Yearly Archives: 2012
Lead From Behind
One thing the president is not taking credit for these days is his “lead from behind policy” in Libya. Here’s a column by the Richard Cohen in the Washington Post on the subject.
Romney’s 47 Percent
Romney says 47% of voters depend on government and should be written off to Obama.
In 2008 Obama said that blue collar voters “cling to their guns and religion”.
Slate’s William Saletan says it’s not the same because in the end “Obama tells his audience not to write off any group”.
Thomas B. Edsall of the NYT missed that memo when he wrote last November that the Obama campaign would abandon the white working class vote:
“For decades, Democrats have suffered continuous and increasingly severe losses among white voters. But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.”
As for Romney, it’s true that almost half the population doesn’t pay federal income tax. But his 47% isn’t a permanent class of government serfs. It includes retired people and people just starting out, or starting over, who may hope one day to join the evil 1% who pay 38% of all federal income taxes.
Mitt should take Obama’s earlier advice.
Hating a Movie
The Obama administration insists the murder of an ambassador and three others amounts to nothing more than a thumbs down review of a bad movie. The administration of Mohammad el-Magarief (Libyan president) says it was a planned terror attack.
9/11 Tribute
Islamists flew their black flag over the American embassy in Egypt, burned the U.S. consulate in Libya, and murdered four of its staff, including ambassador Chris Stevens – because they hate us, though they say it was because the didn’t like a movie. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued an apology for the movie. Romney immediately came swinging from the trees to attack the apology. Obama was shocked, shocked by Romney’s attack. Obama condemned Romney, then condemned the attackers, and retracted the apology for the movie. Hillary condemned the Libya attack too, but then apologized for the movie.
The Real Clear Politics Morning Note compared Obama’s response favorably to Bush’s original 9/11 response:
“The American people need to know that we’re facing a different enemy than we have ever faced,” Bush added. “This enemy hides in shadows, and has no regard for human life. This is an enemy who preys on innocent and unsuspecting people, then runs for cover. But it won’t be able to run for cover forever. This is an enemy that tries to hide. But it won’t be able to hide forever. This is an enemy that thinks its harbors are safe. But they won’t be safe forever.”
On the 11th anniversary of those attacks, the United States was targeted again, this time in Egypt and Libya. Once again, the initial governmental response from the administration was not commensurate with the threat. But today – 11 years to the day that Bush found his voice – President Barack Obama released a forceful statement of his own.
“I strongly condemn the outrageous attack on our diplomatic facility in Benghazi, which took the lives of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens,” the president said this morning. “Right now, the American people have the families of those we lost in our thoughts and prayers. They exemplified America’s commitment to freedom, justice, and partnership with nations and people around the globe, and stand in stark contrast to those who callously took their lives.”
Pre-existing Condition
Romney says he wants to cover pre-existing conditions but he’s having trouble explaining how his plan is the same, but different, from Obama’s.
