At best, what President Obama said last night about terrorism was brought about by muddled thinking and possibly fatigue. At worst, it was a Freudian slip with troubling implications. I'll give the man the benefit of a doubt, something liberals were rarely able to do when his predecessor was in office. After all, we're at war.
Making his fourth appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Obama was asked by Leno about severity of the threat from al Qaeda after his administration evacuated nearly two dozen embassies and consulates in response to intelligence warning of an imminent attack. (Video after the jump)
Obama proceeded to offer an analogy that came across as clumsy --
You know, terrorists depend on the idea that we're going to be terrorized and we're going to live our lives and the odds of people dying in a terrorist attack, obviously, are still a lot lower than in a car accident, unfortunately (shrugging arm for emphasis). But, but there are things that we can do to make sure that we are keeping the pressure on these networks that would try to injure Americans and, you know, the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think about when I go to bed is making sure that I'm doing everything I can to keep Americans safe.
... unless they're Americans fighting for their lives in Benghazi and he's got a Vegas fundraiser in the morning.
Yes, what Obama probably meant was that the odds of dying from terrorism are lower than for those who "unfortunately" die in car accidents. Still, one expects more clarity from the president, especially with that Harvard Law sheepskin on the wall.
You know, the Panama Canal is being widened so that the big supertankers can come in. Now, that'll be finished in 2015. If we deepen our ports all along the Gulf, places like Charleston, S.C., or Savannah, Ga., or Jacksonville, Fla., if we don't do that those ships are gonna go someplace else.
Please tell me the President is aware that all the cities he named are on the East Coast and not along "the Gulf," presumably a reference to the Gulf of Mexico.
George W. Bush saying the same would have provided left-wing court jesters with fodder for weeks.
