That doesn't leave many to trust.
Tom (RINO) Ridge
Posted on 08/20/2009 4:23:46 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Bush vets dismiss Ridge claims By: Andy Barr August 20, 2009 06:53 PM EST
Top officials from the George W. Bush White House are disputing claims in former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge’s coming book that they pressured him to adjust the terror threat level for political gain.
“We went over backwards repeatedly and with great discipline to make sure politics did not influence any national security and homeland security decisions,” former White House chief of staff Andy Card told POLITICO. “The clear instructions were to make sure politics never influenced anything.”
“I’m a little mystified,” former homeland security adviser Fran Townsend added in an interview. “Never in my experience did I see any political influence exerted on the cabinet secretary.”
According to promotional materials for Ridge’s coming book, “The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege…And How We Can Be Safe Again,” the ex-homeland security secretary and governor of Pennsylvania accuses the Bush White House of pushing him to “raise the national security alert just before the 2004 Election.”
A description for the book on the publisher’s website also says Ridge “was pressured to connect homeland security to the international ‘war on terror’” and that he “pushed for a plan (defeated because of turf wars) to integrate DHS and FEMA disaster management in New Orleans and other areas before Hurricane Katrina.”
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Good. Ridge is pimping a book?
Tom STFU.
“I’m a little mystified,”
Why, Ridge is an idiot.
Never trust a RINO. Remember Paul O’neil?
If your story is true...then the fact that you did not report it or make a statement about it then, when it was happening, says more about you than what you are trying to say about Bush.
That you say it only now, to try and push book sales, is indicative of who it is that is really pushing the influence and coloring the truth.
I am not surprised.
“Were you lying then or are you lying now Tom?”
Good call ;’}
Wow. And just a few weeks ago I was asking for opinions about Ridge running for higher office. NO WAY! Backbiting Loser.
That doesn't leave many to trust.
Tom (RINO) Ridge
LLS
Yep
There is no “typical” first print run. First printings can range from as few as 5000 copies to 500000 and beyond. Ridge won’t sell 5,000 unless he has a whole lot of relatives.
Wasn’t he the FBI agent that tried to warn people about a coming terror attack from Al Quada before 9/11?
October 30, 2004
Ridge says no plan to raise terror threat level
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Saturday there was no plan to raise the national terror threat level in response to the broadcast of a videotape of Osama bin Laden.
Ridge said there had been no specific information indicating possible terrorist attacks, and state and local officials have already stepped up security measures as planned to safeguard the election.
"We don't have to go to orange to take action in response either to these tapes or just general action to improve security around the country," he said.
Ridge said the Homeland Security Department and the FBI issued a bulletin to local and state officials late Friday, but had no plan at the moment to raise the threat level at the federal level.
But Ridge stressed that his department reserve the right to raise the alert level. American intelligence agencies were still analyzing the videotape, which was broadcast on Al Jazeera on Friday, to determine whether bin Laden's speech contained hidden messages or clues about a possible future attack against the United States. Enditem
Paul O’Neil was the idiot in charge of Treasury.
In naming no one, he names everyone. What a gutless putz.
I’m so glad W did not name him VP in 2000.
What’s the proper term for this kind of tale-telling person, “rat fink”?
To believe this accusation, you’d have to believe John Ashcroft and Robert Mueller, George Bush and Cheney, were dishonorable men. I know the lefties believe that but I do not.
From this article in 2004- the adminstration was aware of the political nature of raising the terror alert level, and bent over backwards to avoid it.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-10-19-terror-threat_x.htm
There are two basic approaches to selling political books. There is the Coulter/Levin/Morris/Malkin etc. way: just write a good conservative book and it will zoom to the top of the NYT bestseller list. Then there is the second way: bash Bush/Cheney. That doesn’t work nearly as well in selling books but it gets a lot of MSM press.
