Thursday

On Thursday, there were more images of demonstrations in several countries, including large ones in Yemen and Egypt that involved police and some violence to American Embassy property.  Three people, none of them American or Embassy staff, were said to have been killed in Yemen.

These demonstrations were based on the continuing misinformation that the U.S. government was responsible for an Internet video that insults Islam.  More demonstrations are expected on Friday, the day of prayer.  Governments in Egypt and Yemen were active in guarding the American embassies.

Information on the quite different event in Benghazi is still contradictory.  Some stories maintain that the violence resulted from a protesting mob, while another quoted witnesses as saying that the consulate was attacked by heavily armed fighters who arrived together in vehicles, and there never were real protesters.  Rachel Maddow again made the case for an organized terrorist attack.  Meanwhile, the Libyan government has arrested four and is questioning others in connection with the murders of four Americans.

To correct my previous post, the compound that was attacked was a consulate, not the U.S. embassy.  The official embassy is in Tripoli, and that's where Ambassador Stevens was headquartered.  He was visiting the Benghazi consulate on the fatal day.  The consulate was not as heavily protected as the larger and more permanent embassy.

Campaigning in Colorado, President Obama said:

Obviously, our hearts are heavy this week,’’ Mr. Obama said, as a hush fell over the crowd. But to a wider television audience he vowed: “I want people around the world to hear me: to all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished.” He added, “no act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America.”


Political fallout continued, directly or at least partially related to these events.  A number of neocons and other GOPers began voicing support for Romney's general critique of the Obama foreign policy.  At least one (Rob Portman) was called out for supporting Romney's lies of the day before.

But criticism also continued, by still other Republicans.  Joe Scarborough, a media figure more than a Republican heavyweight but still a voice with some volume to it, made the most dramatic charges.  Addressing his fellow conservatives in a Politico oped he wrote: "And the lesson is clear: If we want to win the battle of ideas in the long term, we should be willing to face the fact that Mitt Romney is likely to lose — and should, given that he’s neither a true conservative nor a courageous moderate. He’s just an ambitious man. Nothing wrong with that, except when you want to be president." 

Meanwhile, TPM noted that a web version of a New York Times story on the Romney reaction was replaced by another story, which lacked a key quote: An earlier version of the story quoted an unnamed Romney adviser and former George W. Bush administration official saying Romney’s response to the attacks made it seem like “he had forgotten the first rule in a crisis: don’t start talking before you understand what’s happening.” 

Also on Thursday the last of the "bounce" polls showed that President Obama has opened up leads in three key swing states: Florida, Virginia and Ohio. He was at 50% in Ohio, 49% in Florida and Virginia.  From now on, the theory goes, the traditional convention bounce period is over and any change would be considered more telling for the long run.  But then there's the Egypt/Libya event and Romney's reaction.

So maybe it is telling already: In the latest Reuters/Ipso tracking poll made on Thursday, President Obama widened his lead over Romney by 7 points: 48% to 41%.  President Obama won all categories, including the war on terror, taxes and Social Security,   Romney won but one category: the federal deficit.

So the GOPer chances may be down to voter suppression, and some observers of the first day of the PA Supreme Court hearing were talking about the grilling that the PA government attorney got from the judges, especially the 3 Dems and the Republican Chief Justice. (Another observer however said something quite different: that the Chief Justice was mostly silent and appeared annoyed by the Dems.  This reporter for the Nation doesn't think the four votes are there to overturn.)

 The most damning statistic I heard that apparently was offered was that PENNDOT estimated it could process only a fraction of the eligible applicants for ID before election day.That should be game set and match right there.  It cannot stand for this election.  It's a travesty.