On the theory that the best defense is a good offense, the Obama cult is going on the attack – launching a special web site, and a twitter feed, attackwatch.com, which is devoted to refuting the “smears” being repeated by the counter-revolutionary wreckers who oppose the Will of the Dear Leader. “President Obama’s opponents have falsely suggested that the President has not been a strong ally to Israel,” the Obamaites whine. How dare anyone suggest that the US isn’t at Tel Aviv’s beck and call! Even the suggestion of something less than absolute fealty is considered a “smear.” If that doesn’t underscore what’s wrong with American foreign policy in the Middle East, then I don’t know what does.
On the boob tube, Rachel Maddow is leading the counter-attack, going after Republicans for “lying” about the Dear Leader’s wise policies. When Ron Paul said that the US embassy in Iraq is bigger than the Vatican and will cost $1 billion – and that we should be keeping that money at home – Rachel had a cow on camera. No, she barked, the Vatican is 110 acres and the embassy is 108, and also the cost of the embassy is “several hundred million” under $1 billion.” She then crumpled a piece of paper, threw it at the camera, and bellowed “False!”
Rachel, you need to hire some new researchers: yes, Vatican City is 110 acres, but that’s not the same entity as The Vatican. Vatican City is a sovereign state, which includes the Holy See – the actual residence of the Pope and the organizational headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church – as well as the land around it. Indeed, as this source points out:
“Vatican City, the state, is distinct from the Holy See, which is the episcopal leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. The two entities even have distinct passports.”
Look at this detailed map of Vatican City: clearly the Holy See is centered in the buildings encircling St. Peter’s Square, from the Papal Audience Hall in the southern sector, to the Barracks of the Swiss Guards, to the north – totaling perhaps a third of Vatican City’s land area.
Why am I not surprised that Maddow and her staff know even less about the Vatican than they do about other subjects?
As to the cost issue, the answer is to be found in a piece published on … the MSNBC web site! And I quote:
“Estimated cost of over $1 billion
Original cost estimates ranged over $1 billion, but Congress appropriated only $592 million in the emergency Iraq budget adopted last year. Most has gone to a Kuwait builder, First Kuwaiti Trading & Contracting, with the rest awarded to six contractors working on the project’s “classified” portion — the actual embassy offices.”
So they want more, and will probably appropriate more in the future – but the original estimates totaled a cool $1 billion, and there’s plenty of time to equal and – yes – surpass that figure.
C’mon, Rachel – you can do better than this – I just know you can!
The question I find fascinating, however, is why – out of all the subjects brought up at the GOP debate – did Mad Cow Maddow pick up on this one in particular? Are the Obamaites getting their clueless followers ready to swallow a new line change about Iraq? You’ll remember that Maddow breathlessly reported on “the last American troops to come out of Iraq” – a laughable propaganda stunt that made her look foolish, what with all those thousands of Americans still there, and the US government making every effort to persuade the Iraqis to let them stay. Oh, but those aren’t troop troops, they’re “back-up” troops, trainers, advisors – and where have we heard this line before?
Maddow gets more disgustingly servile by the day.
