Posted on 04/30/2012 2:13:42 PM PDT by Kaslin
The Obama brain trust evidently believes it's got a winning message here, so brace yourselves for six more months of smug, smirking implications that Mitt Romney would have nixed last May's military and intelligence triumph:
Obama: "Hardly Think You Have Seen Any Excessive Celebration Taking Place"
"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," Obama said, obviously taking a shot at Romney. "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."
Our president looks mighty pleased with himself here, doesn't he? Perhaps Romney can "go ahead and explain" the alleged contradiction by citing his own stance on this, which in no way suggests that he would have taken a pass on the Abbottabad operation. As we wrote last week, the full context of Romney's remarks painted a remarkably different picture than the misleading snippet employed in the nasty and small ad put out by the Obama campaign. Beyond that compelling contextual evidence, here's Romney addressing this very Bin-Laden-in-Pakistan hypothetical back in 2007 (skip ahead to 5:25):
2007 Iowa ABC Republican Debate (Part 6)
It’s wrong for a person running for president of the United States to get on TV and say we’re going to go into your country unilaterally. Of course America always maintains our option to do whatever we think is in the best interest of America. But we don’t go out and say “ladies and gentleman of Germany, if ever there was a problem in your country [and] we didn’t think you were doing the right thing, we reserve the right to come in and get them out.” We don’t say those things, we keep our options quiet.
Translation: Obviously the United States of America can and will act in our national security interests, but we shouldn't needlessly inflame partner nations by loudly announcing what we might do in response to a set of possible future circumstances. He was essentially paraphrasing Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" maxim that Joe Biden, um, awkwardly invoked last week. As Hot Air's Morgen Richmond notes, it may be a bit to painful to listen to Romney discuss Pakistan as a friendly ally in light of their scandalous harboring of bin Laden...but that is the delicate geopolitical tightrope American leadership has been walking for years. Click through to read contemporary quotes from Biden and Hillary Clinton eludicating this point. The Obama campaign is well within its rights to emphasize an undeniable highlight of this president's otherwise gloomy three-and-a-half year term in office. Wednesday's anniversary of the mission provides an obvious opening to do so. Fine. Hell, they could even try to argue that candidate Obama was uniquely prescient and clear-eyed about Pakistan's role in the world during the '08 campaign. But they shed any veneer of decency and good will when they explicitly speculate that Mitt Romney would have quashed the plan that Obama approved. There is no basis for that claim; it's appalling -- especially from a crew that furiously condemned bin Laden-related point scoring when they were the perceived target. Parting thought: Guess who said this?
“I think it’s one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job (with television specials). All that is perfectly legitimate. But to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do.”
Surprise!
This will backfire on Obama.
I can’t imagine who’s telling Obama this is a winning argument. Bearing in mind the limits of what we can say about Romney here, I don’t think the majority of voters believe he’s a wuss who would not support the recommendations of his military advisers. The one thing most businessmen have is an aggressive competitiveness; it’s Obama who is the little boy in the room full of men.
I’m surprised that Obama would start his ad campaign with his ONLY achievement (not that it is actually his). I would have thought he would start with some smaller issues just to size Romney up and learn how he operates...and save his ammo.
I wish the ground would open up under Obama’s feet and he would immediately be cast into Hell. He is simply evil.
Self-serving BULLSHIT from the "Unmitagated Disaster".
...and "I Don't Eat Dog!!"
You said it.
He really reminds me of a spoiled little kid who insist that he gets what he wants, or else
Nobody ever accused them of being smart.
As far as I can recall the only person who had the chance to kill OBL and did not take it was Bill Clinton.
I believe so too
The pathetic wimp is running the risk that the truth about the decision making behind the take down of OBL doesn’t leak out prior to the election. Sometimes when you spike the football it takes an unfortunate bounce and hits you in the balls. Of course, in the case of Obama, his vulnerable area is minuscule.
...”or else”...would be fine with me.
He knows he can not run on the economy and on the high unemployment, so he is counting on the ignorance of the people and thinks that because he got Osama he will get reelected
How about the possibility that that is exactly what he is?>
Elite Punahou school, globetrotting Commie Mommy, fawning "uncle Frank", Occidental Collge, elite Columbia connection on a full ticket, Harvard Law (and no hard work, evidently) -- yeah, he's been a hothouse baby his entire life.
Romney and his surrogates should start telling believable distortions about Obama. Start with Obama being a Muslim and an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood. Obama in fact has been very accommodating to the MB. Start with this base for innuendo and distorting Obama’s record.
Two can play the game of lies and distortion
The Chicago Punk didn’t kill bin Laden, the US Navy Seals did. However it’s infuriating to see this punk-ass little weasel putting himself all over this as if he alone led the charge. The credit for this goes to the dedication and perseverance of George Bush and Dick Cheney who in spite of great opposition from Obama and other Democrats put in place the programs to keep the hunt for bin Laden active. More over the credit for this goes to the often dangerous and always thank-less job of the intelligence community who gathered the intell to make this raid possible. In the final analysis though it is all the members of our military in all the branches who took part in the raid who deserve credit although they do their job with quiet pride and great humility. And lastly the credit for this and all the victories in the war against Islamist terror, as well as our graditude and our prayers goes to those men and women engaged in the fight at this very hour, defending our freedoms and keeping our enemies awake at night. God Bless them all.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.