As violent assaults on U.S. embassies spread through the Middle East this week, ostensibly in “protest” of a movie that deliberately insulted the prophet Mohammed, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the State Department in the hope of quelling the violence. “This video is disgusting and reprehensible,” she said, adding that “The U.S. government had absolutely nothing to do with this video.”

That will teach them.

Americans who have witnessed via television our flags burned and our embassies and consulates sacked, and who have seen the photos of our murdered ambassador to Libya being dragged through the streets — might have expected President Obama rather than Secretary Clinton to address the situation as it escalated. But after his initial statement on Wednesday morning, he was just too busy. He had a fund-raiser to attend in Las Vegas and an interview to give to the Spanish-language television network Telemundo. On Thursday morning, he campaigned for re-election in Colorado.

In that interview with Telemundo, Obama said he was not sure if Egypt, where our embassy in Cairo was attacked, was our ally. Actually, Congress designated Egypt as a non-Nato ally years ago. Oops.

Our embassies burn, and Obama campaigns, ignorant of who is who and what is what, but supremely confident that he can fix everything someday.