I've no idea why everybody seems to take advantage of the benefit of hindsight and gets their facts incorrect, but this is one of the more sensible comments on the issue:
http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blo...y_bookman_blog
At the end of the day, Obama DID call it an act of terror the day after, as the transcript shows, and Romney is a cheap lying slimeball.
Why LL and others deny the fact that Obama used the word 'act of terror' the day after is for them only to reflect on.
Why anybody supports Romney, who lied when he accused Obama of NOT referring to it as an act of terror the following day, is beyond me.
Romney accused Obama of not calling it an act of terror for another 14 days.
This is clearly a complete porkie pie - Obama used the words 'act of terror' the day after.
The issue is about statesmanship and character, not the poring over individual words in statements during a time when facts were being assimilated.
Of course there is a degree of 'context' and 'interpretation' in any statement, but you ought to be pretty careful in your accusations before they turn around and bite you.
You right wingers sometimes call up half americans like churchill for support. Are you aware of how many lies churchill told, and the arguments he had with roosevelt?
The arguments were about bigger issues than just the war - Churchill was tied to the old empire, roosevelt was interested in bringing american democracy to the world. This had a direct impact on strategy and tactics, e.g. invasion of italy, the importance of mediterranean, delay of overlord.
Churchill almost manipulated US deaths, so that there would be more support for the european theatre rather than Japanese.
The terrifying thing is the number of americans who wanted peace with Hitler (I seem to remember a figure of 20%) so that they could concentrate on avenging pearl harbour.
My point is that politics is messy and there are more important issues than who exactly said what on which day
Roosevelt was a pretty good liar also.
The worst kind of leader is one who makes off the cuff statements before facts are known.
All politicians will try to manipulate you to the best of their ability.
Do you want to be manipulated by Obama or Romney?