Arianna Huffington Calls Bin Laden Death Ad ‘Despicable’

Arianna Huffington has chimed in with her opinion of President Obama’s new Osama Bin Laden-themed campaign ad, calling it “despicable.” Below is the ad in question, which fosters spe...
Arianna Huffington Calls Bin Laden Death Ad ‘Despicable’
Written by
  • Arianna Huffington has chimed in with her opinion of President Obama’s new Osama Bin Laden-themed campaign ad, calling it “despicable.” Below is the ad in question, which fosters speculation as to whether or not Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have had the courage to approve the raid on Bin Laden’s Pakistani compound last year, after he was quoted saying “It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person,” back in 2007.

    Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Pulitzer Prize winning news aggregator The Huffington Post, appeared on CBS This Morning to tape the segment below:

    On the accusation of Romney’s potential lack of courage as a terrorist-slayer, Huffington comments, “There is no way to know whether Romney would’ve been as decisive. And to actually speculate that he wouldn’t be is, to me, not the way to run campaigns on either side.” The media mogul adds, “I think it’s one thing to celebrate the fact that they did such a great job. It’s one thing to have an NBC special from the Situation Room – All that, to me, is perfectly legitimate. But to turn it into a campaign ad is one of the most despicable things you can do.”

    Back in 2007, Romney had told the Associated Press that he endorses a wider strategy in containing jihadists, which spawned the “heaven and earth” comment in question – Romney had pointed out that focusing vast military and intelligence resources on one person would only make the U.S. more secure by “a small percentage.”

    Later, during a potential realization that Spock-like rationality is not a very relevant stance in many parts of America, Romney flipflopped on his heaven and earth opinion, and severely adjusted his angle during a 2007 debate – “Of course we [will] get Usama bin Laden and track him wherever he has to go, and make sure he pays for the outrage he exacted upon America. We’ll move everything to get him. But I don’t want to buy into the Democratic pitch that this is all about one person – It’s more than Usama bin Laden. But he is going to pay, and he will die.” Not only would Romney be moving heaven and earth, but also “everything.”

    Either way, the Obama campaign has suggested that Romney might’ve been too indifferent, weak, cowardly, etc., to send in the Seals, which is not presidential material. And now heaven, earth, Obama’s possible rejection of salvation to focus on filth – a la the politickin’ muckrakers of old, Bill Clinton-derided paths of cowardice – all these things have kicked off the varied and sometimes touched advertisements of the latest American presidential race. Still, Huffington was perhaps correct in pointing out that though it’s fine to mention big and small political victories, applying them to the implied failures of an opponent is a bit pedestrian. Yet again, votes have grown to be very expensive, and cheap shots are – cheap.

    Get the WebProNews newsletter delivered to your inbox

    Get the free daily newsletter read by decision makers

    Subscribe
    Advertise with Us

    Ready to get started?

    Get our media kit