BRACING – AT 6:51 A.M. ET:  The United States is bracing for the possibility of more demonstrations in the Arab world today.  Friday is the traditional prayer day, and demonstrations, including assorted holy acts like rock throwing and screams of "Death to America" often follow prayers.

The game being played is that all this is in response to a stupid, crude film on YouTube.  I think that's a bit absurd.  These "demonstrations" seem anything but spontaneous, and rage is often a manufactured commodity in the Muslim world.  From Fox:

All of the U.S.' diplomatic missions overseas were on high alert Friday, and Secretary of State Clinton issued a statement strongly denouncing the anti-Islam video that is purportedly the cause of the violence as the administration sought to pre-empt further turmoil at its embassies and consulates.

"The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video," Clinton said before a meeting with the foreign minister of Morocco at the State Department. "We absolutely reject its content and message."

Thanks, Hill.  Maybe it's time that your tenure as secretary of state got some well-deserved scrutiny.  The mainstream media, which dreams of you as president in four years, won't do it.  The story of the first black president followed by the first female president is just too good to disrupt by real journalism.  But perhaps the internet could be helpful in pointing out that we haven't had a single singificant diplomatic victory on Hillary Clinton's watch.

Libyan officials said Thursday they believe the attack in Benghazi was a planned operation by heavily armed militants that may have been timed to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S., and that the militants used civilian protesters as cover for their action.

That's probably more like it.

In Egypt, protests continued Friday for the fourth day. Reuters reports protesters hurled stones at a line of police in Cairo blocking their way to the U.S. embassy, and police in riot gear fired tear gas and threw stones back at the demonstrators.

COMMENT:  Ah, it might as well be spring.  The Arab spring.  Or maybe not.

September 14,  2012