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PostPosted: 12/29/09 6:20 am • # 1 
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Personally, I far prefer this reassuring approach over advising the public to replenish its stock of duct tape ~ Hoekstra's comment "You would have thought this would go right to the top of the list" is manipulative and deceiving ~ "next month" is next week, when Congress reconvenes ~ Hoekstra is specifically burnishing his credentials to use during his Michigan governor campaign ~ and I agree absolutely and unconditionally with Robert Gibbs' comment that I emphasized/bolded below ~ Sooz


The return of terror politics

From Jim Acosta, CNN
December 29, 2009 10:59 a.m. EST

Washington (CNN) -- When President Obama spoke out on the terrorism scare in Detroit, Michigan, he entered a debate that had already begun over his administration's new approach to combating terrorism.

"As a nation we will do everything in our power to protect our country," Obama said while vacationing in Hawaii. "We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us, whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the U.S. homeland."

Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab is being held for allegedly trying to blow up a flight carrying 300 passengers on Christmas Day. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility Monday for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for U.S. strikes on Yemeni soil.

On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano initially gave something of a thumbs up to the government's handling of the Detroit terror scare.

"One thing I want to point out is that the system worked. Everybody played an important role here. The passengers and crew of the flight took appropriate action," Napolitano said on CNN's State of the Union.

Within minutes, Republicans went on the attack.

"Earlier today Secretary Napolitano said the system worked. in fact the system did not work," Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

When pressed, Napolitano later dialed back her remarks.

"That's a phrase taken out of context," she said. "Our system did not work in this incident. No one is happy with that."

Now, members of Congress are asking questions, such as how the suspected terrorist could fly in the first place after his own father had warned authorities his son was possibly under the influence of religious extremists.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said the White House isn't sharing information. He posted a message on Twitter accusing the administration of "stonewalling."

"The threat to the United States is real. I think this administration has downplayed it," Hoekstra said. "They need to recognize it, identify it."

He said that is "the only way we are going to defeat it."

Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who has sometimes frustrated the White House, brushed off the notion that the president has gone soft on terror.

"I don't think it's fair to lay this on President Obama or the Obama administration," said Lieberman, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "A lot of these practices are ones that have been going on for quite a while."

The White House, meanwhile, said those security procedures -- some dating back to the Bush administration -- are now under review.

"I think the best New Year's resolution that we can make in the new year is to make the security of the American people a nonpartisan issue not a political football that we punt back and forth," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

Hearings on the Detroit terror scare are planned for early next month. Republicans have hinted that there should have been a big red flag next to the suspect's name.

"You would have thought this would go right to the top of the list," Hoekstra said Tuesday on CBS' "Early Show."

Obama said the federal system for tracking potential terrorism suspects will be reviewed because the latest incident showed it had possible failings.

"Apparently the suspect in the Christmas incident was in this system, but not on a watch list, such as the so-called no-fly list," Obama said. "So I have ordered a thorough review, not only of how information related to the subject was handled, but of the overall watch-list system and how it can be strengthened."

CNN's Ed Hornick contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/29/ ... index.html



Last edited by sooz06 on 12/29/09 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: 12/29/09 4:17 pm • # 2 
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This is certainly NO surprise ~ what IS a surprise is that Cheney hasn't waded in ... yet ~ Sooz


By [url=/author/Amanda]Amanda Terkel[/url] at 8:41 pm

Rove Attacks Obama Response To Failed Terrorist Plot, Despite Bush's Delayed Response In 2001

Yesterday on Hannity, former Bush White House adviser Karl Rove sharply criticized President Obama's response to the failed terrorist attack on Christmas Day. In particular, Rove went after the fact that Obama issued his first public statement on the matter 72 hours after the event:

Quote:

CARLSON: This President was not notified until three hours after this incident became known. Is that a long time? It seems like a long time.

ROVE: Look, they woke him up immediately to tell him he won the Nobel Prize but couldn't bother to interrupt his vacation for three hours to tell him a terrorist tried to bring down a plane on Christmas Day. And the President waits 72 hours before we hear from him, and it's over 72 hours from the time of the incident to the time that the President spoke today, and then the President said some things that are simply not true.

