The question came towards the end of last night's debate, and Republicans were no doubt thrilled. After an event featuring questions Democrats enjoyed -- equal pay for women, outsourcing, Bush comparisons -- an undecided voter finally brought up an issue the right has been desperate to talk about: the attack in Benghazi that left four Americans dead.
But after weeks of teeing this up as a devastating issue for President Obama, Mitt Romney blew it. It was, as Rachel noted last night, a "political disaster" for the Republican.
As the moment unfolded live, it was obvious Romney thought he'd finally found a brutal new criticism. The Republican began by accusing the president on Sept. 12 of flying "to Las Vegas for a political fundraiser" -- that wasn't true; there was no such fundraiser -- instead of addressing the attack. Obama responded, "The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror."
Romney hadn't done his homework, and didn't realize that the president was telling the truth. He thought he'd tripped Obama up, but even moderator Candy Crowley felt compelled to fact-check Romney in real time: "He did call it an 'act of terror.'"
The president added, "Can you say that a little louder, Candy?" The moment that Romney expected to be triumphant had backfired -- and the crowd of undecided voters ended up applauding Obama.
"[T]he Romney camp laid the trap," Josh Marshall noted. "And tonight Mitt walked right into it."
The New York Times' Andrew Rosenthal compared it to another major foreign-policy debate failure.
When Gerald Ford denied in 1976 that there was any "Soviet domination" of Eastern Europe, he cemented the impression that he was out of touch with pretty much everything. Tonight, Mitt Romney may have had a similar moment, during a back-and-forth about the attack on the Benghazi Consulate. Mr. Romney clearly thought he had a big opening and he moved in for the kill when Mr. Obama said he had called the attack a terrorist act the very next day, in a Rose Garden speech. [...]
Whoever coached Mr. Romney on that question did the candidate no favors.... The exchange left voters in the uncomfortable position of assuming that Mr. Romney either believes his own propaganda or doesn't care whether what he says is true, which fits into the narrative that he's willing to twist the truth for political gain.
One other thought: last night featured plenty of emotional highs and lows, but Romney's criticism of Benghazi on political grounds seemed to offend the president on a personal level. Take a look at Obama's face during his response:
Romney tried to exploit the deaths of Americans for partisan gain the night of Sept. 11, and then he tried to do it again in last night's debate. The president, displaying more passion than we're accustomed to seeing, was determined to make the Republican pay a price for this, and he did. Romney ended up looking small, with even less credibility on foreign policy than he did before.
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Romney's Fantasty World
He's an expert story teller. He will miraculously use his special talents to cut taxes for the middleclass, the job creators, small business and corporations and he will cut regulaions. This will result in 12 million new job, and because conditions are so good businesses will bring their manufacturing back to U.S. Everyone will prosper and live happily ever after.
What he doesn't say is how he will find the money, except to cut Big Bird, Planned parenthood and end Obamacare. He's such a good story teller. He doesn't want to make anyone feel sad, so he doesn't want to make you really feel bad by telling you all the other cuts.
If Romney maintains the level of taxes the top 2% pay and cuts taxes for the middle class, where will the money come from except to borrow more from China increasing the deficit? How do all the far right crazies that got Romney the chance to run for President feel about his about face straight to the center? I'm curious how he thinks he can run this country like a CEO does a company? What does he think about the legislature and the courts?
Context is Everything, when truth is in the shadows.
English is living language and the way we live at the very least needs to be described and evidenced. What the language needs most is to be changed so that the 'ignored context' of an event can have a name, and that the real events that led up to that 'ignored context' can also have a word to define it. Those living have this wonderful way of ignoring the conditions leading up to an event, suppressing knowledge of it, if not forever then at least until the historians can erase its memory. The fact of oil embargo against Japan before WWII is largely ignored, and the fact of 9/11 has been rewritten to exclude the causes that led to it. This convenient or selective memory loss means that the eleventh anniversary of nine eleven has no connection with the great event itself, and cannot be casually connected to provide context to judge fabricated preposterous claims about another important 9/11 event that are used to falsely describe circumstances that are unknown, unknowable and then deliberately made into historic myth. Context really does mean everything to challenge popular history, history that is more often than not written by the survivors for personal benefit.
This will of course confuse some. It is like the looking a beach sand after a wave, it is all you see, in a few moments that wave will be not be memorable. This event will soon become ordinary as the next wave erases history. Suppose that the first wave was rogue, dangerous, or even tidal, and then it becomes the event, the story of the day, the beach is all but gone, the wave is written into history. Occasionally the disaster wave, goes away, but leaves dramatic vista, giant ship far in land.
