Peace through mere presence?

Take a stroll down memory lane to Nov. 21, 2007. Then obscure (but still self-absorbed) U.S. Sen. Barack Obama said he - and he alone - possessed the unique qualities needed to stabilize the Muslim world. Here's what he said on New Hampshire Public Radio:

"I truly believe that the day I am inaugurated not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently. If I'm reaching out to the Muslim world, they understand that I've lived in a Muslim country, and I may be a Christian, but I also understand their point of view.

Interviewer: "Although you were a little kid."

Obama: "No, no, no."

Interviewer: "Right? Is that what you are talking about?"

Obama: "Well, it's not just that. My sister is half-Indonesian. I traveled there all the way through my college years, and so I'm intimately concerned with what happens in these countries and the cultures and the perspective these folks have, and those are powerful tools for us to be able to reach out to the world. ... I think the world will have confidence that I am listening to them and that our future and our security is tied up with our ability to work with other countries in the world. That will ultimately make us safer."

And there you have it. The mere grace of his presence makes us safer.

Now fast forward to current events, in which the mangled bodies of our ambassador to Libya and three others arrived home in caskets. Embassies burn. Diplomats to Muslim countries shred confidential information as fast as they can. Muslims in 33 countries "protest" the United States while some with fresh American blood on their hands dance and chant, "Obama, Obama, we are all Osama," before the TV cameras.

Yet President Obama denies all this has anything to do with his policies. These are spontaneous protests over an obscure American film. A bump in the road. Not terrorism in any way.

Initially, President Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney said: "This is not a case of protests directed at the United States at large or at U.S. policy, but in response to a video that is offensive to Muslims." Obama's ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, doubled down on that meme, maintaining President Obama and America remain "more popular" than ever in the Muslim world.

Is this a weird outlook on current events, or what?

Diplomatic and intelligence experts around the globe flatly contradicted the Obama spin.

They don't call the doers of violence "movie critics" or "protesters." They call them terrorists.

Yet our government maintained it all stemmed from the movie "Innocence of Muslims." To boot, our government downplayed the violence as only a Muslim response to a "very offensive video" that the Obama administration wished it could censor if it were not for that pesky First Amendment.

What's with that? Aside from the point that movie critics generally don't protest with rocket-propelled grenades, what do Obama toadies expect to accomplish with de facto apologies for American values?

We value freedom of expression in this country, even for bad films and films not approved by the government. If we're going to pretend this filmmaker caused Muslim violence, then shall we not prosecute YouTube for putting up the video? Shall we gather the torches and pitchforks and round up Al Gore for inventing the Internet?

If placating extremist Muslim sensibilities is the goal, then maybe America ought to stop appointing women ambassadors and secretaries of state. Ban gays from diplomatic service. That would make the Muslim extremists very happy.

On Thursday, more than a week after the assault on the consulate in Benghazi, Carney finally fessed up that the raid was "a terrorist attack," although he wouldn't clarify whether the administration thought it was planned in advance.

Barack Obama should stop drinking his own bath water, cease whining about American values and learn that when it comes to dealing with terrorists, his presence means squat.

Sherman Frederick, former publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame, writes a weekly column for Stephens Media. Read his blog at www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm.