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Subscribe to RSSPresident Barack Obama calls the attacks on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice "politically motivated" and says they are unacceptable.
President Barack Obama on Sunday called security issues that led to the deaths of four Americans in the Benghazi consulate attack "a huge problem," although he continued to defend U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice as a victim of political scapegoating by Republicans who have suggested an administration coverup of the situation.
"We're not going to be defensive about it," Obama said of the State Department review of the attacks during an exclusive interview on NBC's Meet the Press. "We're not going to pretend that this was not a problem. This was a huge problem. And we're going to implement every single recommendation that's been put forward."
Saying that some State Department officials "have been held accountable," Obama said that the review of the September 11 attack showed there was "sloppiness" in terms of security measures but that mistakes were not intentional.
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, President Barack Obama tells David Gregory he's optimistic the fiscal cliff can be averted, lays out the goals for his second term, and also discusses the Benghazi attack and how it was handled by the administration and those on Capitol Hill.
But he defended U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who withdrew from consideration to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after Republicans vigorously opposed her for her role in discussing the attacks after the raid.
"She appeared on a number of television shows reporting what she and we understood to be the best information at the time," Obama said. "This was a politically motivated attack on her. I mean, of all the people in my national security team, she probably had the least to do with anything that happened in Benghazi."
Obama indicated that intelligence officials have "good leads" as to who carried out the attack.
"With respect to who carried it out, that's an ongoing investigation," he said. "The F.B.I. has sent individuals to Libya repeatedly. We have some very good leads, but this is not something that I'm going to be at liberty to talk about right now."
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All this with minimal concerns for the deficits and
unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer. A
grand, but never mentioned, bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept
secret that keeps the spending going. One side doesn’t give up one penny on
military spending, the other side doesn’t give up one penny on welfare
spending, while both sides support the bailouts and subsidies for the banking
and corporate elite. And the spending continues as the economy weakens and the
downward spiral continues. As the government continues fiddling around, our
liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes us
less safe.
The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is
the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke. This has made
compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side
has any intention of cutting spending.
The country and the Congress will remain divisive since
there’s no “loot left to divvy up.”
Without this recognition the spenders in Washington will
continue the march toward a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one anticipated
this coming January.
I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in
liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its
benefits. If liberty is what we claim it is- the principle that protects all
personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and
the best chance for peace- it should be an easy sell. Yet, history has shown
that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians
which are rarely if ever fulfilled.
Authoritarianism vs. Liberty
Whenever President Obama speaks he makes Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon sound sound like Honest men.
@Compromise - The truest thing I've heard spoken in a long time. Why do his followers refuse to acknowledge this? I really don't get it. It is not a false accusation as it has proven time and again to be a true fact.
If authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less
freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests, the
people should be begging for liberty. There certainly was a strong enough
sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who
were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British
government.
I have a few thoughts as to why the people of a country
like ours, once the freest and most prosperous, allowed the conditions to
deteriorate to the degree that they have.
Freedom, private property, and enforceable voluntary
contracts, generate wealth. In our early history we were very much aware of
this. But in the early part of the 20th century our politicians
promoted the notion that the tax and monetary systems had to change if we were
to involve ourselves in excessive domestic and military spending. That is why
Congress gave us the Federal Reserve and the income tax. The majority of
Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty
was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be “progressive” ideas. Pure
democracy became UNacceptable.
They failed to recognized that what they were doing was
exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke away from
the British.
Some complain that my arguments makes no sense, since
great wealth and the standard of living improved for many Americans over the
last 100 years, even with these new policies.
But the damage to the market economy, and the currency,
has been insidious and steady. It took a long time to consume our wealth,
destroy the currency and undermine productivity and get our financial
obligations to a point of no return. Confidence sometimes lasts longer than
deserved. Most of our wealth today depends on debt.
The wealth that we enjoyed and seemed to be endless,
allowed concern for the principle of a free society to be neglected. As long as
most people believed the material abundance would last forever, worrying about
protecting a competitive productive economy and individual liberty seemed
unnecessary.
This neglect ushered in an age of redistribution of
wealth by government kowtowing to any and all special interests, except for
those who just wanted to be left alone. That is why today money in politics far
surpasses money currently going into research and development and productive
entrepreneurial efforts.
The material benefits became more important than the
understanding and promoting the principles of liberty and a free market. It is
good that material abundance is a result of liberty but if materialism is all
that we care about, problems are guaranteed.
Each and every one of us is guilty of letting them and the media misdirect our attentions from the real issue here! They all are covering up the real peoblem by bickering about what lies who told! And there were lies told... My number one question is "what are we doing about the attack that killed 4 U.S. citizens????" It seems that no one wants to eake some initiative and do "something" about American lives that were lost! Why?
The crisis arrived because the illusion that wealth and
prosperity would last forever has ended. Since it was based on debt and a
pretense that debt can be papered over by an out-of-control fiat monetary
system, it was doomed to fail. We have ended up with a system that doesn’t
produce enough even to finance the debt and no fundamental understanding of why
a free society is crucial to reversing these trends.
