There are only a few times in our lives when we realize our greatest hopes or our worst fears.  Unfortunately, tonight, we realized our worse fears.  The United States can recover from another four years of Barack Obama as President.  We have overcome more difficult things in the past.  But the more serious question is whether we can overcome being stupid enough to re-elect him? 

Obviously, my hope for a Romney victory, perhaps a landslide, was just plain wrong.  It turns out all those questionable political polls got it pretty right.  This was very close, perhaps the closest in history, but Democrats did get their people to the polls and they carried the day.  I did point out that if Democratic turnout was the same in 2012 as it was in 2008 that Barack Obama would win.  I didn’t think they could do that, but they did.  Republicans, on the other hand, did not turn out.  I didn’t predict that either.

All is not lost.  Barack Obama limps into his second term a deeply wounded President.  It is one thing to lose a close election for an open position.  It is quite another to win re-election by the barest of margins.  A lot of Presidents had serious problems during their second term in office.  Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra.  Bill Clinton had Monica Lewinsky.  George W. Bush had Hurricane Katrina.  History tells us that Barack Obama will have a much more difficult second term than he can imagine.  For one thing the media cover for Obama is likely to dissipate.  They will just move on, because as of tonight, Obama is a lame duck President and he is already yesterday’s news.  The 2016 Presidential election starts tomorrow in both parties. 

 Don’t be shocked if the press starts reporting the truth about Libya and the failures of FEMA with regard to Hurricane Sandy.  Don’t be shocked to see some very serious investigations of Libya.  There may even be bi-partisan support for a select committee to investigate this.  Republicans still control the House and they are more than a little angry.

 Mostly I am saddened and embarrassed.  I can’t believe that a majority of people voted to re-elect Barack Obama.  This should not have been even close.  President Obama is totally unqualified to be President and he has the worst record since Jimmy Carter.  It is disgraceful that the Republican Party could not do better than this.   Barack Obama won re-election by launching a vicious campaign focused on the politics of personal destruction.  Romney responded with a plan.

 Barack Obama won the election but he didn’t repeal the laws of gravity.  His policies haven’t worked in the past and they probably won’t work in the future.  He has never shown a hint of leadership ability before so we shouldn’t expect to see it now.  Remember that it is always darkest just before dawn.  I doubt that any of us were really enthusiastic about a Romney Presidency.  We just thought that anything would be an improvement over Obama.  Mitt Romney was a far cry from the fundamental change we need.

Perhaps, just perhaps, re-electing Obama was a necessary step in bringing about the fundamental change that is desperatedly needed.  Our government has been addicted to spending for a long time.  Addicts rarely change until they finally hit rock bottom. 

President Obama got his four more years and he now owns this mess.  Unless he changes course or his policies start working miracles those people celebrating today may become an angry mob tomorrow.   We will not be the first country to learn this lesson the hard way. 

TDM

What many people do not realize is that when they went to vote on November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was already on his way to election.  He was ahead by a massive 55% to 40% margin among the early voters.  John McCain was pretty much toast before the first vote was even cast on Election Day.

Republicans were caught by surprise in 2008, but they weren’t caught by surprise this time.  Every report, from both the left and the right, shows that Republicans have increased substantially in early voting and Democrats have slipped.  Gallup even has Romney ahead in early voting:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/10/29/Gallup-Shock-Romney-Up-7-with-early-voters

Ben Franklin once said that two things were certain:  death and taxes.  It is also certain thing that supporters of both sides prior to an election will always say they think their candidate is going to win.  No matter how bad the internal polls look, all campaigns put on the happy face at this stage of the election.

Ultimately, it is down to this:  If Republicans turnout like they did in 2004 and 2010, then Romney wins and by a big margin.  If Democrats turn out like they did in 2008, then Obama may win, but it will be a razor thin margin.

Is it possible that Democratic turnout will be that dramatic?  Yes, it is possible, but unlikely.  2008 was a perfect storm for Republicans and this was the highest Democratic turnout EVER!

Is there any evidence to support that kind of turnout this time?  No.  If anything Romney is the one drawing massive crowds and Obama is the one playing to half empty rooms.  Democrats are obviously hoping for this kind of turnout.

Is either campaign showing signs of panic:?   Yes, Bill Clinton is making four campaign stops in Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania is a state that wasn’t even on the radar a couple of weeks ago.   If Obama loses in Pennsylvania, a state he considered safe, he is in deep trouble.  Sending Bill Clinton into Pennsylvania the day before an election is evidence of pure panic.

Candidates who think they are losing tend to become angry.  Obama is becoming sullen and angry.  That is the real story with the “revenge” remark.  Mitt Romney, on the other hand, looks very calm and extremely confident.

But what about all those polls showing a toss-up?  As far as I can tell, every poll shows Romney winning among independents.  Every poll also shows about 95% of Democrats voting for Obama and 95% of Republicans voting for Romney.  This means that all of the polls are being adjusted to reflect an anticipated high turnout by Democrats.  If Democrats do turn out by a 6 to 8 point margin, then Obama may win a close election.  If the turnout is roughly equal, than Romney wins by a comfortable margin.  If Republican turnout is higher than Democratic turnout this will be a landslide.

I have been watching elections for many years and I have learned to always pay attention to Michael Barone.  He not only studies polls and turnout, he knows this down to the county level.  I can’t begin to recall the number of times when an election appeared to be trending in one direction or another and Michael Barone predicted the final outcome based on his analysis of a particular county.  I have never known him to get it wrong.   Barone is flat out predicting a Romney landslide because he says the fundamentals are all tilting toward Romney.

How could Barone be wrong?   I think the only way he is wrong is if there was a major swing in the election because of Obama’s sterling performance with regard to Hurricane Sandy.  Obama did get the chance for some nice photo shots, wearing his Commander in Chief gear and he benefited greatly from the “bromance” with Chris Christie.  Obama would hardly be the first political leader who benefited significantly from showing leadership during a crisis.  In other countries, losing campaigns have turned into landslide victories.  But in this case Obama left town and went back campaigning.  In the meantime Hurricane Sandy is turning into a real mess, with millions of people without food, without water, without gas and without any sign of FEMA.  The warmth from Obama’s Presidential moment has begun to fade.  This may even turn into a backlash, if people blame him for the FEMA disappearing act.  For example, take a look at the following video:

http://weeklystandard.com/blogs/video-sandy-victims-beg-help_660345.html

Finally: the wild card.  The Libya narrative has literally collapsed.  While the television networks and the cable news networks are focusing on Hurricane Sandy, the newspapers are reporting on Libya.  In addition, the internet is literally on fire.  Today an ad is being released by 500 former Admirals and Generals endorsing Romney and slamming Obama.  They paid for it themselves.

Summary:   I believe the Gallup running average of Romney 52% to Obama 46% remains accurate.  The most recent Gallup polls almost certainly overstate Obama, because they represent a running 7 day average.  That means a lot of this data is from the glow days following the Hurricane.  But even if Gallup is right and it is 48% to 48% then Romney probably wins 51% to 48%.   Today Pew has it Obama 48% and Romney 46%, but it also has Democrats plus six.  That means the real number is probably Romney 49% and Obama 45%.   Pretty consistent with where Gallup has been for quite a white.

I think they are all wrong.  I don’t think Democratic turnout will be even close to what it was in 2008.  I think that Republican turnout will be at a record level.  I have several reasons for believing this:

1.  The early voting shows exactly this trend.
2. Democratic voter registration is down in every state.
3. Early voting is way down in key Democratic counties.
4. Republic Registration is up in 47 states.  The only exceptions are Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, where Republicans remain very strong.
5. Evangelical Christians are fully motivated.  They will show up in mass to vote Obama out of office.  This will be another Chick fil-A moment.  Evangelical Christians do not talk to the media because they despise the media.  In 2008, 10 million Evangelical Christians did not vote.  They won’t make that mistake in 2012.
6. Romney saved up his cash and he is running massive media campaigns which Obama cannot match.  In 2008, Obama outspent McCain 10 to 1.
7. The Tea Party has 41 million members.  They are beyond motivated.  The Tea Party is a true grass roots political movement and they will turn out their vote.
8. The internet is on fire telling conservatives this is the last chance to save the country.  A lot of people believe them.
9. Romney is drawing record crowds, Obama is not.
10. Senior citizens used to vote overwhelming for Democrats, because of Medicare.  Democrats thought they could attack Paul Ryan and play the Mediscare card one last time.  It didn’t work.  Romney an Ryan are doing very well among seniors.
11. Recent polls show Romney competitive in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.  None of these States voted for George Bush.  No one considered these states to be toss-ups just a few weeks ago, they were all either lean Obama or safe Obama.
12. Early voting, when combinded with no Voter ID, is a recipe for voter fraud.  While the main stream media ignored the problem, the Republican party did not.  That is why there are voter ID laws in a lot of states and why early voting has been reduced significantly.  In addition, all those states with a Republican Secretary of State are purging voter rolls and there is an army of volunteers watching for voter fraud.  It is just a lot harder to steal votes this year and that will have more of an impact on this election than anyone can imagine.

