and you shouldn't either.
Quick run-down of FACTS:
US Embassy in Cairo releases statement distancing US from the film in question.
Hours later, protests devolve into attacks.
While attacks are ongoing, and a US ambassador is being killed, the Republican nominee for president characterizes the Embassy's statement as an "apology" from the president, though 1) the statement was made hours before the protests happened, 2) the statement was meant to minimize the protests, not "apologize" for the film, and 3) the Embassy made the statement without input from the White House, as the forum on which the statement was released had also served as a medium of communication between the US Embassy and Egyptian critics of American policies for months.
Further, notwithstanding the preceding facts, the Republican nominee for president and the chairman of the Republican National Committee states unequivocally that President Obama has "sympathy for those who attacked us."
The Republican nominee for president, together with his campaign, after having had several hours to do even minimal investigation on the timeline of the Embassy statement, repeats his allegations against the president this morning.
Eventually, the Republican vice-presidential nominee says that "weakness" created by President Obama's foreign policy led to the attacks against the embassy and the consulate in Libya.
Today's actions by the Republican Party and the comments I have seen from some members of its base confirm that being a right-winger is a form of mental illness. When you can blatantly disregard facts and are willing to sink to a new low seemingly every day in never-ending attempts to appeal to your party's base, something is very, very wrong with your party.
Just think about that for a second: we all know, every political observer knows - and the Romney campaign even admits - that Romney's performance was in aid of getting his base excited. Again, please step back and think about what that says about the base of the Republican Party - one has to call the President of the United States a traitor to get them excited enough to vote. One has to blatantly lie to get them excited enough to vote. One has to exploit the murder of an American diplomat to get them excited enough to vote. One has to say - with no sense of shame, whatsoever - that the sitting president, a man who certainly knew the Ambassador personally, was in "sympathy" with those who killed him. I think the term "unbelievable" is bandied about too frequently in our usage of the English language, but what we have witnessed today from all levels of the Republican Party - base to presidential nominee - qualifies as unbelievable.
Not that we should be surprised. Launching false and truly outrageous political attacks while national tragedies are unfolding is old hat for this crew. Blaming a Democratic president for an attack while the ashes are still smoldering and the bodies are still warm is something they're used to by now; don't ever forget that leading "thinkers" on the right began blaming former President Clinton for the tragedy of 9/11 while rescuers will still searching through the wreckage. Their gall is simply incredible: the attack happened under a Republican president, one who had been repeatedly warned about potential attacks, but they somehow managed to blame it on a Democrat who had been out of office for eight months. Notice that the Democrats - base or politicians - refrained from blaming Bush for any form of fault over 9/11, a stance that continues largely unchanged to this day.
Reading the comments on various news sites today has made me very sad and angry, not to mention fearful for the future of our nation. I have seen many - too many to count - calls from right-wingers for the US to outlaw Islam or "level Libya" with nuclear weapons. The ironic thing is that many of the same commenters have said "Islam is a religion of violence and Muslims are crazed fanatics." Pitiful, frightening irony. Let me close by repeating what I said at the beginning of this diary: being a right-winger is a form of mental illness. We have to double down and crush the right this election, and every election thenceforth, for that matter. Giving psychotics like the members of today's Republican Party the nuclear briefcase is too terrifying for words.