Watch it:

Rove made similar comments this morning again on Fox News, pointing out that it took Obama "72 hours after the event" to issue a statement from Hawaii, where the President is vacationing. This criticism rings hollow coming from Rove, a former top official in the Bush administration - which waited even longer to comment on a failed airline plot in 2001. As the Huffington Post's Sam Stein notes:

Quote:

On December 22, 2001, Richard Reid - known more infamously as the shoe bomber - failed in his attempt to blow up a Miami-bound jet using explosives hidden in his shoe. Coming less than four months after September 11, there already were deep concerns about a potential attack during the upcoming holiday break. Nevertheless, President Bush did not directly address the foiled plot for six days, according to an extensive review of newspaper records from that time period. And when he did, it was only in passing.

Two days after the incident on Dec. 24, the Boston Globe noted Bush's silence: "White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said that President Bush continued to monitor the situation and receive updates at Camp David. Bush has not issued any statements about the incident."

Conservatives have also been hammering the Obama administration for treating the Christmas Day plot as a law enforcement issue and for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's remarks that the "system, once the incident occurred, the system worked." However, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also brushed aside questions about the shoe bomber by saying the matter was "in the hands of the law enforcement people," and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft made comments similar to those of Napolitano.

Since the Christmas Day events, Obama has been consulting with his top advisers and administration officials have been actively speaking with press, including appearing on the Sunday public affairs shows. Today, Obama again made public comments on the incident while in Hawaii, stating, "But what already is apparent is that there was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security. We need to learn from this episode and act quickly to fix the flaws in our system, because our security is at stake and lives are at stake."

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/29/rove-72-hours/



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PostPosted: 12/29/09 7:11 pm • # 3 
Interesting that rather than be critical of Napolitano's poorly-chosen words, thinkprogress hollers, "They did it too!"


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 1:59 am • # 4 
Perhaps the best security America can have can't be bought... can't be installed... Perhaps the best security comes from the people. You don't see Isreali passenger planes being attacked because the terrorists have learned a valuable lesson. Each and every Isreali citizen is a soldier. If a group of terrorists were to take over an Isreali plane, every Isreali on that flight will fight back.


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 2:28 am • # 5 
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[b wrote:
gopqed[/b]]Interesting that rather than be critical of Napolitano's poorly-chosen words, thinkprogress hollers, "They did it too!"

ThinkProgress and multiple other media have already posted that "Napolitano's poorly-chosen words" were cherry-picked and taken out of context by intentionally omitting the rest of her sentence, which was along the lines of "after the occurrence happened" ~

Sooz


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 3:48 am • # 6 
sooz08 wrote:
[b wrote:
gopqed[/b]]Interesting that rather than be critical of Napolitano's poorly-chosen words, thinkprogress hollers, "They did it too!"

ThinkProgress and multiple other media have already posted that "Napolitano's poorly-chosen words" were cherry-picked and taken out of context by intentionally omitting the rest of her sentence, which was along the lines of "after the occurrence happened" ~

Sooz


They were still poorly-chosen words, along the lines of "After the cow escaped, we closed the barn door successfully." It was a terrifically dumb way to say it, and she deserves the criticism she received. Thinkprogress, in its zeal to defend the Obamaworld, started waving around the "They did it too!" flag instead of just accepting that she screwed up.

I understand in their eyes, only Blue Dog Democrats, Republicans and Joe Lieberman can screw up, but come on.....


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 3:56 am • # 7 
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As expected, Darth weighs in ~ comments like Darth's sound dangeously close to an invitation to attack ~ and Pete Hoekstra, with a stunning lack of brains and class, is using the Christmas Day attempt to raise money for his gubenatorial campaign ~ Image ~ Sooz


Dick Cheney: Barack Obama 'trying to pretend'

By MIKE ALLEN | 12/30/09 4:21 AM EST

Former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Barack Obama on Tuesday of "trying to pretend we are not at war" with terrorists, pointing to the White House response to the attempted sky bombing as reflecting a pattern that includes banishing the term "war on terror" and attempting to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

"[W]e are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren't, it makes us less safe," Cheney said in a statement to POLITICO. "Why doesn't he want to admit we're at war? It doesn't fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn't fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency - social transformation-the restructuring of American society."

Cheney was joining a chorus of Republicans who have criticized Obama following the Christmas Day attack, in which a Nigerian suspect is accused of trying to blow up a loaded airliner with a bomb stitched into his underwear.

A senior Democrat said in response: "It's telling that in attacking the president and the administration, that Vice President Cheney did not condemn the attack against our nation on Christmas Day."

