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Chip Reid asked the President if he was "influenced at all by John McCain and Lindsey Graham calling you weak?"
All of this was prefaced by their criticisms over the weekend and with Reid's typical "gotcha" tone.
The President shot back with: "What do you think?" followed by laughter and then an explanation that he is the President and has maintained a consistent tone in his remarks regarding Iran, and explained that the state run Iran media had already tried to mislead by mistranslating his previous statments and did not want the current Iran government to be able to use the U.S as a foil. He also reiterated his criticisms of the violent crackdown made earlier in his opening remarks.
Chip Reid, pulling a major 180, then interrupted with b-b-b-b-but interjection:
"By speaking so strongly today, aren't you giving those leaders the fodder to make those allegations?"
What I see here is a strategy of damned if you don't, damned if you do.
As per usual, no matter what the President does, he's going to get harsh criticism from the right when it comes to national security or international affairs, because it's the only area where the RW feels they can gin up the "fear factor."
But President Obama took the right course/tone in regards to the election and ensuing protests in Iran. And since he beat them to it, McCain and Co. are engaged in an effort to push him to go farther, get more heated, make intrusive demands, delineate "harsh consequences".....it's so they can then flip around and criticize him for escalating the situation and "feeding the flames," so to speak.
It's not working, of course, but this is what I took away from this neck-jarring flip-flip in Reid's line of questioning.
Thoughts?
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