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Double Down: Obama Again Suggests Romney Would Have Blocked Bin Laden Raid
Townhall,com ^ | April 30, 2012 | Guy Benson

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!


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012election; election2012; kenyanbornmuzzie; mediawingofthednc; mittromney; partisanmediashills
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To: Kaslin
why does obama call killing osama bin laden "bringing him to justice?"

did George Zimmerman bring Trayvon Martin "to justice"?

21 posted on 04/30/2012 3:05:27 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand
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To: Kaslin

Wasn’t there a story going around recently that Biden also would not have authorized the attack?

Also, Obama did not “get” Bin Laden. The only thing Obama “got” was “out of the way”.


22 posted on 04/30/2012 3:05:48 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: RedEyeJack
Obama has all the charm of Caligula.

That's unfair to Caligula. For all his faults, he had charm. One thing both men have in common is the desire for lesser mortals to worship them as gods.

23 posted on 04/30/2012 3:13:13 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Kaslin

This from the little puke that didn’t have the courage to support our troops during the “surge” in Iraq.


24 posted on 04/30/2012 3:18:45 PM PDT by Larry381 ("Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.")
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To: Kaslin

If he gave the least amount of respect to the military he would give them the credit. Last anyone checked most of the Seals died from an ambush once they were outed by Obozo.

Pray for America


25 posted on 04/30/2012 3:20:11 PM PDT by bray (Power to We the People)
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To: Kaslin

Willard would have brought in the lawyers first...


26 posted on 04/30/2012 3:29:16 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion ("I'm comfortable with a Romney win." - Pres. Jimmy Carter)
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To: Verginius Rufus
Dear, I can't believe we finally got invited to one of Caligula's dinner parties! We have finally arrived!

Hun, there's just one I think as my wife you should know about . . .

27 posted on 04/30/2012 3:54:28 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: Kaslin
This line of campaigning is just stupid. Nobody's buying this stuff. Any president would have taken Bin Ladin out.

Hell, with Obama's muslim connections, I'm actually surprised HE didn't block it.

28 posted on 04/30/2012 3:55:17 PM PDT by Lazamataz (Admin Moderator refuses to let me hit it. -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2875871/posts)
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To: bigbob
I can’t imagine who’s telling Obama this is a winning argument.


29 posted on 04/30/2012 3:57:32 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker
If Incitatus is there, be careful what you say...don't suggest he resembles John Kerry.

From Suetonius' Life of Caligula:

"...there was hardly any woman of distinguished family he did not make advances to. Most of them he invited to dinner, along with their husbands...Then, as often as he felt like it, he would leave the dining room, having called to him whichever woman he found most attractive. Not long afterwards he would return, making no attempt to conceal the signs of his recent sexual activity, and would offer criticism or praise of his partner, listing in detail the good or bad features of her body and her sexual performance."

30 posted on 04/30/2012 4:20:48 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: GeronL

Excellent point since he had been offered Bin Ladin several times, but he just ignored it


31 posted on 04/30/2012 4:33:28 PM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

He is a child trapped in a woman’s body.


32 posted on 04/30/2012 4:41:05 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Government is the religion of the sociopath.)
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To: DuncanWaring
That is true, Biden warned him not to do it.

Joe Biden Admits He Advised President Obama Not To Carry Out Bin Laden Raid

33 posted on 04/30/2012 4:41:33 PM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin

Well, would Barry have taken out Saddam Hussein? ROFLOL


34 posted on 04/30/2012 4:46:14 PM PDT by petitfour
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To: Kaslin

Barry needs to read more Bible. It is not at all the thing to celebrate the death of an enemy.


35 posted on 04/30/2012 4:49:54 PM PDT by petitfour
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To: Kaslin
I hope that Romney has his facts all lined up when he goes into the debates with Obama. I expect Obama to throw out whoppers like this during his debate, and then count on Romney not having the time in the 30 second rebut to address comments like this AND the subject matter of the question at hand.

Remember during the Bush/Gore debate when Gore said he accompanied James Lee Witt to Texas to view the damage from the wildfires that happened? Bush was silent about that, but later said that he didn't recall Gore being there, forcing the MSM to have to fact-check that comment and issue a correction for Gore later.

Romney better be prepared to take EVERY opportunity to call out Obama on statements like this.

-PJ

36 posted on 04/30/2012 4:52:49 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you can vote for President, then your children can run for President.)
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To: petitfour

Not likely, since the left loves dictators


37 posted on 04/30/2012 4:53:41 PM PDT by Kaslin (Acronym for OBAMA: One Big Ass Mistake America)
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To: Kaslin
Yep...he is counting on the ignorance of "his" people (he has spent so much time among them that he has forgotten that they are not representative of the American voter--unless, of course, one stuffs the ballot box with dead voters and illegals).

He is brilliant...but compared to what?

38 posted on 04/30/2012 5:49:42 PM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: Travis McGee

The more 0bama celebrates in the endzone, the more the skeptic in me looks for a penalty flag downfield.


39 posted on 05/01/2012 12:14:35 AM PDT by OneLoyalAmerican (In God I trust, all others provide citations.)
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