© 2012 jbjd
Assume, for the sake of argument, that FOX News is both unfair and unbalanced. (And just because according to the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, MSNBC is even more unfair and unbalanced, doesn’t mean, it’s right! Likewise, ignore CNN’s Candy Crowley, so-called moderator of the Presidential debate, who insinuated herself into the exchange for the purpose of establishing the false meme that, as early as September 12, 2012, Obama called the September 11 assault on Benghazi a terrorist attack. After all, she apologized, on CNN, immediately after the debate was over.)
Further, assume FOX reporters and analysts like Jennifer Griffin and Catherine Herridge continue to focus on various aspects of the murders in Benghazi only for political reasons, namely, to draw support away from President Obama and onto Governor Romney. (I won’t guess the reason you attribute to the recent coverage from Eli Lake at The Daily Beast; or ABC’s Jake Tapper, or David Ignatius from the Washington Post…)
And assume that, before yesterday, November 4; CBS’ on-line version of “60 Minutes” featuring Steve Kroft’s interview of President Obama on September 12, 2012 had this part of the story right, namely, Obama called Benghazi a terrorist attack from the beginning (notwithstanding 2 weeks later, he told the U.N. General Assembly, this was a spontaneous riot triggered by a Mohammed video).
Okay. But on November 4, CBS finally released video of that same Kroft interview of Obama, only now edited to include snippets which they had previously omitted and which arguably had contributed to a false interpretation that the President had really called the September 11 attack against Ambassador Stevens, “terrorism,” as early as September 12. (RealClearPolitics featured the video on their front page today.)
As you can see (and hear); regardless of whether Obama says he said on day 1 this was a terrorist attack; obviously, he did not. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50134495n&tag=mg;60minutes
Now, read today’s FOX analysis that President Obama lied in the 3rd debate against Governor Romney, when he – the President – insisted he had been calling the attack in Benghazi a terrorist attack, all along.
What President Obama really said in that ’60 Minutes’ interview about Benghazi
Know what this means? As a fair and balanced consumer of news; you need to recalibrate your assumptions.
P.S. You may ask; except for its use as political capital, does it even matter precisely when the President called Benghazi a terrorist attack, anyway? Yes, indeed it does. Because as you will see; under the U.S. Code and numerous policies and procedures promulgated by everyone from the DoD to the DoS; the President’s response obligations are triggered by whether this event was considered a terrorist attack. Furthermore, determining whether pre-attack conditions should rightly have triggered conduct intended to forestall the events of September 11, is also critical to a full analysis of what went wrong. That is, investigators must determine not only what the President knew but also when he knew it.
Okay, Dylan Byers and Mackenzie Weinger at Politico has weighed in on the kerfuffle with CBS’ late release of the whole 60 Minutes tape. But, again, the writers get it wrong. Look at this passage from today’s article:
See, the writers are saying that, notwithstanding Romney’s objections during the debate; Obama did say in the Rose Garden on September 12, what happened in Benghazi was an act of terror. And, based on what they say he said in the Rose Garden, they are now telling readers, the newly edited 60 Minutes interview finally posted by CBS only contradicts his statement, in that in the interview he says, it was too soon to say whether this was an act of terror. But the writers are wrong.
Byers and Weinger find inconsistent that Obama said in the Rose Garden Benghazi was an act of terror but later on in the day, during that 60 Minutes interview, he said, it’s too soon to tell whether this is an act of terror. But you see, HE DID NOT SAY THIS WAS AN ACT OF TERROR DURING HIS ROSE GARDEN SPEECH! HE ONLY SAID HE SAID THIS WAS AN ACT OF TERROR; DURING THE DEBATE! In fact; the authors quote Kroft, who attended that Rose Garden session, as prefacing his question to Obama about whether this was an act of terror, with words indicating that, earlier, in the Rose Garden, the President had intentionally avoided calling it terrorism:
So, with respect to Obama’s comments on Benghazi made in the Rose Garden on September 12, Romney didn’t hear the President call Benghazi an act of terror; and Kroft didn’t hear him call it an act of terror. But Candy Crawley heard it; and, Politico confirms it based on Obama’s insistence after the fact, at the debate, that he said it.