not until it's under water.
So you're saying Giuliani's "American Waterboarding Adventure" theme park can finally be built in, what, about 2023? 2024?
I'm not so sure that's true. He's dealing with matches and dry kindling - Obama knows that.
I understand you're saying Obama, like all politicians, has to be aware of what is politically possible, as well as what is best for the country.
But I think your metaphor of matches and dry kindling is telling. We talk about how things are going to "blow up" or "backfire" on Democrats if they step out of line, but we tend to forget that these issues are powderkegs in the first place because of aggressive disinformation and propaganda campaigns waged by the right.
The controversy over Cordoba House was 100% manufactured. It was phony. It was fake outrage over a non-issue. Yes, now it has ballooned beyond Sarah Palin's Twitter account and it's an unavoidable political problem for Obama because now "real Americans" are concerned. But it might not have been so had he shown some backbone and pre-emptively fought the lies from the get-go, perhaps by doing exactly what you suggested (a press conference is a nice start, but more would be needed). As soon as Palin and Gingrich opened their dumbass mouths he should have been all over this.
The "powderkeg" caveat is, in almost all cases, illusory (would single payer health care have been a "massive controversy" if the left had just called it "Medicare For All" from the beginning?). The other side knows this and exploits it to full effect. They know Obama and the Democrats will, as always, act too late and too weakly. Democrats pretend governing the nation is like walking a minefield-- "there are mines in the field, it's reality, it's a fact of life, there's nothing we can do!"-- when, at the same time, there are Republicans walking around laying landmines, gleefully and in plain sight. Laughable.
If Sarah Palin Tweeted that Barack Obama was an alien from Jupiter who wanted to call down an invading army of man-eating space-slugs, half of America would instantly believe it, forcing the Democrats to tip-toe around the issue because the "high passion" surrounding man-eating space-slugs makes it "too controversial" to handle.
Obama (Thursday): "I would like to state that at no time have I been an alien invader, and I believe we should focus on real issues that affect real people".
Obama (Friday): "I want to make clear to the American people that I did not mean to assert that we face dangers from all of outer space. I was speaking specifically to the issue of invaders from Jupiter with respect to my administration, which, after careful consulting with the best minds we have, has never condoned ray guns."
Harry Reid: "Look, the American people are rightly afraid of their nation being invaded by aliens, so we want to listen to what they're saying out there on Main Street".
Howard Dean: "The far right is wrong on this issue, as always, but we need to start a productive dialogue here, we can't address the vital issue of space invaders unless we stop shouting at each other".
Nancy Pelosi: "The American people want us to consider the facts of the case carefully so we can make the best possible judgment about possible invasions from space. And, listen, I think when all is said and done, we're going to put this invasion theory to rest and get on with leading the country".
You know it's true.
I agree, the best defense of American values would be to repudiate the hate, but there is hate here, and it must be dealt with realistically. I think it's time for a presser, with religious leaders speaking out about what makes American freedoms real, important values that inform our everyday lives, and not just an excuse to drop bombs on people in far-off places.
That's right. Not just repudiate hatred but embrace love. Now you're cooking with gas.
:nopity: 
