The attack on Northwest Flight 253 was far from a failure
The struggle to defeat terrorism has two dimensions.
The first and most obvious is physical. In the physical world, we must tighten our security measures; we must find and kill those committed to terrorism; we must discourage others from choosing that course of action; we must seek allies in our common cause and deny our enemies safe haven. We have been doing all those things, and will continue doing so.
But the second dimension is psychological. Our enemies cannot terrorize us unless we allow ourselves to be terrorized. Their goal, remember, is not to bring down airliners or inflict mass casualties; those are merely the means they hope to use to achieve their real goal of provoking panic, fear and overreaction.
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the mastermind of Sept. 11, put it well: “The language of war is victims,” he said. Killing is a means of sending a message.
In that sense, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab succeeded even while failing. The Nigerian engineering student did not bring down Northwest Flight 253; physically, he was foiled by fellow passengers and perhaps his own incompetence. No one died. Yet he and those who sent him must be gratified by the sense of terror and panic he has inspired in some of our fellow Americans.
Take U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, ranking Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee who also happens to be running for governor of Michigan. Hoekstra is a frightened man, and he wants others to share his fears. Within three days of the attempted attack, he sent out a fundraising letter in which he blames the incident on the Obama administration, “the same weak-kneed liberals who have recently tried to bring Guantanamo Bay terrorists right here to Michigan!”
I just love that exclamation point. It’s almost perfect. And I say “almost perfect” because you have to leave room to acknowledge absolute perfection, which Hoekstra achieves later in that letter:
“There should be no partisan rancor when it comes to keeping our citizens safe. Unfortunately, as the Democrat party drifts further and further to the left, their leaders are making decisions that should frighten us all.”
Fear is useful. Fear makes people malleable. Osama bin Laden knows it. So does Peter Hoekstra.
Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina has reacted in a similar vein, suggesting that the failed attack should force a complete revision of the nation’s approach to confronting terrorism, as well as a change in its leadership.
“[S]oft talk about engagement, closing Gitmo, these things are not going to appease the terrorists,” DeMint told Politico. “They’re going to keep coming after us, and we can’t have politics as usual in Washington, and I’m afraid that’s what we’ve got right now with airport security.”
Yes, they are going to keep coming after us. Similar attacks have been launched in the past and will occur in the future as well. Our enemies have not gone away; they have not surrendered and they will continue to probe our defenses for weakness.
But weakness can be psychological as well as physical. These cries of fear and panic come from the same geniuses who believe that putting terrorists into SuperMax prisons here in the United States somehow endangers our national security. They have lost all sense of perspective, and show themselves devoid of courage and judgment. They are not leaders, because no one can or should follow those scurrying in fright.
In his poem “If”, Rudyard Kipling wrote in admiration of those who “can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” He would not have admired many in American public life today.
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488 comments Add your comment
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 29th, 2009
2:00 pm
Well, I don’t see why that guy had to go and ruin his Private Parts while he was blowing people up. Some things are Sacred.
joe matarotz
December 29th, 2009
2:08 pm
I was just wondering if Jon Stewart will be playing any clips of our resident genius, Janet Napolitano.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
2:10 pm
Actually, Jay, we all have good reason to be skeered. I mean, if $650 annually to DoD is not enough to stop every single terrorist dead in his or her tracks, what will it TAKE! I FEEL A PAIN ATTACK COMING ON. I need a bag! Where’s my bag! Breath. That’s it. Ahhhhhhh! I’m all right now.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
2:11 pm
Oops. That should be 650 billion. $650 would be a cheap price to pay for security.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
2:11 pm
read the previous threads’ six pages and you can count the
the folks who let Captain Underpants win in their own lives.
not me and outhouse,
I scoff. He…..well let him tell you.
AmVet
December 29th, 2009
2:11 pm
There was a time after My Pet Goat, when the Republicants could (mis)lead many in this country through intimidation and fear.
Remember Rudy? Every other word out of his campaigning mouth was 9/11!!!
That day has come and gone. Along with their political viability…
Jake
December 29th, 2009
2:15 pm
There’s fear and panic is not found in those political tactics, Jim’s just being sarcastic and attacking a couple of Reps. If the terrorist’s mission was successful, the fear and panic will show in decreased sales of airline tickets, like it did right after 911.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
2:16 pm
Of course, it’s the Republican’s fault.
we must find and kill those committed to terrorism
You mean like, Iran?
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
2:19 pm
I think the GOP should campaign on the war against terrorism and the repeal of healthcare legislation and the repeal of women’s rights, for starters. If those are not enough, I’m sure I can come up with a few more. Of course, it should go without saying, Palin/McCain 2012. That’s the ticket. The Beached Boys will play that favorite GOP tune, written by McCain, at each rally.
Bob
December 29th, 2009
2:20 pm
Jay, why do you say people are afraid of putting the GITMO guys here. A few might feel they can escape but most feel terrorists are being rewarded by getting rights under the constitution. I am quite sure that if one tried to escape, the person guarding them will shoot to kill. Like Holder said to the senate, he knew of no other time when an enemy combatant was brought to America and given rights. But Obama is doing it anyway.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
2:20 pm
Fear and panic is the dummycrat party modus operandi, er, normal operation.
The economy will collapse without health care, waaaaaaa!
The unemployment rate will go above 9% with out Porkulus, er, I mean 11%, waaaaa!
The Republicanshhh wont playshh wishhh ush, hic, Oo.oOo.ooO, attack, attacksh, attack, hic, waaaaa!
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 29th, 2009
2:25 pm
Enter your comments here
Lord Help Us
December 29th, 2009
2:25 pm
Jay,
Been celebrating Christmas in warmer and intertubes-free environs…ahhh
I have already sent this sentence – ‘They have lost all sense of perspective, and show themselves devoid of courage and judgment. They are not leaders, because no one can or should follow those scurrying in fright.’ – to a few still unenlightened acquaintances.
We chose to change from those types of leaders last November.
Please, I beg you true conservatives…please do not support politicians that endorse the Bush/Republican Congress policies of most of this century.
Those policies, both foreign and domestic, failed.
stands for decibels
December 29th, 2009
2:28 pm
Jay, what’s sad is that someone has to post some version of this column every few months or or so, post-9/11.
I do hope to live to see a time when the likes of DeMint, Hoekstra and such are so marginalized and ridiculed that they can’t harvest political crops from flareups like this. maybe one day.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
2:28 pm
Andy
You’re terribly sexy when you do slingblade….
stands for decibels
December 29th, 2009
2:29 pm
Please, I beg you true conservatives…
You’ll find that doesn’t get you very far.
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 29th, 2009
2:31 pm
Let me make one point perfectly clear!!!
LYNRD SKYNRD was NOT on the plane!
AmVet
December 29th, 2009
2:32 pm
It would seem that the hemorrhaging neo-conned have NOTHING but the WAR ON TERROR(!!!) to hang onto now.
In every other facet of governance they have been summarily kicked to the curb by a disgusted electorate.
Republican crybabies and never-served failures, playing army…
Lord Help Us
December 29th, 2009
2:32 pm
SD, I am hoping there are a few that will, as YOU suggest, marginalize the freaks (Demint, Hoekstra, Palin, etc.) in their own ranks.
Wouldn’t that be great for this country?
Doggone/GA
December 29th, 2009
2:33 pm
Jay…a while back I saved something from a previous blog of yours, and I’ve lost it. Something about “if they have the scare you to get your vote” – do you remember that one?
@@
December 29th, 2009
2:35 pm
jay, Abuma-mama-dullah or whatever the heck is name was on a proof-of-concept mission. Could have just as easily succeeded, which would then open the door for the concept to be applied. Once those IEDs explode, it’s virtually impossible to pick up the pieces, much less knowing how they operate.
So a terrorist is sitting back in Yemen saying……hmmmmm, a little tweek here…..a little tweek there. Who knows?
To see security heightened puts them on the defensive. Meanwhile, we’re bombing the hell out of their operations in Yemen. Through their failures, we’ve bought time. Let’s hope the Obama administration puts it to good use. Gawd knows he’s wasted a lot of it on his “health care” bill. Wasted a lot of money that could have been put to better use too.
Pork is good, but only when used against muslim extremists.
stands for decibels
December 29th, 2009
2:35 pm
if $650 [billion] annually to DoD is not enough to stop every single terrorist dead in his or her tracks
And that’s the thing–reasonable people understand that you CAN’T stop every. single. terrorist. dead in his or her own tracks.
Dammit, Kerry was right–our objective really ought to be to get this to the point where terrorism is a “nuisance”, to be managed, and understood to be just another kind of crime that a certain sort of whackjob commits. Instead of guiding our foreign/fiscal/domestic/whathaveyou policy.
It would help if intelligent people stopped listening to the likes of Holy Joe, Demint, and the other Terra Terra Terra bandwagoneers.
AmVet
December 29th, 2009
2:36 pm
Maybe this is why the neo-cons are sputtering…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-tCIRJH9p0&feature=related
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 29th, 2009
2:39 pm
Well, for months somebody always beat me to it but the first time I got to go first nobody even says a word. Bunch of spoilsports.
I say we done lost the War on Terrer. When you got people willing to blow up their own You Know What just to blow us up, you’re up against somebody that can’t be beat. I mean, I could understand a bomb in a bag or even a bomb in a coat. But a bomb in the underpants? You know that’s got to smart when it goes off. People willing to do that ain’t afraid of nothing.
Anyhow, there’s only a few things we can do now and it will take a strong Conservative President to make sure we do them:
1. Hide, lock all of the doors, and keep all your weapons loaded.
2. Make sure everybody flies buck-nekkid, even the ugly ones that hurt your eyes when you look at them. We ain’t got time for skittish people.
3. Find some other little country we can attack and beat like a rented mule.
4. Pass all the tax cuts you can so we can be Free.
5. Get rid of all the Socialism stuff so we’ll have the money to fight the new war.
That ought to about do it. Have a good p.m. everybody.
@@
December 29th, 2009
2:41 pm
…and yet that same John Kerry just got Massachusetts a DoD contract to continue producing jet engines that the Pentagon said would likely never be used.
John Kerry operates in a vacuum where he can skim votes.
Logical Dude
December 29th, 2009
2:48 pm
similar arguments as Cynthia’s blog. . . Other than the more blog space/ editorial space/ articles written only give the (failed) bomber more power. Unfortunately, politicians are doing the same thing. Marginalize the terrorists, they are unimportant. I do not live in constant fear of them. I fear the drivers next to me much more than I fear the “terrorist”.
And that makes them powerless.
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
2:49 pm
“In his poem “If”, Rudyard Kipling wrote in admiration of those who “can keep your head when all about you
are losing theirs and blaming it on you.” He would not have admired many in American public life today.”
On either “side” of the political posturing, I would venture. I do not mean this as any type of personal attack, but posting this thread is but another ratcheting up of the volume, serving no real positive end beyond allowing a vent space for the malcontents in this colonial backwater we call home, but feeding into the divisiveness nonetheless…
AmVet
December 29th, 2009
2:52 pm
josef at 2:29 – yeah what he said!
Now somebody get me a pitchfork and lets find that damned Frankenstein monster!!!
Speaking of bombs and gaps (or is it cracks?)…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXUgtEe99ZY
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
2:52 pm
Fear?
From a couple of weeks ago…..
NAME CHANGED TO PROTECT THE INDIVIDUALS FEELINGS
December 14th, 2009
10:01 pm
Haven’t been around, so don’t know if this has been posted:
LONDON — Iran is working towards testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb, British newspaper The Times said Monday, citing confidential documents.
The daily said it had obtained notes describing a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb which triggers an explosion.
The Times claimed that foreign intelligence agencies dated the documents to early 2007 — four years after Tehran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme.
“Is this the smoking gun? That’s the question people should be asking. It looks like the smoking gun. This is smoking uranium.”
————————————————–
Former CIA Official: Iran Nuke Document Was Forged
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/former-cia-official-iran-nuke-documen
AmVet
December 29th, 2009
2:52 pm
Make that 2:49…
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
2:54 pm
If anything, we should all be terrified of lightning.