The Romney Campaign got information from somewhere of some events in the Middle East, after having an unusual meeting with Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. What does a potential president have to arrange with the head of foreign government? It is a stretch to forget the doctorate worth of Israel history and not to see the involvement of the United States. Perhaps I should say 'entanglement', but compress into a small place the whole of that political, military blow by blow façade down to mere token of alleged cause and effect. Thus reduced to Machiavellian machinations, we can subtract it from the vista, looking at the beach exposed with waves forgotten. There are two shiny objects revealed the golden coin of the world's financial system and the prime motive putting that financial system in high gear, the pot of gold, and the black gold energizing the world.
The amoral financial system, does not care a whit about countries, governments, strife, human issuers, achievement, shortages all the amoral financial system can do is find gold coins on the beach that brought the profit is but history. Once oil was discovered in 1850's gold was destined to be mere decoration. Oil is king, and oil is the 'context' that we have to judge everything else, to understand finance, to understand, industry, and military power.
The entire world is for Oil, 'All the World for Oil, and Nothing Else' but only distracting advertising amusements for the hapless public.
It is hardly more than simple to see that Romney has sought financial gain, and power and understands the oil game. It is hardly a challenge to see that he would enable anyone or anything himself or through minions to gain that power. There is no barrier between him and his goals except his total inability to see a need for humility. Vacuous planning for nothing more than distractions so that we may avoid the real problems of the world.
The infamous date of 9/11/2001 is but 11 more years that 9/11/2012, so it impossible to see those numbers and not be reminded of their context.
So what is the context of 9/11? What word or phrase is associated with that date, what was the event, who did it, why and details aside?
The context is terrorist, any reference; mention of 9/11 cannot but remind us all of that event. Terrorist is the first thought or any violence on that date?
Romney and his supporters are such callow fellows to see 9/11/2012 not as date to be remembered, hardly, but as a date to solicit more terror and panic. For politicians, it is in every plan to conjure a fresh event, to arrange some event on that anniversary for their own gain, to plan for it.
It so obvious as to be missed, then, now, knowing the '9/11 Context' is reasonable to parse every word of the President and understand that the mentioned Terrorism is in fact Terrorism. Terrorism as defined by context but not by English Majors.
Rachel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is wrong with some of the women in this country? Are they buying the "I'll fix the economy" smoke and mirrors gag?
How can they think he can fix the economy when he left Massachussets millions in debt, and had one of the worst jobs records in the country?
Is it a sign of the times that everything seems to be instant these days and we are used to getting everything RIGHT NOW? We have instant access to information, technology brings everything to us with lightening speed, do we insist on getting everything instantly?
You can't fix the deep, deep mess that Bush got us into in an instant. Now we are at a point where everything is improving, but not at lightening speed as everyone seems to expect, Unemployment, down. Home prices up. Stock market up. Bin Laden is dead. Auto industry saved. Growing economy.
Do they see Wrongney as the jobs guy? Really? Do they even know about Massachusetts? Do they know he is making millions as we speak from Bain and Bain shipped all the jobs from that already profitable company to CHINA? AND, the poor american workers were forced to train in the Chinese people to take their jobs?
What is going on? How can he get away with this crap? Where am I?
Maybe some women really are in binders or blinders when it comes to Romney?
They gotta be blonds, they just gotta be!
Romney to the Latino community Vote for me I'll give you a Green Card Bumper Sticker.or a refrigerator magnet.it dawned on me that Mitt is always bringing up that he saved the Olympics,do you think that's cause Obama made a bid on the Olympics to be here in U.S and we didn't win so that is because our allies don't trust Obama?.Just saying. just sounds like another theory the Romney KLAN may want people to be suspicious of Obama of being a radical Muslim leader.
just wanted to add to my comment above that in the secret video Romney had said if he was Iran he would have Hezbollah member to plant a dirty bomb somewhere in Chicago and threaten to set it off every time we sanctioned them for going forward with they're Nuke plan.put this with my comment above and take a moment and think about it.
How awesome that instant replay, in audio form, makes it into the debate via Candy Crowley :
Gov. Romney accuses President Obama for "dropping the ball" the day after the attack in Lybia by being in Las Vegas for a fundraiser.
President Obama responds, "The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror."
Gov. Romney repeats his "penalty flag" that it took 14 days to respond about the attack. "I just want to set the record straight"
In a nano second, a silent whistle blows, a red flag is thrown into the air calling for a "challenge to the ruling(statement)" and in steps referee Candy Crowley with her confirmation to the fact :
The ruling (statement) on the field stands ... President Obama "did" comment the very next day, in the Rose Garden, that this was an act of terror !!!
Gotta love instant replay, also known as "fact-checking ... on the spot" !!!
8^)
I'm always angered by a party that uses lies as a weapon.Has America forgotten weapons of mass destruction.Compared to the information about Benghazi, WMD is a universe larger.A war was started and 10's of thousands died.The GOP has lost their sense of honor.They have chosen party over country.This President is trying to move us from the Flintstones to the Jetsons without help.Maybe this next election will end the insanity of the GOP, but I doubt it.They seem to be on a suicide mission and common sense will not stop them.
