More security, as long as I don't have to pay for it!

After the tragic assault on the US embassy in Libya which killed four Americans including the US Ambassador to Libya, there has been an enormous push to politicize the event. This is not surprising given that we are in the middle of a close presidential race and both sides seek to exploit this event for their own advantage. As should also come as no surprise the Republican effort to politicize this event involves claiming that embassy security was understaffed and underfunded and attempting to blame Obama for this. Unfortunately, as this video from Media Matters shows, there are some inconsistencies in the Republican argument:


So, Congressman Jason Chaffetz is arguing that Pres. Obama should have put more money and staffing into embassy security even though he himself voted to reduce funding for the state department. This is a great example of an inconsistency as Chaffetz's own political position directly contradict the claims he is making about security funding for embassies. It takes remarkable chutzpah to claim that the president should increase embassy security at the same time you are voting to reduce funding for it. This is a great example of inconsistency, and also an important lesson about the politicization of tragedy.