Foreshadowing the party's strategy for next year's midterm congressional elections, GOP officeholders have eschewed the customary partisan restraint following a terrorist incident, and have baldly portrayed Democrats as weak on security.

Rep. Peter King of New York, ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee and a member of the Intelligence committee, said Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show: "I think that the administration has made a mistake by treating this terrorist as a common criminal, by putting him into the criminal-justice system. I wish they had put him into a military tribunal so we could get as much intelligence and information out of him as we could."

Here is Cheney's full statement:

"As I've watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won't be at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won't be at war. He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of 9/11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won't be at war.

"He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core al Qaeda trained terrorists still there, we won't be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, 'war on terror,' we won't be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren't, it makes us less safe. Why doesn't he want to admit we're at war? It doesn't fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn't fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency - social transformation-the restructuring of American society. President Obama's first object and his highest responsibility must be to defend us against an enemy that knows we are at war."



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PostPosted: 12/30/09 4:12 am • # 8 
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gopqed wrote:
sooz08 wrote:
[b wrote:
gopqed[/b]]Interesting that rather than be critical of Napolitano's poorly-chosen words, thinkprogress hollers, "They did it too!"

ThinkProgress and multiple other media have already posted that "Napolitano's poorly-chosen words" were cherry-picked and taken out of context by intentionally omitting the rest of her sentence, which was along the lines of "after the occurrence happened" ~

Sooz


They were still poorly-chosen words, along the lines of "After the cow escaped, we closed the barn door successfully." It was a terrifically dumb way to say it, and she deserves the criticism she received. Thinkprogress, in its zeal to defend the Obamaworld, started waving around the "They did it too!" flag instead of just accepting that she screwed up.

I understand in their eyes, only Blue Dog Democrats, Republicans and Joe Lieberman can screw up, but come on.....

I'm not defending Napolitano ~ I agree the words were poorly chosen ~ but there's a HUGE difference, at least to me, between poorly-chosen words and cherry-picking/intentionally omitting the full context to make the words appear worse ~ interesting tho that your distaste is focused on the exposure rather than on the blatant R hypocrisy itself ~

Sooz


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 4:42 am • # 9 
Quote:

As indicative of what they contend is Obama's world view, conservatives passed around the recording of a statement Obama made while taking calls on New Hampshire Public Radio on Nov. 21, 2007: "I truly believe that the day I'm inaugurated, that not only does the country look at itself differently, but the world looks at America differently. If I'm reaching out to the Muslim world, they understand that I've lived in a Muslim country and I may be a Christian, but I also can understand their point of view. …

"The world will have confidence that I am listening to them, and that our future and our security is tied up with our ability to work with other countries in the world. That will ultimately make us safer. And that's something that this administration has failed to understand."

Conservatives take issue with this? Oh... that's right! They REALLY take issue with the fact that they didn't say it. So, as far as they're concerned, the only issue is WHO said it and not what was said...


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 3:20 pm • # 10 
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I'm particularly pleased that Inouye made it VERY clear that Cheney is no longer "in the loop" ~ which tells anyone with working brain cells that Cheney's attack is purely political and not based in fact or reality ~ Sooz


December 30, 2009
Posted: December 30th, 2009 06:18 PM ET

From CNN Senior White House Correspondent Ed HenryImage

HONOLULU, Hawaii (CNN) - Powerful Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) fired back at former Vice President Dick Cheney for slamming President Obama's response to the attempted terror attack in Detroit as too weak.

"That's nonsense," Inouye told CNN. "I think, I hate to say this, but I think the former Vice President lost all of his credibility by the way he's been conducting himself. I would expect a person with the potential of leading this country to be a bit more responsible."

Inouye, who as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee hold sway over all defense and homeland security spending, said Obama handled the incident in a "proper fashion" by not commenting too quickly after the attempted attack on Northwest flight 253.

"Well he could have spoken five minutes after but that wouldn't be responsible, not knowing what the facts were," said Inouye. "Why should you instill fear and scare [people] when something is not justified? So I think he did the right thing."

Cheney released a written statement Wednesday morning charging that Obama was not doing enough to defend the country.

"As I've watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war," Cheney said in the prepared statement. "He seems to think if he has a low key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won't be at war."

Inouye defended Obama's efforts to challenge al-Qaeda, especially in Yemen, though he said he could not go into details because he's received briefings of a "classified nature" in recent weeks.

"I can't tell you what is happening, but I can tell you we take the activities in Yemen very seriously, and we will act accordingly," said Inouye.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... more-83514



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PostPosted: 12/30/09 3:37 pm • # 11 
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This is a bull's-eye opinion ~ the last paragraph [emphasis/bolding is mine] is especially good ~ Sooz




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PostPosted: 12/30/09 4:44 pm • # 12 
You should see some of the crap that "palin/cheney conservatives" are spewing all over the boards. And all I say in response is ...


BOO!


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PostPosted: 12/30/09 6:15 pm • # 13 
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this line caught my attention:

By staying in Hawaii, the president has sent the message that the situation really isn't all that serious

maybe that is because it....um.....isn't all that serious?

after 911, it took 8 years for them to get this far (not very). what precisely is it that we should be worried about?


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PostPosted: 12/31/09 7:40 am • # 14 
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And another bull's-eye editorial ~ I maintain those intent on publicly slamming this administration over "slow/inadequate response" and "being soft on terror" and "preferring terorists over Americans" are playing an incredibly dangerous game of daring/inviting those who would do us harm to attack ~ Sooz

Opinion
Christian Science Monitor

Screen out useless reactions to Christmas Day attack

Talk about the need for better screening. Right now, the United States needs to screen out partisan reactions and knee-jerk responses to the attempted Christmas Day airliner attack over Detroit. Instead, it must focus on what really needs fixing.

Terrorists want to make Americans afraid and panic-stricken, and to send politicians and government officials crashing into each other so that they can’t accomplish anything.

The terrorists succeed when they prompt exaggerated security responses such as not allowing passengers to stand up for the last hour of the flight and not allowing people to keep pillows or blankets on laps. Couldn't someone do the dirty deed of detonating a bomb in the hours before the last one - with or without a blanket as cover?

They also succeed when they get politicians to pull out their daggers and go for each other: President Obama wants to "appease" the terrorists, and Democrats want to "weaken" security. Republicans disregard terrorism by blocking spending and nominee action in Congress.

True, Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano overplayed the calm-the-nation role by declaring incongruously last Sunday that "the system worked."

But she quickly corrected herself, and Mr. Obama is rightly focused on two weak spots in the system: screening passengers and tracking terrorist suspects. On Thursday, he is expected to receive a preliminary report on the alleged failed attempt of Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 - a near miss that Obama admits showed "human and systemic failures" in security.

The president has ordered a review of passenger-screening measures. Any number of methods might have detected Mr. Abdulmutallab's hidden explosives, including "full body" scanning machines that can detect nonmetallic objects, explosive-sniffing dogs, and alert security employees who could have pulled the young man aside because they noticed he carried nothing more than a small carry-on bag for an international flight.

When Congress returns to work, it will hold hearings on the incident and no doubt the deployment of full-body scanners will come up. The machines are expensive and controversial for the nakedlike images they reveal, but apparently changes can mitigate some of these concerns. Still, Congress must be careful to balance privacy issues with security concerns. (On Wednesday, the Dutch announced they will begin immediate use of the machines for US-bound flights.)

The president also ordered a review of the "watch list" system for tracking suspected terrorists.

The American Embassy in Nigeria correctly passed on Abdulmutallab's father's concern about his son's radicalism, but questions remain about why his name wasn't put on a narrower watch list, why his US visa wasn't revoked, and why information about him wasn't shared more widely within the American intelligence community and with foreign governments. Connect the dots - that was a key lesson from 9/11 and remains one today.

Unfortunately, the debate about screening and watch lists sometimes pits both measures against each other. One camp argues, for instance, that more sophisticated screening machines can't outsmart terrorists, which is why the US should focus on intelligence and intelligence sharing. Another camp argues that better machines up the uncertainty for terrorists, and substantially improve security.

Here, it's helpful to go back to the report of the 9/11 Commission - one of the most useful government commission reports ever written.

"Not a single security measure is foolproof," the report's authors wrote. Layers of security must be in place, they said. As lawmakers and government officials review this failed bombing, they must think of layering in the most expansive sense - including the use of force in far-off places, and encouraging the growth of democracy, human rights, and economies in the Muslim world.

Terrorists are sure to learn and adapt from the almost-bombing of Christmas Day. America must, too.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20091230/cm_csm/271344



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PostPosted: 12/31/09 7:51 am • # 15 
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and i am sure we will.

but let's face it, we can't live completely safe lives. that is impossible. at a certain point, you have to assume that you have the risks covered and LIVE.


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