I believe that tomorrow night we will be introduced to President elect Mitt Romney.  I also think he is going to win by a margin that is beyond shocking.  He is very likely to bring the U.S. Senate with him.  But this will not be a landslide victory for Mitt Romney; this will be a landslide repudiation of Barack Obama.  It will also be a repudiation of the liberal left and the biased main stream media.  It won’t be perfect, but this will be the final curtain for the liberal left, at least for the current generation of the liberal left.

TDM

Obama got a bounce from his early response to Hurricane Sandy.  He benefited greatly from Governor Chris Christie praising him to high heaven.  The fawning main stream media seized the opportunity to portray Obama as “Presidential” and contrasted that with the performance of George Bush after Katrina.   This, they explained, was what real leadership looked like!   However, they spoke much too soon.  The reality of the storm is starting to hit home and the miraculous results promised by Obama are nowhere to be seen.  Instead they have been replaced with pictures of huge generators supporting the New York City marathon while people in Staten Island struggled to stay warm.  Mayor Bloomberg finally wised up and cancelled the New York Marathon, but the damage has been done. 

In Bridgeport, Connecticut residents started pelting utility workers with eggs because residents felt power was restored to rich neighborhoods first.  Perhaps Obama doesn’t like poor people.

There are a lot of people who really expected FEMA to show up with food, water and generators.  After all, President Obama was going to fix everything.  Remember?  He even promised to return phone calls with 15 minutes.  That lasted for about 24 hours before he was back on the campaign trail.  Now, when things are getting ugly and people are desperate; Obama is long gone.

If some recent news reports are accurate, FEMA may have dropped the ball big time.  Everyone knew this storm was coming for about a week, but there apparently was no pre-positioning of food and water.  There is even one report that FEMA, in an act of desperation, had to order water from a private vendor and waited until Friday to do that.  If this is true, the political backlash against Obama may be bigger than the storm itself.

The following report from ABC Nightline is revealing:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/11/were-going-to-die-staten-island-residents-plead-for-help-3-days-after-sandy/

Senator Chuck Schumer, who was probably hoping for a nice Obama like photo stop moment, ended up being confronted by desperate residents pleading for help.  Check out the two minute mark where James Molinaro, Staten Island Borough President, asks how this can happen in American, with a sheepish Senator Schumer standing right behind him in a bright and shiny new FEMA jacket, but without any significant supplies of food or water. 

FEMA did finally get to Staten Island, but not because of anything done by President Obama.  My guess is that Senator Schumer threw a full-fledged hissy fit after being embarrassed on national television:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/news/local/Federal-Help-Finally-Arrives-on-Staten-Island/176896931

I wonder if anyone in the main stream media realizes something.  There was not one single documented death from dehydration after Hurricane Katrina.  This is because FEMA had pre-positioned food and water at both the New Orleans Superdome and the New Orleans Convention center.  It just may be that FEMA did a lot better during Hurricane Katrina than it did during Hurricane Sandy.  The following article from realclear politics does an excellent and balanced job of reporting what really happened during Hurricane Katrina.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/05/katrina_what_the_media_missed.html

President Bush may gain significantly if there is an “honest” comparison with how FEMA responded to Katrina and how FEMA responded to Sandy.  President Obama did a great job with photo stops after Sandy, but in terms of actually helping people he doesn’t appeared to have delivered on his promises. 

