When a U.S. embassy gets stormed by protesters overseas, it's usually a matter of public concern. And it might even occasion debate between presidential candidates.
Unless one of the candidates is President Barack Obama and the other is Mitt Romney. Then, everything changes.
In the immediate aftermath of the deadly attacks on U.S. diplomatic installations in Egypt and Libya, the political debate fastened on the propriety of Romney criticizing the administration for its initial response. You know, the important stuff.
The glowing media reports from earlier this week about how President Obama would use foreign policy as a cudgel against Romney had barely faded when the press pack turned around and declared politics must stop at the water's edge, thank you very much.
The old complaint about Romney was that he didn't talk about foreign policy; the newly minted complaint about Romney was that he did talk about foreign policy.
As demonstrators gathered - supposedly in response to an anti-Islamic film promoted by Pastor Terry Jones - the embassy in Cairo released a statement that was craven and dumb. It rebuked "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims."
The first thing to say about this is that it shamefully aped the reasoning of efforts to restrict free speech in order to protect Muslim sensibilities. The second is that it failed to appease the mob. American-hating thugs usually don't check out the websites of their targets on the off chance that something posted there might dissuade them from trying to burn the place down.
The embassy reaffirmed its statement via Twitter even after protesters had stormed the compound. At one point the embassy had to tweet, pathetically, "Of course we condemn breaches of our compound, we're the ones actually living through this." These people work for the world's lone superpower?
Late that night, Romney condemned the thoroughly condemnable embassy press release. In a rapid confirmation of Romney's wisdom in doing so, the White House threw the embassy's statement under the bus. But reporters and liberal pundits reacted in collective horror at Romney's temerity.
No one should get the vapors over Romney's critique. Matters of war and peace are inherently political. Does anyone remember the Vietnam War? I'm sure Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon would have loved a rule that put debating it off-limits. Instead, anti-war protesters and politicians are still lionized.
In 1980, the foreign-policy debate didn't stop because Americans were held hostage in Tehran. Nor did it stop in 2004 because Americans were fighting in Iraq. One of John Kerry's ads included the graphic: "2 Americans beheaded just this week."
The embassy attacks shine a light on our deteriorating position in the broader Middle East. The signature Obama foreign-policy success has been killing people - Osama bin Laden with a Special Forces raid and a bunch of other al-Qaida terrorists with drones. If that could be the sum total of U.S. foreign policy, we'd be in fine shape. We're not.
Relations with Israel are poisonous. We lost an ally in Egypt, and the revolution there may yet prove Iran 1979 redux. Iraq is sliding into the orbit of Tehran and perhaps back into chaos. Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon. We have made progress in the Afghanistan War but may throw it away with an arbitrary withdrawal, and the Pakistanis hate us more than ever.
This is not the record of a modern-day Metternich. Some of this is the president's fault, some of it is the drift of events. But none of it serves to vindicate Obama's initial theory that as long as we sound soothing enough, pressure Israel to make concessions, and end our wars, the Middle East will enfold us in its warm embrace.
If this isn't the time to talk about this record, when is the right time? For the press, politics doesn't stop at the water's edge. It stops wherever is most convenient for Obama's re-election campaign.
Now that Obama has had the reins for over four years and is running amok destroying our nation, I am still confused why he was voted in for the second time.
President Barack Obama believes in the public sector. He thinks it should be made ever more expansive and entrusted with ever more complicated tasks. Its unions should be powerful. It should be hailed by all the great and good, and attract the nation’s best and brightest.
I am writing this letter to thank and to acknowledge the great and swift job that the Wayne Township Fire Department did, as well as the ambulance, in responding to a medical emergency in our household on May 15.
It is worth mentioning that more Americans were killed by the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11, than were killed by the recent terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
I hate dog movies. In dog movies, the good, loyal, lovable dog always dies at the end and I end up sitting there in the dark with big tears streaming down my cheeks.
I’ve not kept it a secret that I find people who dress their dogs in clothes to be, to put it nicely, somewhat more than just eccentric. And many friendly, helpful readers out there have not kept it a secret that they really wish I would not express my views about dogs dressed as humans.
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
Grilling is a simple way to feed your family well this summer. Start with a lean meat and a healthful marinade and then allow the grill to strip away additional fat for a heart-healthy and waist-friendly final result. Plus, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, which adds flavor without additional calories and fat.
Commentary
Discussion
Romney was right
By Rich Lowry CNHI
When a U.S. embassy gets stormed by protesters overseas, it's usually a matter of public concern. And it might even occasion debate between presidential candidates.
Unless one of the candidates is President Barack Obama and the other is Mitt Romney. Then, everything changes.
In the immediate aftermath of the deadly attacks on U.S. diplomatic installations in Egypt and Libya, the political debate fastened on the propriety of Romney criticizing the administration for its initial response. You know, the important stuff.
The glowing media reports from earlier this week about how President Obama would use foreign policy as a cudgel against Romney had barely faded when the press pack turned around and declared politics must stop at the water's edge, thank you very much.
The old complaint about Romney was that he didn't talk about foreign policy; the newly minted complaint about Romney was that he did talk about foreign policy.
As demonstrators gathered - supposedly in response to an anti-Islamic film promoted by Pastor Terry Jones - the embassy in Cairo released a statement that was craven and dumb. It rebuked "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims."
