Hillary Clinton... sometimes described as
For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillaryand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Edmund Randolph...
at his side, even though she had issued her own statement just a few minutes before. This might have been meant as a gesture of confidence in Clinton, who is coming under fire for the State Department's confused and decidedly equivocal response to the attacks.
Clinton's statement was primarily meant to emphasize outrage at the violence of the attacks, while somewhat walking back the apologetics to Islam that she, and embassy staff, were defiantly "standing behind" only a few hours ago. Obama continued the same trend, once again mixing an apology to Islamic religious sensibilities into his remarks, while seeking to highlight the Administration's insistence that violence in response to offensive speech is unacceptable.
"The United States condemns, in the strongest terms, this outrageous and shocking attack," declared Obama, after summarizing the events leading to the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. He said his government was working with the government of Libya to apprehend the perpetrators of this attack, and that he has directed embassies around the world to increase their security measures.
But then came the qualifications, delivered before Obama's unequivocal denunciation of violence. "Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths," said the President. "We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts."