Yesterday was a horrible day for our diplomatic corps as the stark reality of what they face on a daily basis came home with the murder of two of their fellow members including the Ambassador in Yemen along with two private security guards. Libyans were standing side by side with Americans defending the consulate where these murders took place.
As Americans were mourning the loss of the lives of members of our diplomatic corps and praying for their families and friends, Romney goes on the attack against the President not once but twice when he doubled down in his press conference. Once again he didn't have the facts but that doesn't seem to bother Romney even a little. Today he is doubling down once more at a small rally in Virginia as he continues to play to the right wing fringe of the Republican Party.
Bad day for Romney but a worse day for America yesterday when a Presidential candidate for the first time any of us can remember attacks a sitting President when four Americans, including the Ambassador to Libya, had just been killed in an attack on the consulate in Libya. Romney has zero class and should pay dearly at the polls on November 6th for his actions.
Mr. Romney’s rhetoric on embassy attacks is a discredit to his campaignBy ,
J.CHRISTOPHER STEVENS, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, was a skilled and courageous diplomat who repeatedly placed himself at risk in order to support the cause of a democratic Libya. His death, along with those of three other Americans, during an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday is a tragedy that should prompt bipartisan support for renewed U.S. aid to Libyans who are struggling to stabilize the country. That it instead provoked a series of crude political attacks on President Obama by GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is a discredit to his campaign.
Mr. Romney’s first rhetorical assault came Tuesday night in response to a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, which was also besieged by demonstrators Tuesday. His statement claimed that the administration’s first response was “to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” In fact the embassy statement was issued before the protests began; referring to an ugly anti-Islam film that was the focus of demonstrators, it condemned “those who abuse the universal right of free speech to hurt the religious belief of others.”
Mr. Romney did not then know the extent of the Benghazi incident — his statement referred only to “the death of an American consulate worker.” So it was stunning to see the GOP nominee renew his verbal offensive Wednesday morning, when the country was still absorbing the news of the first death in service of a U.S. ambassador since 1988, as well as the loss of three other Americans. Though reports were still sketchy, it appeared that a militant jihadist group, Ansar al-Sharia, took advantage of the Benghazi protest to stage an armed assault that overwhelmed the Libyan security force at the consulate.
At a news conference, Mr. Romney claimed that the administration had delivered “an apology for America’s values.” In fact, it had done no such thing: Religious tolerance, as much as freedom of speech, is a core American value. The movie that provoked the protests, which mocks the prophet Mohammed and portrays Muslims as immoral and violent, is a despicable piece of bigotry; it was striking that Mr. Romney had nothing to say about such hatred directed at a major religious faith.
Mr. Obama struck the right tone on Wednesday, saying that “we reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others” but that “there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence.” Lauding Mr. Stevens’s service, the president promised “justice” for “this terrible act” while also committing the administration to continue cooperating with Libya’s democratic government — which apologized for the attack.
(snip)
Excerpt: Read More at the Washington Post
Some websites reported that the Libyans were dragging the Ambassador's body through the streets when in fact Libyans were carrying him to the hospital. Like Romney, some members of the news media especially Fox News ran with the story rather then waiting for details. Yesterday there were signs around the consulate being carried by Libyans apologizing for what happened. Ambassador Stevens was a hero to many Libyans who helped them throw off the repressive Gaddafi regime.
We have learned with every passing hour that these attacks were probably in retaliation for the killing of an Al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan from Libya. It seems an Al Qaeda group used the protesters to cover for their attack on the consulate which killed four Americans -- two diplomats and two security personnel.
What were these Libyans protesting? An anti-Islam film that showed Mohammad in a very bad light that excerpts were shown on You Tube picked up around the world. It was also promoted by the Minister Jones in Gainesville who burned the Quran which sparked the demonstrations in the Middle East ending in the deaths of people. Romney calls the film, 'freedom of speech' -- I call the film 'hate speech.' Yet Romney attacked the Embassy in Egypt for exercising their free speech to put out the memo trying to diffuse the situation. Seems like it is only freedom of speech for Romney and Republicans and what they choose to support but everyone else is not entitled to free speech if it conflicts with the Romney/Republican narrative. That is how it is coming across even to longtime Republicans who don't recognize this version of the Republican Party.
The producer of the poor quality film turns out not to exist under the name that was used and his saying he was Israeli American is also suspect. The people in the video didn't know what they were filming and were used by a film maker as part of over 150 people who thought they were helping stage or were in the film 'Desert Warrior.' Steven Klein from So California is the spokesman for the anti-Islam film. Two of the people in the film have released the script that did not show the hate speech which was dubbed in later according to what I just watched on MSNBC News. From reports, this film's spokesman Steve Klein and the movie are linked to Christian extremists in the US which would include Jones from Gainesville, FL.
Hard for me to believe anyone could defend Jones and his burning of the Quran along with this hate film but the far right extremist fringe is doing just that with their comments on various websites. In some cases they are scary -- refuse to repeat the comments on here. They hit Huffington Post, The Hill, Politico and others with their support of Romney and the film as 'free speech' along with vicious attacks on President Obama. Their defense of this film shows how low this part of the Romney Republican Party has sunk including the standard bearer himself with his attacks on Obama not being American or understanding America. It has carried over with some of the nastiest comments I have witnessed to date.
Romney with his rhetoric and lies is also responsible for encouraging more of the hate that is coming out today against this black President IMHO. That said the people most responsible for the spread of the hate are the Conservative radio pundits led by Rush Limbaugh. His comments against Obama are so far over the top with anger that I suspect a heart attack in the making. The clips you see of Limbaugh are shocking.
Yesterday Sen McCain gave a speech on the floor of the Senate praising Ambassador Stevens as he knew him personally but today he is back on the attack against President Obama for his actions in Libya sounding like that bitter person who lost the election in 2008. Also sounds just like he did after losing the primary to George W. Bush in 2000 and his attacks on Pres Bush in years to follow.
The video that touched off the riots in Libya and Egypt has led to riots today in Yemen where protesters were trying to attack the embassy but were repelled by Yemeni forces. The Yemen President apologized this morning and has troops guarding the embassy now. This was all precipitated by a video by a racist, not very good film producer, who staged the film and then someone dubbed in the rest. Who payed for this film and its release? Was Jones responsible for the You Tube version being promoted? He says no but can you believe him?
Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose burning of Qurans previously sparked deadly riots in Pakistan and other Muslim nations, had tried to promote the film on Tuesday as part of a series of 9/11 anniversary events at his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla. Jones told NBC News on Wednesday that he aired the trailer once previously in his makeshift church but that efforts to screen it on Tuesday were thwarted by technical difficulties.
"I have not met him. Sam Bacile, that is not his real name," Jones told the AP. "I just talked to him on the phone. He is definitely in hiding and does not reveal his identity. He was quite honestly fairly shook up concerning the events and what is happening. A lot of people are not supporting him."Secretary of State Clinton once again this morning said that the United States had nothing to do with this video:
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is sharpening her criticism of an anti-Islam video that provoked protests in the Arab world.
Clinton says the film is "disgusting and reprehensible." She calls it a cynical attempt to offend people for their religious beliefs.
But Clinton says the U.S. would never stop Americans from expressing their views, no matter how distasteful. And she says the film is no justification for violence or attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities and personnel.
In reality the protesters refuse to listen that the United States had nothing to do with this video as they look for any excuse to take to the streets to protest the United States. IMHO Romney attacks on Obama saying Obama is a terrorist sympathizer and the film 'freedom of speech' to has not helped but inflamed the far right hate speech in this Country.
Republicans as a whole yesterday behaved in a reasonable manner but this morning have taken back up the attacks against Obama with this crisis still on-going. Romney's numbers must be in the tank the way Romney and Republicans are acting.
Romney and Priebus are a discredit not only to the campaign but the Republican Party of days gone by. Their rush to get a press release out before the facts IMHO was an extension of Romney being told he was not tough enough by Rush and others led to him running out to show his toughness the night this happened and yesterday morning. It is obvious when Rush says jump, Romney says how high?
This Romney rhetoric was doubled down on yesterday as he plays to the far right once again. Romney is not only losing Independents over his actions but Republicans with common sense are also jumping ship in bigger numbers this week as Romney plays to the far right fringe elements of the Party. Even Fox News is saying Obama is up in the polls.
The numbers of Republicans fed up is not showing in registration changes, but is showing up in polling and in the number of people willing to speak out they, as Republicans, are supporting Obama. The numbers are growing almost daily now as blinders are coming off from a lot of Republicans who realize that we don't want a flawed candidate like Romney in the White House. They also discovering what many of us have learned that we were lied to about Obama starting in 2004 when he ran for the Senate. Should have guessed then as the lies and hate was coming from Alan Keyes who opposed him were over the top. Learned in 2000 not to trust Keyes on anything and should have remembered that. His hate, rhetoric, and lies against Obama in 2004 seemed to have been picked up by people like Rove who have expanded on that narrative over the years and believe the end justifies the means.
After what we are witnessing with Romney and his attacks which have increased in volume but have stayed consistent on not providing facts and lying, there are a few questions that deserve answers which only time will answer:
- When did the Republican Party Leadership as a whole go so far right?
- Was this shift to the far right planned all along starting in 2006?
- Why alienate a group of Republicans who have been out helping campaigns for years to pander to the far right extremes of the Republican Party.
- Is this a hostile takeover of the GOP by the Romney/Koch/Rove driven Tea Party where some racists seem to have found a home? The hate spewed from some members of the Tea Party is so far over the top, it is scary.
- Whose money is behind all this hate? Romney, Koch Brothers, Big Donors to Crossroads, Adelson?
Already puzzle pieces are fitting into place as this election beginning to make sense. More research to be done but it is starting to come together.
Check out the Pink Flamingo blog for more details on this election and what is happening. Some very good research and analysis. As we have talked, we have discovered we are arriving at the same conclusions from different paths. Today's article "What Did Romney Know & When Did He Know It" is asking the tough questions because the timeline and Romney's press release calls into question "What did Romney know?"
Raw Story 
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment