I know, what a surprise. Still, even by RNC standards, this one is stupid. Some dim bulb thought juxtaposing shots from LBJ's Daisy ad with Robert Gibbs talking about closing Guantanamo was a good idea. Unfortunately, they failed to point out that Gibbs straightened out his response about 2 seconds later:
Transcript:
Girl: "To close it? To close it not?"
President Obama: "Guantanamo? That's easy. ... Close down Guantanamo."
Girl: "To close it? To close it not?"
Sen. Jim Webb: "I don’t believe they should come to the United States."
Chyron: "I don’t believe they should come to the United States."
Sen. Harry Reid: "We will never allow terrorists released into the United States."
Girl: "To close it? To close it not?"
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: "We have made some hasty decisions that are now going to take some time to unwind. And closing Guantanamo Bay obviously is one of those decisions."
President Lyndon Johnson: "These are the stakes..."
Barack Obama: "Guantanamo? That's easy. ... Close down Guantanamo."
Chyron: Really?
Media Matters has the straight poop on Gibbs' comment. This exchange immediately followed:
Q Thank you. All right. And you said hasty -- you talked about hasty decisions tomorrow, that it's going to take some time to unwind. Are you talking about the President's hasty decisions or the previous administration's hasty decision as it regards Guantanamo?
MR. GIBBS: No, no, no, I'm sorry, let me be -- good question. My boss might want to know the answer to that. (Laughter.) No, no, I'm discussing decisions that were made in the previous administration --
Q You were not referring to the executive order --
MR. GIBBS: No, no, no --
Q -- as a hasty decision.
MR. GIBBS: No.
Q Absolutely not?
MR. GIBBS: Thank you for letting me clarify that before I go see the boss later this afternoon.
Not that the RNC gives a damn. Of course, the ad is lame for other reasons, not the least of which is that few younger than age 50 will remember the Daisy ad. Then again, the ad leaves the impression that the RNC wants Guantanamo closed.
Good thing for them that it's only an Intertubes ad, so the mocking can be limited to progressives.