“was pressured to connect homeland security to the international ‘war on terror’”
Uh... remember 9/11? That's what started the WOT and it's sole purpose, it wasn't with the Norwegians over fishing rights.
Ridge is only adding to his piss poor performance as HS honcho. Go fishing or something other than being a wienie.
Ridge may be a RINO but GWBush still did a lot of non-Republican things. Compared to any other Republican since Lincoln, except for perhaps Nixon, W was the most RINO of all Republican presidents. Why the rush to back him up?
Considering how much money Ann Coulter makes on books, you’d think these fat-headed Rino turncoats would turn the other way to cash in. But I guess since they’re Rinos, they’re effing stupid.
Ridge is an idiot.
You would think that anyone in that position would have the guts to stand up for the security of the nation. If what he says is true, he should have resigned and told the truth about why he was quitting.
If what he says is true, he is a spineless weakling for just rolling over. And now he whines.
With apologies to the gay community, he’s such a fag.
And in the end the terror level days before the election was not raised. Unless Ridge is going to release some top secret docs (presumably against the law) then he has no proof and thus no rationale to raise such a horrid accusation. What good does this do when the fact is, again, that the terror level was NOT raised?
It is unquestionably fair to therefore presume this is a way to sell a book and he should be treated as an opportunist that has lost all credibility.
Bush Derangement Syndrome alive and well (but fading a bit)
Rasmussen Reports | 8/18/09 | Rasmussen Reports staff
Posted on 08/20/2009 6:56:42 AM PDT by SeattleBruce
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2320380/posts
Money. That's what's wrong with these people. Publishers can't sensationalize books that say GWB was a decent man that did everything he thought was necessary to protect the public. That won't get their authors booked as the lead guest on the Today Show, Letterman or the daily show.
My guess is, if you polled the average American, less than 3 in 10 could tell you who Tom Ridge is. His name alone won't generate much "buzz". So, he makes crap up to boost his book sales - it's as simple as that.
You are probably right, but whatever happened to doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do?
Well he was either a liar or a political coward who violated his oath of office. Now we know which.
It died, sometime during the '60s, I believe. It's why I have such tremendous respect for Joe Lieberman. If you lined up 100 issues, there probably wouldn't be one on which we'd agree. But, during a tough primary challenge, he wouldn't waiver in his support of the Iraq war (and by extrapolation, The President, knowing full well it would cost him the Democratic nomination. It was political courage that is frequently seen.
As someone pointed out, If Ridge - like COLON Powell - believed this garbage at the time he was in the administration, why did he continue to serve? It's funny (not HaHa funny, but suspicious funny) that he's just now having a "crisis of conscience", when it's most likely to benefit him financially.
For the better part of his two terms, he stood strong on many issues and prosecuted the WOT with honor and distinction. Yes, he had spending problems and made some bad personnel decisions from time to time, but he did what he campaigned on and seems to be a good man and dedicated public servant throughout. He definitely was not a small govt conservative (which is my preference), but he was solid on many critical issues.
Now it's time to put a stake through the heart of that republican party and do a modern remake of the Best of Reagan. America is in dire need of some retro-conservatism.
Sigh ... even Tom Ridge is reduced to the shallow and now-well-known disgraceful game of making anti-Bush charges to pimp a book???
Just another reliable “moderate” living up to the label.
Ridge is obviously a greedy creep, and he will get his financial reward at the expense of his soul.
George W. Bush, soul intact, will get his reward eternally.
Anyway it wouldn’t have been so surprising had the threat level actually been raised during the election cycle - what better time for the terrorist thugs to try to embarrass us with some sort of attack?......
Aye, I was thinking of John O’Neill.
put Ridge under oath..
He may still get some useful dust jacket blurbs from Colin Powell, the senators from Maine, maybe even Arnold Schwarzenegger. I can’t imagine him taking his book tour on Hannity’s show .... or anything else on conservative talk radio.
Buh bye
He sure couldn’t pick em.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.