Last Night's Dramatic Moment of Moral Truth - How Romney Spectacularly Fell From Grace

Excellent observations from Jeffrey C. Alexander at the Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-c-alexander/obama-benghazi-act-of-terror_b_1972616.html?utm_hp_ref=politics


"Drastically miscalculating, Romney bitch-slapped the president. Tough stuff. Rather than apologizing, or even explaining, the president had the wit to call the lying Republican's bluff."

<cut>

"The exchange had become a confrontation, the stakes starkly raised. It was no longer about who was right about facts, but who was a liar. A direct accusation had been made against the president of the United States, who then called his accuser out. The narrative struggle between good and evil tightened, and the drama ratcheted up.Prosecutor Romney pressed his case: "You said in the Rose Garden [that] it was not a spontaneous demonstration, is that what you're saying?

"Obama's reply seemed scripted for a courtroom fight: "Please proceed, Governor."

"Falling for the trap, Romney resorted to dramaturgical legalese: "I want to make sure we get that for the record because it took 14 days before he called the attack on Benghazi an act of terror."

"The defending attorney now pulled the noose tight.

Obama: "Get the transcript."

Here comes the judge. CNN moderator Candy Crowley ruled for the defense. She didn't need to go to the Rose Garden transcript to confirm the truthfulness of the defendant's side.

At first, however, Judge Crowley hesitated. So much was on the line.

Crowley: "It - it - it --- he did, in fact, sir. So let me - let me call it an act of terror."

Obama seized this third party testimony of Romney's bad faith, but he wanted it more dramatically made.

Obama: "Can you say that a little louder, Cindy?"

She could: "He did call it an act of terror."

Objection sustained.

Dramatic plots turn on epiphanic moments of revelation. Republicans know how to lie with statistics, but they may find it difficult to resist last night's dramatic moment of moral truth. Their leader had called the president out, but the judge caught him in a stark and snarky bold-faced lie. Romney staked his integrity on humiliating Obama, but it was he was humbled.

"Last night, the Republic standard bearer didn't just stumble. In full view of 70 million Americans, he spectacularly fell from grace."