Posted on 08/15/2006 4:34:22 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
Code red on U.S. airplanes. Toss the liquids. The arrests in Britain remind the world dramatically that the threats posed by al-Qaida and its followers have not ended. As a nation, we must come together to combat those threats. The Bush administration may have dismantled the team hunting Osama bin Laden, but he hasn't stopped targeting us.
The threat is shared, but we are divided because this administration -- and its right-wing noise machine -- turns terrorist threats to partisan political purposes. The reaction to the arrests in Britain reveals an administration more intent on dividing the country to win elections than on uniting us to meet a common threat.
How did the administration respond? Vice President Dick Cheney warned that Ned Lamont's victory over Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut primary would embolden ''al-Qaida types.'' Lieberman went further, charging Lamont's call for changing course in Iraq will ''strengthen'' the ''same people who wanted to blow up these planes.'' Republicans -- faced with the debacle in Iraq, the catastrophe after Katrina, the failed economic policies, the record trade and fiscal deficits, wages that don't keep up with the rising prices of gas, health care, college and salaries -- have decided to run by accusing their opponents of weakening U.S. security.
This outrageous distortion -- and the abuse of patriotism in the midst of a crisis -- inverts the truth. If anyone has weakened America after Sept. 11, it is this administration and its congressional enablers and cheerleaders.
The bipartisan Sept. 11 Commission issued a series of commonsense steps for the administration and Congress to take to prevent further terrorist acts. But five years after Sept. 11, the commission still gives the administration poor and failing grades in almost every area. Consider:
U.S. ports remain vulnerable, lacking a sensible container-inspection system. Bowing to the chemical lobby, the administration has failed to require that dangerous chemical and biological plants gain federal approval for their defense plans.
Homeland Security funds are still distributed by pork-barrel deals rather than by security imperatives.
Funding for first responders -- firefighters, police and rescue squads -- has been shortchanged. And our public health system -- the first line of defense against biological attack -- remains starved for funds and modern equipment. All of us witnessed after Katrina how the administration's scorn for government has weakened central agencies, like the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
If the failure at home is inexcusable, the failed occupation in Iraq is catastrophic. As Thomas Ricks, senior correspondent for the Washington Post, details in his new book, Fiasco, this administration dispatched troops into an occupation without a plan or a clue, with neither clear instructions nor adequate training and equipment. Their numbers were far too small to sustain an occupation. Now our soldiers are trapped in the midst of a growing civil war, which their leaders still refuse to acknowledge.
The CIA reports that the war has handed al-Qaida both a training ground and recruiting boon. It has stoked the fury of Muslims across the world. It has isolated the United States from its allies and from world opinion. It has weakened and overtaxed our military. It has drained some $300 billion from the treasury and has cost us thousands of precious lives. It has shamed the United States for trampling basic human rights and international law, from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo.
And yet, according to Cheney and the Republican noise machine, the voters who chose Lamont over Lieberman, the president's leading Democratic cheerleader -- and the nearly two-thirds of Americans who think the war a mistake -- are giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Republican pollsters have decided that aggressively attacking anyone who seeks a change in Iraq can rouse their base and raise doubts among independent voters. It's the best chance they've got to survive their failed policies. We're going to see a lot of ugly charges in the coming weeks.
After losing, Lieberman defended his need to run as a third-party candidate because he could bring a new "civility" to Washington, and in the same breath, essentially accused his opponent of aiding the enemy. Lieberman can't run on his record so he'll run on the rhetoric of fear. But what Lamont's victory in the Connecticut primary shows is that voters are looking for a change in course. But to get one, they have to vote their hopes and tune out the fear peddlers.
mailto:jjackson@rainbowpush.org
Jesse, you're an evil piece of crap.
Yup. They think Bush is trying to scare us and yet he's not doing enough to protect us. Makes my head hurt.
Jessie the hater is scared about Lamont getting clobbered by Lieberman.
Excellent!
I cant believe this Sheit? How can this sorry mush mouthed POS jesse Jackass come up with crap like this.
Ned lamont ran on partisan politics He ran opn a cut and run ticket and they try to turn it into Republican paartisanship.
Are these asswipes really that stupid or do they think we are. Jesse STFU you stupid --stupid SOB.
The Dems' plan to fight terror: Eliminate the term War on Terror.
And a liar. This story was debunked weeks ago.
". . . this administration . . .turns terrorist threats to partisan political purposes."
Yet he can't stop using Katrina, an act of God, as a partisan political purpose.
They are scared to death of Lieberman. If not they would shut up and 'move-on'.
So Jesse--aka "Mr. Hym...town" apparently just loves to attack a Jewish politican. What a shocker. Guess his particular rainbow is missing a few shades of colors.
Ned Lamont beat Lieberman because Lieberman dared to shed partisanship and not toe the party line on the war, and now these crazies have the balls to call republicans partisan. They dare to say republicans are politicising the war after Lamont won on that very issue.
I tell you they are insane.
( Israel - No More Olmert! No More Kadima! No More Oslo Folly!)
Actually, the plantation overseers like Jackson have discouraged black men from enlisting in the armed forces. That is a shame, because that has been one of the best avenues of advancement for blacks, and wartime is the best time to advance.
Well, judging by his inferior grasp of the English language, I'd say someone writes it for him.
He and the other ignorant parrots in the Democrat party are all in lock step. First out come the Kiler Ted Kennedy, he spouts this garbage, then Bubble eyes Pelosi says basically the same thing and of course Harry (Fill my pockets with gambling money )Reid steps up and says the same thing, then they bring out the parrots Jesse and Al to tell all the field blacks how to think.
That's why no one with even a spark of intelligence listens to you, an extortionist who has never had a job.
Or vote democratic and die.
"How did the administration respond?"
That danged smart, dumbest administration ever, was able to respond to an event the day before it happened! Time to fire up the hurricane machine!
I'm sure Jesse thinks he is furthering the cause of bipartisanship by blaming Republicans for a natural disaster in a Democratic state.
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.