Obama In Denial, (But Not Yet the Nile)

Posted: September 15, 2012 in Contributors, Humor, Political Opinion
Tags: Al-Qaeda, Egypt, Google, Hillary Clinton, Innocence of Muslims, Libya, YouTube

In case you haven’t noticed, the White House approached YouTube about removing a trailer for the dorky film “Innocence of Muslims” from its site. The White House asked YouTube, which is owned by Google, to “review whether it violates their terms of service.”

Both YouTube and Google replied that it does not violate their terms of service. However, access to the trailer is being limited in Libya, Egypt and some other Muslim countries. The White House insists, against much evidence to the contrary, that the film touched off the deadly riots not only in Libya and Egypt, but also, as I write, some 19 other nations. YouTube pointed out that even if the trailer were removed from its site, it would make little difference, because it has become available on countless other Internet sites.

I took a peek at the trailer, as a service to you, my gentle readers, so that you wouldn’t have to sully yourselves. Just between us, I would rather have spent the time looking at topless photos of Kate Middleton that were recently published in a French (of course) magazine, but duty trumps decadence.

The trailer is off-the-wall ridiculous, about as bad as filmmaking ever gets – with the possible exception of Ed Wood’s 1959 masterpiece, “Plan 9 from Outer Space.”

To be honest, I couldn’t stomach the whole trailer, not even a significant portion of it, so you, gentle readers, will have to fend for yourselves after all. Meanwhile, I am scouring the foreign-magazine section of the public library.

In addition to muscling YouTube, the White House has launched an investigation of the alleged mastermind/genius behind “Innocence of Muslims,” a Coptic Christian and ex-white-collar criminal named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. They are hoping that he may have violated his probation in making the film.

Somehow this seems unsporting. If making a lousy film can land you in jail, the Beverly Hills hoosegow would be jam full by now.

Come on, Obama, Hillary and the rest of you, let’s keep our eyes on the ball. This film isn’t the reason for the riots. Rioters who were interviewed by brave, intrepid reporters didn’t know bupkes about “Innocence of Muslims.”

“That’s a load of mishegass,” said one rioter. (OK, just kidding.)

The riots give every sign of being an Al-Qaeda hit, timed to the U.S. commemoration of 9/11. The rioters have raised black, Al-Qaeda-style banners to replace the American flags they have torn down and burned. They have shouted: “We are all Osamas, Obama!” This is not the sort of thing that film critics say.

Obama, Hillary and the rest of them just can’t admit that their touchy-feely Arab Spring/Muslim Outreach approach to world affairs has failed. They have bleeped up.

Let’s celebrate freedom of speech in America, but let’s also strong-arm Internet sites and throw the dumbass filmmaker back in the can (pun intended).

Take that trailer off the Internet and all the rioters will cheerfully disperse and return to their tents. Yeah, right!

You may not be seeing or hearing the following words in the future, especially if Barack is re-elected, so let me set them down for posterity:

“Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave, O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Author Bio:

Arthur Louis spent more than forty years as a print journalist, with the Philadelphia Inquirer, McGraw-Hill, Fortune magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle, but he is not asking for sympathy. He is the author of two non-fiction books: The Tycoons, and Journalism and Other Atrocities, as well as a novel, The Little Champ. In retirement, he has decided unilaterally that he is a profound political pundit.
Author website: http://bernardgoldberg.com

Drew Page

The homemade video must be the reason for all the riots in the Middle East. Because if the video isn’t the reason for the burning of our embassies and consulates and the murders of our ambassador to Lybia and several other Americans, then it must have something to do with our foreign policy in that region.

