Just Keep on Scrolling If You Don't Want to Talk About This Political Issue....

The best thing to do is ignore it. Kind of like a child throwing a tantrum. Giving attention to this kind of behavior just adds fuel to the fire. I think the administration is handling it appropriately. There are bigger issues to deal with here on the home front anyway.

It's sensationalism, pure and simple.
Yes, there are people who hate America, but there are even MORE people who covet and crave our democracy and freedom, and they are fighting and dying every day to achieve it.
Don't buy into the media hype.
Democracy and freedom come at a cost, there WILL be resistance.
What we're seeing now is NOTHING compared to the violent and deadly spread/insurgence in the name of Christianity we had all over the world 500 years ago. Imagine if THAT stuff was on the nightly news?
Try to keep things in perspective, this is certainly NOT the end of times, not even close.

If you want war with an inept leader with ZERO foreign policy--be sure to vote R'Money 2012!

Not sure where you're getting your news, but the current administration is certainly aware of more than what we see on the news.

I don't understand why you think that the administration is looking the other way. America isn't looking the other way either. The powers that be are working hard to try to handle this diplomatically. Do you think that they announce all their diplomatic endeavors? No, they don't. They try to work behind the scenes to prevent more escalation.

Just because we don't see or understand how things work doesn't mean that no one is doing anything about it.

What people would actually SEE is if we went in and started killing people. Then the threads would read "Why didn't they try a diplomatic approach first? Why are we spending millions upon millions on another war? Why did we start something that's going to last another 10 years? Now the radicals are going to start blowing everyone up!"

If the news people would stop taking pictures of them and broadcasting it all over the world, they'd get tired of this and stop. Our media is giving them new life every day, paying attention to their antics.

Yes, the small amount of lives lost is tragic. Multiply that by tens of thousands if we strike back militarily. You'll see that. But it doesn't mean it would be worth it.

You are blaming President Obama for continuing to do what he would normally do before an election? Why do you think he can't do both? Al Queda would LOVE for President Obama to be ousted - he is the president in power who killed their beloved and has ordered the assasination of many of their leaders. Al Queda LOVES chaos. They want Americans to be afraid, to change the way we live our lives, to put the government on alert so that we run around like crazy. That is a big goal of theirs.

Our president needs to act like OUR president - not just reactive to their antics. If you think that he isn't using his foreign policy mojo, then you just don't know what you're talking about. ALL of our presidents work hard when something like this happens.

Dawn

Terrorism against Americans by the East is CHRONIC and has been happening for decades. I was more aware of it in the 80s as an American Air Force kid living in Germany where my school buses were routinely searched fro bombs going on to base.

NO ADMINISTRATIONS IGNORE IT.

There are entire teams of intelligence on it AT ALL TIMES as FULL TIME LIFE-LONG PROFESSIONS.

What do Reagan, Bush Senior, Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama all have in common? Their teams were/are on it. It's never been on every common person's news stations with their daily updates. And with the election coming up, certain people are using the latest outcry to spin things their way on both sides.

I am hearing a lot of in-depth coverage about the situation and how our government is handling it on NPR if you tune in there. You said yourself you saw it on the news today. Don't assume no one in the government is addressing it. A big chunk of America is looking the other way? Most Americans never care about any of this stuff under any administration. And that's OK, they're not in the government. What are they all supposed to do? Take up arms? It's a government issue.

Yes, there is yet another swell in the hatred. It happens periodically. My dad is retired Air Force now and still consults for the Pentagon. It's business as usual there with threats threats threats threats. he's Republican but VERY satisfied with Obama's military policies.

It's not about Obama. It's not about Romney. Its not on the back burner. NPR is the most thorough source for news on these issues.

It doesn't bother me, only because this has been going on for quite some time now. I say 'it doesn't bother me' because I've been to many (peaceful,let me add) protests and they didn't really do a bit of good. The People and The Government of each of these countries nearly all have a fundamental disconnect with each other. People can line up in the streets and chant 'death to America' and while their governments may even turn a blind eye to this (or even encourage it) when push comes to shove, those governments are not in a position to do much in regard to how their citizens feel, unless they choose to crack down.

And here we have to ask-- what is the state of things in any of these countries? If you are a leader in any of these very confused nations, you would much rather have 'death to America' be the focus of your unhappy citizens' attention instead of the troubles you are making for your own country. It's a great distraction for those in power.

We already have sanctions against some of these countries, and so it's easy for their governments to say "hey, we tried to make thing better for you, but look at what America is doing to us?" I mean, how many women and children died while sanctions were imposed on Iraq in the 90s, due to lack of food and medicine and power? They've never recovered their infrastructure from the first Gulf War. These people still don't even have full time electricity, how many years later?