The real lesson we should have learned from Hurricane Katrina is that the last thing we need during a disaster is a bunch of grandstanding politicians trying to micro-manage.   After Hurricane Katrina, when the first responders communicated with each other without the help of publicity hungry politicians they got things done.  When the politicians got involved there was just a lot of arguing, finger pointing and chaos.

In terms of actually helping people, the best decision George Bush ever made was to not visit New Orleans during the early hours after the storm.  His reason for staying away is that he did not want to interfere with those brave first responders who were involved in the greatest rescue operation in the history of the world.  He was highly criticized by the main stream media for this decision, but I suspect historians will be far more objective.

The good news is that those politicians who try to exploit these situations for political gain frequently end up with just a lot of egg on their face.

Initially, Hurricane Sandy created a little surged for Obama, but now that has turned into an Ebb Tide that may just sweep him out of office.

TDM

The story in Benghazi is heating up and it is hitting the main stream media.  McClatchy just released a story saying the “CIA sent security team to the Benghazi consulate 25 minutes after attack, refuting claims of delay.”

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/01/173372/us-says-help-was-sent-to-benghazi.html

This is a major development.  It means the White House’s efforts to stonewall this story has totally collapsed.  This story just hit the main stream media.  No news outlet can continue to ignore this.

You would think from the headline that the White House has now explained everything and there was no delay in providing assistance.  That certainly is the spin being provided by the main stream media.  But there is a lot more to this story then how long it took the CIA compound to respond.

At 9:40 p.m. the CIA compound in Benghazi received an urgent request for help from the Benghazi Consulate.  This was only a mile away and CIA personnel could hear gun shots and sirens wailing.  The few trained military personnel available immediately gathered up their weapons and were ready to roll.  This was probably the last chance to save Ambassador Stevens life.  But they were delayed in leaving for 24 long minutes.  The reason for the delay was that the station chief was on the phone trying to call the “February 17 Brigade, other militias and the Libyan intelligence service seeking vehicles with .50-caliber machine guns.”  No one responded so the base chief reluctantly let the rescue mission proceed.  It was under the leadership of a career CIA officer.

The team consisted of six members.  They only get a few blocks before they are stopped.  The scene must have been beyond chaotic.  Our Consulate was under attack and here is our make-shift rescue squad, a couple of blocks away, reduced to begging the local militia to kindly lend them a .50 cal machine gun.  They don’t get the gun, but they do pick up three volunteers.  The CIA team arrives at the Consulate at 10:20.  They are engaged in a fire fight for 15 minutes and do not get into the main Consulate building until 10:40 p.m.,  one hour after the first call for help.  Odds are that Ambassador Stevens was already dead.

They cannot find Ambassador Stevens.  An unarmed drone shows up at 11:11 p.m., but it cannot provide much help.  At 11:30 the CIA team leaves the Consulate with those State Department personnel still alive.  It takes them six minutes to get from the Consulate to the CIA Compound.

At 11:56 p.m. the CIA compound comes under fire.  Eventually a 7 person rescue team is dispatched from Tripoli.  They have to charter a plane.  The plane arrives at the Benghazi Airport at 1:15 a.m., after a 45 minute flight.  They then spend the next three hours at the airport trying to negotiate permission to leave while frantically developing a game plan.  They finally leave the airport at 4:30 a.m. and arrive at the CIA compound at 5:04 a.m.  There is a major fire fight and this is when the two former Navy seals are killed.  Finally, at 6:00 a.m. a Libyan rescue team arrives, with 50 vehicles and escorts our survivors to the airport.  The first group of Americans leaves Benghazi for Tripoli at 7:00 a.m.  The final group leaves at 10:00 a.m.  From Tripoli they depart for the U.S.

It is easy to see why the White House was desperately hoping this story would not break before the election.  This is nothing short of embarrassing.  The most powerful nation on this earth comes under assault from terrorists and this is the best we can do?  Are you kidding me? We have a CIA compound that didn’t even have a vehicle with a .50 caliber machine gun.  There were only six people available to provide any kind of military support.  Benghazi was one of the most dangerous places on earth, but our Consulate fell so far short of the minimum security standards that someone had to sign a waiver to allow us to use it.  Ambassador Stevens had sent cables pleading for help, but nothing was done.  Actually, that is not true.  It was worse than that.  Security had been reduced.  The National Guard Special Forces unit that might have saved the day wasn’t available because it had been ordered back to the United States.