Is it possible that Al Quaeda might be less than pleased about the taking out of Bin Laden and the recent drone killing of their #2 leader? Could it have something to do with the Democrats recently re-admitting the plank in their party platform that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Isreal? Could it be that the Muslim world sees the estrangement between the U.S. and Isreal as American weariness of supporting Isreal and the reluctance to confront Iran? And is there an outside chance that the timing of these attacks (9/11) on American embassies throughout the Middle East were aimed at reinforcing the idea that America is not beyond the reach of Al Quaeda? Nah, all this is probably just a coincidence.
- asl3676
  
  Drew,
  
  You seem to be a charter member of The Grand Old Straight White Men’s Party………
DeeBar

Shane , So you are saying that Obama failed in his mid east affairs ? I don’t agree , in fact he has done what he wanted . Do you actually believe that he wants peace ? WW3 will achieve his dreams and that of the bankers . It’s about time folks start thinking out of the box . NOTHING “is” what it seems !
JCSahyan

When Tim McVey was arrested, he declared “I am an atheist! Science is my relgion!” Guess you’d better scratch that one off your list, hmm? If he’d been relgious at before OK City…who can possibly know whether it would ever have happened at all? By the way, when Christians do bad things, they are being bad Christians; when mohammedans do stupid, barbaric, savagely murderous things, they are simply obeying what the drug-addled, power-crazed, pedophile supposedly said. There is not a word in the New Testament commanding, or even allowing, violence against others simply because they aren’t Christian; the koran, well…not quite the same.
- James King
  
  All religion is phony. That does not mean all people involved in religion are phony, though a great many are. The New Testament is different from the Old, so are you saying the Old Testament is no good, or something like that?
  
  There are power-crazed people everywhere, and though I can’t cite imperical evidence, I would bet that a large percentage of those power-crazed people are Christians, and they also do a lot of savage, murderous things. If you deny this you deny reality, though that is what religion is about, denying reality.
  
  And here is an irony. In a crossword puzzle this morning was the clue, “where is knowledge prohibited” and the answer was in Eden. Now that is an issue that would take a lot of words to get in to.
  
  I understand that my words and thoughts are offensive to a great many people. But America is saddled with ill-informed people who also vote, many of which I declare caused us to have a committed Communist in the Oval Office.
  
  Unlike many, many atheist’s, I am not a liberal. I am an Objectivist libertarian, and I recognize what a lot of people do not about politics and about the religions of the world.
  
  You really can find well-written and easy to understand ideas about the existence of God at the web site I previously wrote. They are not my words. I need more words than the writer of that site, but it is easy to understand and presented fully without any agenda except to inform.
  
  I say that belief in God is to deny reality. The entire premise is absurd. But people are taught these things by the people who they are closest to them, their parents, so it is difficult to believe they would lie. Except, when you get down to it, parents lie to their children constantly, starting with Santa and the Tooth Fairy and sex and where babies come from.
  
  America is in trouble in large part because of religion. I also noted that you did not try to refute what I said about the Bible supporting murder, etc., and I assume you know that is true. So, from my perspective, the Bible is a book composed of the Old and the New, and that people who believe this fiction believe in both. Or is the belief based on some parts and not on others?
  
  And I know it matters not what I think about any of this, because I have no invfluence over anyone. I just stated what I believe, and Tim McVey was no atheist. Look into his background and you will find religion. Also, the prisons are filled with people who believe or who find Jesus, etc. You apparently believe in one part of the Bible and not the other. Okay. I don’t believe in any of it. Show me some evidence. You can’t.
  - JCSahyan
    
    You beg the question…which is to say you presume your conclusion. “All religion is phony.” You state that *opinion* as a fact…and then you (if I may use the term) build a cathedral on that “fact.” It’s an opinion not shared by most folks – and not only most folks on here. It might be true…or might not. It’s simply impossible to prove or disprove the existence of God. It happens I find more convincing the arguments *for* the Divinity.
    Let me put it this way: God exists. (If you can assert opinion as fact, I thought I’d try it your way.) There is no point in arguing that religion is responsible for good – or evil. It’s either true or not true, and since we can’t establish which with certainty, the argument is a foolish one. I simply pointed out that McVey was an atheist when he was involved with blowing up the OK City government building. That, too, is a fact. If he’d been relgious, well…all we can know is that, if circumstances were different, circumstances would be different.
    (Just by the way, you talk of a committed Communist – and I note the initial cap on “Communist. Atheism is an article of faith in every communist tyrant I can think of…as it was for Marx. As the kids today put it, “I’m just sayin’”.)
    - James King
      
      The only moral system of government and finance is laissez faire (let it be free), never anything else, let alone communism. You are blinded by what mommie & daddy taught you or you learned in school, that all atheist’s are communist’s. They are not. I will admit that most of them are liberal. I am not. I am an Objectivist which means in the end, I am more conservative than any current pol and more liberal than any current pol.
      