Doggone/GA
December 29th, 2009
2:58 pm
“serving no real positive end beyond allowing a vent space for the malcontents in this colonial backwater we call home, but feeding into the divisiveness nonetheless…”
Josef – I don’t entirely agree. If columns like this warn even a few people to be careful about fear being ramped up for no good reason, then that’s a few less people likely to panic at the “command” of the terrorist. The more people we have who can think clearly, the better.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
3:06 pm
Flying is safe. It’s those danged golf courses that will git ya. Between the lightning strikes and the golf balls from nowhere, it can be downright hazardous to go anywhere near them.
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
3:07 pm
“If columns like this warn even a few people to be careful about fear being ramped up for no good reason…”
“If” being the operative word…we, self included, flayed this horse all of yesterday and most of today, taking a break last night to have some fun and taking time to indulge in some name calling and a little snicker-snicker in our partisan bickering…what is the purpose in continuing the same here instead of there?
Doggone/GA
December 29th, 2009
3:10 pm
“what is the purpose in continuing the same here instead of there?”
Why, the other day, did you ask Jay for a new thread? If nothing else, it keeps the number of past replies down. But it also gives a different slant to the issue…and maybe a new slant to SOME of the replies.
Plus, where else do you think Jay should post HIS opinions?
pat
December 29th, 2009
3:12 pm
Yet another thinly veiled attack on conservatives… You just did the samething you accused others of doing, using the politics of fear to bash your enemies. Now that is waht I call transparency.
Finn McCool
December 29th, 2009
3:12 pm
afraid of terrorists? nope.
afraid of banks legally raping me and my family on a monthly basis? you bety.
Mr. Snarky
December 29th, 2009
3:14 pm
Jay’s point hits the mark. The goal of terrorism is not to kill people, but to terrorize them. By overreacting and doing stupid, counterproductive things (like invading Iraq) we just make things worse.
Jimmy62
December 29th, 2009
3:15 pm
Republicans aren’t afraid of putting terrorists in prisons here. it just seems silly when there’s a perfectly good facility in Guantanamo for foreign enemies to reside in, seeing as they do not and should not get the rights accorded a US citizen. But go ahead with your lies and strawman arguments, you get plenty of backing from clueless commenters.
At least now you are saying the truth. These people want to kill us and aren’t going to stop. Of course a year and half ago you were lying and saying it was Bush’s fault they hate us. Now that you can’t blame Bush anymore, you finally admit the truth the republicans were saying all along. These acts of terrorism are the result of a fanatic religious culture that worships death and it has nothing to do with whomever is President of the US at the time. Nice to see some honesty from you, for once.
What I don’t understand is why all you liberals want to trap poor children in bad schools (anti-voucher), keep poor people dependent and on the dole instead of creating incentives for them not to be poor (expansion of welfare whenever and wherever possible, with bailouts for everyone that screws up), and kill off innovation in medicine so that millions will die from diseases that otherwise would have been cured (the healthcare bill and taking medicine out the hands of people with incentives to innovate and putting it in the hands of politicians and panels).
I guess liberals are as evil as they try to make conservatives out to be.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
3:18 pm
shorter jimmy62
” “
Road Scholar
December 29th, 2009
3:19 pm
Jay, isn’t DeMint the one who is single handedly holding up hearings to approve President Obama’s pick for Homeland security chief? His reasoning is that the TSA workers may vote for a union. Mr. Dementia, I mean DeMint, which Union are you working for? The US?
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
3:22 pm
BTW, we have unfinished business downstairs…
Doggone…
Why did I ask? I thought it might bring up something fresh, and it did and I was appreciative…this is not that. And why keep the number of replies down. I thought it was in his (and our) best interest to see a large number to let his bosses know how popular he really is…I don’t see that new slant you mention nor do I see any opinion here I did not see below…”be careful with making political hay out of this this early in the game…”
“Plus, where else do you think Jay should post HIS opinions?”
Here, and anywhere else they are wanted. Personally, I wish he would offer more of his “chime in” comments once we get rolling on “a little bit of opinion about a lot of things.” I understand why he doesn’t, but I still wish he would…
Lord Help Us
December 29th, 2009
3:22 pm
J62, I’d ask, ‘are you serious?’ but, I would probably be disappointed at the answer.
If you live in a state of mind that REALLY believes people (liberals in your vernacular) want to ‘trap poor children in bad schools…keep people dependent…kill off millions of people from diseases’, etc. then you prove yourself to be completely irrational.
How do otherwise rational people come to believe such absolute excrement??
TnGelding
December 29th, 2009
3:23 pm
Maybe Allah intervened?
Do we have enough bomb-sniffing dogs in Iraq and Afghanistan that if we brought all the troops home every international passenger could be checked? Let’s get more of them trained and use them.
The current system is stupid, costly, ineffective and inconvenient.
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
3:26 pm
TnGelding…
“Maybe All-h intervened?”
For which, no doubt, Muslims (and every other faith) worldwide are thankful…
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
3:26 pm
Oh my yes! Yemeny Cricket! There are so many scared up folk here! They’re just a hollerin’ and a screamin’ “That Obama’s gonna git us killed.”
Doggone/GA
December 29th, 2009
3:28 pm
“I don’t see that new slant you mention nor do I see any opinion here I did not see below”
But there’s always one thing we can’t ever know: how many people read his opinions, but who never post here. I don’t even know if Jay knows that.
Besides, I seriously doubt the popularity…or lack of it…has anything to do with it. After all, sometimes blogs are locked to prevent comments being posted.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
3:29 pm
“Jay, isn’t DeMint the one who is single handedly holding up hearings to approve President Obama’s pick for Homeland security chief?”
Yes, he’s the one. And from South Carolina. You reckon he’s been hiking on that Appalachian Trail?
Mr. Snarky
December 29th, 2009
3:29 pm
Jimmy,
They’re called human rights for a reason…you shouldn’t have to be a US citizen not to be tortured.
It’s not just Bush’s fault they hate us. He just made it worse with his stupidity.
Dummy, we don’t want to trap people in bad schools…we want public schools not to be bad.
Bailouts for everyone that screws up…sounds better than just paying for people to be incarcerated all their lives.
Killing innovation in healthcare?..I haven’t seen the part of the bill where if someone invents a drug that cures cancer nobody can buy it.
You guess wrong. Conservatives just want to defund anything that doesn’t contribute to corporate profits for fat cats.
jt
December 29th, 2009
3:30 pm
It is quite entertaining to see these brave lefties face the terrorists,but…………..
just let the temperature go up a few degrees.
Global warming is gonna kill us all.
jt
December 29th, 2009
3:33 pm
A sincere public announcement.
Don’t ask me how I know but it is the truth.
Within ONE year, our benevolent federal government will be coming for your 401K.
It will not be as drastic as what happened in Argentina(yet)., but…………………..
You will be MANDATED to hold a certain percentage in Treasury Bills.
This will be just the beginning.
Finn McCool
December 29th, 2009
3:34 pm
taking medicine out the hands of people with incentives to innovate and putting it in the hands of politicians and panels
Jimmy62 gets his information from Sara Palin. That should be a clue to you right off that nothing of note will follow.
Lord Help Us
December 29th, 2009
3:36 pm
jt, ‘Don’t ask me how I know…’ Don’t worry we have a ’stinking’ suspicion about your source…
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
3:37 pm
“You will be MANDATED to hold a certain percentage in Treasury Bills.”
Sorry, but that’s not an original thought. Paul Joseph Watson beat you to it:
http://www.infowars.com/government-to-confiscate-401ks-and-iras-for-mandatory-savings-tax/
B. Miller
December 29th, 2009
3:38 pm
Cannit with the DeMint prop.
It took Obama more than eight months to nominate ANYONE to lead the TSA, and the Senate has yet to set a date to hold hearings. They’ve been bogged down with health care reform.
Personally, I don’t want TSA bogged down by unions. Unions are notorious for striking at critical times which gives leverage to their negotiators.
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
3:39 pm
Doggone–
”
Besides, I seriously doubt the popularity…or lack of it…has anything to do with it. After all, sometimes blogs are locked to prevent comments being posted.”
You may well be right, but the game in this business is numbers (i.e. circulation) and I’m fairly sure that the Bruin’s feeders are aware that his outstrip the others big time and that there’s no need to block comments here…the d*mnable blog-g-d notwithstanding…
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
3:42 pm
“that there’s no need to block comments here”
That’s only because we’ve never suffered a SERIOUS troll attack. If one ever happens, you’ll see it shut down FAST…I have no doubt.
Lord Help Us
December 29th, 2009
3:43 pm
Senior Miller, I actually agree with you on the unionization of the TSA or any other department that works for the federal gov’t.
Unions may still be needed in the corporate world, but, I for one, cannot understand the need for federal, state of local gov’t workers to be unionized…
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 29th, 2009
3:43 pm
Finn McCool
December 29th, 2009
3:12 pm
One allows themselves to be raped by [banks] and deservedly so. I feel zero sympathy for these “victims” of ARM’s, interest only loans and this phantom “predatory lending”. All smoke and mirrors for this jerk-offs that thought they were getting something for nothing.
See…contracts are be be read and understood BEFORE applying signature.
AHH HAHAHAHAAAA!!
Road Scholar
December 29th, 2009
3:43 pm
Jennifer: Who would admit to be his “soul mate”? Isn’t that a scary thought!
Jimmy62: ” kill off innovation in medicine so that millions will die from diseases that otherwise would have been cured ”
Now who was it that lifted the ban on stem cell research?
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
3:44 pm
DeMented would rather protect us from unions than terrorists. I’m sure in “republicant-world” this makes sense. Unions have always been more of a threat to the republicant agenda than terrorism, actually terrorism is being used, as this case shows, to prevent workers from achieving rights, benefits and fair treatment. Terrorism has also been used by republicants to attack civil rights, personal freedoms and advancing attacks on anyone who disagrees with the republicant agenda. Yes, republicants like terrorism; unions, not so much.
Mr. Snarky
December 29th, 2009
3:45 pm
“You will be MANDATED to hold a certain percentage in Treasury Bills.”
Yeah right…so why don’t you liquidate and put it in Gold like all the other suckers out there?
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
3:45 pm
“Now who was it that lifted the ban on stem cell research?”
No one. There never was a ban on stem cell research. Obama’s admin lifted the ban on FEDERAL FUNDING of stem cell research. Get your facts straight.
jt
December 29th, 2009
3:49 pm
Now who was it that lifted the ban on stem cell research?
There never was a ban on stem cell research.
The current administration just allowed the incompetant federal gov. to use stolen money and get involved. This often crowds out sincere inspired research.
And Doggone- I never said it was an original thought. Just a fact.
And Lord Help Us- I didn’t think you were reading my comments anymore?
Road Scholar
December 29th, 2009
3:49 pm
Doggone: Now who provides most of the funds for research and development?
Hard Right Hook
December 29th, 2009
3:49 pm
Finn McCool
December 29th, 2009
3:12 pm
afraid of terrorists? nope.
afraid of banks legally raping me and my family on a monthly basis? you bety.
Why’s you sign the contract then?
Lord Help Us
December 29th, 2009
3:50 pm
jt, ‘And Lord Help Us- I didn’t think you were reading my comments anymore?’
I must have forgotten, thanks for the reminder…geez…
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
3:51 pm
jt
It’s interesting to see the righties beg and cry for the $$$$$ for scanners to protect their butts from something that has as much chance of happening as a lightning strike, but b!tch and moan about a deficit reducing HCR bill that could save 125 lives a day by getting them access
to affordable insurance.
Road Scholar
December 29th, 2009
3:51 pm
jt; so if the Feds find a cure for whatever you may get in the future, heaven forbid, will you turn it down?
