When President Obama stood at the UN and proclaimed that "the future does not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam," it turns out that's one campaign promise he kept. A judge has ordered the detention of the maker of the video publicized so assiduously by the President and Secretary of State when they maintained it was the reason behind the terrorist attacks of 9/11/12.
Don't get me wrong. Violating the conditions of one's parole is wrong. But really? Taking the guy into detention and making sure the news gets out? As image-makers are wont to say, the "optics" of all this stink to high heaven.
Does anyone wonder how this will be reported in the Mideast? Along with the single snippet from the President's speech quoted above, it will then be announced that the offending filmmaker has been taken into custody. (And if I'm aware of this, obviously the President is.)
Perhaps President Obama and Secretary Clinton think this will assauge the wrath of the protestors enough to get through Election Day. Maybe it will.
But this sort of stuff is sending a dangerous message to our radical adversaries: That they are the "strong horse," and that hteir violence will result in our changing out way of life, just as Morsi insists.
Whoever the next President is, he will reap the whirlwind from this. And so will we.