Haven't you had moments like that in your life when someone set you up just so they could knock you down and it was all over before you even knew what had happened? Romney was set up. The truth didn't matter. The press didn't care and the public was led to believe a lie. As I watched, I was so disappointed in the President. I can respect a person even if they have different ideological beliefs than mine but I cannot respect a person who uses sneaky tactics to cover up the truth.
I don't know which of Obama's helpers searched through that transcript with a fine-tooth comb to come up with the retort the president could use to help his cause or if it was even Obama himself who discovered it but I can imagine the glee when that one little sentence was found that could be taken out of context--that one little sentence he would use to prove he actually did blame the terrorists for killing our ambassador. That one little sentence he could use to infer that he (and members of his office) did not tell the American public for two weeks that the attack on our embassy was caused by a movie that insulted Mohammed--that one little sentence was his ticket. The truth that he and his administration was involved in a huge cover-up to protect his run for president had to be shot down. The truth that he dropped the ball, didn't protect U.S. lives and interests and then lied to hide his incompetency had to be brushed under the rug and all it took for the press to declare him the "debate winner" and many to believe it was that one little sentence used out of context.
I was reminded of a time in my life when the bully standing before me had the crowd backing them. I remembered how it didn't matter that I knew the bully was mean and wrong. I recall the sickening feeling that began in my stomach when I realized the crowd around the bully didn't care about the truth either. They were happy the bully was focusing on me instead of them. You grow up a little in moments like that.
If you've ever stood alone against a bully, you know that bullies make plans. They are connivers. "They lie awake at night, hatching evil plots," according to Psalm 36:4. So, the bully makes his plans because those sold out to him continue to pledge their alliegance.
If they didn't have the backing of their crowd they would not get by with their mean tactics. They would be called out on their lies but as we saw in the second debate, bullies get by with things because they know they have followers who will back them up. That gives the bully the nerve to reach and pull the rug out from under you. He blind-sides you with something connived and you stagger back while the crowd laughs. It sounds like a scene from an elementary school yard but sadly, a few days ago, it wasn't. It was the President of our United States lying to save his skin on national television. I was ashamed for him. But more than that, I am angered by the followers--the ones who know better--our journalists who used to expose the truth for the truth's sake. I am angered that they have cast their cloaks over the mud puddles so the class bully can cleanly walk away.
The dead ambassador cannot tell us the truth. The journalists will not tell us the truth. And the President of the United States is counting on the jeering crowd behind him to allow him to swagger away unaccountable, unbroken and justified. And they did.
And that's the view from this catbird seat...