4youreyesonly
December 29th, 2009
3:51 pm
Well if terrorism is to scare people and not kill them why do terrorist use bombs and not a scary mask. Thats a stupid remark. The purpose of the Islam organization is to kill people. PERIOD
The Nerve
December 29th, 2009
3:52 pm
Finn…curious as well as how banks are legally raping you and your family on a monthly basis.
jt
December 29th, 2009
3:52 pm
Mr. Snarky –
I did. Not all gold but some.
You should liquidate while you can. The first step will be a tripling of the penalties for early withdrawel.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
3:53 pm
“You will be MANDATED to hold a certain percentage in Treasury Bills.”
T-Bills. War bonds. Higher taxes. We gotta start paying for all the GOP largess via the People’s Bank of China issued credit card so let’s get started.
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
3:53 pm
“Doggone: Now who provides most of the funds for research and development?”
Too broad a question. It depends on what you are talking about. If you mean stem cell research, well…it HASN’T been the government, because there’s been a ban on most federal funding of that research.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
3:55 pm
CAPITOL HILL IN LOCKDOWN: REPORTS OF PERSON WITH A GUN…
Why all the fear, dummycrats?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
3:56 pm
Why don’t you find this person and be friends with him, like Bookman says?
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
3:56 pm
“The purpose of the Islam organization is to kill people. PERIOD”
Ok, so are you scared?
Joey
December 29th, 2009
3:57 pm
The only panic I have seen is when Napolatanio and the TSA over reacted by creating rules about blankets, bathrooms and seats.
The things that Jay are labeling fear, panic or terror are more like political positioning or simply frustration with things like how to choose whom we give a rigorous preflight inspection.
That is unless Democrats are terrorified that this episode will mean a loss of more seats than they were already going to lose. You know that would terrify Jay.
@@
December 29th, 2009
3:58 pm
Geez, jay!!!!
Fifth time running a piece on Flight 253?
Have you got the squirts or what???
Pogo
December 29th, 2009
4:02 pm
No Amvet, the GOP has one hell of a lot more to hang other than the terror issue. Your man Obama, your resident dummy Pelosi and your Night of the Living Dead zombie Reid are making sure of that. The knashing of teeth come November is going to legendary!
And Godzilla, your acid is showing. Feeling some pressure are you?
Sam
December 29th, 2009
4:02 pm
what rights do terrorists in supermax prisons for life get?
Tom
December 29th, 2009
4:03 pm
“Fear & terror”?? The Wingnuts feast on it. It is their very essence.
It is from those sources that they derive their supporters.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
4:07 pm
Good point on the fear thing
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama may think words like “catastrophe,” “crisis” and “disaster” help sell his economic rescue plans, but U.S. history has shown that scare tactics can backfire.
Having campaigned on a promise of hope and run against what he called President George W. Bush’s “politics of fear,” Obama may be taking a big political risk — for himself and his policies — by resorting to the same tactic.
In pressing Congress and the public to back expensive proposals, Obama has used the well-worn political rhetoric of fear to paint dire scenarios, hoping to persuade skeptics of the need for quick action. It may work, and it may not.
That’s from back in February and he hasn’t changed a bit.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
4:08 pm
Pogo
oh my! i been tweeked – again!
Liberal Are BEYOND Shame (Sane)
December 29th, 2009
4:08 pm
Leave it to a bleeding-heart liberal to turn the focus away from the person who tried to kill dozens of people and put that focus on Republican politicians. Can you all put the partisan bickering away for just one month????
Instead, what you should be lamenting is the fact that Homeland Security Chief Napolitano first said the system worked AFTER homeboy fried his chestnuts, THEN back-pedaled and said she was wrong (a similar theme of the Obama Administration, I might add). Really? Because I’m sure the system works when you catch the guy BEFORE he tries to kill my family and friends. She apparently doesn’t have a firm grasp on her job description. Maybe you, Bookman, can explain it to her with your finely tuned sense of how the world should work………
Mr. Snarky
December 29th, 2009
4:09 pm
JT – good luck with that…you’re probably buying at the top.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
4:09 pm
Ahhhhhhh! My first slice from my first loaf of bread from my new mixer. Life is good. I feel like I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.
jt
December 29th, 2009
4:10 pm
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
3:53 pm
“You will be MANDATED to hold a certain percentage in Treasury Bills.”
T-Bills. War bonds. Higher taxes. We gotta start paying for all the GOP largess via the People’s Bank of China issued credit card so let’s get started.
You do know that you do not have to wait until you are forced to? Tim Geithner will appreciate every T-bill you buy.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
4:11 pm
Clearly the only reasonable thing for a wingnut to do is stay under the bed. It’s safer there.
jt
December 29th, 2009
4:13 pm
Mr. Snarky –
Some sincere advice. Only a fool would buy gold bullion now. When IO said gold, I meant gold jewelry and items from pawn shops. It is easily bartered and easily liquidated.
Research Argentina in 2001.
Liberals=Morons
December 29th, 2009
4:14 pm
The American people know Republicans are much stronger leaders when it comes to dealing with public security….this attack and threats of more are yet another nail in the democratic coffin! They will get slaughtered in Nov 2010 elections.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
4:16 pm
we must find and kill those committed to terrorism;
That’s an interesting concept. If you think they’re committed to terrorism you can kill them, but if you ask them first they have all the rights of an American citizen and I’m pretty sure you can’t kill them right away anymore.
Linda
December 29th, 2009
4:17 pm
The cries of FEAR come from those who are AFRAID to leave Gitmo open. They are the ones, both Dems & Reps, who are AFRAID, the ones who “have lost all sense of perspective, & show themselves devoid of courage & judgment. They are not leaders.” They are the ones “scurrying in fright.” We have allowed our enemies to terrorize us by closing the most secure prison for terrorists. America is intimidated & making a huge mistake.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
4:19 pm
Obama Biden for World Peace Framed Tile- Barack Obozo for President 2008! Joe Bin Biden for Veep! For world peace, as symbolized by the peace sign made up of many flags including the flag of the USA. Barack Obozo stands for peace in our time!
Hundreds of al-Qaeda militants are planning terror attacks from Yemen, the country’s Foreign Minister said today.
Iranian authorities continued arresting hundreds of opposition members and accused the United States and Britain on Tuesday of orchestrating the violent demonstrations that rocked the capital and other cities on Sunday.
NKorea confirms it has detained an American.
U.S. troops’ death toll in Afghanistan doubles in 2009.
The Taliban have created a shadow “government-in-waiting,” complete with Cabinet ministers, that could assume power if the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai fails, a senior International Security Assistance Force intelligence official said in Kabul
KARACHI, Pakistan — A suicide bomber struck a procession marking a key Shiite Muslim holy day in Pakistan’s biggest city Monday, killing 30 people in an attack blamed on extremists trying to hamper the country’s fight against militancy by sparking a sectarian war.
Somali Pirates Hijack Two Vessels
3 Saudi tourists dead, 3 hurt in Niger desert- It was not clear what sparked the violence, but local insurgents, bandits and members of al-Qaida’s Algeria-based North Africa branch are believed to be active in the area.
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AFP) – Nigerian police went on to red alert across the country Tuesday after violence in Bauchi, a northern Nigerian city, claimed 38 lives, according to police and witnesses.
Never fear, Obozo is here, duh!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
4:19 pm
Italicize all that, geez
Liberals Are BEYOND Shame (Sane)
December 29th, 2009
4:20 pm
Democrats are screwing up security because they are defeatists by nature. White guilt, defeatism, call it what you want….Democrats like to feel guilty. So in order to combat the guilt they throw logic and reason out on its ear. The funny things is…..it was Democrats who started Vietnam (the war current/young Democrats look to to identify their protest-group roots). Now THAT’S irony!
larry
December 29th, 2009
4:21 pm
Morons, yeah republicans are much stronger leaders alright, I mean, with all the hijacking and terrorist bombings and starting wars for no reason. Yep, the American people know alright and they will remember that in Nov 2010.
mike
December 29th, 2009
4:21 pm
Bookman’s commentary loses all credibility when it turns into another excuse to attack Republicans, like all of his other commentaries.
We get it Jay. Republicans are the root of all of the nation’s problems. Or at least you seem to think so.
soon to be Independent
December 29th, 2009
4:22 pm
Once again, fear is ruling the United States. Why can’t we just blow up the countries holding the bad guys (like during WWII)? That stopped everything. I know, I know – it will start WWIII.
So, now we are agreeing to having our ENTIRE body searched electronically. I guess all out strip search will be next. Pretty soon, we won’t be able to take anything on the planes. Am I rambling??
I just don’t know… I really think that our country is failing and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
jt
December 29th, 2009
4:23 pm
Linda———————–you said.
“We have allowed our enemies to terrorize us by closing the most secure prison for terrorists.”
Don’t be concerned about those prisoners being in Illinois. With two state senators, a state representative, a mayor, and about 1500 people relying on those guys for jobs,
those terrorists will never see the light of day.
mike
December 29th, 2009
4:24 pm
“the same geniuses who believe that putting terrorists into SuperMax prisons here in the United States somehow endangers our national security. ”
Yeah, that is almost as silly as the geniuses who think that indefinitely detaining untried terrorism suspects in SuperMax prison is somehow more just than housing them in Gitmo.
What a joke.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
4:24 pm
Should I?
mike
December 29th, 2009
4:27 pm
soon to be independent –
“So, now we are agreeing to having our ENTIRE body searched electronically. I guess all out strip search will be next. Pretty soon, we won’t be able to take anything on the planes. Am I rambling??”
And your solution is? Or are you content just rambling.
It’s not the country’s fault that terrorists are sewing bombs into their underwear. How about holding some of that contempt for the people who are trying to kill us instead of just reflexively bashing Americans like Jay does.
larry
December 29th, 2009
4:27 pm
Anybody remember how long it took the Bush adminstraion to respond to the Shoe bomber?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/29/bush-waited-nine-days-to_n_406307.html
md
December 29th, 2009
4:28 pm
For those pointing fingers at DeMint, pitiful excuse.
The job doesn’t stop just because it doesn’t have an official leader, it belongs to someone in the current administration, and that someone missed the boat. Accountability flows up, and that would be Napalitano, no ifs ands or buts, and definetely no excuses.
gold stamper
December 29th, 2009
4:28 pm
i see the resident lizard has put *tweeking* in place of her former mindless drivel *bless your heart*.
being *tweeked* does not always mean what she thinks. slanging the *tweek* would put her in the company of drug users and 4kneecaterers.
jus’ sayin
GreenJeans
December 29th, 2009
4:32 pm
In the days following the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, I made the decision to be happy. To expect the best from people. To be aware and engaged, yet hold on to the goodness that is found within and around the world.
In other words, to be completely out of step with the prevailing political winds. I kept hearing catch-phrases like “life will never be the same” and assorted BS about “pre” and “post” mindsets…but I do not believe that fear is meant to be a constant emotional companion for human beings. At least not for healthy ones.
In changing political climates, shifting cultural values and, yes, even shifting borders, as a Christian I need only to “Be still and know that GOD IS.”
Mary Baker Eddy wrote frequently about “wearing this life as a loose garment.” I just don’t see the difficulty in understanding (and preparing for) the dangers that are in the world, and still choosing to be joyful in spite of them. At least, that is where my journey has brought me.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
4:33 pm
gold stamper
how could you know that?
you’re new here! (sarc)
bless your tweeked heart!
GreenJeans
December 29th, 2009
4:34 pm
Oh, and I’m flying over New Years…happily, gratefully and undeterred by some panty-bomb thug.
md
December 29th, 2009
4:34 pm
Ms G’s comments indicate she needs to work on her deductive reasoning skills. She draws many conclusions from assumptions, bless her heart.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
4:36 pm
There’s only thing that I find “scary” about flying. Well, it starts with this. That’s not the scary part though. It’s what you do, or more precisely, don’t do about said issue that is scary. You ever wondered why a jet engine could just fall right off an airplane, for example. Well, just make sure that your airline does not skimp on its maintenance routines in order to save a buck.
Sam
December 29th, 2009
4:36 pm
beyond shame..you better check facts on us involvement in vietnam. pretty sure eisenhower was a republican. of course it has nothing to do with this discussion.
