It may not be a surprise to some of you, but it was to me, how small-minded Mitt Romney is. For him to suggest that President Obama bought re-election by providing “gifts” to certain portions of the electorate is more than just poor sportsmanship. It’s offensive on multiple levels, and it’s exactly the message the GOP doesn’t want to be putting out right now. It’s no secret that the Obama campaign targeted women, minorities and young people to bring them to the polls. But it’s also no secret that Romney simply didn’t have the ground game to win. And Mr. Romney himself is apparently unable to grasp the fact that minority votes may very well have been bought with ideas, not gifts. Slip of the tongue? Poor choice of words? I think not.
There are small minds, but then there may be deceptive ones. I think most of us still haven’t sorted out this Benghazi business. Now we’re hearing sources say that General Petraeus, as head of the CIA, knew instantly that the U.S. ambassador was killed in a pre-planned al-Qaeda attack on Sept. 11, not by some angry mob. Whom did Petraeus tell? If U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was given bad information about the Benghazi incident before she talked about it publicly, who gave her that information, and why? Who benefited – and what exactly was the benefit? Nothing seems to compute, so far.
If lipstick’s being put on a pig here, who’s the makeup artist? Perhaps the congressional hearings on all this will clear things up. It’s impossible to come to a conclusion about it, based on what’s out there right now, but there are two choices, neither of them good. Either this thing was handled incompetently -- or flat-out deceptively. Guess we just have to stay tuned.
Showing posts with label Benghazi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benghazi. Show all posts
Friday, November 16, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Casting Call
Some of my Facebook friends and I are currently engaged in a game to see who can successfully cast the inevitable movie about this Petraeus/Broadwell/Kelly/Allen thing. So far, I’ve seen votes for William H. Macy to play Gen. Petraeus and Drew Barrymore for Ms. Broadwell. I might prefer Julianne Moore for Broadwell; having trouble with the Petraeus character.
To us, of course, it’s just a game, but I don’t think there are enough buckets in Hollywood right now to catch all the saliva this drama is generating. Is it a soap opera or a spy thriller? “Homeland,” “The West Wing,” or “Revenge”? Oliver Stone must have his running shoes on for this one already. The story has just about everything you could want for a film treatment.
But I still have doubts whether, at bottom, it isn’t just a four-star soap opera. I really hope that’s all it is. I’m not looking forward to those congressional let’s-get-to-the-bottom-of-this hearings, at which all the sordid details of this incident, if that’s what we can call it, are dredged up.
As I said in earlier posts, I think the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi attack in which our ambassador to Libya and others were killed would get a flunking grade in Crisis Communications 101. The election is now over, and so should be the game of political football. That said, the administration still owes the country, and the victims’ families, a full explanation of what happened in Benghazi. I’d rather see the administration lay it out than Congress drag it out, along with the other juicy stuff, titillating as that may be.
Does anyone really believe national security was in jeopardy because of Petraeus and Broadwell? National security really is at stake as we inch closer to the Fiscal Cliff. Fixing that would be a much better use of time in Washington.
To us, of course, it’s just a game, but I don’t think there are enough buckets in Hollywood right now to catch all the saliva this drama is generating. Is it a soap opera or a spy thriller? “Homeland,” “The West Wing,” or “Revenge”? Oliver Stone must have his running shoes on for this one already. The story has just about everything you could want for a film treatment.
But I still have doubts whether, at bottom, it isn’t just a four-star soap opera. I really hope that’s all it is. I’m not looking forward to those congressional let’s-get-to-the-bottom-of-this hearings, at which all the sordid details of this incident, if that’s what we can call it, are dredged up.
As I said in earlier posts, I think the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi attack in which our ambassador to Libya and others were killed would get a flunking grade in Crisis Communications 101. The election is now over, and so should be the game of political football. That said, the administration still owes the country, and the victims’ families, a full explanation of what happened in Benghazi. I’d rather see the administration lay it out than Congress drag it out, along with the other juicy stuff, titillating as that may be.
Does anyone really believe national security was in jeopardy because of Petraeus and Broadwell? National security really is at stake as we inch closer to the Fiscal Cliff. Fixing that would be a much better use of time in Washington.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
A Republican President
I am loath to make predictions, but I think there’s a better-than-even chance we’re going to have a Republican president.
A lot of it has to do with timing. The Obama forces made plenty of hay with Romney’s “47 percent” remark. But remember – that statement was made to a closed group of supporters last May, and only surfaced fairly recently. Many pundits called it a fatal error. It may have hurt, but it wasn’t fatal. That was then, and this is now, and Americans live in Short Attention-Span Theater, to borrow a title from Comedy Central.
Mr. Obama has had some significant victories: killing Osama Bin Laden, bailing out the auto industry – even getting his healthcare plan passed. The first two are clear victories, the last win is a matter of debate – but again, those were then.
