Ummm ... NO! ~ just another case of the GOP/TPer missing comprehension gene ~ ~ emphasis/bolding below is mine ~ "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Former Ambassador Compares Obama To People Who ‘Bomb Churches And Kill Catholics’
By Judd Legum on November 27, 2013 at 10:40 am

The internet is ablaze with some fairly shocking news: Obama is closing the Vatican embassy! “Obama’s call to close Vatican embassy is ‘slap in the face’ to Roman Catholics,” proclaims the Washington Times, in an article that has attracted more than 2700 comments and was prominently featured on the Drudge Report. “OBAMA ‘INSULTS’ CATHOLICS IN VATICAN-EMBASSY SHUTDOWN,” reports WND. The Daily Caller piles on with “Catholics furious over Obama plan to close Vatican embassy site.” Breitbart reports that “the Obama administration is trying to diminish and discredit the Vatican’s role in the world because it’s pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom values is at odds with the Regime’s pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage stance.”

So you might be surprised to learn that, in fact, Obama is not closing the embassy — or diminishing U.S. diplomatic relations with the Holy See in any way.

There are no embassies for any country in Vatican City itself — there is simply no room. All countries locate their embassies in the city of Rome. The United States has decided to move its embassy from its current location — an unremarkable converted residence — to the same compound as the U.S. Embassy to Italy. It will have it’s own separate building and a separate entrance on a different street. The new building is actually a tenth of a mile closer to the Vatican than the old one. There will be no reduction in staff or activities.

This hasn’t stopped 5 former U.S. envoys to the Vatican — including James Nicholson, the former chair of the Republican National Committee — from protesting. Nicholson characterized the move as “a massive downgrade.” Raymond Flynn, the first ambassador under Clinton, told the National Catholic Review that “It’s not just those who bomb churches and kill Catholics in the Middle East who are our antagonists, but it’s also those who restrict our religious freedoms and want to close down our embassy to the Holy See.” Flynn “described the move as part of broader secular hostility to religious groups.”

The plans for the move actually started under President Bush, whose administration purchased the buildings adjacent to the U.S. Embassy to Italy.

The State Department says the move, which will actually occur in 2015, will save $1.4 million per year and allow for greater security.

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2013/11/27/3001491/obama-closing-vatican-embassy/

So, it's a lie? Or just truly irresponsible journalism ? What do they pay fact checkers at Fox news, anyway? That's a better job than weatherman- I bet you even get raises for being wrong!

Fox has fact-checkers? ~ who knew? ~

We still need a "Like" button for posts ~ in the meantime, this is gold star-worthy ~

Sooz

Since the GOP/TPers wallow in hate, I'm thinking I need to rethink my reluctance to use the word "hate" to describe my own reactions ~ and I don't get why moving closer is "an exception, not the ideal" ~ ~ Sooz

TPMLIVEWIRE
Republicans More Offended By Vatican Embassy 'Closure' Than The Vatican
Tom Kludt – November 27, 2013, 3:31 PM EST

The United States announced this week that it's re-locating its Vatican embassy into a shared compound with the embassy in Italy, a move that was brushed off as no big deal by the Holy See. But for Republicans stateside, it was just the latest "anti-religion pursuit" by the Obama administration.

A webpage set up by the National Republican Senatorial Committee contains the ominous headline, "Obama Closes Vatican Embassy."

"The media is reporting that President Obama plans to close the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican," the page reads. "This is just the latest anti-religion pursuit of this Administration, a slap in the face to Catholic-Americans around the country that weakens America’s position as a global leader."

Of course, the embassy isn't really closing. It won't even downsize any of its personnel and the State Department estimates that the re-location will save $1.4 million a year.

And compare the NRSC's reaction to the response from a Vatican spokesman who told CNN that relations with the United States have not been damaged. An unnamed Vatican official called the move "an exception, not the ideal, but not the end of the world."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/republicans-much-more-offended-by-vatican-embassy-closure-than-the-vatican

Aren't these fools the same ones who are pissed off at the new Pope for being too tolerant and liberal?

Ya think?

What do they pay fact checkers at Fox news, anyway?

Fact checkers at Fox. That's as big an oxymoron as compassionate conservative or, well, fact checker at Fox.

I was going to suggest that they hire monkeys to be their fact checkers but I think the monkeys would be too intelligent for them.

Jeb should have done his homework before trading his credibility for a few short minutes back in the spotlight ~ maybe he just misses being seen as the 2016 heir apparent ~ ~ Sooz

Jeb Bush: Obama’s Decision To Move Vatican Embassy Is All About Obamacare Retaliation
By Igor Volsky on November 29, 2013 at 9:27 am

Jeb Bush became the latest Republican to accuse President Obama of attacking Catholics by relocating the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican. In a tweet sent out on Wednesday, the former Florida governor questioned if Obama closed down the Embassy as “retribution for Catholic organizations opposing Obamacare”:


Ironically, the process of moving the embassy from its current location to the compound at the U.S. Embassy to Italy began under Jeb’s brother, President George W. Bush, whose administration purchased the buildings. The new location is actually a tenth of a mile closer to the Vatican and the move will come with no reduction in staff or activities.