The local heroes who tried desperately to save the day should be praised.  The leaders who put them in this impossible situation must be held accountable.

The White House did not even convene the Counter Terrorism Security Group (“CSG”) during this event.  That is the whole point of the CSG.  The purpose of the CSG is to coordinate a response to a terrorist attack.  This is probably why General Ham and Admiral Gaouette were so angry.  The White House and the CIA were trying to handle this with a key stone cop’s response while the greatest military force in the history of the world was apparently kept in the dark.

My prior blog, “Send in the Drones” unfortunately may have been accurate.  The following article shows that there are drones and Special Forces teams in Libya desperately trying to find “someone.”  There is still a potential that they will kill or capture someone giving President Obama once last chance to spike the football.

http://freebeacon.com/post/34820407527/pentagon-secret-u-s-military-commandos-deployed-to

The White House is now claiming there was no delay in response because:

Instead, they said the often outmanned and outgunned team members made all the key decisions on the ground, with no second-guessing from senior officials monitoring the situation from afar.

Let me word that a little differently.  The White House sat on its collective ass and watched our local personnel engage in a desperate life and death struggle without even considering offering guidance or assistance.  Our local people were put in this position as a direct consequence of the gross incompetence and dereliction of duty by the State Department, the Defense Department, the CIA and the White House.  I wonder if anyone in the main stream media will notice.  If they do notice, will they care?

TDM

The Libya narrative is unraveling at the speed of light.  The only question is whether this will happen in time to influence the election.  Newt Gingrich said that he was informed by a U.S. Senator that at least two media networks were given copies of e-mails from the office of the National Security Advisor ordering a counterterrorism team to cancel a rescue mission at the U.S. consulate and the CIA annex in Libya.

Following is a link to that story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJVLaLd_h-8

The key minute comes at the 9:59 minute mark.

Although Gingrich describes these as rumors, he is very specific with regard to what was on those e-mails.  I doubt that this was an accident.

The Hill, which is also not a right wing media outlet, is reporting on this:

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/terrorism/265089-white-house-shoots-down-rumors-it-nixed-benghazi-intervention

The White House issued the following statement:

“Neither the President nor anyone in the White House denied any requests for assistance in Benghazi during the attack,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told The Hill via email

That fact that the White House even responded to this report is significant.  It is proof that someone in the press is starting to demand answers.  There is almost no time before the election, but there is evidence that the main stream media is starting to pay serious attention to this issue.  Check out the following article from the Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-benghazi-questions-the-administration-must-answer/2012/10/30/02d02538-22e2-11e2-8448-81b1ce7d6978_story.html

David Ignatius has been providing cover for the White House with regard to Libya.  He argued that CIA documents supported Susan Rice’s description of the Benghazi attacks:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-attack-becomes-political-ammunition/2012/10/19/e1ad82ae-1a2d-11e2-bd10-5ff056538b7c_story.html

Yet even Ignatius is acknowledging that the Fox News report by Jennifer Griffin:  has raised some questions about the attack that deserve a clearer answer from the Obama administration.

This is an admission by the Washington Post that Fox News has done some serious and credible reporting and that there are important questions that demand answers.  When someone like David Ignatius makes this kind of remark it is time to pay attention.

Fox News is reporting that they have a cable sent a month before the attack that clearly warns of the danger:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/31/exclusive-us-memo-warned-libya-consulate-couldnt-withstand-coordinated-attack/

“RSO (Regional Security Officer) expressed concerns with the ability to defend Post in the event of a coordinated attack due to limited manpower, security measures, weapons capabilities, host nation support, and the overall size of the compound,” the cable said.

According to a review of the cable addressed to the Office of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Emergency Action Committee was also briefed “on the location of approximately ten Islamist militias and AQ training camps within Benghazi … these groups ran the spectrum from Islamist militias, such as the QRF Brigade and Ansar al-Sharia, to ‘Takfirist thugs.’” Each U.S. mission has a so-called Emergency Action Committee that is responsible for security measures and emergency planning.

There is more.  Two major U.S. military commanders were recently removed from their commands.  General Ham suddenly decided to retire.  Admiral Gaouette was removed from command of a carrier group operating in the Middle East.  The odor of a system cover-up is overwhelming.

We already know Libya was bad.  We know there were requests for more security that were ignored.  We know the Obama administration lied to cover-up something.  We know that Obama’s foreign policy is in tatters.  What we already know is bad enough.  It is shameful that the main stream media continues to ignore this story.  If this is not important, what is important?  How bad, exactly, does it have to get before they wake up?  Is there not one single competent reporter in the main stream media who has figured this out?

TDM

General Carter F. Ham suddenly retired.  He was Command of the U.S. Africa Command.  Following is an article regarding this decision.  I have no way of knowing if this is accurate:

http://beforeitsnews.com/obama-birthplace-controversy/2012/10/general-ham-no-order-to-protect-benghazi-consulate-congressman-jason-chaffetz-interview-ham-over-africom-forces-available-but-no-order-to-use-them-given-2447844.html

It is definitely a fact that General Ham suddenly retired.  It sure looks like he was fired.  It is also a fact that Admiral Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette, was relieved of command of the US Aircraft Carrier the John S. Stennis because of questions regarding his leadership judgment.  Is that a coincidence too?

http://mynorthwest.com/646/1986835/Navy-Admiral-kicked-off-his-ship-sent-back-to-Bremerton-Why

There was a report that President Obama was in the situation room watching the live video from a drone on scene of the Libya attack.  That seems logical since this was 4:00 in the afternoon and he was in the White House.  He also is known to be fascinated with drones.  The bottom line is that he is the only one who could have given the order to intervene.

The only thing certain is that the whole situation stinks to high heaven.  I don’t think the main stream media is really, willing or even able to cover this story before the election.  However, if this was a Republican President the main stream media would be in full attack mode.  Unfortunately I doubt seriously that the American people will learn anything about this until after the election.  That is probably the greatest tragedy of all.

What is obviously true is obviously true.  At best, we have an incredibly incompetent administration.  At worst?

TDM

This major storm hitting the East Coast will have a major impact on the election.  The new media apparently thinks this will help Obama because he can look Presidential.  It won’t.  The reality is that he can do nothing to affect the impact of this storm.  That is up to the local Mayors and Governors.  Obama will make a big show of declaring a state of emergency, but in reality there is little he can do.

The labor department is hinting that they may not be able to release job numbers Friday.  If they do, I predict another miraculous reduction in the unemployment rate.  That would easy to do.  They can just correct it after the election, and blame the weather.  Who knows what these clowns will do.  The least likely outcome is a straightforward report, delivered on time, with accurate information.

This storm will devaste Obama’s re-election for one simple reason.  It is going to hit the most heavily Democratic part of the country.  There is no way that this won’t decrease voter turnout.  But it will impact Democrats more than Republicans.  Republicans are so anxious to vote Obama out of office that they will crawl two miles through broken glass on bloody knees if necessary.   Democrats not so much.   The Obama administration has to know this, so don’t be surprised if they try desperately to delay the election.  At a minimum, they will trying get an emergency injunction increasing the length of time when people can vote.   But the storm is hitting a week early and it will be long gone by next Tuesday.  The only thing certain is that this is going to be a big unprecedented mess.

Romney is now leading in all the credible polls, including in Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.  The Obama adminstration is starting to show signs of panic.  You can bet your bottom dollar that after Obama loses this election he will blame his loss on this storm.  That is just the way liberals view the world.

The storm clouds over Libya are even more serious than the ones from Hurricane Sandy.   Fox News reported that Obama was in the White House and watched the attack on a live feed.  The same person said that Obama was the only one who could have authorized sending assistance.  If that story hits the main stream media, it will be beyond devastating for Obama.  No one is the main stream media is challenging the Fox News report, they are just refusing to cover the story.  My hunch is that they will bury the lede and say they were too focused on the big story, which is the hurricane.  They are clearly willing to do anything to avoid asking Obama tough questions about Libya or anything else.

I now think that Romney wins by a margin higher than anyone can even imagine.  I also predict that Republicans will do much better in the Senate elections than is currently predicted.  But the biggest loser is likely to be the main stream media.  The bias, the laziness and the arrogant incompetence is now too obvious for anyone to ignore.