      You also ignore a very well-written web site that I referred you to that has 50 “proofs” that God is completely imaginary. Go to it and read.
      
      One of my best friends is extremely religious and used to forcely sing and sing in church until a medical condition stopped it. He is also gay. He has been a valued friend for more than 40-years and supports Obama. I do not. I support Gary Johnson, and don’t give me the response that a vove for him is a vote for BO. A vote for GJ is only a vote for GJ. It is a vote FOR a candidate, not AGAINST a candidate.
      
      The only arguments for a divinity lie in the minds of people, not in fact. That is what I believe. What are your facts? There are plenty of facts in evidence. You have no evidence. There has never been one and never will be one. This is why the word faith is used, which means, belief without evidence. That has always confused me that people with such a phenomal possession as a human brain would delude themselves into believing something without evidence.
      
      Not my brain, pal.
Artlouis

James, if you think that there is not a god, you have to ask yourself where the idea came from. Could have been implanted by a god that works in mysterious ways and is too much for human minds to fully comprehend. Or, as you suggest, it could be a mass delusion.

Nobody has ever proved either that there is or is not a god. I don’t think this will happen in our lifetimes. Until it happens, perhaps the only sensible thing to be is openminded.
- James King
  
  As I said in my post, go to, http://www.godisimaginary.com and you will be able to read simple statements that easily prove there is no god.
James King

That figures. My comment must be approved. How’s that for free speech?
- Artlouis
  
  James, don’t know what you mean.
  - James King
    
    It had to do with a long post from an admitted atheist, need I say more. Or maybe it was the f-word.
- http://profiles.google.com/dehavilland Perry de Havilland
  
  You seem confused.
  
  This blog is private property, so no, you most certainly do *not* have any right to ‘free speech’ here.
  
  The fact the comments are open to the public does not mean the comments are *owned* by the public… they are owned by Bernard Goldberg or whoever supports him by providing the resources to run it and every pixel you type here gets published at his (or there) sufferance, not by any imaginary ‘right to free speech’ of yours: you don’t pay for the server space, he does, so the rights at question here are not those of ‘free speech’ but rather ‘private property’.
  
  You are a guest, nothing more. Don’t like what you type being at the sufferance of someone else? Easy to fix that: get your credit card out, rent some hosting space, set up your own blog and run it however the hell you see fit. It really isn’t very expensive at all.
  
  THAT is you exercising your right to free speech, not posting a comment on someone else’s property.
James King

First things first, I am a proud atheist. It has been sixty-years since I made that decision at the age of 10.

Throughout the ages there have been many, many acts of violence conducted by people who claim allegiance to a religion with the basis for it being a belief in some great supernatural being that many call God. God can be disproved in many, many ways, just using the Bible as the source of proof, even though it is nothing more than a gigantic novel. And here’s a tip. Go to http://www.godisimaginary for a long list of easy to understand statements that God exists only in the minds of billions of people, and let me add that that amount of people does not make it so.

At any rate, religions of all kinds use many things to incite their followers. Now, I know, that Christians are not usually rioting in the public square. I can’t remember ever seeing that. But some of them frequently do violent things, from killing many people in a building in Oklahoma to even worse acts such as killing minds with false drivel.

Of course, simply because of their numbers, the most immoral of these groups (I consider it to be immoral to teach people something as fact when it is fiction) are Catholics and Muslims. Of these two, the Muslims are by far more ignorant and violent and of that there can be no debate. But because they have been taught that fiction is truth, along with their lack of even moderate learning, Muslims that are currently doing the violent things in the Middle East are easily the more immoral of the two.

I have even heard some intelligent Muslims railing against those in Egypt and elsewhere. I also concede that generally speaking, religious people do not commit riots and crime. Except of course the teaching that fiction is fact. But the greatest cause of the Egypt riots is American presence in Muslim and other countries around the world in grossly unconstitutional practices.

Our presence in the Middle East caused 9/11. It was the only cause. If they are left alone from American politicians and what they cause to happen around the world, they will more than likely be peaceful, except for the violent Muslim politicians.