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
4:38 pm
I just heard what President Obama said and two things stand out. One, he called it a systematic and human failure and minced no words relative to the boy’s daddy turning him in. Second he said he would have a report on his desk Thursday. Good. Now, let’s all cut the sh*t and give him his credit for not playing politics and demanding accountability,
Jed
December 29th, 2009
4:40 pm
If Mr Bookman would keep up with his meds, maybe he could write something that makes sense instead of random attacks on his selected targets. It is screamingly funny to support blatant liberal bias using the poetry of a racist imperialist.
Disgusted
December 29th, 2009
4:40 pm
Tom
December 29th, 2009
4:03 pm
“Fear & terror”?? The Wingnuts feast on it. It is their very essence.
It is from those sources that they derive their supporters.
Hey, it got GWB reelected. Say Boo! to an American voter and watch the gonads shrivel.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
4:44 pm
Death Panels! Run by Terrorists!!. I can see the campaign ads already. No. Wait. I think Palin has already done that one.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 29th, 2009
4:46 pm
the killer mexican drug gangs are coming…..deductive reasoning…..
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
4:49 pm
“the killer mexican drug gangs are coming…..deductive reasoning…..”
Yep! And they decry taking the attention off the bomber, while trying to take attention off the bomber…and put it on drug runners. Now THAT’S “reasoning”!
@@
December 29th, 2009
4:52 pm
Don’t know what to think about Stratfor’s latest. Leaks from inside the powerful regime have opened up opportunities for the U.S. It’ll be interesting to see if our guys are on top of this if this “this” amounts to anything at all. As is too often the case, Iran often deals from the bottom of the deck.
Waiting and wondering. Anything positive action from this administration would be a welcome change, indeed.
@@
December 29th, 2009
4:53 pm
…remove the thing from any.
IHB
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
4:54 pm
josef,
I saw that too and I’ll give him his due, but why do you suppose he couldn’t manage that yesterday when he made his “we’ll never rest” speech on his way to the golf course?
md
December 29th, 2009
4:55 pm
“the killer mexican drug gangs are coming…..deductive reasoning”
2 points – this was brought up in reference to other posts questioning military vs police action
and 2 – mexican drug gangs already exist and are committing crime in the US.
So care to explain how one would deduce “scared” out of quantified facts.
md
December 29th, 2009
4:56 pm
And dog, I believe you were the one discussing police vs military.
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
4:57 pm
“mexican drug gangs already exist ”
Hey! You’re taking attention off the BOMBER!
Please elucidate Jay
December 29th, 2009
4:58 pm
If this wasn’t a failure when it comes to airline security, perhaps Jay will enlighten us on how this was, is reality, a success.
Please elucidate Jay
December 29th, 2009
4:58 pm
In reality a success that is
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
4:59 pm
JED
“It is screamingly funny to support blatant liberal bias using the poetry of a racist imperialist.”
Oh, for Pete’s sake, what do you know of Kipling, the man, or for that matter his works? You appear to be repeating the question of the critcism and not looking at the conclusions of that criticism. Read some of the Indian and Pakistani commentaries from academics specializing in the subject matter.
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
4:59 pm
Must keep eye on ball, I mean, bomber, I mean, ball…
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
4:59 pm
“Jay will enlighten us on how this was, is reality, a success.”
You’re looking through the wrong end of the telescope.
Soothsayer
December 29th, 2009
5:01 pm
How that “we have to fight them over there so they don’t attack us here” thing going?
Friends, as long as there is no justice for the Palestinians and we are involved in adventurous hegemony in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, we will never be secure. Might as well get used to it.
@@
December 29th, 2009
5:03 pm
Come to think of it, Obama and HIS administration have been dealing from the bottom of the deck. Iran and the Obama administration were made for each other.
Putin is balking at START negotiations. Obstacles? U.S. missile defense shields. I wasn’t counting on that one anyway, thus….no disappointment from me.
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
5:04 pm
RW–
I’m going to give him benefit of the doubt after listening to what he just said. I’m willing to hazard that information as to who f’d up where and when was still coming in (and probably lots of it) and he was “trying to get a handle on it” before he said too much. All I can say right now given the tone and content of his address was that he ain’t a happy camper with what’s come his way and I’m willing to bet there’s a lot of CYA from Abuja to DC…
@@
December 29th, 2009
5:11 pm
Sheesh! Now CNN is saying that Abdulmtallab was posting on their website. He was lonely. He was torn. He felt isolated. He was blah blah blah
No doubt, CNN’s attempt to pull on liberal heartstrings. Worked for
Maj. Malik…why not Abdulmtallab?@@
December 29th, 2009
5:13 pm
Make that Maj.
Malik Nadal Hasan.DANG these arabic names.IHAN
How'd you do it @@?
December 29th, 2009
5:20 pm
Maybe the single most important issue of the day. How’d you do the strikethrough @@?
@@
December 29th, 2009
5:20 pm
Putin’s hanged-dog look or a master of deception?
md
December 29th, 2009
5:23 pm
““mexican drug gangs already exist ”
Hey! You’re taking attention off the BOMBER!”
As if the next bomber isn’t studying how the drug cartels are operating on our pourous southern border.
@@
December 29th, 2009
5:23 pm
How?
Preface the text with a lesser than symbol immediately followed by the word strike, closed with a greater than symbol. Immediately insert text, followed by lesser than, forward slash, the word strike, followed by greater than symbol.
text
@@
December 29th, 2009
5:24 pm
…ignore that last
textAmVet
December 29th, 2009
5:25 pm
Knashing of teeth, Pogo?
is that similar to gnashing of teeth?
Did all of you conned sleep through high school?
And what if there were no rhetorical questions?
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
5:37 pm
RW
Evidently you and I are the only two…wanna poke the Bruin and see if he did and what he thinks? I really would like to know if he hasn’t gone back to hibernation…
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
5:40 pm
<strike> striken text </strike> produces
striken textJess
December 29th, 2009
5:46 pm
Yes Jay. All us conservatives are cowering in our homes afraid of the next attack. Meanwhile Obama is cowering in the white house fearful of the earth bursting into flames unless we pass cap-and-trade, and certain the entire government will collapse if he doesn’t get a health care bill to sign in the next couple of weeks. Fear is a strange thing indeed.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
5:48 pm
Let’s see if I can follow simple directionsjosef nix
December 29th, 2009
5:49 pm
Mrs. G, AmVet and Akmed…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cCspBW8O8c&feature=related
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
5:49 pm
Hot damn!!!!!!!
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
5:51 pm
josef,
You can poke him if you want, but all you’ll get is that Obama is trying to get to the bottom of what happened by searching high and low for some Bush
scapegoatholdover to pin it on.@@
December 29th, 2009
5:53 pm
I guess “the other side” wants to discount a military commander’s assessment along with Obama’s SoD, Gates.
At Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday Admiral James Stavridis accused Hezbollah of involvement in the drug trade.
“We have seen in Colombia a direct connection between Hezbollah activity and the narco-trafficking activity,” he said.
The admiral’s comment came in response to a question from a senator seeking more information about concerns first raised by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates before the same committee in January. The secretary accused Iran of engaging in what he called “subversive” activity in several places in Latin America. He called newly-opened Iranian offices in Central and South America “fronts” for interfering in local affairs. — Voice of America
Look at something besides your own polyps while your heads up there.
@@
December 29th, 2009
5:55 pm
Hot damn!!!!!!!
I’ll say!
How'd you do it @@?
December 29th, 2009
5:57 pm
Preface the text with a lesser than symbol immediately followed by the word strike, closed with a greater than symbol. Immediately insert text, followed by lesser than, forward slash, the word strike, followed by greater than symbol.
I wish I had known this when I was texting TigerThanks, @@ that’s good to know.<
Taxpayer
December 29th, 2009
6:03 pm
I think these are the only text options Jay has left us with (didn’t Andy have something to do with that):
<i> italics </i>
<strike> strikethrough </strike>
<strong> bold </strong>
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
6:03 pm
RW
True. And then he’d have to get his handlers’ permission and that would be too much trouble…
So, what’s your New Year’s resolution…?
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
6:10 pm
So, what’s your New Year’s resolution…?
josef,
Not to take up smoking.
@@
December 29th, 2009
6:13 pm
How’d you do it @@?:
For the more complicated stuff, see RW-(the original). You’ll have to get your own room though…mine’s a mess!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 29th, 2009
6:27 pm
Well, the world is about to come to a end. One of my heros, Karl Rove, got divorced, a real Sin. It’s got to be her fault. If she wanted to be married to a handsome man she should of found one to start with. Instead of marrying a guy that looks a little like a frog.
Of course, he could of started it. Maybe he kind of hinted he was going to fire her at the same time he was getting rid of all the US attorneys that wouldn’t do what his party wanted. I expect her to write a book, and it’ll be a humdinger. I’ll be first in line to get it. Not that I’m intrusted in details, you understand. I just want to know Current Events.
Have a good night everybody and pray for TurdBlossom. He’ll need it in a few months.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
6:29 pm
Compared to the nicknames that some of the people I know have, TurdBlossom is fairly tame.
@@
December 29th, 2009
6:32 pm
An intelligence report acquired by the Associated Press said Iran is seeking to import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, The USA Today reported Dec. 29. An unnamed official from the country that issued the report said Kazakh government employees were negotiation the deal independent of the Kazakh government. The report also said Tehran is willing to pay $450 million to acquire the uranium, and that the deal could be completed within weeks.
Tic toc…tic toc…tic toc
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
6:32 pm
Redneck–
Don’t worry, it won’ have none of the big words in it…
josef nix
December 29th, 2009
6:34 pm
@@
And Bibi? Anybody heard from him?
@@
December 29th, 2009
6:42 pm
Bibi? Right now he’s working with Egypt on a peace initiative with Palestine. Egypt is impressed with what Israel has offered. Refused to give details though. I hate it when they do that.
Sydney
December 29th, 2009
6:49 pm
How do we deal with “all Muslims are not terrorists but almost all terrorists are Muslims?” You must use reasonable profiling and to not do so is plain stupidity.
Political correctness is like smoking. Given enough time it “will” kill you.
My citizenship as an American is cheapened – not enhanced – if a foreign terrorist has every right that I have.
@@
December 29th, 2009
6:55 pm
josef:
I found a Jewish fella with a sense of humor and positive outlook.
The Region: Overcast with a chance of nuclear weapons
In summation:
The world needs the US leadership to learn a great deal real fast. Let’s hope that happens in the year to come.
but Obama’s such a sl-o-o-o-w learner.
4youreyesonly
December 29th, 2009
6:58 pm
DoggoneGA No I’m not scared.
Sydney
December 29th, 2009
6:58 pm
My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day. She has her food prepared for her.
She can eat whenever she wants, 24/7/365.
Her meals are provided at no cost to her.
She visits the Dr. once a year for her checkup, and again during the year if any medical needs arise.
For this she pays nothing, and nothing is required of her.
She lives in a nice neighborhood in a house that is much larger than she needs, but she is not required to do any upkeep.
If she makes a mess, someone else cleans it up.
She has her choice of luxurious places to sleep.
She receives these accommodations absolutely free.
She is living like a queen, and has absolutely no expenses whatsoever.
All of her costs are picked up by others who go out and earn a living every day.
I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me like a brick in the head,
Holy Moly, my dog is a democrat!
@@
December 29th, 2009
7:05 pm
Hey! Southern Sudan wants to secede from the North.
Stratfor–Sudan’s parliament approved a law Dec. 29 governing the format of a referendum on the issue of Southern Sudanese independence, scheduled to be held in January 2011.
Howevah…..
While Southern Sudan could end up voting in favor of secession, Khartoum maintains a de facto veto in the use of military force to keep Southern Sudan (and, more importantly, oil-rich regions such as Abyei) locked into union with the north.
So what’s the point?