This President is trying, without help to move from the Flintstones to the Jetsons.The GOP has decided to choose party over country and in doing have given away any honor they may have had.A case in point, compared to WMD'S Benghzi is nothing.A war was started by the WMD lie.Tens of thousands died.So in the first few days the information about Benghazi was incomplete.Once the information was correct it was given to the American people.I'm still waiting for the truth about WMD'S from the GOP,I won't hold my breath.
While I think Obama won the debate tonight there was to me one glaring misstep.
Romney was asked "What specific tax loopholes he would close" to make his numbers work.
This question is at the core of the attack on Romneys Plan - It's why his numbers can't add up
He didn't answer - again
Obamas canned response - if it were to come up should have been
"Look - for whatever reason Mr Romney has not seen fit to share his tax returns with us"
"Fair enough - but he should at least be able to tell us What OUR taxes are going to be"
"He must have computed SOMETHING cuz he says the numbers work out"
"Now Lucinda" (I think that whas her name) I think it's fair to say you still don't know how ithe Romney Plan is gonna affect you right?"
Camera pans to Lucinda and she nods
"And the rest of you here - you still don't know either do you?"
That would have tied it to all of us.
Obama continues -
"Now we know he's been asked - by the press and by you directly - so why is it that we can't get an answer??"
"He's got Mr Ryan on the ticket - He's Mr Numbers" So what gives??"
"I postulate that there is no serious answer coming from Mr Romney - because it doesn't add up and it's just being put out there to con as many people as he can"
I'm baffled that NOONE anywhere has seen this - It was a softball that neither Obama directly nor the punditocracy saw at all.
This was the high point of debate for me when Obama looked Romney in the eye and told him that “The suggestion that anybody in my team, whether the secretary of state, our U.N. ambassador, anybody on my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive.”Thats not what we do, thats not what I do as president thats not what I do as commander and chief." This wasn't rehearsed, there was passion in his eyes how he felt about the death of those men. I also think he was more hurt than angry at the fact that his opponent seek to gain political points from the lost of life rather than they coming together. Well it back fired. I don't know if the media was surprised when Obama said that Hillary Worked for him so he take fully responsibility for the Libya issues. (not quoting). That was also another high point for me.
Actually, in his speech on September 12 in the Rose Garden, President Obama did not fully characterize the attack on the consulate in Benghazi as a terrorist attack. Curiously though, Rachel and her team reported that night (9/12) that the attack may have been a deliberate assault by al-Qaeda or al Qaeda affiliates in Libya, based on eyewitness accounts they had received -- yet it took another two weeks for the White House and State Department to issue the same statement. Overly cautious to confirm the facts or incompetent? (And, no one thought to return to the consulate and retrieve the reams of documents -- some no doubt classified -- that were left behind in the confusion of that night to be picked over by the attackers. Tsk, tsk, foreign service!)
I don't understand the obsession with whether it was or wasn't immediately characterized as a terrorist attack. This is similar to the "why won't Obama show us his college records" meme -- it's relevant to absolutely nothing, but for the record, the President on 9/12, said, "
Mitt Romney stood on the stage on Tuesday night and challenged Pres. Obama as to whether he had actually used the words, "act of terror" during his Rose Garden speech. The President did. Mitt Romney got it badly wrong. There's no parsing his way out of that epic blunder.
One funny thing is that a lie can start at Fox or Rush. After weeks of this lie being bounced around on the air ways, at some point they think it is the truth. The shock on Mitt's face was worth the price of admission.
And this is exactly one of the many reasons why I will NOT vote for Romney - who will do or say anything to be elected. The man is not worthy of the trust of the American people or to be in the presidential office.
Just saw a Fox News article claiming Obama didn't actually call it an act of terror since his actual words were "no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation".
... seriously? Even from a bunch of weasels playing at journalism, I'd expect better.
Not that I'd ever call Fox News a bunch of weasels playing at journalism, of course. (See?)
Calling them "a bunch of weasels playing at journalism" is too charitable! :-)
They also have the nerve to say that Crowley was not being fair when she did her real time fact check.
http://www.examiner.com/article/judging-by-the-whining-at-fox-news-president-obama-won-the-debate-going-away
Ha ha! The Ed show is showing all the clips of the wailing and whining.
TRMS needs to re-post its coverage of the Rose Garden speech from September 12. Most of the media did not report accurately on the immediate aftermath of the Libya attack. TRMS did its job. Rachel Maddow reported on the speech accurately, and emphasized that the Libya attacks were immediately being described as acts of terror, in stark contrast to the descriptions of the Egypt protests. Your viewers were accurately informed, but most people who got their news from other sources were not. Other journalists were too concerned with the more sensational angles surrounding Youtube and Mitt Romney's press conference to stop and report accurately on what Obama and Clinton were actually saying.
