DISHONEST MAN – AT 9:24 A.M. ET:   What struck me about Obama's performance in the final debate was the man's insistent dishonesty.  He runs as if he's Ronald Reagan, a hard-line defender of America...when in fact he governs as a leftist and has weakened this nation in the eyes of the world.

And he pretends that no one notices.  After all, he is so smart, just so much better than the rest of us.  How could we possibly understand what he's doing?

There is no issue in which his fibs have been more blatant than the recent terror attack in Libya.  New revelations make utterly plain that the president lied to the American people about a national-security matter, covered up his own incompetence and distortions, and sent others out to take the blame.  From Reuters:

Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show.

The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks.

The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington.

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Benghazi assault, which President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials ultimately acknowledged was a "terrorist" attack carried out by militants with suspected links to al Qaeda affiliates or sympathizers.

Administration spokesmen, including White House spokesman Jay Carney, citing an unclassified assessment prepared by the CIA, maintained for days that the attacks likely were a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim film.

While officials did mention the possible involvement of "extremists," they did not lay blame on any specific militant groups or possible links to al Qaeda or its affiliates until intelligence officials publicly alleged that on September 28.

COMMENT:  Drudge this morning has the headline, HE KNEW.  Drudge is right.  The president knew right from the start that Libya was a terror attack, yet chose to cover it up, apparently because he feared that an honest report would hurt his argument that he had defeated Al Qaeda. 

The problem, of course, is that much of the mainstream media, ever in the tank for their 1960s dream, has played down Libya and the president's breathtaking dishonesty.  Can you imagine if this had been a Republican president?

It may be too late to build Libya into a major story again.  I'd imagine Romney will want to concentrate on the economy in the remaining days of the campaign.  But Libya is a major scandal, and shows us one of the worst presidential performances in our recent history.

October 24, 2012