I wish you guys could see the picture. The leader of southern secession is a black guy in a black, ten-gallon Stetson.
eagle scout
December 29th, 2009
7:09 pm
Sydney … I have two dogs and a cat and they live just like your pet.
And, by gosh I am a registered democrat…Funny, how that works!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
7:13 pm
Ah, yes, Jim Webb has found good use for taxpayer Porkulus dollars-
$168,000 to the Escape Massage Parlor in Virginia.
3430 Pump Rd, Richmond, VA
Pump Road, eh?
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
7:15 pm
Holy Moly, my dog is a democrat!
Us historically minded people are wondering if that dog is yellow.
danjonglee
December 29th, 2009
7:22 pm
Screening old white ladies is our best defense….or people with the last name Jones…
@@
December 29th, 2009
7:23 pm
…and today’s Blue Dogs are “SUPPOSED” to be Boll Weevil dems from the 80s….until the far left choked ‘em blue in negotiations, that is.
md
December 29th, 2009
7:26 pm
Unlike your dog Sydney, there are many democrats that know they are taking advantage of others.
TnGelding
December 29th, 2009
7:28 pm
The young man obviously was disturbed and conflicted. He’ll express remorse and ask forgiveness once the enormity of his actions sink in.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
7:36 pm
Steyn says we need to start thinking outside of the boxers and only let fliers travel in thongs.
@@
December 29th, 2009
7:38 pm
Lawd ah mercy! Say it ain’t so.
Haskell said he and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they saw Mutallab approach the gate with an unidentified man.
Kurt and Lori Haskell are attorneys with Haskell Law Firm in Taylor. Their expertise includes bankruptcy, family law and estate planning.
While Mutallab was poorly dressed, his friend was dressed in an expensive suit, Haskell said. He says the suited man asked ticket agents whether Mutallab could board without a passport. “The guy said, ‘He’s from Sudan and we do this all the time.’”
Mutallab is Nigerian. Haskell believes the man may have been trying to garner sympathy for Mutallab’s lack of documents by portraying him as a Sudanese refugee.
The ticket agent referred Mutallab and his companion to her manager down the hall, and Haskell didn’t see Mutallab again until after he allegedly tried to detonate an explosive on the plane.
About an hour after landing, Haskell said he saw another man being taken into custody. But a spokeswoman from the FBI in Detroit said Mutallab was the only person taken into custody.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger_says_at_l.html
Hopefully they’re just looking for their fifteen minutes. Other passengers witnessed the same thing though.
Rightwing Troll
December 29th, 2009
7:46 pm
Iran is seeking yellowcake???? hmmmmmm… now where have I heard that line before???
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
7:53 pm
“No one. There never was a ban on stem cell research. Obama’s admin lifted the ban on FEDERAL FUNDING of stem cell research. Get your facts straight.”
Doggone–I think it’s you who needs to get her facts straight. Prior to Bush, there was no federal funding for stem cell research whatsoever; the funding began under Bush. As such, to speak of a Bush “ban” on stem cell research is plain dishonest.
@@
December 29th, 2009
8:03 pm
Woman maimed by suitor fears more reprisals
I looked at the start button for three minutes before finally looking at the damage to her face.
You get to vote. Eye for an Eye or punishment too harsh. “Connect the World – Does Revenge Punishment Work?”
Rauf Ahmed, a local elected official jumped into the conversation. “Let me explain something to you. In our society women are weak, we all agree on that. So it’s up to the government to make sure that women are able to get justice and revenge.
“We want this type of a strict punishment, so that it will be a lesson to other potential offenders so they won’t dare to do such a thing in the future.”
Thalia
December 29th, 2009
8:13 pm
The goal is not to terrorize – the goal is to eliminate all non-Muslims and institute Islamic sharia law worldwide… this is what the Koran demands – there will be jihad until only Allah is worshiped… and we haven’t been doing half of the things the author of this piece suggests we are doing…and the things being done are half-assed, ill-advised, and impotent measures that ignore the reality of what Islamic jihad is and what the real goal is. Something that seems to have escaped the author as well. If they just wanted to terrorize they’d constantly be claiming they have nuclear weapons and wouldn’t spend the majority of their time killing Muslims.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
8:24 pm
“You get to vote. Eye for an Eye or punishment too harsh.”
Call me “liberal” if you like, but I don’t think it is a legitimate governmental function to maim its citizenry.
AmVet–You surprised me with the Gap Band selection. These days, i listen to either the Dead or R & B oldies. Here’s another gem from the 80s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2eU2CG3WN8&feature=channel
Hopefully DDR will miss this one, she’s too horny without her man already!
@@
December 29th, 2009
8:24 pm
Stop the presses! Here’s one for the left’s nosey busybodies. It happened behind closed doors.
ALBANY — Senator Hiram Monserrate behaved recklessly and callously after his companion was hurt during an argument at his Queens home, failing to call 911, dragging her violently through a hallway and taking her to a hospital miles away, according to a State Senate committee investigating Mr. Monserrate.
The report also found that Mr. Monserrate, a Democrat from Queens, refused to take full responsibility for injuring Ms. Giraldo, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the report is confidential. — NYT
@@
December 29th, 2009
8:30 pm
Bruno, I’ll put you down as an opponent of the death penalty then.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
8:38 pm
I support the death penalty. I don’t support state-sanctioned maiming.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
8:41 pm
DeMented is still angry that he has a black president. He and his base are going to stomp their feet and hold their breath to show us their displeasure.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
8:46 pm
Taxpayer @ 6:03:
I knew if I stuck with you long enough, you would produce a post of some value.
italics
strikethroughbold
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
8:47 pm
We need to start profiling people who wear underwear.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
8:47 pm
i-strike-strong. I’ll have to remember that.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
8:48 pm
“We need to start profiling people who wear underwear.”
Thong or granny, Jen?
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
8:55 pm
Commando.
Thongs, grannies, boxers, g-strings, tighty whities, jockstraps, all of them. Any kind you could possibly think, or dream, of.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
8:57 pm
LOL. I’m an old man now, so can only dream these days…..
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
8:58 pm
Who’s going to check for skidmarks?
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
9:00 pm
HD–You would come up with something like that. Our own resident Larry the Cable Guy.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
9:03 pm
Sorry for the crappy recording, but a great tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC74DLH33VE
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
9:03 pm
“Who’s going to check for skidmarks?”
Any volunteers?
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
9:05 pm
With all the shady interaction the C-Street republicants have with developing nations in Africa, an investigation should be opened to follow the GOP money trail through Africa and the Middle East to see if they funded this attack. It makes perfectly logical sense since the right has expressed they will do anything to see this president fail.
@@
December 29th, 2009
9:09 pm
You don’t support the death penalty.
Alrighty din. I support other jurors making the decision. The only time I’ve ever been polled by a D.A. on the question, my answer was “I’d rather not.”
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
9:20 pm
Jen–I’m guessing that you’re a GenXer. A song dedication to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7aNZlNnyvI
“We’re faithful, we all believe, we all believe it”
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
9:22 pm
Unless you’re addressing another poster, I stated that I am in favor of the death penalty. The two times I was picked for a murder trial, the suspect plead out at the last minute.
@@
December 29th, 2009
9:23 pm
I read you the first time Bruno. You and I were the only ones discussing the death penalty.
——————————————————————————–
Sheesh! Again???
NEW YORK (Reuters) – GMAC Financial Services is close to getting about $3.5 billion in added aid from the U.S. government, on top of the $12.5 billion already received since December 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported.
md
December 29th, 2009
9:24 pm
“DeMented is still angry”
Out of curiosity, care to explain why government workers would have a need for a union, they work for the guys that write the laws, so this should be interesting.
@@
December 29th, 2009
9:25 pm
Oops! sorry ^^^ NYT.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
9:28 pm
Late to the show again, but I feel that I need to post a few things. This subject is why I applied to do what I do.
First. Napolitano should have not backed off what she initally said, because, I believe she was correct. Her statement may have not been complete, but the system did work in the Christmas Day incident. If there’s an incident with a plane enroute to the US, there’s systems and procedures to deal with those incidents. There’s probably not a day that goes by where there’s not some kind of incident happening on a flight coming to the US. The incidents just don’t always rise to the level of someone trying to blow up their underwear. In that aspect, the responses to what happened all went according to plan.
Where she was wrong and her statement was incomplete, was that the way we use and share intel broke down. There’s way, way too many names on the “terrorist watch list” to put everyone on the no-fly list. I could make an anonymous phone call about any poster here, and your name could end up on the watch list. However, until concrete or valid intel is found to substantiate that claim, you’re not going to be put on the no-fly list. If that were the case, there’d be more than a half million people who could not fly in or to the US. It’s all about substantiated intel. If it were not so, the list would be completely useless.
Second, if the Government thru TSA did not put immediate measures in place (the 1hr rule and such), the Gov’t would be accused of not doing anything. The things being done are more likely stop gap measures until more substantive screening methods can be put in place. It’s a no-win situation for the Gov’t because, whether they do anything immediately or not, the Government is going to look bad in people’s eyes.
Third, the Gov’t already has many union members thru AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) and NTEU (National Treasury Employees Union). From the IRS to CBP and the Border Patrol, there are many Union members who risk their lives to keep yours safe. Not all members are in high risk jobs, but there are quite a few who are. I’m not saying unions are good or bad, but if you knew what TSA screeners starting pay is, I don’t think there’d be many people here who would take on the demands of that job for what they make. The only Union strike I can remember that had any affect on the country as a whole was when the air traffic controllers went on strike. They were replaced if memory serves correct, so that shows that there are ways around any strike or threat of strike that unions make.
Jay, sorry about the long post. I feel that I needed to share just a little of the view from inside looking out. I’m not too sure if any of the posters here would have the same vantage point that I have.
md
December 29th, 2009
9:29 pm
@@,
Did you read where Putin has stated that russia must continue to build offensive missles in response to the US building defensive missles? His rationale went along the lines that if we had a shield then we would feel safe enough to attack anyone we darn well pleased.
talking about justification for proliferation, that sounds like a never ending cycle.
Bruno
December 29th, 2009
9:32 pm
Such a fine Christian lady you are, @@.
Sydney
December 29th, 2009
9:33 pm
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Most terrorists are Muslims,
and we’re stupid too.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
9:34 pm
Thanks, Bruno. Pearl Jam’s one of my favorites. I’m a Baby Boomer, but I feel like a GenXer.
md
December 29th, 2009
9:37 pm
“There’s way, way too many names on the “terrorist watch list” to put everyone on the no-fly list”
Sorry, I don’t buy this one at all. Even if there are 1 million or so on the watch list, how many of those 1 million are flying on any given day – very small percentage. Today’s computers can zip through 1 million names in the bat of an eye.
If your on the watch list and you show up at an airport, a little extra due dilligence is all it should take.
@@
December 29th, 2009
9:38 pm
md:
I never invested great hope in non-proliferation. The world is what it is.
————————————————————————————-
Home Prices Mask Signs of Weakness
“I’m worried. Everyone’s worried,” said Karl E. Case, the Wellesley College economist who helped design the housing index that provided fresh cause for alarm on Tuesday. “If prices sink 15 percent from here, which is a possibility, and the 2008 and 2009 loans go bad, then we’re back where we were before — in a nightmare.”
Potential buyers are calling it house arrest.
Maybe it’s time this administration gives their manipulation of the economy a rest.
A double dipped cone of silence.
@@
December 29th, 2009
9:40 pm
Such a fine Christian lady you are, @@.
I do try, Bruno.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
9:40 pm
SC,
Thanks for your insight. It’s sorely needed here.
Sydney
December 29th, 2009
9:41 pm
If Elvis were still alive I wonder what he would recommend ?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
9:42 pm
So let’s recap; The problem is not the bomb on the plane, the problem is Republicans who don’t want to fly with the bomb on the plane.
That is so……dummycrat.
Sydney
December 29th, 2009
9:43 pm
Mohammad …….. stay off of my “blue suede” shoes !!
