began to make me dizzy, I finally reached the surface, treading water upon the day after the Benghazi attack, September 12, 2012.  

There we all were -- Americans --  the day after the anniversary of 9/11 and waking up to the news of four Americans dying in a terrorist attack at the American Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.  It was a pretty big deal.

This is the first response from President Obama; this is how the president framed it (and bear in mind, this is while HE KNEW it was an actual Islamic Extremist terror attack -- and even, all the while, after abandoning his post as Commander-in-Chief.  For during the entire, real time, terror attack --  when our military and the administration were thrust into an act of war and our response --  the president left the Situation Room to get some rest...as he had a very big day scheduled in the morning....)... so here he is now, in the Rose Garden, with Secretary of State Clinton by his side, saying:

...Yesterday, four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi.  Among those killed was our Ambassador, Chris Stevens, as well as Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith.  We are still notifying the families of the others who were killed.  And today, the American people stand united in holding the families of the four Americans in our thoughts and in our prayers. 

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack.  We're working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats.  I've also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world.  And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people. 

Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths.  We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.  But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence.  None.  The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts...

Then, the president gets on Air Force One and flies to Las Vegas...for a campaign rally! 

And the press didn't think twice about it. 

So.

I'm thinking about how the press has exasperated all avenues of the Russian collusion story, being clearly unable to leak any evidence of any link with the Trump campaign...even with an army of investigators and insiders at their fancy ----  and then suddenly, almost as if it were orchestrated and planned, the skies opened up and Charlottesville happened.  

Let the Trump Take Down narrative begin! -- beginning with building upon a character attack, the one criminally based upon a lie, with every pail of water carried by the mainstream media, to the extent of breaking every levy, wall and dam built over a career denouncing white supremacy and the KKK and David Duke.  [How many times does he have to say it?]

NO matter.  The trajectory changed overnight....a propaganda ambush is about the only way you could describe it.   And who knew that eventually, the character assassinations would not start and stop with Trump -- as we spoke of just yesterday...within the week, all republicans, all Trump voters, were all thrown under the proverbial, racially charged, narrative bus to boot. (say that ten times straight...)  Calling everyone on the right racists...wow.

And the press didn't think twice about it.

By the time President Obama returned to the White House, a brand new narrative on Benghazi had already surfaced (it was so close to the election, and all, they had to do something to save face, especially after  the Democratic National Convention ran with this motto: GM is alive and Bin Laden is dead, right?)

So after the  "act of terror"/ "by killers" / that we will "bring to justice the killers who attacked our people" -- and after the celebratory rally in Vegas --  and another rally in Golden, CO (with a totally different vibe going...amusing) --  President Obama gets back to the front, to deal with the act of war straight away.   teehee.  And by that time a plan was in place; the new narrative blamed it all on a video (but we have not the time or energy to re-litigate that today, do we now?)

Thing is, the press didn't think twice about that either -- hook, line and sinker, they were sold.

How sad that the press didn't get stuck on something the president said in his first response...the line that went like so:   "The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack."  It's like, really?  There are not words.   Granted, a President Trump would have come out and called it what it was -- radical Islamic Terror at the hands of radical Islamic Extremists; but this "condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack."  Whoa, me thinks you need to settle it down there, Mr. President....

And of course, here on the old G Thing -- we spent months talking about it, so this girl can give it a rest, and she will -- right after I add this observation.... that the press, in no uncertain terms, cowered to their king.   Where was the hell and fury in the president's face, right?  

They just let Obama slide down the 'oh he's just so measured and articulate and measured and articulate...so presidential...so calm....so presidential ...there is not a question in my mind that this president knows what he's doing  AND look at him, being  all transparent and all to the American people....oh my, simply and always, a stunning display of diplomacy' right into the press pool and then offered him a towel.

Oh the press --  the puritanical, pontifical, pretentious place if only in their own minds; just a place somewhere between la la land and hades, where they didn't think twice about whatever President Obama and his administration said or did... or even entirely made up out of thin air. 