I am not blaming America. I am certain American’s in general would want our politicians and troops to stay out of the Middle East. I am blaming politicians, who, generally, do everything they do as they see it at the time for only one purpose, and that is to be elected to some office where they can enrich themselves with power and money, and fuck the Constitution, which means nothing to them even if they carry around a pocket size reproduction.

I am one who believes that without religion and unconstitutional-acting American politician’s, America would be in great shape today, and thus, so would the world. If I have offended anyone, I am glad. You people need to be offended on a regular basis, to try and help you re-aquire, if that’s such a word, your objective brain.

And in that regard, nearly all of you who do not read The Objective Standard need to read it. Go there today and look around. Do it a lot. Take out a subscription, and I am not involved with them in any way except as a subscriber. All of you need a good dose of Ayn Rand, and you need it on a regular basis.

Pull out your old copies of Atlas Shrugged and read it again, only more carefully. What she wrote of is happening all around you and with your blessing because of your support of the Republican and Democrat Parties. If anyone wants to know what I support, or cares to know having read this far, I am an Objectivist libertarian and will vote for Gary Johnson, the only candidate who will obey the Constitution and balance the budget in his first term. Of course he will not win, but he would do that if he were.

But religious violence will continue. I believe one of the reasons it will continue, and one of the reasons more and more people are dropping out of that immoral classification is because they know it is complete B.S., if only in a visceral way. I know there are many, many people who believe it to their core, but I think that even they know that even Mother Teresa was right with she said it is all bunk. She did. Maybe not the word bunk, but she did say it is not true.

The Bible is the perfect place to begin to see some of these things if only people would actually read it. They would find that it supports slavery, murder, etc. and even orders, in the case of Moses to murder those Israelites who made the Golden Calf, and this was immediately after handing down orders against murder.

So anyway, no one is going to listen to me. Things would be much better in the world if they did.
KansasGirl

This marxist administration has no intention of backing down.

Having been exposed…they have no choice.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YMJUHF4UNZWSLIDRXPSSTOHA3Q Shane

Obama’s policy of apologizing to Muslims has failed. Muslims respect only strength and Obama is weak. We need a strong President who will stand up for American’s freedom of speech; that person in not Barack Obama.
joer1

Apparently, everyone in the world knows this YouTube video is being used as a pretext for a violent terrorist attack on the United States…… except that is, the American Media. & the Obama Administration.
Questions:
1. Why was the Embassy in Libya unguarded given the 9/11 intel? Why did the Egyptians fail to defend our Embassy in Cairo?
2. What are we apologizing for?
3. Has the “reset” policy in the Middle East failed?
4. Do we support Israel or not?
5. Who is the Muslim Brotherhood? and do we support them?
6. Is Egypt an ally or not?
7. Have we learned anything from the Iran Hostage situation? Will we continue to appease or will we show strength?
8. What are we going to do to stop the Iranian nuclear program?
9 Why does our President not attend National Security Briefings? Does he prefer to “sleep in” ?
10. What is the Foreign Policy of the U.S. ?

Where is the American Media?
- Artlouis
  
  All excellent questions, but don’t expect answers from the people in charge.
bonaparte3

So an American ambassador and three other diplomatic personnel are murdered and the president reacts…by making a campaign stop in Las Vegas? This is high time for leadership but the president would rather appease our enemies than meet the first requirement of the commander-in-chief: to protect American citizens from harm. It’s time for realpolitik: we may not be at war with Islam but Islam is sure as hell at war with us.
- Artlouis
  
  Thanks, bonaparte. Couldn’t agree more.
Montana

Okay Bernie! Quit attacking and sullying (is that even a word??) the good name of Ed Wood and his Masterpiece “Plan 9 From Outer Space”! A better piece of tripe will never happen- as Plan 9 is easily the WORST moovie of all time! ; )

Poor Obama- grasping at straws, or strawmen as it were. Just trying to get a grip on the reality he created in the vacuum that is- The Middle East. These people do not wish for freedom of democracy- they want power- and so far- the extremists are winning.

