2012 Tuesday: Team Obama moves ‘Forward’ by dredging up, distorting Romney’s words from 2007
On Monday, the Obama-Biden 2012 campaign unveiled its slogan: “Forward.”
Yep, that’s it. As Washington Post humor-blogger Alexandra Petri observed, “If your slogan is just one or two notches above BCC, it might not be a great slogan.”
But never mind the lack of zip to the latest and greatest in Democratic bumper-sticker philosophy, or the fact that it won’t help the arguments that President Obama isn’t a Marxist. The most disqualifying thing about “Forward” as a slogan is that this is a president who keeps looking backward. Heck, even the video unveiling “Forward” as a slogan began with a retrospective on the 2008 financial crisis; the very first words of the video titled “Forward” are “January 2008.” I’m not sure that word means what the Obama team thinks it does.
In other forward-looking news, Democrats are using today’s anniversary of the Navy SEALs’ killing of Osama bin Laden last year to revisit some comments Mitt Romney made five years ago. (Forward! Forward!)
According to this new narrative about old words, in August 2007 Romney “ruled out” a mission for U.S. troops to enter Pakistan and kill bin Laden. Never mind that Hillary Clinton, who ultimately sat in the room with Obama as the raid was carried out, and John McCain, whom Democrats derided as a trigger-happy cowboy (”Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran”), both voiced misgivings about the public pledge Obama made then to strike within Pakistan, with or without the Pakistani government’s approval.
As it happens, two days after making the remarks Democrats are now highlighting, Romney was asked during a GOP debate in Iowa to explain what he meant. Here’s how he answered (the relevant question is asked at the 3:10 mark and Romney, after waiting for Rudy Giuliani to answer, begins speaking around the 4:50 mark):
In case you didn’t watch, here’s the gist of what Romney said:
It’s wrong for a person running for the president of the United States to get on TV and say we’re going to go into your country unilaterally. Of course America always maintains our option to do whatever we think is in the best interest of America. But we don’t go out and say, “Ladies and gentleman of Germany, if ever there was a problem in your country [and] we didn’t think you were doing the right thing, we reserve the right to come in and get them out.” We don’t say those things, we keep our options quiet.
We do not go out and say to a nation which is working with us, where we’ve collaborated, and they are our friend, and we’re trying to support Musharraf and strengthen him and his nation, that instead that we intend to go in there and potentially bring out a unilateral attack.
Now, whatever one thought of Pervez Musharraf’s government in 2007, it is nigh-impossible to argue that Romney’s warning against undermining potential allies by talking publicly about carrying out attacks on their soil is the same thing as saying “he wouldn’t do such a thing.”
As I wrote last year, Obama deserves credit for ordering the raid and seeing that the team conducting it had the necessary support and resources. But he has officially strayed from “not spiking the ball” — at the very least, he’s moved on to “the other guy wouldn’t have had a ball to spike.”
Forward!
Riiiight.
(H/t: Hot Air)
– By Kyle Wingfield
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331 comments Add your comment
Taipei Personality
May 1st, 2012
12:04 pm
Forward, robot lemmings!
Hillbilly D
May 1st, 2012
12:06 pm
WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!
That’s a valid point. I believe we could do better than either of the two candidates but “none of the above” isn’t on the ballot. You either have to choose one or the other or sit it out.
Sarah P.
May 1st, 2012
12:07 pm
“It’s wrong for a person running for the president of the United States to get on TV and say we’re going to go into your country unilaterally. Of course America always maintains our option to do whatever we think is in the best interest of America.”
Within these two sentences, Romney flip flops and speaks from both sides of his mouth.
I guess it is OK for candidate Romney to talk about going into Syria and Iran, just not Pakistan. Why? Because we know the Republican strategy is to oppose everything President Obama does, to hell with what’s best for our country.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:15 pm
Romney = Obama, Rick Santorum WAS the GOP establishment – until he decided he wasn’t.
