Total Lies From Obama -- So What Else is New?

President Obama gave a press conference this afternoon. Most of the questions were about the fiscal cliff and General Petreus. The two questions and answers that bothered me most, however were about Syria and the families of those killed in Benghazi.

First on Syria: here is what Obama had to say in part: You know, I was one of the first leaders, I think around the world, to say Assad had to go in response to the incredible brutality that his government displayed, in the face of what were initially peaceful protests. Obviously the situation has seriously deteriorated since then. We have been extensively engaged with the international community as well as regional powers to help the opposition.

In April of 2011, protests spread across Syria. Very quickly, the Assad regime began having snipers shoot at the crowds killing people at random. The hope of the Assad regime is that these acts of terror would keep people in their homes and end the protests. That strategy led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people, but it did not stop the protests. Obama was silent. Even though the Syrian regime was killing its own people, Obama said nothing. Indeed, the State Department continued to call Assad a "reformer" for weeks after the killing began.

About a month or so later, the sniper attacks on protests escalated into attacks by the Assad regime with much larger fire power than just a few snipers. Mortars and other more deadly weapons were used. The response from Obama was to stop calling Assad a "reformer". Leaders of the Arab world condemned the violence against innocent civilians in Syria, but Obama just stood silently on the sidelines.

Eventually, the level of killing of civilians in Syria rose. The Assad regime started shelling cities like Homs. Thousands of innocents died. Obama said nothing but the State Department did call for a cessation of violence.

Following month after month of slaughter in Syria, following the outcry of the leaders of states like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and other neighbors of Syria, following statements by leaders of European countries like the UK, Germany and France, Obama finally said that he thought that Assad ought to go. Obama was not leading from behind like in Libya. Obama was just trying to catch up to the rest of the world.

For Obama to claim that he was one of the first world leaders to call for Assad to go is a total lie. People died in Syria. People are continuing to die. The election is over. Why can't Obama just be honest about the situation there?

Now, as to the families of those killed in the Benghazi attack, Ed Henry asked the president about what he had to say regarding the calls for help from the embassy which were basically ignored by Washington. Obama spoke for about two minutes, but he carefully avoided answering the question. Again, the election is over. Don't the American people deserve to know the truth here?

It is going to be a long four years.