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
9:45 pm
Sooo, Bookman thinks we are all so frightened. Well, maybe so. But all I fear right now is that Bookman will rehash his last rehash and our new vigilante, Jennifer, will tell another underwear joke
Other than that, things seem pretty much as usual here. Mild entertainment with the usual actors saying the usual things. The folly of this blog is statements like Jennifer’s 9:05 saying ” an investigation should be opened to follow the GOP money trail through Africa and the Middle East to see if they funded this attack”.
A virulent anti-American attack on fellow Americans. Now this might be something to fear. Americans who hate other Americans. Maybe Bookman should write something on that aspect of “fear”..Plenty material on this blog.
Road Scholar
December 29th, 2009
9:45 pm
Two words- duct tape!
jt
December 29th, 2009
9:47 pm
check this out–
Michael Chertoff, Director of Homeland Security, said this on 3-26-1996.
“I want to also, before I conclude, talk about one other thing that we should avoid in regulation, and that’s what I call “mission creep.One example is various kinds of screening tools. At various times, we’ve talked about rolling out tools that we can use to screen people to make sure terrorists don’t get on airplanes or don’t get into sensitive buildings, and then you start to hear arguments that we should start to use these screening tools to serve other purposes — find people, for example, who are in arrears on their child support, or people who perhaps have misdemeanor warrants that are outstanding.”
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
9:47 pm
However, until concrete or valid intel is found to substantiate that claim, you’re not going to be put on the no-fly list.
How about some dude from Yemen that has been hanging around in his spare time with al Qaeda, enough that his old man turned him into the authorities?
What does the TSA need, an official Islamic lunatic member card?
jt
December 29th, 2009
9:47 pm
I meant 3-26-2006
Southern Comfort have you been drinking Jim Beam?
December 29th, 2009
9:47 pm
Or the Kool-Aid? You say her statement may have not been complete, but the system did work in the Christmas Day incident.
Sorry, but I think people are going to be more comfortable with a system that works before the fact, not a system that says “Hey guys FYI, a plane just blew up.” We already have CNN for that.
@@
December 29th, 2009
9:48 pm
Source: CIA failed to circulate report about bombing suspect
The Washington “finger” is making its rounds.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
9:48 pm
md
Even after the computers zip thru the name, there’s gotta be some type of investigation to warrant adding the person to the no-fly list.
For example: I turn Jay’s name in to the FBI. Jay goes to fly to New York for New Year’s in Times Square. When he shows ID, his name will match to the watch list. If he’s just thrown on the no-fly list because he’s on the terrorist watch list without any investigation, what good does it accomplish? If he’s investigated and cleared, then his name should be removed from the watch list. If he’s investigated and credible information turns up, then he should be elevated to the no-fly list. Just scanning his name when he checks in only checks to see if he matches either list, it does not accomplish the investigative part.
And per your union question. Would you go to work every day knowing there is a undetermined chance you could end up on the business end of an IED if this is what you are paid? TSA screeners start off at the bottom of the D pay band if you wish to check it out.
http://www.tsa.gov/join/careers/pay_scales.shtm
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
9:51 pm
“If prices sink 15 percent from here, which is a possibility, and the 2008 and 2009 loans go bad, then we’re back where we were before — in a nightmare.”
And the commercial loans haven’t hit yet either.
jt
December 29th, 2009
9:51 pm
Now go to 2008. A lot of time and effort went in to formulate a plan to catch child support obligees.
Too bad that Nigerian didn’t owe child support. Thank the Lord that Napolitano is saving us from deadbeat dads.
From “It’s your times”————
Homeland Security has announced rules requiring passports for all Americans entering the country even if in the past travel to places such as Canada had not required such identification. Quite apart from many debatable issues the rules raise, they also force attention to an obscure regulation tying passports to child support payments.
The new passport requirements will require a reform in laws regulating issue of passports to parents (mostly men) who for any reason have an arrears in child support payments – and most affected are not necessarily “deadbeat dads†evading or ignoring their obligations.
People most affected are those who do work, do make child support payments faithfully, and because of an earlier accumulation of some arrearage find themselves unable to ever catch up.
Many do not realize that an arrears of greater than $5,000 allows states to request that the Federal government refuse issue of passports to the person said to owe the money. This was a law passed in 2002 aimed primarily at deadbeat dads with money and a desire to either flee the country to avoid enforcement or to travel abroad without regard to their obligations.
However, the main people this law has hurt are middle- and working-class men and women who for reasons ranging from joblessness to financial setbacks accumulated arrearages. The little-known passport restriction has cost the jobs of thousands of people whose employment had taken them across borders.
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
9:52 pm
SoCo…what you posted earlier pretty much squares up with the news report I heard (and posted about) the other day.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
9:52 pm
Southern Comfort have you been drinking Jim Beam?
The only thing I can say is, I wish you could do what I do and see what I see on a daily basis.
Whiner
TSA isn’t the only agency that deals with that list. The FBI and CIA does the investigating. TSA is the one who enforces the list. But I wouldn’t expect you to be able to discern the difference as you care to do nothing but disparage them anyway.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
9:53 pm
Southern Comfort
What is locality pay?
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
9:57 pm
HD
Locality pay is a calculated percentage of the base pay that depends on the cost of living in the area where you work. It works the same as a cost-of-living pay. Areas like New York or San Francisco would be higher than Montgomery or Knoxville.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 29th, 2009
9:58 pm
Wash your hands, So Co, wash your hands.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
9:59 pm
So, we have republicants refusing to fund anti-terrorism efforts, republicants who made poor decisions on releasing terrorists, and a republicant who is playing politics with the TSA because he doesn’t like unions.
What this sounds like is republicants aiding and abetting the enemy. When efforts to protect the nation are politically thwarted giving terrorists the opportunity to attack – that is treason. Think Benedict Arnold.
I report, you jump to conclusions
December 29th, 2009
10:00 pm
I report You Whine, wants to put people on a list on a whim. What I report You Whine won’t admit is that parents frequently, every day in fact, call the authorities to report that their son might be susceptible to engaging in terrorism.
In fact just the other day my neighbor called Homeland Security to say…um scratch that, she just complained to me that her son doesn’t put his dishes in the sink.
But just the other day, my hairstylist called Homeland Security to say…um scratch that, he just said that his son was on the basketball team.
But just the other day, my waitress at our favorite restaurant called Homeland Security to say…um scratch that, she just told us her son just got engaged.
Come to think of it, when someone says their son might be a terrorist, maybe someone ought to listen.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:01 pm
Whiner
Wash my hands? What’s that supposed to mean?
md
December 29th, 2009
10:02 pm
SC,
They don’t necesarily need to put them on another list such as the no fly list, they just need to be thorough in their screening before allowing them to board. My kids have been darn near asked to strip just because they were in their early 20’s and flying solo, and I had no problem with it because it is part of today’s routine. So explain why someone actually on a watch list can’t be thoroghly searched.
As for unions, they are working for the gov’t – the ones that make the rules for all to follow including private industry, the ones that are supposed to be above it all – why should there be a need for a union. As for showing up for work part – they always have a choice, there are other jobs, there are no labor camps in the US that I am aware of.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
10:05 pm
Southern Comfort @ 9:57
Thanks for the explanation.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
they always have a choice, there are other jobs
Not for about 10% of the population these days.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
What kind of dust is this on the underwear? Should we get all skeered up again?
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
Here’s an idea. When somebody on a “watch list” that hasn’t been elevated to a different list shows up to fly we take a look to see if there might be anything out of the ordinary like paying cash for a one way international ticket with no baggage, having had your father report your radicalism, being banned from Britain, and/or spending a good bit of time in Yemen recently and if there is we spend a few minutes investigating right then and there.
jt
December 29th, 2009
10:06 pm
This is on the Homeland Security Homepage. Under Unified DHS. Their mission statement is grammatically incorrect. Sheeesh. And what is this “recover millins of dollars” crap??????????
“Six years on since the Department’s creation, our goal is simple: one DHS, one enterprise, a shared vision, with integrated results-based operations. Through a consolidated headquarters, we are bringing 35 locations together. We are implementing a series of wide-ranging efficiency initiatives that leverage the economies of scale in our Department in order to recover hundreds of millions of dollars and create a culture of responsibility and fiscal discipline.”
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
10:09 pm
Oh Yemeny Cricket, what’s to become of us?
md
December 29th, 2009
10:09 pm
“Not for about 10% of the population these days.”
Even more reason to be thankful to even have a job, much less complain about it.
eagle scout
December 29th, 2009
10:14 pm
Common Sense…. a little confusion reigns here.
Yesterday you wrote “Four years as a Federal Air Marshal (2002-2006) might help me just a little. How about you?”
Tonight you write “The only thing I can say is, I wish you could do what I do and see what I see on a daily basis.”
Which is it PAST or PRESENT?
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
10:16 pm
Common Sense and Southern Comfort are two different people. just sayin’.
jt
December 29th, 2009
10:17 pm
Heck, Ronald Reagen just needed the US Navy and a swagger.
DHS—————————–
The Directorate for National Protection and Programs
The Directorate for Science and Technology
The Directorate for Management
The Office of Policy
The Office of Health Affairs
The Office of Intelligence and Analysis
The Office of Operations Coordination
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),
The United States Coast Guard
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
The United States Secret Service
DoggoneGA
December 29th, 2009
10:17 pm
“Common Sense…. a little confusion reigns here”
You’re getting Common Sense and Southern Comfort mixed up.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
md
On the searched part, I don’t think there’s been any incident on a plane that originated from an airport that TSA screens since 9/11. Although they sometime screw things up, TSA can say that they have an excellent record in that department. The guy from Nigeria was never physically screened by any US agency. I don’t know if he was thoroughly vetted by any US intelligence agency. The issue with the Dec 25th incident was that Nigeria and Amsterdam screwed the pooch when it came to physical screening.
eagle scout
December 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
OOPS!!!!
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
Pay close attention to the color of the underwear, neglecting to do this could mean grave danger.
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:18 pm
So what about the other passengers who said the guy had no passport. Fame seekers or legitimate eye-witness accounts?
I don’t know….I’m asking.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
10:19 pm
“screwed the pooch”, I love it!
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:20 pm
eagle scout
I’m definitely not Common Sense…
In no shape, form or fashion.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:22 pm
@@
Could be both. However, unless you have authority by the State Department thru any of our Embassies, you have to have a passport or valid travel document to travel to the United States.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
10:22 pm
SC,
You have common sense though. Refreshing.
md
December 29th, 2009
10:23 pm
“The issue with the Dec 25th incident was that Nigeria and Amsterdam screwed the pooch when it came to physical screening.”
All the current lists are useless if they are not implemented world-wide, does absolutely nothing for incoming flights.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:24 pm
Jenifer
No more common than anyone else here. I just see things from a different perspective.
Jenifer
December 29th, 2009
10:27 pm
“No more common than anyone else here.”
I beg to differ.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:27 pm
md
The problem as I see it is, outside our borders, we have no physical control over the security of our airlines. We’re depending on agencies provided for by whatever country the airport lies in to provide security for us. That’s our #1 weakness. Our second weakness is we currently have a reactive approach to security as opposed to a proactive one.
Southern Comfort
December 29th, 2009
10:29 pm
I’d love to stay and chat as this topic is near and dear to me, but it’s time to hit the sack. I’ll probably have another 12-14 hour day tomorrow.
I’ll pop in if I get a chance.
Later all…
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:31 pm
I may have to write that no passport story off. When I google it, Prison Planet pops up everywhere.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
10:32 pm
Southern Comfort
The other day you asked another poster if they thought we should have our people screening passengers in other countries. (I think that’s the way you asked the question). I think maybe we should look at that. Doesn’t Israel do that? What’s your opinion? (If you are allowed to say. I know y’all have rules on what you can talk about.)
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 29th, 2009
10:33 pm
Dang looks like I was a day late and a dollar short…as usual.
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:38 pm
Stop the presses!
Charlie Sheen and his wife are either getting a divorce or marriage counseling.
Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner are now just friends. Man….that would have been confusing. A couple, both named Taylor?
jt
December 29th, 2009
10:38 pm
This under “The TSA Experiance” for March 2009 Events———WTF
* Operation ‘Pink Ponies’
* TSA Employees Team Up for Rhode Island 5K
* Missouri’s Branson Airport Opens for Business
* Honor Flight Takes Veterans Through Mobile, Al
jt
December 29th, 2009
10:41 pm
Some pretty heavy stuff from TSA.gov.————–I feel better.
“Team Spirit builds successful employee teams that combine their strengths to improve collective performance. The senior leadership team adopted Team Spirit as a replacement for Teamwork to better capture the essence of what we want to foster throughout TSA.
“In revalidating the Core Values recently, TSA’s senior leadership team changed Teamwork to Team Spirit,” said Deputy Administrator Gale Rossides. “This change reflects that TSA employees don’t only work together to ensure the nation’s security, but are inspired by our mission and look for unique ways to inspire those around us.”
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
10:44 pm
I believe I will wait until reports come from an investigation. That might give us a few more answers. In the meatime, I rest assured that Southern Comfort and his coworkers are doing all they can in a difficult job with whatever tools and info they are given. Dedicated Americans like SC are right in there doing their job against terrorists.
jt
December 29th, 2009
10:48 pm
Somebody should hurry up and change this. From TSA.gov———-Notice the word ” EVERY.” and “including”.
“Air travel is an essential part of our daily lives. Over 600 million people fly each year, not to mention the millions bags which go along with them. That’s why most of our efforts are dedicated to ensuring the unthinkable doesn’t happen. We screen every passenger and every bag boarding a commercial aircraft today, including international travelers arriving in the United States before they meet a connecting flight.”
jt
December 29th, 2009
10:48 pm
We screen every passenger and every bag boarding a commercial aircraft today, including international travelers arriving in the United States before they meet a connecting flight.”
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:49 pm
Alright, not to put off on SC’s job, but I’ve gotta share a motivational class experience. First, last, and only year I ever worked in the public school system….we were pulled from the classroom….I’m pretty sure the kids were still in attendance
anyhoo, we were asked questions. If our answers were good, they threw beanie baby fish at us. Door prizes and the like. I’m sure not what we accomplished other than wasting time on silliness. The other teachers were really into it. Me? not so much.
#253 – After it Landed « Grab and Keel
December 29th, 2009
10:49 pm
[...] then learn that it is the weak minded Liberals who caused this [...]
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:51 pm
…switch that sure not to not sure.
IRDHTBS
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
10:51 pm
There is some serious CYA going on with the administration or the CIA or both tonight. I’m not going to bother with links since the info seems to change every hour, but there’s some fascinating reading out there for anyone with insomnia.
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
10:56 pm
jt,
Doesn’t that mean that international passengers WHO HAVE ALREADY ARRIVED IN THE USA will be screened before they leave on ANOTHER connecting flight?
The original is a bit confusing.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
10:56 pm
jt,
That seems to give the TSA enough wiggle room to say they won’t let them connect to another domestic flight once they’ve landed from their international one, except this guy had no intention of landing in the first place.
Hillbilly D,
One thing I know for sure we have control over is whether to allow an incoming international flight into our airspace. If someone here is connecting the dots and feels someone on an inbound flight is a threat and hasn’t been vetted properly at the origination we don’t have to allow the flight in.
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:57 pm
Best advice I could give Obama? Clean house….start over….you’ve got some real losers running things for you, against you, around you, behind you, in front of you, under you, over you.
Sheesh….
what
a
mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@@
December 29th, 2009
10:58 pm
for you?
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
11:00 pm
RW,
If they figure out how to solve the “airplane” problem maybe they can use it to stop the WhiteHouse party crashers.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
11:00 pm
In 2006 the CIA agent interviewed here conducted a study and determined that a very likely threat would be a Northwestern flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
Quite obviously this was not another red flag…./sarc
Common Sense
December 29th, 2009
11:02 pm
To HillyBilly Deluxe and Doggone/GA:
Thank you for helping eagle scout’s memory with your posts. And Southern Comfort …….. LOL!
Now that said …………. the answer is “reasonable profiling”.
Guess what?
It was (and I assume still is) against regulations !
Guess what again ?
We all did it …………… all the time ……………. you knew who you had to watch and who you could ignore. “Regulations” can’t see what’s going on in your brain thankgoodness ……….. at least not yet.
I could post a lot more on the subject but obviously I won’t.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
11:02 pm
Dusty,
I’m on the side of the party crashers here. Their mistake was showing up saying they were guests. They should have claimed they were hosts just as the rest of us are.
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
11:05 pm
@@, I don’t know about Obama cleaning up the mess and starting over. He’s already got the best libs he could find. Think what we’d get if he brought in new ones.
@@
December 29th, 2009
11:10 pm
Interesting Aljazeera video. Two years ago, Stratfor ran numerous articles about terrorist’s intentions towards IEDs on airliners. They’re determined.
———————————————————————
Dusty:
He’d better get SOMEBODY in there who knows what the heck they’re doing. If not, his legacy is in the toilet.
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
11:12 pm
RW
2006??? Don’t you know that Bush was president then and therefore everything then was inaccurate, wrong, evil and should be ignored? My my…
Common Sense
December 29th, 2009
11:13 pm
To Southern Comfort:
By the way, what do you “see” and what do you “do” on a daily basis ??
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
11:14 pm
Dusty,
What was I thinking????
md
December 29th, 2009
11:15 pm
Not to rag on the tsa, but on my last trip out of atl I had a couple of full bottles of water I had yet to drink so I tossed them in the top of my carry-on with the intentions of finishing them off prior to going through security. Needless to say, I forgot all about them until I was sitting at the gate waiting to board my flight and I opened my bag to remove another item and low and behold the bottles were staring at me. Not even a mention from tsa.
Yet when I forget about my toothpaste…………..
@@
December 29th, 2009
11:15 pm
He definitely needs to unload the Chicago element. They’re killing any chance he has to redeem himself. The hard left partisans too.
I don’t know why I even care. The guy frustrates me to no end. I oughta just let him go down with his ship of fools.
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
11:17 pm
Well. @@. Obama has already cleaned out Chicago and everybody has left Detroit. You realize he might tap someone from ATLANTA?
Dusty
December 29th, 2009
11:22 pm
md,
Maybe your tooth paste was not the sensitivity kind. You have to be careful about those things!!
md
December 29th, 2009
11:28 pm
“Maybe your tooth paste was not the sensitivity kind. You have to be careful about those things!!”
I think they get a kick out of trashing the stuff I need or the non sharp sharp items I forget to remove from my keychain. I think they get bored on the disassembly line and are doing what they can to spice it up.
@@
December 29th, 2009
11:28 pm
DANG! Sounds like some leftists helped convince the guy to blow up an airplane.
The society’s guest speakers have included radical imams, former Guantánamo Bay prisoners and a cast of mostly left-wing, anti-American British politicians and human rights advocates. In January 2007, with Mr. Abdulmutallab as president, the society sponsored a “War on Terror Week” that was harshly critical of American conduct in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/world/europe/30nigerian.html?pagewanted=2
That’s gotta suck for “the other side”.
Ciao!
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
11:32 pm
And once again Ron Paul chimes in with his idiocy.
Second, as usual, his facts are wrong. He uncritically accepts Abdulmutallab’s assertion that the bomb plot was retaliation for the U.S. airstrike on jihadi camps in Yemen. Not so: As Jake Tapper explained yesterday, this turd had already been mobilized and had even bought his Northwest ticket before we struck. Purely and simply, America’s Greatest Patriot is parroting propaganda cooked up by jihadist pieces of sh*t because it happens to fit his insane foreign policy agenda. Support him and his disciples at your peril.
RW-(the original)
December 29th, 2009
11:34 pm
Allahpundit makes a good point there. We have one of those disciples roaming around here from time to time and that guy is certifiable.
Dusty
December 30th, 2009
12:02 am
RW,
I think you can find SEVERAL people on this blog who say things like Ron Paul said. Sounds all too familiar, unfortunately.
Goodnight & good morning.
getting late!!
The Professor
December 30th, 2009
12:39 am
@@ 11:15 Now that was funny. WOW!!
jt
December 30th, 2009
6:33 am
RW-(the original) ———–
Concerning your 11:32 remark. From personal experience, I can promise you that military operations (airstrikes, invasions,etc…..) happen very much EARLIER than what is usually reported in the MSM. You call Ron Paul’s foreign policy “insane” while our troops are in Aphganistan, Iraq,
Yemen, etc……………………Also we have troops in Nigeria guarding an oil pipeline. Ron Paul DID vote to go after a “terrorist network” in Afganistan. Not occupy it.
Go ahead and keep supporting our international interventist policies. We will soon run out of troops and/or money. And some people will finally realize that you can’t kill every muslim extremist.
And the disciple term is reserved for the followers of republocrats. I prefer the term statist instead of disciple.
And Ron Paul IS a true patriot.
jt
December 30th, 2009
6:41 am
Heard a bunch of lefties harping on Jim Dement in holding up a nomination.
What about Sen. Chris Dodd—-????????
He slashed aviation security funding for pet constituency.
y.
Back in July, Senator Chris Dodd, D-Conn., proposed an amendment reducing aviation security appropriations by $4.5 million in favor of firefighter grants — a notoriously inneffective program. In fact, the money was specifically “for screening operations and the amount for explosives detection systems.”
jt
December 30th, 2009
6:50 am
This corruption of our legal system, if history is any guide, will not be reserved by the state for suspected terrorists, or even Muslim Americans. In the coming turmoil and economic collapse, it will be used to silence all who are branded as disruptive or subversive.
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
7:17 am
The kenyan is just so stupid…
Obama Botches Response to Another Terror Threat
As Obama’s attempts to appease jihadists, it’s clear the strategy of talking nicely isn’t working
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Another terror threat, another botched response from the Obama administration.
Last Friday’s attempted attack to blow up an airplane en route to Detroit from Amsterdam has bolstered what we’ve known for a long time: that stopping the bad guys is so far outside the worldview of the president and his staff it’s downright scary.
In the hours that followed the attack, Obama foolishly called the attempt an “isolated incident.”
That’s like Tiger Woods calling Rachel Uchitel an isolated incident.
We now know that the suspect had been in Yemen just days before the attack and that a regional Al Qaeda group has claimed responsibility for it.
Obama appointee Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security chief, who earlier in the year referred to terrorist attacks as “man-caused disaster” and said that we weren’t in a War on Terror, praised the system saying, “It worked.”
No, it didn’t.
She quickly and bizarrely tried to back-peddle the next day insisting that the events following the failed attack unfolded as they should have, but allowing the terrorist to board the plane with explosives clearly “signaled a failure of the system.”
Someone should tell Napolitano that her method for measuring success is very strange.
Rep. Peter Hoekstra said it best: “Success is stopping these attacks, not responding to them.”
However, rather than demand answers, Congressional Democrats are on defense while they lambaste Republicans for blocking an Obama’s pick to head the Transportation Security Administration.
Forget playing politics about the head baggage screener who wouldn’t have stopped the attack if he were in place. We’ve seen what has happened when the baggage of the Obama administration isn’t adequately screened.
Most recently the foreign minister of Yemen said that there are likely 200 to 300 terrorists in Yemen plotting future attacks. Why aren’t we water-boarding the Christmas Day bomber for information on who these men are? Guess we’re more worried about getting him legal representation.
While our president attempts to appease those who have declared a radical jihad on U.S. and elsewhere, let the Christmas Day attack be a sign that the strategy of talking nicely isn’t working.
What will it take for the Obama administration and Congressional Democrats to get tough on terror before more people die?
People are going to get killed if we don’t change this pre-9/11 mentality. This isn’t about politics, it’s about reality — cold one that people want to destroy us. Let this be another wake up call to the president before the only man caused disaster we’re talking about is his own naivete.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
7:32 am
Economists watch consumer sentiment because spending on goods and services for consumers accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity by federal measures.
