It was the wrong and cowardly thing to do. It was extreme. When all is said and done, it will not contribute to the accomplishment any possible goal held by the perpetrators of the murders. But the situation is much more complicated than that (much, much more complicated) and requires more than a simple ‘John Wayne’ response from a reputedly ‘responsible’ and ‘respectable’ public figure for such a response accomplishes no more toward a resolution than the initial, violent action.
Let’s start at the beginning. A film. A piece of ‘entertainment’ or ‘diversion’, if you will. Whether or not in the guise of educational or informational material, merely a film. Offensive to someone? Hell yes!. An excuse that someone with an agenda may use to further their cause, however justified or unjustified it may be. (More on that later.)
So a film was made and exhibited via the Internet. The origin of the film is extremely hazy and involves individuals from many and disparate origins including a former Marine and longtime religious-right activist (from a group called Courageous Christians United), a Coptic Christian, 15 key players from the Middle East) Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran), an alleged Israeli-born, 56-year-old, Jewish writer and director and who knows how much of this information is accurate. In any case, all or many involved are now quite frightened of the backlash their venture has unleashed.
First and foremost, in reasonable, rational and educated 2012, a film is a film. A document conceived, written, performed, directed, filmed, manufactured and distributed by human beings. Mere human beings. Nothing more, nothing less. Irrespective you spiritual, religious or cultural beliefs, in reasonable, rational and educated 2012, a film is still a film. Nothing more. Any ‘holy’ book that instructs one to kill another over a matter such as this is surely misguided at best. In fact, most ‘holy’ books, to the best of my knowledge, instruct their readers to be merciful; to forgive. In short, be virtuous; the better man and set the example as opposed to reactionary, vengeful, vindictive and violent.
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. . . of gray? Not in Mitt Romney's (and his current defenders') world. . .
After seeing the photo of Libyans holding a sign stating that "Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans", I decided to change tack a bit.
If you want to have a tough-talking, take-no prisoners, shoot-from-the-hip, show-no-mercy-type of president, vote for Mitt Romney.
If you prefer a rational, sympathetic, empathetic, thorough, fact-loving, humanitarian, logical, intelligent and reasonable president, DON'T.
====================================================================
(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/mitt-romney-consulate-attack_n_1875906.html)
The Romney campaign's statement seemed to be an attempt to capitalize
on the appearance that the Obama administration -- which has overseen
the Arab Spring, and the rise of Islamist governments in both Egypt and
Libya -- was capitulating to the sensitivities of an unruly Muslim
crowd, rather than backing the right of an American citizen to release a
disrespectful film.
But
the statement criticized by the Romney campaign came early in the day,
before the attacks on the two embassies, and was put out not by the
White House, but by the Cairo embassy itself.
The White House later disavowed the statement as not approved by Washington, according to a senior administration official speaking to Politico.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt also commented on the statement
from the Romney campaign. “We are shocked that, at a time when the
United States of America is confronting the tragic death of one of our
diplomatic officers in Libya, Governor Romney would choose to launch a
political attack,” LaBolt said in a statement.
(from http://www.mediaite.com/uncategorized/cnn-sort-of-calls-out-mitt-romney-and-newt-gingrich-for-lying-and-politicizing-libya-tragedy/)
CNN’s Brooke Baldwin and John Berman did an excellent job of keeping
the facts straight as they interviewed former Speaker Gingrich on the
subject, no mean feat given Gingrich’s comical contempt for facts. Early
in the interview, Gingrich opined that the protests in Libya and Egypt
were the result of “collusion and a fair amount of planning,” which may
or may not turn out to be true, but which there is no evidence of. When
Berman asked the Speaker “Do you have any proof that there is a
connection right now?” Gingrich prefaced his response with a long,
derisive laugh that tells you everything you need to know about the
former Speaker and Romney surrogate’s regard for facts.
“Look, I don’t have access to the NSA listening devices,” Gingrich responded.
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(from factcheck.org)
". . . Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention contained
several false claims and misleading statements. Delegates cheered as
the vice presidential nominee:
Accused President Obama’s health care law of funneling money away
from Medicare “at the expense of the elderly.” In fact, Medicare’s chief
actuary says the law “substantially improves” the system’s finances,
and Ryan himself has embraced the same savings.
Accused Obama of doing “exactly nothing” about recommendations of a
bipartisan deficit commission — which Ryan himself helped scuttle.
Claimed the American people were “cut out” of stimulus spending.
Actually, more than a quarter of all stimulus dollars went for tax
relief for workers.
