We previously discussed the unease that many of us felt with the celebrations that occurred over the killing of Bin Laden and the later use of the killing to bolster the Obama campaign. This discomfort increased recently with an Obama commercial that unfairly suggested that Governor Mitt Romney would not have ordered the operation to go forward. Just in case anyone thought that was a tasteless and baseless campaign pitch by an overzealous Obama aide, the President himself just reaffirmed that message in a press conference with the Prime Minister of Japan this afternoon. It appears that, while the Administration will again bar the release of photos to the media and the public of the operation, they are eager to drag the body of Bin Laden behind the presidential limo to every possible campaign stop.
Recently, Vice President Joe Biden called the President’s ordering the operation as the most audacious plan in 500 years — apparently dwarfing Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and a number of other minor skirmishes. The thrust of these comments is that the President was the brave one to risk the political fallout of an unsuccessful operation.
We previously saw a squabble between Bush and Obama on who can claim part of the scalp of Bin Laden. It is clear that the President has decided to abandon his promise not to engage in excessive celebration or self-aggrandizement over the killing. I suppose there is now regret in the White House that they decide to forgo the taxidermist option in favor of the ocean disposal.
In the press conference, Obama seemed eager to suggest that Romney doesn’t have the guts to kill people, even our most hated enemies.
“I’d just recommend that everybody take a look at people’s previous statements in terms of whether they thought it was appropriate to go into Pakistan and to take out bin Laden. I assume that people meant what they said when they said it. And that’s been at least my practice. I said that I would go after bin Laden if we had a clear shot at him–and I did. If there are others who have said one thing and now suggest they would do something else, then I’d go ahead and let them explain it.
I suppose that explanation will now trigger a contest on how more willing each man is to order killings like some natural-born killer. With Obama recently claiming the right to kill citizens on his sole authority, that could be a dangerous race to the bottom. Romney is already insisting that he would have ordered the same killing.
Former and current Seal members criticized the President for using the operation in a political ad. Here is the commercial that ran in the last week:
The concerted attack appears to be based on Romney’s statement in 2007 that he believe that it was “not worth moving heaven and earth … just trying to catch one person.” That was a reasonable statement and one that many in the military appeared to agree with.
The use of the killing of Bin Laden as a campaign trophy is as unfair to Romney, unseemly of Obama, and unbecoming to the presidency. The President’s remarks this afternoon should be condemned by every citizen regardless of party affiliation.
Here is the press conference:
sure bron, whatever you say, your comments are based on a lack of knowledge instead of false inputs from your sensors.
izb1:
both are errors. One of judgement and one of knowledge. Although you might be able to call a mirage an error of knowledge as well. Based on a lack of understanding as how light moves through air of different temperatures.
amity, The Koch Bros and the Bush team as anon nurse pointed out with her link. Romney is the candidate of Rove and the Bush family. Some of Bush’s Texas Swift Boaters are involved with Romney’s SUPERPACS.
i was certainly agreeing it will likely be a close race – its the likelyhood it will be close that i find to be so troubling.
bron, if you really believe our senses do not give us mistaken information or the brain processes the information incorrectly perhaps you have never heard or seen a mirage. perhaps you never learned there was a time people thought the sun revolved around the sun or the earth was flat or optical illusions exist…
but, please, lets not talk of it any more. my senses tell me everything your senses tell you is 100% accurate.
Swarthmore Mom: I read the military’s “after action” report of the total cluster f*ck attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran during Carter’s administration. How they expected special forces to get from the helicopter landing sites in the desert through the streets of Tehran to rescue over 60 (?) men and back to the helicopters is beyond me. Another Bay of Pigs (which BTW was planned by Eisenhower’s team and was presented to the newly inaugurated JFK as a fait accompli). In the attempted rescue case, however, there was the bad luck factor too: helicopters malfunctioning (desert dust? can’t remember). Carter was a Naval Academy graduate and to accuse him of cowardice or reluctance to take military action is unfair. Too many people with little knowledge of the facts and short memories are bloviating now a days.
If Obama’s assassination attempt had backfired, would we have even heard about it? This Admin is even more opaque than GWB’s. The Abbotabad job was more of a compact black bag job than Carter’s fiasco and easier to hide. A failed attempt probably would have been deep sixed. How many other failed attempts at this sort of thing have happened? How long did they know where he was…. So many questions.
As to stuffing OBL, why not? Jeremy Bentham had himself stuffed and is still in good shape 200 years later. A trophy for Obama’s oval office, like a deer head. At least people would know for sure it was OBL (after DNA testing). But there’s still the issue of whether he was really the “master mind” …..
What a choice for us old time liberals. Hold your nose and vote for Obama to prevent Romney and the Koch Brothers from taking over? I guess so, but it will be difficult.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/us/politics/obama-campaign-confronts-voter-id-laws.html Dredd, There are many hurdles with these new voter id laws.
Swarthmore mom 1, May 1, 2012 at 9:13 am
1zb1, Whether gallup is accurate or not, I think it will be a close election. Obama has some hurdles to overcome with the new voter id laws put in place by the republicans. Turning out the young is the key, and the id laws play havoc with that plus there is less enthusiasm. Romney has a big lead with white males, and Obama has a huge lead with women and minorities. The fact that the Obama campaign went up with the ad about Romney’s Swiss bank accounts yesterday in some key states shows they are concerned.