Yet YOU blindly followed him (I suspect on social issues alone, since Santorum certainly wasn’t a fiscal conservative in his years in the Senate).
And now you’re saying that you’re going to sit on your hands in November, because you believe Romney is no different than Obama? Hello! Earth calling!
Let’s forget the social issues for a second, and let’s even push away the fiscal issues so that you can focus on the REAL issue in this next election, OK?
Supreme Court nominees.
You think Ruth Bader Ginsburg is going to last another 4 years? Really? Scalia and Thomas aren’t getting any younger, either. Have you seen who the Liar-in-Chief has put on this Court? Far-left liberals who have zero comprehension of the Founding Father’s vision for America.
YOUNG liberals. Who will be on that court for a very, very long time.
And you want to sit on your hands and claim Romney is no better than Obama?
Seriously?
As we will likely see later this summer, the best way to curb the excesses of an out-of-control Congress is a responsible Supreme Court. Giving Obama another shot at replacing an older liberal with a younger one, or heaven forbid a conservative with a liberal, is the surest way to continue the downward slide this nation is experiencing.
Wake up and get real. Your hyperbolic rhetoric doesn’t come close to matching the reality. Your guy lost. Move on and at least admit that Romney is a lesser of two evils kind of choice if you must, but saying he’s no different than Obama is just plain silly.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:19 pm
Sarah P. needs to look up the meaning of the words “say” vs. “do”.
You never “say” your military / security intentions in advance; you just “do” them when they are necessary.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 1st, 2012
12:20 pm
Democrats: Bending over “forward” since 1/20/2009.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:22 pm
willard took the w position of letting obl go.
Then he flipped flopped.
Tell the truth kyle.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:24 pm
willard is weak on national security and our President won the first round.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:27 pm
“willard took the w position of letting obl go.”
No he did not, as has been proven here, getaclue. But don’t let facts get in the way of a good cry for you.
Don't Tread
May 1st, 2012
12:27 pm
Pakistan wasn’t an “ally” at all – they let Bin Leaded take up residence in their country right next to a military installation. They knew exactly where he was and kept taking our aid money to boot.
@@
May 1st, 2012
12:28 pm
Some of Obama’s followers respond to his rhetoric.
The FBI has arrested a group of anarchists who allegedly plotted to use high-powered explosives to blow up a bridge near Cleveland, Ohio, and enlist homeless people to attack financial institutions in downtown Cleveland.
Wright, the alleged ringleader, had also discussed trying to recruit homeless people from shelters to carry out his plans to attack symbols of corporate and financial institutions.
According to the complaint, the FBI informant recorded numerous conversations with Wright in which he discussed the need to obtain explosive devices or make them using the book “The Anarchist Cookbook.”
Brandon Baxter allegedly told the informant that destroying a bridge would cause great financial harm.
“Taking out a Bridge in the business district would cost the … corporate big wigs a lot of money,” Baxter allegedly said.
Wright and Baxter also discussed trying to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland.
Maybe it’s Obama, who should tone it down?
schnirt
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:29 pm
LBB @ 12:20
Rafe Hollister
May 1st, 2012
12:29 pm
I don’t think Marxist like slogan of “Forward” will last much longer than “WTF”. It apparently is very hard to come up with a short slogan or phrase that will serve to shift the focus from your record and blame someone else for your lack of progress. You just have to be too verbose to express what Oblamer is trying to tell the American people. He needs concise way to say, “WE HAVE DONE LITTLE THAT WAS HELPFUL OR APPROVED OF BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, BUT THAT WAS GEORGE W BUSH’S FAULT AND THE FAULT OF THE RIGHT WING EXTREMIST HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
If your greatest accomplishment is that you had someone killed, it is hard to express that in a tactful, respectful fashion. He could use a slogan like “We do not torture, but we will blow your A&S to smithereens with a drone”.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:31 pm
I saw the report on CNN this morning about those people, @@.