The first thing to say about this is that it shamefully aped the reasoning of efforts to restrict free speech in order to protect Muslim sensibilities. The second is that it failed to appease the mob. American-hating thugs usually don't check out the websites of their targets on the off chance that something posted there might dissuade them from trying to burn the place down.
The embassy reaffirmed its statement via Twitter even after protesters had stormed the compound. At one point the embassy had to tweet, pathetically, "Of course we condemn breaches of our compound, we're the ones actually living through this." These people work for the world's lone superpower?
Late that night, Romney condemned the thoroughly condemnable embassy press release. In a rapid confirmation of Romney's wisdom in doing so, the White House threw the embassy's statement under the bus. But reporters and liberal pundits reacted in collective horror at Romney's temerity.
No one should get the vapors over Romney's critique. Matters of war and peace are inherently political. Does anyone remember the Vietnam War? I'm sure Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon would have loved a rule that put debating it off-limits. Instead, anti-war protesters and politicians are still lionized.
In 1980, the foreign-policy debate didn't stop because Americans were held hostage in Tehran. Nor did it stop in 2004 because Americans were fighting in Iraq. One of John Kerry's ads included the graphic: "2 Americans beheaded just this week."
The embassy attacks shine a light on our deteriorating position in the broader Middle East. The signature Obama foreign-policy success has been killing people - Osama bin Laden with a Special Forces raid and a bunch of other al-Qaida terrorists with drones. If that could be the sum total of U.S. foreign policy, we'd be in fine shape. We're not.
Relations with Israel are poisonous. We lost an ally in Egypt, and the revolution there may yet prove Iran 1979 redux. Iraq is sliding into the orbit of Tehran and perhaps back into chaos. Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon. We have made progress in the Afghanistan War but may throw it away with an arbitrary withdrawal, and the Pakistanis hate us more than ever.
This is not the record of a modern-day Metternich. Some of this is the president's fault, some of it is the drift of events. But none of it serves to vindicate Obama's initial theory that as long as we sound soothing enough, pressure Israel to make concessions, and end our wars, the Middle East will enfold us in its warm embrace.
If this isn't the time to talk about this record, when is the right time? For the press, politics doesn't stop at the water's edge. It stops wherever is most convenient for Obama's re-election campaign.
(c) 2012 by King Features Syndicate
Every year you hear people saying, “If only it would get cold enough and snow enough in the winter. Then we wouldn’t have so many bugs.”
May 24, 2013
Democrats do not live the way they vote.
Now that Obama has had the reins for over four years and is running amok destroying our nation, I am still confused why he was voted in for the second time.
May 24, 2013
President Barack Obama believes in the public sector. He thinks it should be made ever more expansive and entrusted with ever more complicated tasks. Its unions should be powerful. It should be hailed by all the great and good, and attract the nation’s best and brightest.
May 24, 2013
I am writing this letter to thank and to acknowledge the great and swift job that the Wayne Township Fire Department did, as well as the ambulance, in responding to a medical emergency in our household on May 15.
May 23, 2013
It is worth mentioning that more Americans were killed by the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11, than were killed by the recent terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon.
May 23, 2013
I hate dog movies. In dog movies, the good, loyal, lovable dog always dies at the end and I end up sitting there in the dark with big tears streaming down my cheeks.
May 21, 2013
Mr. President, the buck stops with you.
President Truman set that standard, with these very words posted on a sign on his Oval Office desk.
But now, with over a thousand days left in this second Obama administration, we find a Nixonian stench emerging from the “W. House.”
May 21, 2013
Rarely has the White House briefing room so resembled the main ballroom at a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
May 21, 2013
I’ve not kept it a secret that I find people who dress their dogs in clothes to be, to put it nicely, somewhat more than just eccentric. And many friendly, helpful readers out there have not kept it a secret that they really wish I would not express my views about dogs dressed as humans.
May 17, 2013
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
May 17, 2013
Follow me on Twitter
Will you be attending this year's Indy 500?
Tires
Telecommunications
Beauty Salons
Government
An NPR broadcast examines the question of how communities can better prepare for tornadoes like the one that struck Moore, Okla. on Monday. The broadcast features commentary from Michael Fitzgerald, who reported a five-part disaster series for the CNHI News Service.
May 22, 2013 1 Photo
Complete Report:
Part I: Are We Prepared? | Part II: Disaster Dollars
Part III: Lessons Learned | Part IV: Warning Signs
Part V: The Big One
Grilling is a simple way to feed your family well this summer. Start with a lean meat and a healthful marinade and then allow the grill to strip away additional fat for a heart-healthy and waist-friendly final result. Plus, grilling caramelizes the natural sugars in foods, which adds flavor without additional calories and fat.
May 24, 2013 1 Photo
Restaurants in avon
Tires in avon
Telecommunications in avon
Pizza Restaurants in avon
Beauty Salons in avon
Government in avon
Click for More
Powered by Local.com
Site Map
© 2013 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc. · CNHI Classified Advertising Network · CNHI News Service
Associated Press content © 2013. All rights reserved. AP content may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Our site is powered by Zope. Some parts of our site may require you to download the Flash Player Plugin.
Privacy Policy | AP News Registry privacy policy
Terms and Conditions
Advertiser Index
Hendricks County Flyer, Avon, IN 8109 Kingston St., Suite 500 Avon, IN 46123