Sunday, October 21, 2012

I HAD NO IDEA THE CHALLENGER WAS ATTACKED BY TERRORISTS

Well, we knew that pro-Romney groups would try to take advantage of President Obama's reference to the consulate deaths in Benghazi as "not optimal," even though Obama was only echoing the phrasing of his interviewer, Jon Stewart. But I'm struck by one particular aspect of this attack ad from the American Future Fund:





Obama's words about Benghazi are contrasted with FDR's words about Pearl Harbor, Bill Clinton's words about the African embassy bombings, George W. Bush's words about 9/11 ... and Ronald Reagan's words about the space shuttle Challenger. Did you know that terrorists blew up the Challenger? Me either.

Or is it that the makers of this ad are so blinded by love of Ronald Reagan that they literally can't think of any deadly attacks on U.S. citizens at any time during Reagan's presidency? (If so, here, let me help you.)

Or perhaps they didn't want anyone to be reminded of the fact that Reagan could be less than eloquent after similar incidents. Not long after the September 20, 1984, truck bombing of the U.S. embassy annex in Beirut, which killed 24 people (not to be confused with bombings in Beirut in April and October of the previous year that killed a total of 258 people), President Reagan responded to questions about incomplete security upgrades at the facility by saying:
"Anyone that's ever had their kitchen done over knows that it never gets done as soon as you wish it would."
Which I think is a hell of a lot worse than anything President Obama has said about Benghazi. If Obama said something like that about Benghazi, he'd lose the election; Teflon-coated Reagan said this that six weeks before the 1984 election, then won by a landslide.

In response to Reagan's statement, Russell Baker wrote in The New York Times:
Anyone that's ever had their kitchen done over knows that the process is nothing at all like trying to stop somebody from driving a truckload of explosives into your house.
Indeed.

(Ad via Fox Nation and Washington Free Beacon.)

2 comments:

Danp said...

Kithchen do-over vs truck bombs:

Which would preoccupy Romney more? Based on his knowledge of foreign affairs, I make no assumptions.

Victor said...

If Romney's elected, maybe we can all look forward to car elevator analogies.

"As anyone who's ever had car elevators built in their mansions knows..."

At least, back when I had Bush Derangement Syndrome, I had reasonable reasons:
Tax cuts for the richest
2 idiotic wars and occupations
A hand-out to pharmaceutical companies
Ignoring a drowning city
Spying on citizens
Elimination of Habeas Corpus,
Etc.

Obama Derangement Syndrom is purely based on the President's race.