Romney was already surging and he can only benefit from the storm surge.

TDM

If the following report is true, Hillary Clinton, at the urging of Bill Clinton, just threw President Obama completely under the bus.  According to Ed Klein, Hillary Clinton requested additional security for the Mission in Benghazi and that the request was turned down by President Obama.

http://nation.foxnews.com/hillary-clinton/2012/10/26/report-hillary-asked-more-security-benghazi-obama-said-no

This is from Joe Klein, who is the author of The Amateur.  The man has connections within both the Clinton and the Obama crowds.  This is coming out on the same day Fox News is reporting that the CIA agents in Benghazi were asking for assistance and were told to stand down.

If these stories are true, and they certainly look legitimate, it will eliminate any chance of Obama getting re-elected.  He was already on his way to defeat, but apparently the Clinton’s were unwilling to risk any chance of Obama winning.  Obama already tried to throw Hillary Clinton under the bus and if Obama was re-elected the truth may never have seen the light of day.  That would have left Hillary Clinton unelectable in 2016.  Ultimately, Hillary may go down too, but she will not leave Obama standing.

Hillary even dropped a hint that she wouldn’t mind being a Secretary of State under Mitt Romney.  Hillary knows that this will never happen.  What she was really saying is that Mitt Romney is acceptable as President.

Remember that a couple of days ago Bill Clinton skewered Obama when he said that he thought Obama was about to cry when talking to the black guy in the debate because he realized how badly he had let people down.

For those of you who doubted my War of the Roses theory, doubt no more.  It doesn’t get any worse than this.

TDM

Obama is in terrible trouble with regard to Libya.  He lied during the debate and has stepped into a huge hole.  Obama argued assertively that he had declared this an act of terrorism on September 12, 2012.  If one reads Obama’s full statement, he clearly blamed this on an over-reaction to this obscure video.  The Romney campaign will run video showing Obama saying the following, followed by a video of him denying this during the debate:

“Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.

But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts. Already many Libyans have joined us in doing so, and this attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya. Libyan security personnel fought back against the attackers alongside Americans. Libyans helped some of our diplomats find safety, and they carried Ambassador Stevens’ body to the hospital, where we tragically learned that he had tied.”

Later, he went on to say:

“No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for”

If President Obama really thought he was calling this an act of terrorism, he forgot to tell his spokesman, Jay Carney.  Carney was asked whether the attack was premeditated, and he responded with the following:

“It’s too early for us to make that judgment. I think — I know that this is being investigated, and we’re working with the Libyan government to investigate the incident. So I would not want to speculate on that at this time.”

On September 19^th, Jay Carney was still claiming that the official Obama administration position was that there was no evidence of a pre-meditated attack:

“What I can tell you is that, as I said last week, as our Ambassador to the United Nations said on Sunday and as I said the other day, based on what we know now and knew at the time, we have no evidence of a preplanned or premeditated attack. This, however, remains under investigation, and I made that clear last week, and Ambassador Rice made that clear on Sunday. And if more facts come to light that change our assessment of what transpired in Benghazi and why and how, we will welcome those facts and make you aware of them. But again, based on the information that we had at the time and have to this day, we do not have evidence that it was premeditated. It is a simple fact that there are, in post-revolution, post-war Libya, armed groups, there are bad actors hostile to the government, hostile to the West, hostile to the United States.”

This means that either Obama was lying during the debate when he said he considered it an act of terrorism on September 12, or he never informed his staff that he thought it was an act of terrorism, or the Obama administration deliberately lied about what happened.

Obviously, none of these are good answers.  This will come up in next week’s debate and Mitt Romney will be on it.  Obama needs a miracle.  He desperately needs to change the story.  So, wouldn’t it be convenient if the Obama administration found someone that they can claim was responsible and order a drone attack to take him out.  President Obama could go on national television, announce the death of the culprits, just like he did with Osama bin laden.  Then he could say he was sorry for the confusing information, but he was too focused on bringing the killers to justice to pay attention to such trivial matters.  It would be a win-win for Obama.  He gets to look powerful and presidential and he can attempt to intimidate Mitt Romney into dropping the entire subject.  If Mitt Romney continues to push the issue, Obama will accuse Romney of politicizing national security.

