When it goes wrong, it is everyone else's fault...but usually George W. Bush, the Republican Party, or Big Oil is usually to blame.
But so hungry for is The One to develop a Midas-touch mythology, that he's developed a nasty habit of taking credit for successes that don't have the remotely anything to do with him. You'd almost think he invented shale drilling, or passed this 25 year old government program, or is in favor of building pipelines, if you listen to Obama pat himself on the back for these "success stories".
But he may have gone a bit too far with his recent campaign ads congratulating himself for killing Osama Bin Laden, while claiming Mitt Romney would have been too much of a pussy to do the same thing. For the more information that comes out about the day Bin Laden died, the more it seems that Obama, as with everything else in the presidency, was only peripherally involved, at best.
Investors.com:
As reported by Big Peace, Time magazine has obtained a memo written by Leon Panetta, then-director of the Central Intelligence Agency and now-Secretary of Defense, that says "operational decision-making and control" was really in the hands of William McRaven, a three-star admiral and former Navy SEAL.
"The timing, operational decision-making and control are in Adm. McRaven's hands," the memo says. "The approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the president. Any additional risks are to be brought back to the president for his consideration. The direction is to go in and get bin Laden and, if he is not there, to get out."
In other words, it was McRaven's call to pull the trigger or not on the raid.
Obama watching the raid from a position best described as "on the outside"...
Our brave president had already built in a "blame factor" if the raid went askew:
The Panetta memo, rather than presenting a profile in courage, says "approval is provided on the risk profile presented to the president." This left enough wiggle room to blame the operation planners and controllers if the raid had gone as wrong as President Jimmy Carter's famous failure to rescue American hostages held by Iran. This memo left room for the blame for another "Blackhawk Down" snafu to be blamed on anyone and everyone but President Obama.
Luckily, operational control was in McRaven's hands, and the planning, execution and decision-making were virtually flawless...
...and not in Obama's hands, where he would still be in the process of picking a blue-ribbon committee to weigh the options available.
Surprised Time would even run this story, as the MSMS's default position in news reporting is not primarily the need to inform the public, but first and foremost how any one piece of information may affect the re-election fortunes of Barack Obama. But this story is bigger than one man - yes, even you, Mr. President - and the truth will come out sooner rather than later this time.
Might turn out that the Osama raid may just be one more thing Obama will not be able to run on this fall...