To: Robert Klein..David .....PK....Alan...I agree with your posts...Do any of you believe the Bush-911 conspiracy..thank you for response....whatever it is
If this is not recognized, the recovery will linger for a
long time. Bigger government, more spending, more debt, more poverty for the
middle class, and a more intense scramble by the elite special interests will
continue.
Without an intellectual awakening, the turning point will
be driven by economic law. A dollar crisis will bring the current
out-of-control system to its knees.
If it’s not accepted that big government, fiat money,
ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused
our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism
and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties. Prosperity for a large
middle class though will become an abstract dream.
This continuous move is no different than what we have
seen in how our financial crisis of 2008 was handled. Congress first directed,
with bipartisan support, bailouts for the wealthy. Then it was the Federal
Reserve with its endless quantitative easing. If at first it doesn’t succeed
try again; QE1, QE2, and QE3 and with no results we try QE indefinitely—that is
until it too fails. There’s a cost to all of this and let me assure you
delaying the payment is no longer an option. The rules of the market will
extract its pound of flesh and it won’t be pretty.
The current crisis elicits a lot of pessimism. And the
pessimism adds to less confidence in the future. The two feed on themselves,
making our situation worse.
If the underlying cause of the crisis is not understood
we cannot solve our problems. The issues of warfare, welfare, deficits,
inflationism, corporatism, bailouts and authoritarianism cannot be ignored. By
only expanding these policies we cannot expect good results.
Everyone claims support for freedom. But too often it’s
for one’s own freedom and not for others. Too many believe that there must be
limits on freedom. They argue that freedom must be directed and managed to
achieve fairness and equality thus making it acceptable to curtail, through
force, certain liberties.
Some decide what and whose freedoms are to be limited.
These are the politicians whose goal in life is power. Their success depends on
gaining support from special interests.
The great news is the answer is not to be found in more
“isms.” The answers are to be found in more liberty which cost so much less.
Under these circumstances spending goes down, wealth production goes up, and
the quality of life improves.
Just this recognition—especially if we move in this
direction—increases optimism which in itself is beneficial. The follow through
with sound policies are required which must be understood and supported by the
people.
But there is good evidence that the generation coming of
age at the present time is supportive of moving in the direction of more
liberty and self-reliance. The more this change in direction and the solutions
become known, the quicker will be the return of optimism.
Our job, for those of us who believe that a different
system than the one that we have had for the last 100 years, has driven us to
this unsustainable crisis, is to be more convincing that there is a wonderful,
uncomplicated, and moral system that provides the answers. We had a taste of it
in our early history. We need not give up on the notion of advancing this
cause.
It worked, but we allowed our leaders to concentrate on
the material abundance that freedom generates, while ignoring freedom itself.
Now we have neither, but the door is open, out of necessity, for an answer. The
answer available is based on the Constitution, individual liberty and
prohibiting the use of government force to provide privileges and benefits to
all special interests.
Mickey(mouse), oh wouldn't you obamaliar sheeples just love to make that happen. Yes, just sweep it under the rug and put it to bed. NOT! I wouldn't call a barely won election a victory. Just as many or more voted republicans into/back into office. The majority of citizens voted for the republican ideals, and those who didn't will be whining and crying in the near future when he can't get anything done because he stole the election with his Benghazi coverup and he knows it. Had the truth been told from the very beginning he would NEVER have been reelected and everybody knows it. And when the truth comes out you will all be whining and crying that it is the republicans fault for exposing him to be the liar, crook, racist thug he is.
nanaspj,
"And when the truth comes out you will all be whining and crying that it is the republicans fault for exposing him to be the liar, crook, racist thug he is."
Sounds to me like you are the one who is whining and crying. And, by the way, your response is on the wrong page. Try page 1.
Mickey - Typical response. When you know that what is being said is true accuse the commenter of being a whiner. Really? Is that the best you can come up with? I have nothing to be whining and crying about because I put the truth out there, straight up. How about a civilized discussion on the topic?
And I don't give a rats a$$ what page my comment winds up on. I clearly copied your comment so it leaves no question of the post I was refering to. Again, REALLY? Is that the best you can come up with? When you know you are wrong and someone else is right do as obamaliar does - attack. LOL you show your own ineptitude when you cannot respond without showing yourself to be the sheeple you are. And you ignorance is only highlighted more each time you reply with an attack rather than an educated thought.
nanaspj,
"I clearly copied your comment"
Clearly, but not correctly. None of my comments has been "collapsed by the community" as your post indicates. I thought you were big on telling the truth. That does not seem to be the case.
Mickey - the "comments collapsed by the community" showed up after I made my initial response. I quoted exactly what you wrote. Why would I ask a comment to be collapsed that I am discussing? Not really the brightest bulb, are you?
"Not really the brightest bulb, are you?"
At least I don't vote for myself nor do I post misleading posts.
After over 100 years we face a society quite different
from the one that was intended by the Founders. In many ways their efforts to
protect future generations with the Constitution from this danger has failed.
Skeptics, at the time the Constitution was written in 1787, warned us of
today’s possible outcome. The insidious nature of the erosion of our liberties
and the reassurance our great abundance gave us, allowed the process to evolve
into the dangerous period in which we now live.