Faulted Obama for failing to deliver a 2008 campaign promise to keep
a Wisconsin plant open. It closed less than a month before Obama took
office.
Blamed Obama for the loss of a AAA credit rating for the U.S.
Actually, Standard & Poor’s blamed the downgrade on the
uncompromising stands of both Republicans and Democrats. . . "
Of course the other side takes advantage of the 'spin' quite frequently as well. When will it end?
Why is it that, in the interest of one's self, it is so easy to be impatient, rude and inconsiderate towards one(s) that you love the most? It's just not right. I hope I can stop myself from being that way the NEXT time it occurs.
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I know a man who tries too hard
'Cause he wants to be liked
Both near and far
But it's not all that simple
A story to tell
And I'm sure it all started
Way back when
He was only a child
The whole world laying ahead of him
He couldn't get what he craved
No matter how much he tried
An uphill battle awaited
Then something clicked inside
Maybe he's okay
Not quite as bad as he seems
Am I expecting too much
It's not intentionally
Maybe it isn't polite
Looking so critically
Maybe I do it because
He's just not like me
I know a man who talks so much
He's got nothing to say
But it's never enough
And it's like second nature
He's as social can be
But the topic is always 'about me'
From his self-centered view
His egoist perspective
Subject of interest he's found
His world revolving around him
The real one beyond his touch
With real people there too
Please won't you understand I don't want every man
Doing just what I would do or moving the way that I move
or the the way that I sit or stand
Maybe he's okay
Not quite as bad as he seems
Am I expecting too much
It's not intentionally
Maybe it isn't polite
Looking so critically
Maybe I do it because
He's just not like me
(from "Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin D.G. Kelley)
". . . Valerie W. [Journalist Valerie Wilmer]: Do you believe in God?
Monk: I don't know nothing. Do You?
Valerie W.: No. I do not.
Monk: It's a deep subject, you know, trying to think about it. I kinda go along with you. . . "
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(from http://economywatch.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/07/13728411-weak-jobs-growth-beyond-governments-control?lite By John W. Schoen, NBC News)
". . . No matter who ends up occupying the White House in January, many of the forces that have kept unemployment high and jobs growth slow will be beyond his control.
With employment growth stuck at a slower pace than in any recovery in the past half-century, the presidential campaign now turns on which candidate -- President Barack Obama or former Gov. Mitt Romney -- has the better plan to boost employment. The latest jobs data will do little to change the debate.
The economy added just 96,000 new jobs in August, well below the roughly 130,000 economists had been expecting. Gains in the prior two months were revised down by a combined 41,000. Manufacturers cut 15,000 jobs last month, while another 7,000 government jobs were lost. Temporary employment fell by almost 5,000 workers.
Other recent reports had painted a somewhat brighter picture. Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, and a private survey by payroll processor ADP found that companies created some 200,000 new jobs in August. Another private report showed that service sector companies, such as hotels, retailers, and financial services firms, expanded at a faster rate last month. . .
. . . That uncertainty – and reluctance to hire – will be stoked by a series of other forces holding back the four-year-old recovery:
While subpar economic growth feels like a recession to many Americans, Europeans are coping with the real thing. The economic contraction that began in troubled economies of Greece and Spain is now spreading to Germany, the flywheel of Europe’s economy, the largest in the world. China, along with the developing economies that feed its massive manufacturing machine, is in an economic slowdown that Beijing has so far been unable to reverse.
The budget impasse in the U.S. is due largely to huge, and rising, cost of providing health care and retirement income to an aging population. The dearth of private retirement savings will bring a slowdown in consumer spending as baby boomers continue to tighten their belts. Those trends are irreversible.
With wage growth stagnant, growth in spending remains weak for consumers in every age group. The boom in borrowing during the 2000s helped offset sluggish wage growth. The resulting housing bust destroyed trillions of dollars in household wealth. Though the housing market is beginning to recover, it will take at least a decade for prices to recover to the 2006 peak.
As private employers have slowed the pace of new hires, state and local governments are still shedding workers. The Obama administration’s massive federal stimulus program – now criticized by Republicans for failing to produce the number of jobs originally projected – helped blunt those layoffs. As those funds have dried up, local governments have been hit with lower sales and property tax receipts, cuts in state aid and, in some cases, mandated tax caps.
Even the Federal Reserve – the economic fire brigade of last resort – seems to have run out of tools to fight the fire. Friday's weak jobs report give the central bank more reason for another big money drop known as quantitative easing or QE. But after two rounds of more than $1 trillion in pump-priming, and short-term interest rates already at zero, most economists see diminishing returns from another effort to stimulate growth by pumping more money into the system.
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