Imagine if Mitt Romney, in the wake of the events in both Egypt and Libya, hadn’t rushed to release a statement that included the sentence “I also believe the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt, instead of condemning their actions,” as though the diplomatic staff in Cairo had congratulated their attackers after their assault, instead of, before the attack, had simply said the video was repulsive and offensive—exactly the same sort of statement the Bush Administration had issued regarding “controversial” criticisms of Islam, and exactly the same sort of statement that Romney himself would make a few days later. Then Romney would have been free to attack the Administration for its failure to protect its ambassador, instead of having to explain, and explain away, his own prior statements.
While we’re at it, imagine if the Administration’s announcement that U.S. and Afghan military personnel would no longer conduct joint operations (it’s only temporary, of course), had been greeted as conclusive evidence of the complete failure of the Administration’s bloody and costly policy in Afghanistan, which it surely is. Imagine if both the Democratic and Republican Parties (and, apparently, about 95% of the American people as well) were not joined in a silent pact to pretend that the longest, and one of the most futile, wars in American history had never happened.
Imagine all these things, and imagine what the reputation of the Obama Administration would be!