We need to take time off from being an imperialist power, and focus on what's going on at home. I think our government is aware of this. Let's face it, there are a lot of people who would be upset with President Obama for addressing this (and would accuse him of detracting from domestic issues)-- and HOW does one address it? That's the bigger question. "We are a world power and you don't get an opinion?" I believe diplomacy and to keep working toward peace is the answer, but many people eschew that too. It's a tough one! Cracking down, however, would only make us less secure as a nation, not any safer.

ETA: just to affirm several other posters, if you listen to NPR, you will find that this is heavily discussed on Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, The BBC Newshour, and the morning shows. Which is why I can't listen to them when my son is home.;)

You might also be interested to watch last night's "Rock Center with Brian Williams" and Ted Koppel's story on biased news media. There's a survey which WorldPublicOpinion.org ran which indicated that people who relied on Fox or MSNBC alone were the most misinformed due to bias; NPR listeners were the most correctly informed. Not saying that to toot my horn, but really more to say: always consider the source.

Lastly: ditto to a tee everything Amy J said. I was in the military during the first Gulf War and our stateside base was locked down several times due to security concerns. There are thousands of people out there who are paying attention to 'the little guys'.

Wanting us to "flex some foreign policy mojo" to do what exactly? Stop the protests? That's pretty much the opposite of what we're all about and is un-American. I really don't understand the Middle East, because the problems there are EXTREMELY old in some cases, and some are a result of foreign nations exercising their foreign policy and f-ing with the countries as far back as WW1, etc. We have cut aid, we have sanctions. And the people in the countries get in even worse shape. There is no easy answer. And honestly, the news is seeming to be more about ratings and less about facts, so they will show the horrible stuff, but the stories about Muslims and Christians protecting each other from bad situations in the middle east took a back-burner because it just doesn't get people as excited as stories of hate...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353330/Egypt-pro...

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/3365.aspx

ADD: Here's some info about Libyan civilians protesting AGAINST the violence and the killing of our Ambassador - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19680785.

Our news get's a LOT more play from putting the anger inducing stuff on, yet information that goes against the "all Muslims are evil/horrible/hate us" line gets the back page...

I don't think it's on the back burner, what would you have the adminstration do? Send troops to these areas to attempt to arrest people on their own soil for breaking one of our laws? Threaten them with some retaliation? What's an appropriate response?

Our international relations and reputation are complicated and wont change overnight. I have a friend from college who returned home to his native Pakistan, and even with love in his heart and positive experiences he thinks the US is materialistic and soulless sometimes. And he's not entirely wrong. I dont think he's out there protesting or wishing us dead but he still thinks we are lost as a people. And we'd have to change the minds of those protestors to change how they see us.

I think about which of our pop culture and expensive goods they consume. i shudder to think of what tv shows they watch and assume that it represents us as a whole. To them we are all Real Housewives and designer-obsessed rappers.

TOTALLY bothers me. One of the things that bothers me the most is that the administration insisted INSISTED that the Bhangali attacks were because of a video and now they are saying its self-evident that it was planned. This complete turnaround on this story should be all one needs to understand how poorly Obama is doing on foreign policy. I am terrified of four more years with him-esp since I have boys that are fast approaching 18.

I agree, we should not buy into it.
Part of why our world is SO crazy right now is that every little thing is in our face in the media.... small things appear bigger than they are.
Best too look at them with a rear view mirror mentality "objects may appear closer than they really are".

What bothers me is that we send billions of dollars to these people who hate us!

They have the right to protest, just as we do.

Obviously we aren't in the know about everything that is going on, nor in the loop in the executive security briefings, so it is hard to say what we should visibly be doing (behind the scenes stuff, we don't know WHAT is being done)... I know we shouldn't be APOLOGIZING to them, though.

The movie is just an excuse. They think we are the great Satan. Dinesh D'Souza has it right. Read "The Enemy at Home" if you think they are burning flags because of a cheaply made embarrassment of a "movie".

I'm with Amy. They're paying attention to it, don't worry. (I'm not an Obama supporter, so please don't think I'm blindly assuming.) They are watching, but unless something actually HAPPENS (or they have STRONG evidence that it will happen) there's not much they can do. These people are protesting in their own countries. They may be burning our flag, but that's because that's where their anger is directed at the moment. Give it a month or two and they'll likely be fighting amongst themselves again.

The administration (and all those 3 letter agencies) ARE paying attention though.

It wasn't a planned attack.....It was a planned attack.......

Come to find out they (Obama) were informed by Libya that there was an attack planned on the anniversary of 9/11, several days before the attack.

This administration doesn't know whether they are coming or going. Look at Fast and Furious, they can't keep up with all their own lies.

Yes it all bothers me. Why in the hell are they still sending money over there? Why do we have our men & woman there if they aren't going to protect them properly......... Makes you wonder.

This is one of those situations where I think the average American SHOULD ignore the coverage. I mean having a general idea of what's going on is good, watching the footage of ongoing violence and drama seems pointless and not good for the soul.

There are so many extenuating circumstances driving the violence in these places. It is not just hatred for the US but instability within these countries, fledgling governments struggling after the Arab spring, extremely high unemployment for young men and lack of infrastructure and opportunity. I read somewhere that most of these mobs are made up of young disenfranchised men who are obviously angry, very disorganized and the US (or that dumb movie trailer) provided a catalyst.

Don't confuse the protests with the planned attacks on the embassies. Separate but related incidences carried out by very different groups of people.

I think being aware and informed is good but I try to not get too caught up in stuff like this unless there is actually something we can do. I feel bad for the peaceful citizens of the countries, the women and children who have to live in such violence and insecurity. Makes me happy I'm an American and while we have some big problems, public safety is a priority here.

I agree with Kate B........what would you have the administration do?? It's in the middle of trying to pull troops and end war, so should they start another based on the burning of our flag. As Americans we find insult in this, they certainly don't. I think it's just a matter of picking your battles wisely right now.

We're in a world war right now. It may not be said aloud, but we've been in war for a long time. It's playing out differently but it's still war.

We're being seen as weak at this point and that is a major problem.

It's all getting very scary and more Americans are starting to realize we're being viewed as weaker than ever before and with all the social unrest and all kinds of mixed up stinkin thinkin' and economic trouble it seems all the more scary. The thing is, when people are afraid they react foolishly.

We live in troubled and dangerous times and Americans for the most part are just starting to get that over the last ten years. While the rest of the world has been full aware of it all along. This is one of the reasons most of the world hates us. They think we're all fat cats, laying around doing nothing, good for nothing, lazy and stupid while we ignore the rest of the world and tell them to eat cake. (this is what they think, not what is)

I'm just waiting for the mother ship to land to take us all away or set the world right. Kidding. But remember when Regan said, 'what a difference it would be if alien ships landed on earth and that we would all suddenly see ourselves as One world, One people. Then we would work together.

Seriously, the powers that exsist in this world are actually few, but those few want to control it all. It's a known fact that five corporations control this world right now (I think it's 5, maybe it's 9, not that it matters). They're all taking their positions and getting ready for the next phase of the game they're playing, we're the peons, the pawns and we know how exspenible those are. The protestors and others like them don't get they are pawns too. What's China doing? Just watching how things are being played out. They already know they have us by the you know whats since we owe them up the ______. And we just keep printing money until we have nothing at all then they'll make their move. While America and other countries as the EU is doing and has done is clearing the playing field, leveling it out. After all you can't completely control people unless you make them so hungry, stupid and ragged they'll do anything they're told.

There are so many ways to look at all of this. I'm not trying to sound like a doomer person. I really don't think we're doomed. I believe we have a lot of choices to make on this planet, in our country, in our state, our county, our city or town, our streets, in our home, and in our selves. And to make the best choices means to begin to see things as they are from a higher stand point and do something about it starting with self. We're all so busy wanting to voice opinions (we forget everyone has one and they usually aren't worth much) that we can't see beyond it. This whole world needs to truly see their self and each other through the eyes of their own divinity (and I'm not talking about a religion). Everyone has to value the same basic things and have them defined, this is part of the problem because everyone thinks their values are supreme and push them on to others obviously with the madness of killing someone for their beliefs. And so how do we come to understand each other and live by a code that works for everyone? What means something to one, means something different to someone else. Again, mankind must push beyond their littleness and live through their higher self. What most people don't recognize, especially in this country and countries like ours is we have been in a world crisis for generations and that it is truly, basically a spiritual crisis testing the character and intentions of men and women everywhere. And its escalating, obviously. But so many people refuse to believe we're in a holy war, blah, blah, because they put religion on it. Well, like it or not, we are in a holy war. But more importantly and more to the truth, we're in a spiritual war, a war with ourselves.

If mankind would truly seek to live victoriously in the Light that lives in everyone they would make truer choices. Choices like taking to heart a love of truth which is essential for a just and inclusive, progressive society. There would be a sense of justice and the rights of others and the needs of all. There would be a spirit of cooperation based on active goodwill and higher principles of human relationships. There would be a knowing of personal responsiblity, the ability to respond in an enlightened way for self, for community and national affairs. There would be the want to serve each other for goodness through selflessness. But for most people these are very scary things to even think about and this is why the world is in the state it's in. The world points it's finger at America, but they're just as much at fault as anyone. But the world is still here, we haven't blown up into smitherines yet, so it must mean we still have choices to make. We need to make them. In the end of it all, all we have are choices and connections.

This all may seem all to philosophical to you, but so it is then as you see it. But then the word philosophy means the love of wisdom. And wisdom although deemed pretty much worthless in this world, is deemed of great value to the soul.

Of course it's on the back burner, it's campaigning time!

What bothers me is not so much the back burner but why it is on the back burner. I am not sure when it happened but I am pretty sure it was in my lifetime, somewhere people stopped doing the office they ran for and just run for that office.

I did not vote for Bush's second term because I saw this but even then he was nothing like our current president. Everything is about how it looks and what he wants. Somehow our presidents have forgotten about running our country, he just campaigns.

These people hate us, they don't need a reason to hate us, we do not need to understand why they hate us, we just need to protect ourselves and those we call friends.

They hate us because they can.

As they chanted we're a thousand Osama's...hum, well, that is not peaceful protesting is it?

I, too, am very upset by what is happening and the lack of this administration to man up and ask them to stop it (isn't that the first step)? It's not being reported in OUR news, but it is being reported over seas that our diplomat was sodomized in their attack on the embassy as well. I think we should take a stand, but instead we continue to act like it's just in response to a measly youtube video.

The Libyian government warned us some crazies were planning attacks days before it happened. They treated it as revenge (not youtube) from the start. Instead of listening to the security briefings, Obama went to the Jay_Z and Beyonce fundraiser for himself and on Letterman. Once again, in my opinion, that is not what President's do. (Many may not realize or remember that once we went to war, President Bush did not golf while President again. He felt he shouldn't play...)

You may want to watch this, it's not about the middle east, but as you mentioned that you really are interested in learning about your choices, you might find this interesting as well.
(It is about character -
http://www.video.theblaze.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=...

They can always pull out their staff (diplomats) out of those countries to keep our people safe. this country cannot afford another war. even if we could, what would be our excuse? they don't like us? if we start worrying about who likes us, we have a long list to go through. also don't remember, middle east has never been a fan of ours, through their different government. also our stance on palestine does not help the situation. but no, it doesn't bother me one bit. they don't have to like us and i would want this or any other admin to focus on that. we need the focus here, keep us safe here, bring back our troops, and start taking care of them.

Someone in this post said these issues go back as far as WWII. They go further back than that. A lot of the unrest in these areas is ethnic/tribal-based, and Sunni/Shiia based.

Sorry, I hit the wrong button and had to edit my answer to add more!

I'm all for free speech but even free speech is limited when it comes to the safety of all--ie, yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre. The idiot who made the muslim film yelled "fire" in a crowded theatre with his film and should have some personal consequences. This is going to be a very unpopular answer but read about this guy and his lies sometime, and you'll understand.

You say you watch the unbias media, but there is no unbias media, each will report on what they think is important. CBS, NBC and ABC, even CNN are very libral minded. Fox is very conserveitive. If you really truly want to know what is going on, watch and listen closely what is being said by either canidate and watch if their actions match their words. Obama claims to have the middle class as his main concern but he does things like pass the Obama care where if you can't afford insurance, yet make to much for mediaid, then you will be fined come tax time. I never knew a rich guy who didn't have insurance so that isn't to punish the rich to give to the poor. He says it will pay for it's self in 8 years, but in 8 years, if he does make it in as a 2nd term president, he still has 4 years after that to blame whoever got in as being the reason it didn't pay for itself. The biggest tell all was when the embassy was attacked. He didn't act like a president, he acted like a canidate and was to busy putting himself in the public eye by going on letterman and going to the parties. When he talked about cutting spending, if you were trying to save taxpayers dollars you don't take a plane to NY for a "date" with your wife on taxpayers pennies! Listen to the talk, but watch the walk to see if it matches. This bit with the tax returns of Romney's is a distraction from what really matters and if you look at it, I want to see how much Obama gives to charities, how much Obama gets in tax breaks and why he would be paying more taxes then Romney. It usually is because poor business practice or not giving to charities that will cause the extra percent of taxes. Who would you want running your business? One who has investments that make millions or one who puts the business so deep in the hole that if it were a private business it would have filed bankruptsy and closed the door by now?

The administration also knew about the (first) 9/11 attacks. That is still on the back burner because we couldnt lie with ourselves if the whole truth came out.