And this part too -- when President Obama said this:  "I've also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world."  AGAIN, where was the "unbiased" press doing their thing then -- for it is of record, that Ambassador Stevens, and his people,  REPEATEDLY asked for more security way before the attack!

Indeed.  The press didn't think twice about it.

And just to be sure you understand the amount of grace given under the Obama Administration -- as compared to Trump -- no one in the press questioned Obama's mental health when he went from the serious Rose Garden moment in the am to the raucous rally expressing everything wrong with republicans in the pm, then waking up to do it again in Colorado, before coming back to the Oval Office....no one questioned the Commander-in-Chief for being, for a no better term, completely AWOL on the best interests of the American people.  Our country, our four Americans killed, were in the middle of clear and present danger and what did Obama do?  He went to bed and got up the next day for a political rally, no questions asked.

The press didn't think twice about it.

In the beginning of the rally in Golden, CO, President Obama said: "To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished."  To which I  must respond, huh.  Did they?  Are we catching these bad guys and are they being punished?  Here is an UPDATE from 2014.  However, what remains to be seen is -- going back to May of this year --  will he actually be "brought to justice" or will he be let off on a some technicality?   America is so generous like that, you know.

Oh, look at me get so carried away.  [And to think, this Benghazi catastrophe is only one glaring example.]

I do love how Obama navigated from the seriousness of the Benghazi attack and into the real reason he was on stage and ready to rally; just before he went all divide and conquer in Colorado, he said this (and not leaving any of it out):

Now, I know that it's difficult sometimes seeing these disturbing images on television, because our world is filled with serious challenges. This is a tumultuous time that we're in. But we can and we will meet those challenges if we stay true to who we are, and if we would remind ourselves that we're different from other nations. We are different not only because of the incredible landscape that God has given us, we're different because we're a nation that's bound together by a creed. We're not made up of a single tribe or a single religion or a single race. We're a collection of people from all around the world who came here because of a certain set of principles: the idea that all men and women are created equal, that we are all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights. That's what binds us together. That's what our flag means. 

But we also believe that these are not just American rights. We believe these are universal aspirations and they're held by people who live in tiny villages in Libya, prosperous cities in Europe. That's our light to the world. And our task as the most powerful nation on Earth is to defend and protect and advance our people, but also to defend and protect and advance those values at home and around the world. That's what our troops do. That's what our diplomats do. That's what our intelligence officers do. 

That's what our citizens do. That's what we believe. Those are the values that we hold to.
And here in America, there is no more fundamental part of our democracy than the fact that all of you get a say in the decisions that are made about our country's future. And that's why we're here today.

good one, Mr. O; allow me to give you a standing O for that right now....

The guy could charm, couldn't he?  The guy could charm.

Question:  wonder how we got from one 'creed...collection of people...[same] certain set of principles....endowed by our Creator....binds us together...that's what the flag means"  in September of 2012 to this, nearing September 2017 -----  

...to this... football players kneeling with no respect for the flag and what we stand for....statues of Christopher Columbus coming down....free speech rallies being shut down....conservative speakers at colleges being shout down and even viciously attacked....Catholic schools having to hide statues of the baby Jesus....Black Lives Matter protests escalating to riots, and killing, the assassination of,  police officers....antifa leftists rising up with billy clubs and face masks ready to fight with an equally violent gang of white supremacists, neither of which were stopped by the police, and was allowed to riot in the beautiful city of Charlottesville.   

[For more on that last topic, and an interesting take,  go to Charlottesville -- Where's the Truth, posted by Michael Giere, TBE.  PS  Never hurts to ask questions.]

Or never you mind, press -- by all means, don't think twice about it.

Context --  Catastrophe --  and the Commander-in-Chief, oh my...

what a difference a day makes;

 

what a difference when the press and presidencies collide, be it for better or worse.

Hate to be too dramatic, given what we are going through in this country right now, but the thing is, it could be said that the very rise and fall of nations have often hung in the balance of one well placed post.

Make it a Good Day, G