The losers? The rest of the world…
- Artlouis
  
  Montana, Don’t blame Bernie. I am the culprit who attacked Ed Wood. Amen to the rest of what you said.
venter

Great read. You got it soooooooooooo right Listening to Obama and Hillary on Friday was sick!
They want us to believe that someone in Eygpt got up on 9/11 before they fed their children and camels, they turned on their computer and went on U-tube . Found this film? They were so upset they downloaded the U-tube film e-mailed it all their family and friends. Is this what we are to believe?
The poor hard working people in the middle east are being blamed! Not Terrorists no no no! What is missing here? What is not being told? AND we better watch out for our FREEDOM OF SPEECH!

As a side note… Ms. Fluke you are needed over there, have you SEEN any women? Ohhhhhhhhhhhh they were on the other SIDE of town rioting for free birth control.
- Artlouis
  
  Thanks, venter. Enjoyed the humor.
- Drew Page
  
  Venter – don’t you remember, there is no such thing as “terrorism” only man made disasters. Because if there were such a thing as ”terrorism”, ipso facto there would have to be “terrorists” and we know such things do not exist because our president told us so. Jan Napolitano also confimed this. She also told us the people who really need to be watched are returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, NRA members and Tea Party supporters.
waterlylies84

Well what can you say, after all, Jews and Christians are insulted every day and they riot in the streets and against other countries embassies…oh wait no they DO NOT! Neither do Buddhist’s or Hindu’s, though both countries of origin of these two religions are apt to imprison Christians. The rioting religionists are most often Islamic. Right now, I think the current rioters are being used for more nefarious opportunities.
- Artlouis
  
  Well said. I am beginning to wonder whether religion is a blessing.
  - waterlylies84
    
    *Religion* isn’t really the problem, though some religions are inherently dangerous (Islam following Sura 9 or the verse of the sword is dangerous). I would say that religion can give us guidance to a better life.
    - Artlouis
      
      Fair enough.
Roadmaster

So when is the WH and DOJ going to go after Bill Maher for his movie, “Religiousity?” The last 20 minutes of which was a no holds barred screed against Islam.
- Artlouis
  
  And then give him back his $1 million PAC contribution, as a matter of principle. Actually, sounds like the movie might be worth seeing.
Pk4333

great column, Arthur…….can I help you out with translating some of the Yiddish for those who are missing out on all the fun? Lol……Your column is right on the money!!
- Artlouis
  
  Thanks! Having the terrorists speak Yiddish was an inspiration that hit me suddenly as I was writing. It wasn’t preplanned, unlike the attacks.
bbf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HLXNC46Xw

Published on Sep 12, 2012 by TheAlexJonesChannel

While the establishment media has
engaged in a concerted effort to bury the fact that
today’s attack on a U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was carried
out by the same extremists the U.S. armed during the
overthrow of Colonel Gaddafi, Libya’s Ambassador to
Washington Ali Aujali launched his own lame attempt to
shift the blame, ludicrously pointing the finger at
Gaddafi loyalists.

“We know that Qaddafi’s associates are in Libya. Of
course, they took this chance to infiltrate among the
people,” Aujali said in today in an interview.

“His claim contradicts most reports, which place the blame
on radical Islamist groups that claimed to be reacting to
an obscure American film they viewed as insulting to
Islam. Aujali said that the Libyan government has
intelligence that unspecified Qaddafi forces were
involved,” reports Foreign Policy.

For Aujiali to claim that the attack, which took place in
the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, was the work of Gaddafi
loyalists, is a plainly absurd trick to manipulate the
narrative behind the incident in a desperate bid to save
face.

As Tony Cartalucci points out, the media’s failure to
admit that the terrorists behind the attack are the same
gangs of thugs armed and empowered by NATO represents “an
attempt by the West to reestablish the perception that the
US and Israel are at war with sectarian extremists, not
partnered with them.”
- Artlouis
  
  Excellent analysis.
Iklwa

First, let me thank you for pre and reviewing the trailer for me while I spent valuable time searching for Katie’s photos. There is no doubt that after reading your missive, my time was much better spent than yours.

If anyone believes that all of this is coincidence (the murder and destruction) occurring on 9/11 and the film having premiered back in June, I suggest they have budding career opportunities within our PR and State Departments.

