Stirring words from a guy who’s now running for reelection on the idea that Mitt Romney wouldn’t have had the balls to order a hit on Osama Bin Laden. And note the applause he gets for saying it. O will take heat for this clip because it showcases his hypocrisy but all he was doing at the time was playing along with a charade created by Democratic voters. They pretended they were strongly anti-war and anti-Gitmo and anti-executive overreach and anti-”politics of fear” when all they really were was strongly anti-Bush. So Obama, who was already thinking of running for president (it’s no coincidence that these remarks were delivered in Iowa), flattered them by spouting the platitudinous nonsense they wanted to hear on the assumption that they’d forget all about it once he was safely in office. How’d that work out for him? It’s almost too bad that Bush didn’t think to target Awlaki with drones before leaving office since no doubt there’d be some golden soundbites from the Unicorn Prince at the time denouncing “King George” and the “unaccountable presidency,” etc. And his base would have cheered him all the way. Don’t hate O just because he had the good sense to exploit a political scam when he saw one.
Since we’re on the subject of Al Qaeda and Afghanistan, remember how he sold the troop drawdown last night in part by touting the prospect of reconciliation with the Taliban? Here’s how that’s going on their end: