Turkey - Here We Go Again

News video is beginning to look alarmingly the same.  It's either Congressional hearings or fire and mayhem in some city somewhere in the world.  Last night it was Turkey.  The only semi-secular country left will be Jordan and I fear it won't be far behind.

I'd have bet Turkey would fall to the Islamists.  The Prime Minister attacks his own people for merely wanting to keep a public square.  The Prime minister has been arresting those opposed to him and jailing them without charges. He wants to change their constitution so he can remain in office.  Obama likes him.  Does all this sound familiar?  Too much so perhaps.

What I found really disturbing, however, is how often the point was made that the White House was watching the situation closely.  Why?  Will there be more lines drawn that will be crossed with impunity?

The one thing that struck me is why wasn't the focus of the news at the time on what the White House was doing about Benghazi?  Why wasn't the White House watching it closely? Why was there little if any concern? After all, it was American lives and American property under attack.  In Turkey, not so.

Mr. Erdogan, the Prime Minister, has learned his lessons well.  From Syria he has learned about staying power no matter how bloody it gets.  From Russia he has learned about manipulating public office to retain power. From the United States he has learned he has nothing to fear and how complicit politicians make it so easy.

Have we learned anything?  Well, yes.  We've learned, or are learning, those complicit politicians are incompetents who can't keep their security details and ambassadors out of  beds in which they don't belong or their departments within the Constitution.  It's about time we citizens draw some red lines.