And as for Catholic organizations — many support the law and its requirement to provide birth control as part of a comprehensive health benefit package. For instance, the Catholic Hospital Association (CHA), a trade group of Catholic hospitals, endorsed health care reform and in July of this year announced that it is also satisfied with the administration’s contraception rule. Generally, a majority of U.S. Catholics say they believe religiously affiliated groups should comply with the mandate.

Under the rule, all houses of worship are exempt from providing birth control. Should a nonprofit religiously affiliated organization like a Catholic college or hospital object to offering birth control, the insurance company will be required to provide the coverage free of charge and the employer will not pay for it. Next year, the Supreme Court will consider a challenge to the rule from for-profit organizations claiming that the requirement undermines the First Amendment’s “free exercise clause.”

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/11/29/3004911/jeb-bush-claims-obamas-decision-vatican-embassy-actually-obamacare/

What are the chances that the GOP/TPers figured out how stupidly transparent this was by themselves? ~ ~ "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

TPM LIVEWIRE
[size=125]NRSC Quietly Abandons Protest Of Vatican Embassy 'Closure'
Tom Kludt – December 2, 2013, 11:17 AM EST

The National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a petition last week to protest what it described as the "latest anti-religion pursuit" by the Obama administration, but it looks like the group is already abandoning its crusade.

A webpage that took aim at President Obama for his "plans to close the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican" is nowhere to be found on the NRSC's website. The original URL (http://yourvoice.nrsc.org/landing/vatican-embassy/) now directs back to the NRSC's homepage.

"The media is reporting that President Obama plans to close the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican," the page read. "This is just the latest anti-religion pursuit of this Administration, a slap in the face to Catholic-Americans around the country that weakens America’s position as a global leader."

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) joined the NRSC's condemnation, wondering on Twitter if the purported closure was the White House's "retribution for Catholic organizations opposing Obamacare."


But the embassy isn't actually closing. It's re-locating to a larger U.S. compound in Rome, a move that will save more than $1.4 million and bolster security. Vatican officials even dismissed the re-location as a non-issue.

A CNN fact check labeled the NRSC's claim "misleading" and a senior State Department official told UPI that there has been a "series of myths" associated with the embassy re-location.

The NRSC did not respond to TPM's request for comment.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/nrsc-quietly-abandons-protest-of-vatican-embassy-closure

Hit with false information and then run. All they care is that they have put the idea into the heads of their (mostly) ignorant base and let it germinate until it's all over the internet as "fact". They know that people who look for any reason to hate Obama will never check.

Good point, roseanne ~ hopefully, someone in the awful "liberal media" will ask some hard questions publicly ~ ~ "live links" to more/corroborating information are in the original ~ Sooz

The lifespan of a silly smear
12/02/13 04:45 PM—Updated 12/02/13 05:13 PM
By Steve Benen

President Obama has been the target of some bizarre partisan attacks over the years, but last week offered an unusually ridiculous line of criticism. The incident does, however, offer an interesting case study of the lifespan of a smear so inane, it couldn’t even sustain itself for more than a day.

On Tuesday, some conservative media outlets pounced on news that the United States is going to move its embassy to the Holy See to a new location. As a substantive matter, the details aren’t especially interesting: the embassy is moving closer to the Vatican, as part of a relocation that will save taxpayer money and improve security. Other countries have done the same thing, and the church doesn’t care.

But Republicans, perhaps bored the day before Thanksgiving, threw a tantrum anyway. It wasn’t long before GOP members of Congress, Fox News, and even Jeb Bush were expressing their outrage over Obama “closing” the embassy to the Vatican (even though Obama wasn’t closing the embassy to the Vatican). The National Republican Senatorial Committee even launched a petition drive to protest the move, calling it “the latest anti-religion pursuit” of the Obama administration and a decision that “weakens America’s position as a global leader.”

And then all of a sudden, poof, the apoplexy disappeared.


When Tom Kludt asked about the NRSC’s quiet shift in posture, Republican officials declined comment.

Behold, an anti-Obama smear so silly, even the NRSC’s Brad Dayspring and his team couldn’t muster the will to defend it.

I can’t say I blame them. The change in embassy locations was begun under Bush/Cheney; it will save Americans $1.4 million; it improves embassy security (which, post Benghazi, Republicans are supposed to care about); it actually expands the physical size of the embassy without shrinking its staff; and it moves our diplomatic post closer to the Vatican, with the church’s blessing. If the NRSC was prepared to defend its blisteringly stupid position that this move is an “anti-religion pursuit,” it would require a level of spin even Republicans aren’t capable of.

I’m curious, though, about some modicum of accountability. Shouldn’t the NRSC offer some kind of explanation for having pushed a story too absurd to defend? Or consider, Jeb Bush, ostensibly one of his party’s less-ridiculous voices, who suggested President Obama might be “closing” the embassy as “retribution” for the Vatican’s “opposition” to the Affordable Care Act. Now that he’s presumably learned the truth, doesn’t he owe the president an apology?

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-lifespan-silly-smear

They're so used to winning by lieing and cheating that they don't know what else to do when it all starts falling apart.
It's starting to happen to the Harpercons here.