First thing I thought of was that some Occupy nuts (a redundant term, I know) had escaped their grandmother’s basements.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:32 pm
willard is too weak on national security because he said it was not worth it to go after obl.
Fact.
You are going to lie all this cycle and the American people know it.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:33 pm
Where is the tea party ti?
Illegal Alien
May 1st, 2012
12:33 pm
Talk is cheap.
Romney can say he would have done the same thing as much as he wants. Hindsight is usually correct and easy to get on the right side.
Bottom line: Romney didn’t authorize the action and NOBODY knows for sure what he would have done. He doesn’t know either. That’s a decision made at the time with the information available.
Obama rolled the dice and won.
Mad Max
May 1st, 2012
12:36 pm
In order to move forward, you have to have a plan or a map so that you know where you are going and to be able to identify when things are moving off track. In running a large organization, that usually takes the form of an agreed upon budget. But the man who was going to bring us all together can’t even garner any votes for his budget in the House (it’s the only thing he has managed to get bi-partisan agreement on in his presidency)and his Democratic controlled Senate refuses to entertain even voting for a budget.So with no yardstick for measuring performance, we continue to move and spend, we just don’t really know where we are going. We do know it’s costing a whole bunch though. They may call it forward, I’d call it chasing your tail.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:37 pm
Hey, maybe FORWARD is a secret acronym for something like:
F-word
Over
Republicans,
Wall Street
And
Ruin
Democracy
Waddaya think?
Ayn Rand was right
May 1st, 2012
12:37 pm
Hey Sarah P., let’s play poker. I’ll play like a Republican you play like a Democrat. After I see your cards, and confirm that your words match your cards, I’ll play mine. Let’s see who wins.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:37 pm
Yeah, biden advised not to do it too.
biden and willard are wrong.
Our President will list his accomplishments whether you like it or not.
Love his new ad attacking robme on off shoring jobs and bank account.
Best ad this cycle.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 1st, 2012
12:38 pm
Real heroes, our Navy SEALS, are slamming Obozo for taking credit and politicizing bin Laden’s killing.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:38 pm
“willard is too weak on national security because he said it was not worth it to go after obl.
Fact.”
Fiction. Read my 8:27 for proof. But I warn you, the truth will hurt a lot.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:41 pm
ti,
Where are the tea party counter protests to fight for the 1 %?
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:42 pm
ti,
That story was a lie.
The Seals are not political silly.
Romney = Obama
May 1st, 2012
12:43 pm
Tiberius- I’m embarassed that we are both Republicans. Your comments and vitrolic tirades do a disservice to our party and what we stand for. I voted for and supported Santorum because I thought that he was authentic, unlike Romney, and I believe that he actually stands for something. Did he have flaws? Yes, but when compared to the other candidates running this election cycle, I could live with Santorum flaws. Romney is nothing more than a slick used car salesman trying to meet his monthly quota. We can do better than that. Romney is a Capitalist, not a Conservative. I personally believe that a person has a right to change their mind on an issue, but for someone like Mitt Romney to have changed his mind on so many issues tells me that he has no principles and will tell us anything to get our votes. Well, he will never get mine, I will vote 3rd Party before I’ll vote for Mitt Romney.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:44 pm
The aussie murdoch is not fit to run a corporation.
fox news is a joke and ti swallows every word of propaganda.
Reality and ti are not friends.
Mad Max
May 1st, 2012
12:47 pm
getalife – Biden is one heartbeat from the office….and your guy handpicked him; a political mouthpiece, a confessed plagerizer to sit there. Gives you some insight into Obama’s judgment.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:49 pm
max,
Did he shoot a lawyer in the face?
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:50 pm
Did he say deficits don’t matter?
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:51 pm
Did he legalize torture and invade a country that did not attack us?
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:51 pm
Come on max.
Lets play.
Illegal Alien
May 1st, 2012
12:53 pm
The people that need to be quiet are the: Navy SEALS.
As professional military men they should smile and remain silent.
Mad Max
May 1st, 2012
12:53 pm
Hate to break it to you but W is not the president any more. This is Obama’s presidency and his record.