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I think women voters are the majority, so the GOP is doing real good with one minority, white men. The president is doing real well with the majority.
Jesse Venture is a Navy Seal, and he be knowin’ …
1zb1, Whether gallup is accurate or not, I think it will be a close election. Obama has some hurdles to overcome with the new voter id laws put in place by the republicans. Turning out the young is the key, and the id laws play havoc with that plus there is less enthusiasm. Romney has a big lead with white males, and Obama has a huge lead with women and minorities. The fact that the Obama campaign went up with the ad about Romney’s Swiss bank accounts yesterday in some key states shows they are concerned.
Senator Inhofe released a statement to the effect that the Navy has been subverted by hoaxers, and now the president has too, believing he killed bin Laden with Navy Seals.
Jesse Ventura et. al. have shown that bin Laden died of pea poisoning.
“Monday, April 30, 2012
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows Mitt Romney earning 47% of the vote while President Obama picks up support from 45%. Four percent (4%) would vote for a third party candidate, while three percent (3%) are undecided. ”
SM:
appears to be neck and neck but this isnt even the first turn.
Oh one more thing if I may:
President Bill Clinton: “Obama took ‘the harder and the more honorable path’ in ordering that bin Laden be killed. The words ‘Which path would Mitt Romney have taken?’ are then displayed.
How about substituing it to read “Which path would Jesus have taken”
izb1:
you may incorrectly interpret a perception but the sense is correct.
A spot that a doctor knows about is a lack of knowledge on your part, not a misperception.
Is there any reason to go on?
craven.
I personally felt the original announcement of Bin Laden’s killing should have been made by a military general officer connected to the operation, thereby minimalizing the political nature of the mission. Now seeing the election campaign use this is reprehensive especially when declaring “…would ‘private-citicen-running-for-office’ have assisinated ‘another person’ too?” Seems put in this light, I guess now killing other people is now a measure of the mettle of a politician these days.
Certainly the western world is better off with Osama gone but my word have some humanity.
As for the president’s wrapping himself in the cloak of a hero, I don’t seem to recall ever seeing him volunteering to hit the streets, battle lines, landing zones, or behind enemy circles to serve his fellow citizens. So I don’t respect him essentially saying he has.
gallup has a fairly consistent record of being inaccurate, not that we need them to tell us unless people wake up from their self induced willful ignorance it will be close.
that there is even one person in this country that would vote for romney/republican/tparty/3rdBushTerm leaves me completely confounded. even i never thought the american people could be that stupid. just goes to show how stupid i am to underestimate the stupidity of the american people.
bron: tell me you don’t actually believe your senses and how we process the information is 100% accurate.
no doubt, when your mechanic tells you the CTPS is out of line you know what he is talking about; or when the doctor points to that little spot among all the other spots you know why its a different spot then the rest of the spots.
is there a point in going on and on about all the things you don’t know and all the ways your senses give you misinformation or your brain is mistaken in how it processes information, or how many countless ways you depend on what others say to determine what you THINK you know.
As an airline captain at the time of 9/11, I can tell you that I was fillied with joy when Obama made the announcement that Bin Laden had been killled. This contrasted so sharply with his predecessor who could care less about Bin Laden, that I hope that all airline pilots who did not vote for him will hang their heads in shame. Obama went out on a limb during the campaign by saying he would get Bin Laden, and he was criticized by all the other candidates for doing that. So it is rather unseemly for them now to complain or say that they would have also done the same. Any person who says that after having previous opposition to this is an unmitigated liar, cheat and a crook who by their own words have disqualified themselves for the office.
It is hitting below the belt for Romney to state HE would have done the same since his words at the time were the opposite. Trying to get credit for what others have done is theft and as a Vietnam era vet, I really hate Romney for his draft dodging cowardice to avoid putting his own ass on the line in wartime. He is only the number one chickenhawk now, not fit for commander in chief.
Romney closes gap with Obama, poll shows
By DONOVAN SLACK |
4/30/12 5:24 PM EDT
Mitt Romney has closed the gap with President Barack Obama during the past week and the two are now locked in a dead heat, according to daily tracking by Gallup.
Romney is now slightly ahead, 47 percent to 46 percent, although they are statistically tied. Last week, Obama had a seven-point lead at 50-43.
Overall, Gallup has conducted more than 8,000 interviews since April 11, when it began daily tracking of the race. At first Obama was ahead, then Romney pulled into the lead, then Obama, and now Romney again.
(Also on POLITICO: General-election polls show conflicting leads for Romney, Obama)
Gallup uses a five-day rolling average in its calculations. But an aggregation of the results over the entire period found Obama and Romney dead-even at 46-46.
“The conclusion is that the presidential race appears tight, but with some fluidity,” Gallup editor in chief Frank Newport wrote in an analysis released Monday.
AN,
Isn’t it sad that this is the way of politics…..
Michael Murry:
“Just two killer capons crowing at sundown.”
Great line.
Like teats on a boar hog but a much better use of the English language.