Now, we have his perceived loss in the last debate, coupled with the strange scenario over what happened in Benghazi, Libya, when Ambassador Chris Stevens and several others were killed. I still don’t get this one. First, there was an angry mob, then there was no angry mob, now it’s a terrorist attack, and Stevens was insufficiently protected, even though he or someone in his camp requested more help. It’s a total mystery to me why the administration can’t get a better handle on how to manage the public relations of this thing. The mother of one of the victims says she has been assured by Messrs. Obama and Biden personally that she will get answers – and she’s had none. And the Republicans are successfully beating up the administration with it.
Mr. Romney will say almost anything to get elected, true – but he says it with absolute confidence, whether it’s right or wrong. I used to work in radio, and we had a rule for reading copy. If you encountered something you didn’t know how to pronounce, like the name of some foreign dignitary, you had to pick a pronunciation and deliver it with confidence. Even if you were wrong, only half the audience – actually, much less – would know you were an idiot. If you stumbled, everyone would know it.
Vice President Joe Biden’s “these kids today don’t know anything” pose may have worked for him in his debate with Paul Ryan, but it wasn’t the clear victory that Romney scored over the President. Now we have another debate coming between the top two. Will Obama overcompensate by being too aggressive an attack dog? If he’s perceived as “losing” this next one, in my view, he’s done. There are too many people taking advantage of absentee ballots and early voting. They’re not going to wait around for the third debate.
The first bit of good news in all this is that, in my view at least, this country will probably be no worse off if either man wins next month. If President Obama is re-elected, the issue of Republicans in Congress stopping at nothing to defeat him will go away. He won’t be able to run for another term, and the Republicans will figure out they have to work with him, or lose their own seats if gridlock continues. If Romney wins – and this again is my personal view – whatever you think about Mormons, they are terrific managers. Every Mormon I know who runs a business – without exception -- does it successfully. And a little management from the top – with an eye on perceptions – wouldn’t be such a bad thing right now.
The second bit of good news, for those of you who have read this far and don’t like it, is that my predictions are usually wrong.
A lot of it has to do with timing. The Obama forces made plenty of hay with Romney’s “47 percent” remark. But remember – that statement was made to a closed group of supporters last May, and only surfaced fairly recently. Many pundits called it a fatal error. It may have hurt, but it wasn’t fatal. That was then, and this is now, and Americans live in Short Attention-Span Theater, to borrow a title from Comedy Central.
Mr. Obama has had some significant victories: killing Osama Bin Laden, bailing out the auto industry – even getting his healthcare plan passed. The first two are clear victories, the last win is a matter of debate – but again, those were then.
Now, we have his perceived loss in the last debate, coupled with the strange scenario over what happened in Benghazi, Libya, when Ambassador Chris Stevens and several others were killed. I still don’t get this one. First, there was an angry mob, then there was no angry mob, now it’s a terrorist attack, and Stevens was insufficiently protected, even though he or someone in his camp requested more help. It’s a total mystery to me why the administration can’t get a better handle on how to manage the public relations of this thing. The mother of one of the victims says she has been assured by Messrs. Obama and Biden personally that she will get answers – and she’s had none. And the Republicans are successfully beating up the administration with it.
Mr. Romney will say almost anything to get elected, true – but he says it with absolute confidence, whether it’s right or wrong. I used to work in radio, and we had a rule for reading copy. If you encountered something you didn’t know how to pronounce, like the name of some foreign dignitary, you had to pick a pronunciation and deliver it with confidence. Even if you were wrong, only half the audience – actually, much less – would know you were an idiot. If you stumbled, everyone would know it.
Vice President Joe Biden’s “these kids today don’t know anything” pose may have worked for him in his debate with Paul Ryan, but it wasn’t the clear victory that Romney scored over the President. Now we have another debate coming between the top two. Will Obama overcompensate by being too aggressive an attack dog? If he’s perceived as “losing” this next one, in my view, he’s done. There are too many people taking advantage of absentee ballots and early voting. They’re not going to wait around for the third debate.
The first bit of good news in all this is that, in my view at least, this country will probably be no worse off if either man wins next month. If President Obama is re-elected, the issue of Republicans in Congress stopping at nothing to defeat him will go away. He won’t be able to run for another term, and the Republicans will figure out they have to work with him, or lose their own seats if gridlock continues. If Romney wins – and this again is my personal view – whatever you think about Mormons, they are terrific managers. Every Mormon I know who runs a business – without exception -- does it successfully. And a little management from the top – with an eye on perceptions – wouldn’t be such a bad thing right now.
The second bit of good news, for those of you who have read this far and don’t like it, is that my predictions are usually wrong.
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