Jefferson
May 1st, 2012
12:53 pm
The 1st thing Romney thinks about is profit, after that it is what should I think. Depending on who he needs will be an answer, and it will probably change.
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:53 pm
Didn’t think so.
You cons are going down.
Be better losers this time.
@@
May 1st, 2012
12:53 pm
If Obama really wanted to give us something, he’d ah let us see the look on Osama’s face when he knew he was about to die.
Maybe one day when he’s long gone (Obama, that is).
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:55 pm
@@,
I would love to see the video in the future.
Double tapped.
Mad Max
May 1st, 2012
12:56 pm
Getalife – invade a country that did not attack us?
yes
getalife
May 1st, 2012
12:57 pm
Max,
I use facts in my debate.
kyle does not.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 1st, 2012
12:57 pm
As professional military men they should smile and remain silent.
———
Too bad your Idiot Messiah won’t take that advice.
Common Sense
May 1st, 2012
12:57 pm
Very bold move to be in your face with the Forward slogan. Liberals will deny the meaning as they ridicule the conservatives for even thinking there is a connection.
If you have not studied the history of the socialist movement around the world, it’s time you started.
Anyone assuming this is an accident is ether naive or in denial. Nothing Obama has done to date has been an accident.
MarkV
May 1st, 2012
12:58 pm
Romney’s claim now that he would have made the same decision as Obama has a value of exactly zero. But his speaking from both side of his mouth in the 2007 campaign raises serious doubts about what he actually would have done. His statement that even Jimmy Carter would have made that decision was obnoxious and insulting.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 1st, 2012
12:58 pm
Libya attacked us?
Oopsies!
@@
May 1st, 2012
12:58 pm
Getalife:
The Seals are not political silly.
What about Admiral Mullen?
In a preview of a NBC Nightly News interview scheduled to air on Tuesday, former Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told Brian Williams that he worries “a great deal” about the politicization of the death of Osama bin Laden.
“Well, I worry about it, just because it’s the political season,” said Mullen. “And from my perspective, the president’s support, the decision that he made, and obviously, the result stand alone in terms of the kind of call presidents have to make and he made it. I do worry a great deal that this time of year that somehow this gets spun into election politics. I can assure you that those individuals who risk their lives–the last thing in the world that they want is to be spun into that. So I’m hoping that that doesn’t happen.”
Too late! Obama MADE it happen.
Tiberius - Banned from Bookman's and proud of it!
May 1st, 2012
12:59 pm
“Where are the tea party counter protests to fight for the 1 %?”
Well, since the Tea Party doesn’t break laws when they protest, nor espouse violence to further their agenda, I suspect they are sitting out today’s useless demonstrations and treating them as the irrelevant noisemakers they truly are.
Mad Max
May 1st, 2012
12:59 pm
As professional military men they should smile and remain silent.
and the President should have their back and not put them in jeopardy for some political soundbites on the news.
Lil' Barry Bailout (Revised Downward)
May 1st, 2012
1:00 pm
Romney’s claim now that he would have made the same decision as Obama has a value of exactly zero.
———
Kind of like Obozo’s claim that he would shut down Gitmo, from which we got the intel that led to Osama?
Rafe Hollister
May 1st, 2012
1:03 pm
I am beginning to like this “Forward” slogan, it just needs a little work.
Proletarians of the world, FORWARD!
FORWARD from the Constitution
FORWARD Comrade!
FORWARD, The Plantation awaits.
FORWARD to INSOLVENCY!
FORWARD from Prosperity!
I think I will have some bumper stickers printed up.
a dad
May 1st, 2012
1:09 pm
I have it on the best authority that Obama’s 2012 re-election slogan was either “Forward” or “No Child Left a Dime.” Guess he went with the shortest one cause most liberals are educational challenged.
As for anyone who thinks that this administration “got” OBL, you obviously know nothing about the SEALS specifically, or our military in general.