# Obama's Ad on bin Laden, Romney: Fair or Foul? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 30, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415 "2012-04-30T15:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/101 "2012-05-03T02:25:55Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Based on how the Republican Party have comported themselves in the last 3-4 years, Obama has freebies to go as far as he wants with wild claims, hypocricy, and downright filthy play. Shit, he could even rape a few 9 year-old girls if he wanted and he’d still have the moral high ground on the rabble of derelects who have sought only to block and never to perform. > [@silenus](#): > > And **Oak**? Just about _anything_ is better than pursuing the conservative agenda. I thought some mild sarcasm would be enough of a response to this, but in hindsight, I was wrong. While the two of you have not insulted anybody personally here, this kind of over the top, vile commentary belongs in the Pit. Don’t post it elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/102 "2012-05-03T03:01:28Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > So I’m worse than a baby raper because I’m conservative? That what you’re saying? > Yeah. We’re done here. It’s not even worth pitting you for that shit. Hey, we have our Ted Nugents too. Don’t hold it against us. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/103 "2012-05-03T03:56:20Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > To be fair if the Iraqis had actually greeted us with flowers and kumbayahs, Jeb Bush would be the sitting President right now. Wouldn’t the pigs flying out of his ass interfere with his “sitting” anywhere at all? Because a reality that has flowers and kumbayahs in response to the Iraq invasion pretty much necessarily also has pigs routinely flying out of everyone’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/104 "2012-05-03T04:41:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I think that **Voyager** means that national security has traditionally been regarded as a strength of the Republican party. Exactly. Like I [posted](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14598936&postcount=3) before, “They” are going to get a blowback unlike any they could ever imagine. Well, they just got it. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > America can never again have a Republican President. Are you happy now, Republicans? You got what you wanted. Are you happy now? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/105 "2012-05-03T06:47:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t think that’s going to be the perception in the 2012 election. **Drum God** is correct. It might not be if Obama hammers on the subject, but it could very well be - for instance if they start talking about leaving Iraq. I think it is good to take care of this at the beginning. As for business, the Rove approach would be to directly attack Romney for closing companies and laying off workers. Someone like even Meg Whitman who ran a company which created value from scratch would be less vulnerable to this approach. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/106 "2012-05-03T13:49:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > … this kind of over the top, vile commentary belongs in the Pit. Don’t post it elsewhere. Apologies. It was inteded to be hyperbolic. Didn’t meant to offend, **Oak**. In a more civil tone I would like to point out that, IMHO, the Republican Party no longer represents conservative interests–only obstructionist ones superimposed over an agenda of legislating a biblical (and old-testament at that, forsaking any message of forgiveness & tolerance taught by Jesus) morality that would be readily practiced anyway if it favored more than 25% of the population. The harm done by the cancer the Republican Party has become has been more than a little detremental to the population of this country, and devastating to several others. Again, **Oak** , I don’t have an issue with conservative beliefs per se, but the Republican Party is the only significant source of representation for those who lean more towards “take care of your own and be charitable when it suits you” and it is unfortunate they need to identify with a moral abyss in order to remain politically relevant. Obama is a politician, I have no doubt he’s unclean to some degree, but at least he has an agenda that makes some kind of sense and can be reasonably read to lead to a physically and mentally healthier America. His opposition is all about tearing him down as opposed to developing competing ideas of equal or better merit. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/107 "2012-05-03T14:02:11Z")
nm wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/108 "2012-05-03T15:15:06Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > In a more civil tone I would like to point out that, IMHO, the Republican Party no longer represents conservative interests–only obstructionist ones superimposed over an agenda of legislating a biblical (and old-testament at that, forsaking any message of forgiveness & tolerance taught by Jesus) morality that would be readily practiced anyway if it favored more than 25% of the population. I don’t think this is the case. The real agenda of the modern Republican party is pro-wealth: cut taxes on the rich, deregulate corporations, and bail those corporations out when they crash in the deregulated environment. The religious agenda mostly gets lip service in order to draw in the religious votes the corporate Republicans need to win elections. If anything, the Republican party is intentionally stalling on religious issues - having issues like abortions and gay marriage around keeps the faithful riled up and voting so the party has no real incentive to resolve these issues. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/109 "2012-05-03T16:07:19Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > This is something that should be emphasized. This is not the first time the Republicans have tried to argue that Obama had basically no role in the whole process. They failed a year ago and they’ll fail now. We’ll see. Carl Rove hasn’t even gotten started yet. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **Did** Obama even make the right call here? Innocents might have been shot by SEALS, if the intelligence was at all shaky. Every military action risks killing innocents. The calculus of war does not turn on whether a single drop of innocent blood will be shed. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wouldn’t the pigs flying out of his ass interfere with his “sitting” anywhere at all? > > Because a reality that has flowers and kumbayahs in response to the Iraq invasion pretty much necessarily also has pigs routinely flying out of everyone’s ass. I was just pointing out that if things had gone well in Iraq, people would feel differently about it. If things had gone well for Carter, Reagan might never have been elected. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t think this is the case. The real agenda of the modern Republican party is pro-wealth: cut taxes on the rich, deregulate corporations, and bail those corporations out when they crash in the deregulated environment. The religious agenda mostly gets lip service in order to draw in the religious votes the corporate Republicans need to win elections. If anything, the Republican party is intentionally stalling on religious issues - having issues like abortions and gay marriage around keeps the faithful riled up and voting so the party has no real incentive to resolve these issues. The problem is that there has been cross pollenization of these ideas and now the religious right have made tax cuts, small government and deregulation a part of their theology and the rich guys pretend they give a shit about gay marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/110 "2012-05-03T16:12:50Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > We’ll see. Carl Rove hasn’t even gotten started yet. I don’t think Karl Rove has a position with the Romney campaign, and since he’s a Fox commentator, I think he may have been among the people who downplayed Obama’s role a year ago. I don’t remember. But either way, I’m not one of those people who lives in fear of Karl Rove. He’s a political strategist who had success in getting one guy elected president. He’s not some kind of evil genius. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/111 "2012-05-03T16:22:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t think Karl Rove has a position with the Romney campaign, and since he’s a Fox commentator, I think he may have been among the people who downplayed Obama’s role a year ago. I don’t remember. But either way, I’m not one of those people who lives in fear of Karl Rove. He’s a political strategist who had success in getting one guy elected president. He’s not some kind of evil genius. He’s also got hundreds of millions of dollars in his superpacs. You don’t have to be a genius to do damage with that kind of funding. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/112 "2012-05-03T17:15:19Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > He’s also got hundreds of millions of dollars in his superpacs. And nobody else has a Super PAC with money, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/113 "2012-05-03T20:28:54Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I don’t think Karl Rove has a position with the Romney campaign, and since he’s a Fox commentator, I think he may have been among the people who downplayed Obama’s role a year ago. I don’t remember. But either way, I’m not one of those people who lives in fear of Karl Rove. He’s a political strategist who had success in getting one guy elected president. He’s not some kind of evil genius. Speaking of Turdblossom: > **[Karl Rove reiterates Mitt Romney's phony claims he would have ordered taking...](https://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/03/1088462/-Karl-Rove-reiterates-Mitt-Romney-s-phony-claims-he-would-have-ordered-taking-out-Osama-bin-Laden?detail=hide)** > > One of the many Republican campaign ads carefully designed > to avoid any politicization of national security ... ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/114 "2012-05-04T03:28:59Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > So I’m worse than a baby raper because I’m conservative? That what you’re saying? Complex question. Conservatism does cause more harm in the world and blight more lives, but, then, baby-rape is so rare. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/115 "2012-05-04T05:18:34Z")
Regarding Obama’s strategy for getting out of Afghanistan, Fred Thompson sums up Obama’s periodic messages to America very well: “We’re going, but we’re staying.” A little something for everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/116 "2012-05-04T10:19:37Z")
> [@platoon1016Guy](#): > > Regarding Obama’s strategy for getting out of Afghanistan, Fred Thompson sums up Obama’s periodic messages to America very well: > > “We’re going, but we’re staying.” A little something for everybody. I’m still waiting for Obama’s policy on abortion and free American flags. ---
**Author:** ![JQPublic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@JQPublic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JQPublic)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/117 "2012-05-04T14:59:34Z")
The ad should have just touted the accomplishment and left Romney out of it. That would have forced Romney to spend the following week congratulating the President for it. It’s sort of the problem with political campaigns. Nobody wants to run ads that say, vote for me because of this and that. Instead they all run ads that say, don’t vote for the other guy because of this, that and the other. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/118 "2012-05-04T15:50:08Z")
> [@JQPublic](#): > > The ad should have just touted the accomplishment and left Romney out of it. > That would have forced Romney to spend the following week congratulating the President for it. > It’s sort of the problem with political campaigns. Nobody wants to run ads that say, vote for me because of this and that. That’s not a glitch, that’s a feature. Why say _“vote for me because of this and that”_ if the other candidate is likewise in favor of this and a staunch supporter of that? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/119 "2012-05-04T16:01:19Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’m still waiting for Obama’s policy on abortion and free American flags. I’m still waiting for Gitmo to be closed. Not really, but it’s one of many undelivered promises by a guy who got elected because of his Rock Star appeal and not because of his ability to lead. We live in a harsh world where, sometimes, harsh measures are needed. Some assholes deserve to be thrown into Gitmo, so Gitmo-like places are needed. If Gitmo gets closed down, then we need to create another place where such USA TLC can be doled out as neded. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415/120 "2012-05-04T16:17:52Z")
> [@platoon1016Guy](#): > > Not really, but it’s one of many undelivered promises by a guy who got elected because of his Rock Star appeal and not because of his ability to lead. Ok, lets examine this for a moment. Here is a handy website to do just that, the Obameter, promise tracker: > **[Obameter : Tracking Obama's promises | PolitiFact](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/)** > > PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter. As you can see promises kept combined with those in the works comes out to 62% of his campaign promises, whereas broken and stalled comprise 25% total. Kept is 37% alone which is more than both broken and stalled combined. And that doesn’t even take into account the 11% of things that passed in a compromised form. I’d like to see which presidents, if any, had numbers like this. I’d wager that most, if not all past presidents failed to accomplish at least 25% of things they promised while campaigning. Now, if we look at the ones that are considered broken: > **[Obameter: Campaign Promises that are Promise Broken | PolitiFact](https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/rulings/promise-broken/)** > > PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter. Which of these things do you think the republicans would not/did not block? Are any of these things doable with just sheer force of will from Obama? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obamas-ad-on-bin-laden-romney-fair-or-foul/620415.md?page=7)