The question that continues to nag at me is: Where are all the dead bodies of the rioters?

Each of our embassies is constructed to be a stronghold in an inhospitable land. Marines…armed Marines (God Bless The Corps…not corpse) are prepared and trained to repel borders. When I hear the question asked on TV “What should our response have been when the mob approached?” I shout at the tube, The response should have been to break out the 50 calibers! There should have been mounds of corpses (please note the correct use of the word) surrounding the embassy walls. The way I hear it, nary a shot was fired by our side.

Is the mob really responsible for the murders and destruction?
YES.
Are we responsible for not sending truck loads of terrorists to meet Allah and allowing this travesty to take place?
YES.

Let’s imagine the shoe on the other foot and all of this had transpired during the Bush administration.
What would the democrats and the liberal media be saying about President Bush’s foreign policies?
- Artlouis
  
  Think of all those poor terrorists who thought they were going to meet the heavenly virgins, and instead have to go back and oppress their wives.
- Larry B
  
  The idea that US Marine embassy guards would actually be called upon to defend our embassies and consulates against bloody mobs is so 19th century. This “policy” of unilateral disarmament goes back many years; at least the Marines in combat areas have the ability to shoot back .
  - Iklwa
    
    Another question that continues to nag:
    
    I believe the White House is also defended by the Marines. If an angry, bloodthirsty mob were attacking the White House with the President and family ensconced, can we imagine those guards being told to hold their fire when the barbarians breached the wall?
    
    In classic liberal fashion, they would on the one hand sacrifice the lives of others in a distant land but when push came to shove, they would not hesitate for a moment using deadly force to protect their own lives (i.e. Rosie O’Donnell).
    - Drew Page
      
      Do you think that the Secret Service detail assigned to guard the President and his family are ordered to keep their weapons unloaded? If I were a Marine stationed to guard an embassy in the Middle East, I might disobey an order to keep my rifle unloaded.
MichealTurner

As far as cinematic quality goes, that video is on par with Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Of course, Obama would have known that the video didn’t spark these violent assaults if he attended his daily intellegence briefings.
- asl3676
  
  Rick Santorum on Being Conservative: ‘We Will Never Have the Elite, Smart People on Our Side’…….This sums it up perfectly..
  - Drew Page
    
    You really enjoy being the turd in the punchbowl, don’t you, asl?
- Artlouis
  
  It’s ironic that the Dems were going on before this year’s 9/11 anniversary about how Bush didn’t pay enough attention to his briefings.
- Larry B
  
  MST3K should be re-constituted to do a special treatment of this video masterpiece. Of course, their previous efforts did not occasion bloody riots and mass murder, but there’s always a first time!
http://shawmut.blogspot.com/ Dave O’Connor

Let’s not shy away from the Islamic reality now. Just looking at Sudan. This is an
example of a country that has determined itself to be so Islamic, that it is
now a Holy Muslim land. Not unlike the
Sharia governed Saudi Arabia.
This is not something novel. Read what Muslims have written. It seems to be something that the “Orator of Cairo” and his scribes, lectors and ammenuenses have failed to do.
Though
there are other mostly Muslim states, they still maintain a semblance of
secularism.This stand by Sudan accentuates for the West just how
serious they are, and how vicious they will be; not allowing other nations to
safe-guard their own interests – even within diplomatic protocols.As we watch this play out, watch for the ‘fifth-column’
elements, here at home and abroad political to be at work while this frenzy
endures.
Remember, this is the man who claimed that he could understand and negotiate with ‘intimate knowledge and experience’ the spirit of the Muslim world. This is the “Orator of Cairo”, who as, incidently, a Nobel and Darwin Prizes winner, President of the United States has a disproportionate number of Muslim appointees in the White House than ever before. (Disproportiate as <1% US Population).
We might just as well be in 'da'Nile' as in denail. For the Muslim Brotherhood of 'daNile' has flowed into our Potomac.
- Artlouis
  
  It is scary as hell, and Obama isn’t big enough to deal with it.
Tbolt64

Obama/Biden middle east policy reminds me of a Cheech, and Chong movie.
- Artlouis
  
  I never liked Cheech and Chong, and now I know why.