I have no way of knowing if this will happen.  First, the Obama administration needs to have some evidence that they know who did this.  Second, they need to find this person.  Third, they need to get them in a situation where they don’t have to kill too many civilians to pull this off.

My guess is that our Commander in Chief is already hunkering down over his kill sheet desperately looking for a target of opportunity.  If I were a terrorist who had even the slightest involvement in the Libya attack I would be afraid, very afraid.  It would be a really good idea to disappear for a while.  If you were advising President Obama, would you be overly concerned if they accidentally offed the wrong guy?  They can always apologize after the election.

We all hope that the President of the United States would be above pulling this kind of political stunt, particularly with regard to national security.  But we would also hope that a President of the United States would not lie the way Obama did during the debate.  We would also hope than an administration would not continue to send people out to say something they knew was not true. Bill Clinton bombed Iraq in the middle of his impeachment trial and the press was more than willing to believe this was just a coincidence.  If Obama does something similar no one in the main stream media will even question the timing and if a Republican dares question the timing they will become unglued.  I still remember when Ted Koppel reported on the bombing of Iraq, and he noted that it came at a convenient time for Bill Clinton and that one would be tempted to question the timing, but he couldn’t do so because that would be unthinkable.

Send in the drones.  I really hope I’m wrong.

TDM

Hillary Clinton accepted blame for the security at the Benghazi Consulate.  That may seem like she is taking Obama off the hook, but the opposite may be true.  There is no way that Hillary was going to avoid the blame for this anyway, since security decisions were made by the State Department.  But this is the ultimate poison pill for Obama.  It makes Hillary look strong and presidential and it makes Obama look weak and small.

Even in what appeared to be an attempt to help Obama, she stuck it to him:

“In the wake of an attack like this, in the fog of war, there’s always going to be confusion,” Clinton told CNN. “And I think it is absolutely fair to say that everyone had the same intelligence. Everyone who spoke tried to give the information that they had. As time has gone on, that information has changed. We’ve gotten more detail, but that’s not surprising. That always happens.”

Sometimes it’s not what you say; it’s what you don’t say.  She didn’t say she was confused, she offered this as an explanation as to why Obama may have been confused.  Hillary is already on record as saying that the State Department never considered this anything other than a terrorist attack, and they had the same information as the White House.  She also said that the State Department did not brief Susan Rice before she went on the lying tour.  By accepting responsibility for that which is undeniable, she shifted the focus directly back on Obama, just in time for tonight’s debate.

The press is already asking Obama if he blames Hillary for the lack of security in Benghazi.  If he says yes, he looks weak.  He will also infuriate all those liberal women who adore Hillary Clinton.  If he says no, then he is accepting responsibility himself.

Hillary looks strong, principled and focused.  The contrast with President Obama, just before the second debate, could not be starker.

This reminds me of Proverbs 25:21-22

²¹ “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
²² In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the LORD will reward you.”     

Hillary figured out she wasn’t going to dodge this bullet.  When you are obviously guilty, begging for mercy from the court of public opinion is the only option.  The Clintons have pulled this off before.  Bill Clinton was booed out of office after his first term as Governor.  He ran again by apologizing for doing a lousy job and asking voters for a second chance.  It worked.  He was re-elected to Governor.  He pulled the same stunt when Republicans ran the table on him during the 1994 election.  Bill Clinton said he realized the era of big government was over, and he reached across the aisle and started working with Republicans.  The public forgave him then too.

Hillary knows that President Obama is incapable of accepting responsibility for anything.  She also knows that while she is responsible for the State Department, the State Department reports to the President.  She just told the world that the President of the United States was not involved in critical decisions regarding his most important cabinet position.  I don’t know how you define that, but you don’t define that as strong leadership.

By apologizing for what is obviously true, Hillary Clinton just may have done the one thing that will restore her coveted political career.  By doing this now, she has stuck it to Obama at the worst possible time; in other words, she may have heaped coals of fire on his head with kindness.  Remember, the most vicious personal attacks are those done with a sweet smile.

One final note:  Susan Rice gave an interview where she said her statements she made on those morning news programs were based on intelligence reports and talking points.  The intelligence community never produces talking points, so Susan Rice pointed the responsibility straight at the White House.  Ouch!

TDM