Why is this important to get the footage? Because there was no partisan motivation at that time. There could not have been any motivation. There would be no way to know that the Right wing would seize upon a '14 days' talking point and later bet their campaign on it.
TRMS viewers knew that this was a terrorist attack on Sept. 12, because this show accurately reported on it. There is a lesson here.
I'm one of those 47% lazy victims. 74 and basically live off my Social Security and a small IRA. Started babysitting at 14, went straight to work after high school , and worked 2 to 3 jobs along with my husband until I retired at 62. I know there are so many more in the same position. I earned my Social Security and Medicare so don't give me that crap about being lazy and a victim. The only victims Romney knows are the ones that lost their jobs and homes because of his greed.
Donni Gillies- I so agree that it was a fantastic debate, and the way they were walking around each other, like prize fighters! That one statement- so cool, given with such a lawyer who is getting ready to kill you look: Obama's " Please proceed, Gov." He said it with such a subtle, velvety voice- very sexy. That one statement actually rattled Mitt. He began to stutter, and stumbled over his words, and then thought he was going to get the kill, even going TOWARDS Candy while he was talking! To be fact checked, on live t.v., in front of a live audience, in front of millions of people looking in, is a true moment and will forever become an iconic one- I think moderators will no longer hold back when they KNOW they are hearing a lie- fact checking will become the norm for all debates hereafter. But that was sweet, wasn't it? I think to get under Willard's skin and make him boiling mad, you only have to say two words- FACT CHECK!
How can this race even be close? Are republicans just brain dead? Do they not care about the truth or reality or their history of failure? Have they just totally given in to the Money party, the 1% and become willing to let the Billionaires own the government?
Is the electorate so easily made fools of by misinformation and blame that they are unwilling to even check for the truth? Romney/Lyin Ryan with fingers close to the button and running the economy??? Manifest insanity.
The race is this close not because of the many issues facing america. The race for some is about how the president looks. When you have people saying take back america, and numbers have been messed with and this administration is covering this up and that up. Tells me it has everything to do with how the president looks. Once again the culprits get away free, first Bush now Republicans in congress. They had rather watch this nation sink to the depths of hell before helping this president get the country, their country back on the right track.
I feel that reporting now isn't quite as factual as it used to be, because stories used to need sources and checks and rechecks before it went out,but now anyone with a connection can give you a story and who knows if it's the exact truth at the moment. I used to live in Ma. there is a reason he is not getting that state support. If anyone is interested in how he manages his own money, there is a great article explaining his financial distributions in the latest Rolling Stone.That's not the guy I want in charge.After reading that I can see why he doesn't want his taxes out, wow !!!
Exactly, where are the journalist? Where are the blood hounds? They spend 2 to 3 mins coming on various shows to do talking points, and very few hold them to the fire!!!
I read a letter to the editor recently. The letter writer complained about the calibre of journalism today, and wrote that most current journalists had been reduced to "he said/she said stenographers."
By jo, Joe Wilson was right! He does lie! Wow. Right there on national television. He has a hard time saying the T work though cause he has muslim leanings.
Neo-Confederate alert!
Wonder why Candy could fact check on the spot!?
Because she's not a moron.
tajen
Ye Jacobites by name lend an ear, lend an ear
Ye Jacobites by name lend and ear
Ye Jacobites by name
Your fuates I will proclaim
Your doctrines I maun blame-You shall hear You shall hear
Your doctirnes I maun balme you shall hear
You've been Burns-ed!
Mitt Romney found himself in a room with the Commander in Chief, and came off by comparison looking like a guy who had lost a contact lens while trying to navigate an alligator pit in the midst of a negotiation over the exact value of his own testicles.
Romney admitted that he is a cutter and is willing to commit political suicide with hopes that the base will still support him based on his choice of Ryan as his VEEP.
I think the closest parallel to what happened to Romney on the Benghazi matter is not Ford, who simply said something dumb, but Christine O'Donnell in 2010. In a debate in front of an audience of law students, she attempted to spring a trap regarding the separation of church and state, and she challenged Chris Coons to specify where in the Constitution the idea of that could be found. When he answered that it was in the establishment clause of the First Amendment, she thought the trap worked. The audience of law students laughed at the exchange, and O'Donnell directed a triumphant smile at them, failing to realize that they were laughing at her, not with her. Later on, she revealed that she and her campaign team high-fived each other after the debate, still failing to understand how badly she had damaged herself. Romney screwed himself in a similarly spectacular way by wildly overestimating how clever he is.
Sorry, I don't think Rmoney lost at that point. He had a vintage bottle of whoopass being served to him through the entire debate. He looked singularly unqualified to be president, just like dubya.