To the Editor:
In their letter entitled “Can it Get Worse” (CentreView, Oct. 4), Paul and Orene Blum ask a very simple question: “It just can’t get any worse than this … can it?” — referring to President Obama’s actions following the horrific attacks on the American embassy in Libya. My answer to that question is simple — Yes, if Mitt Romney is the next President of the United States it would get much worse.
First the Blums criticize the President for not immediately declaring the incident a terrorist attack. Apparently, rather than take some time to make sure he has an accurate accounting of what occurred as we should expect from a Commander in Chief, they prefer the “ready, shoot, aim” method employed by Mitt Romney, who issued a statement, while the crisis was still unfolding, falsely criticizing the President for sympathizing with terrorists solely based on statements made by American personnel in the American embassy in Egypt who were trying to diffuse a situation that was threatening their lives. As has become his habit, Romney didn’t let the actual facts or the consequences of his actions get in the way of a juicy political attack.
In fact the FBI was investigating the nature of the attack within 48 hours, and by Sept 19 had determined that the attacks were indeed an act of terrorism. And, speaking from the White House the day after the attack President Obama said, “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the
light of the values that we stand for. Today we mourn four more Americans who represent the very best of the United States of America. We will not waver in our commitment to see that justice is done for this terrible act. And make no mistake, justice will be done.”
All of this was widely reported by the media contrary to the Blums’ assertion of a media cover-up.
Second they criticize the President for making a campaign appearance the day after the attacks; they can “only imagine how the families of the victims felt as they watched our Commander in Chief jet off to Las Vegas for a campaign event within hours of the attack.” All they can do is imagine; the victim’s families have not criticized the President
for keeping his campaign commitment, and the President spoke very movingly about their sacrifice. But, let me do some imagining of my own. I wonder how those families felt when they heard the embassies where their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers were stationed had
been the subject of an attack, and the first words out of the mouth of a man running for President was not to criticize those that actually did the attacking, but instead, for purely political reasons, to attack the President of the United States? Talk about using American deaths as campaign fodder!
As his behavior during this crisis shows, Mitt Romney obviously does not have a close, working relationship with the truth. All thinking Americans should be embarrassed that the party of Abraham Lincoln has nominated a man this devoid of qualifications, of honesty, and good
judgment, for President of the United States.
Jim Daniels
Centreville