One key component of the confidence index that measures consumers’ outlook over the next six months rose to 75.6 from 70.3 last month, the highest level since December 2007, when the index was 75.8. But the survey’s other main component, which measures shoppers’ current assessment, actually fell to 18.8 from 21.2. -Urinal
dummycrats think Americans are energy consuming pig people, who should be saving their money instead of pursuing all of the material things in life, but look, here they are praying to their socialist gods that you start spending, hoping you start spending, longing for you to spend, crunching your spending numbers, squeezing them for any signs of hope or change.
Bizarre, isn’t it?
jt
December 30th, 2009
7:44 am
Meanwhile-
Trial Lawyers Poised to Sue Society Into Stone Age.
A group of 12 Gulf Coast residents whose homes were damaged by Katrina are suing 33 energy companies for greenhouse gas emissions that allegedly contributed to the global warming that allegedly made the hurricane worse.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and seven state AG allies plus New York City are suing American Electric Power and other utilities for a host of supposed eco-maladies. A native village in Alaska is suing Exxon and 23 oil and energy companies for coastal erosion.
The beauty of the greedy totalitarian left’s new strategy is that it allows them to sue absolutely anyone they don’t like and/or has money to be looted.
FinnMcCool
December 30th, 2009
7:51 am
Florida Republican May File Suit Over Health Bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/health/policy/30florida.html?hpw
Republicans want to curb frivolous litigation? I guess it’s only frivolous when it’s someone else’s lawsuit.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
7:58 am
jt
Heart specialists on Monday filed suit against Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius in an effort to stave off steep Medicare fee cuts for routine office-based procedures such as nuclear stress tests and echocardiograms.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-12-23-heart29_ST_N.htm
To paraphrase:
The beauty of the greedy totalitarian rights new strategy is that it allows them to sue absolutely anyone they don’t like and/or has money to be looted.
Thrust and parry.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
7:59 am
Finn
It’s like shooting fish is a barrel.
But it does become tedious.
Michael W.
December 30th, 2009
8:12 am
A gentle reminder that AMC is hosting a Stooge Marathon on New Years Eve. Required Viewing. Dont even think about commenting in 2010 if you miss more than 3 minutes of the broadcast. Zero tolerance.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:17 am
Solomon draws attention to the online labors of one William M. Connolley, a Green Party activist and software engineer in Britain. Starting in February 2003, Connolley set to work on the Wikipedia site. I continue with a two-paragraph direct quote from Mr. Solomon’s article:
[Connolley] rewrote Wikipedia’s articles on global warming, on the greenhouse effect, on the instrumental temperature record, on the urban heat island, on climate models, on global cooling. On Feb. 14, he began to erase the Little Ice Age; on Aug. 11, the Medieval Warm Period. In October, he turned his attention to the hockey stick graph. He rewrote articles on the politics of global warming and on the scientists who were skeptical of the band [of climatologist activists].-AmSpec
Yeah, the science is “settled.”
Heh
FinnMcCool
December 30th, 2009
8:17 am
I hope you folks aren’t losing sleep over this security breech. You can throw every GDP dollar we have at it and some will still get through the cracks. Security is a human endeavor and humans are just that – human.
On sharing data with other countries….well, duh. If we don’t want to be the world’s police force, lets open up all the data for other countries to chip in and do their part.
jt
December 30th, 2009
8:17 am
Mrs. G———I don’t know why you would associate that article with the right, but I will admit that the republican party has been taken over by trial lawyers too. I will not thrust or parry. My epee remains sheathed. I am peaceful.
Regardless, the below paragraph from your link smells of a “Death Panel”. Heart Attack victims in Florida would agree.
“Medicare’s new fee schedule would cut reimbursements for nuclear scans by about 40% as of Jan. 1, according to the ACC. Fees for echocardiograms and other tests will shrink by about a third, with those cuts phased in over four years. In March, doctors also face an additional 21% cut due to an adjustment in the formula that limits the growth of Medicare spending for doctors’ fees.”
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
8:23 am
@@ says:
“Through their failures, we’ve bought time. Let’s hope the Obama administration puts it to good use. Gawd knows he’s wasted a lot of it on his “health care” bill. Wasted a lot of money that could have been put to better use too.
Pork is good, but only when used against muslim extremists.”
I say in response:
I couldn’t agree more. I think I’m starting to really like this @@ chick. I hope Mrs. Troll doesn’t get jealous ( she is a “conservative” as well…)…
FinnMcCool
December 30th, 2009
8:24 am
Anyone who expects to get stone-cold facts from wikipedia should be listened to with reservation.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:25 am
Recall would also stop the growing problem of Blue Dog Democrat fraud, where liberal Democrats get elected by posing as Reagan conservatives at election time, and then vote like George McGovern once they get to Washington. When representatives betray promises made to voters soon after their election, they can be quickly recalled. In an age of dishonest, party-controlled media, such right of recall is even more necessary to maintain rule by the democratic will of the people, because without a free press to keep candidates honest, electoral mistakes are more likely to be made.-AmSpec
This is the kind of talk we need to put into Washington DC’s face.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:26 am
I’m pretty sure I said the exact opposite, McFool, and, gave you the reason why.
liberals lie like rugs.
FinnMcCool
December 30th, 2009
8:28 am
I’d like a Francis, the talking mule marathon. I haven’t seen those in years.
Or how about a film noir marathon? Night of the Hunter (is that noir?) is one of the creepiest movies ever.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
8:29 am
jt
death panels….really?
what’s the mark up for nuclear scans?
of course nuclear scans turn out to be a gift that keep giving to the medical industry.
Recent CBS Headline: Dose of Radiation Varies Greatly from One Hospital to Another; Skyrocketing Scans Could Lead to 29,000 New Cancer Cases
I feel sad the cardiologists will have a lower bottom line….but I feel
sadder still about all the folks in the US who have no insurance at all.
Gale
December 30th, 2009
8:30 am
Regarding the cutback for cardiac testing fees, does anyone have information on how effective those tests are? Do they actually detect problems and prevent heart attacks? What percentage more effective are they than other less expensive tests?
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
8:31 am
I wouldn’t worry too much about Andy’s “facts” McCool, she’s never been one to let facts get in the way of a good hissy fit. If it’s on a nut sack blog, or if it comes from a nut sack rss feed, it’s a fact to her.
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
8:31 am
Finn
Ma and Pa Kettle!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:33 am
Neither Democrat mentioned that President Obama didn’t bother to nominate Mr. Southers to fill the TSA post until September, nor that Democrats didn’t vote the nominee out of committee until the middle of last month. Such a languid pace hardly suggests that they considered the TSA job to be vital to national security.
By contrast, Mr. DeMint’s objection is rooted in a substantive concern that union practices and work rules will compromise security.
In other words, Congressman Thompson has it exactly backwards. If the goal is to have a “nimble, responsive” TSA, a non-union work force makes more sense.-WallStreetJournal
Next question?
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:36 am
What is 8:31 but a hissy fit, devoid of any reason?
No humor, no logic, nothing of interest, just a filled diaper.
And I actually think this is one of the smarter liberals.
jt
December 30th, 2009
8:36 am
Mrs. G—–you lamented.
“I feel sad the cardiologists will have a lower bottom line….but I feel
sadder still about all the folks in the US who have no insurance at all.”
You will feel SADDEST still when all of the cardiologists are GONE. Or worse, GOVERNMENT cardiologists.
Insurance is useless, when there is no quality medical care.
Disgusted
December 30th, 2009
8:36 am
what’s the mark up for nuclear scans?
Don’t know about the industry in general, but the company that gave me one in Lawrenceville last year billed $5,000. It settled for the $336 my insurance company paid. Let’s see, now, two hours @ $2,500 per. Would seem to put the stock shysters to shame.
Gale
December 30th, 2009
8:38 am
I’m mostly against a unionized TSA. They do not receive enough training IMO, so it isn’t like the police or firefighter professions. They do need more training, but I don’t think a union would solve that issue. I think it more likely a union would just add to the red tape and keep them from being effective.
jt
December 30th, 2009
8:39 am
Or worse, UNION GOVERNMENT cardiologists.
I’ll settle for a mid-wife.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
8:41 am
First, Jay’s column. Some may have made the points earlier, but I have not reviewed all the posts.
Second paragraph: agree. Physical is one element.
Third paragraph: psychological. Agree. Except, as it’s presented, it seems to say mass casualties is not a goal, instilling fear is. Seems to me this is another either/or setup, while I look at it as an ‘and’ situation: the goals are mass casualties, because killing Christians, Jews, apostate Muslims and other infidels is part of their creed, and because they lead to fear. So I see them as intertwined.
The ‘sense of terror and panic… inspired…” – then the terrorist transfer to the continental US point: it’s presented as a Republican grandstanding issue. As has been pointed out, Congressional Democrats were also opposed – were any of them in favor? – until it became an Illinois jobs program. But I agree: the angst over what will happen if terrorists are transferred to a Supermax are largely hyperbole. Far more concern should be over what will happen if we transfer them to Saudi Arabia or Yemen.
I am struck by how differently partisans view the NW Airlines attack. The only thing that kept an airliner from being blown out of the sky and 300 people killed was a faulty detonator. (I must interject – the Pavlovian response of the Obama Administration to began any response to criticism with “we inherited this from the Bush Administration” (the watch list) has become sadly comical and calls into question their calls for accountability and responsibility). Yet those same people, who, for years, blamed Bush over and over and over for 9-11 hold Obama to an entirely different, responsibility-free standard.
Richard Clarke warned the Bush Administration (as he had the Clinton Administration) that AQ wanted to attack us and that airliners might be in the mix.
Abdulmutallab’s father warned the US Embassy. We had intel from Yemen about a Nigerian’s planned attack.
Bush read to schoolkids for a few minutes. Obama didn’t appear, then went golfing.
Bush addressed the attack within hours. Obama waited three days and let underlings put out the message ‘the system worked.’
After three days, Obama declared Abdulmutallab was an ‘isolated’ individual. Never mind how an isolated individual traveled to Yemen, obtained explosives, met with AQ. He’s still an isolated individual who was Mirandized and had a lawyer appointed. Bush declared we were at war with jihadists.
Finally, Bush was criticized for not doing all the things – taking the Clarke memo from the general to the specific, revamping America’s intelligence agencies, revamping interagency cooperation, changing a bureaucratic mindset and all the things the 9-11 Commission said might have prevented the attack, in 7 ½ months. Apparently, after 11 months the best Obama can manage is to say “well, we inherited the watch list from Bush.”
@@
December 30th, 2009
8:41 am
This, in my opinion, says it all!
I think that Mr. Obama is not just inexperienced; he is also hampered by a distinct inner emptiness—not an emptiness that comes from stupidity or a lack of ability but an emptiness that has been actually nurtured and developed as an adaptation to the political world.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704254604574614540488450188.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g4:r3:c0:b0
It wasn’t me who inflicted President Obama with the soft bigotry of low expectations. That’s a “privilege” the other side enjoys. He wasn’t prepared, and I knew it. Unlike those who voted for him, I didn’t have the NEED to prove it for all the world to see.
I suggest everyone read the entire article…..then convince me that it didn’t go down just as Shelby Steele describes. Obama was the left’s sacrificial lamb.
Disgusting!
Gale
December 30th, 2009
8:41 am
Disgusted, that looks like a mighty high markup. Is the price on the scan mostly to pay for the equipment? Does it require a highly skilled individual to administer the test and read results? I will need a lot more data before I’m willing to say this is a bad decision.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
8:42 am
I’ll bet those global warming specialists that Andy refers to sho nuf Am Special. They probably don’t know the difference between heat transfer and hot flashes. What a bunch of tools. The extent of their knowledge on global warming is that their depends feel warm right before they start smiling. There’s probably a “cause and effect” for them to dig into there. Ewwwwww.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:42 am
The truth always comes out, no matter how hard the liberals try to spin it-
By the end of 2008, Fannie and Freddie held or guaranteed approximately 10 million subprime and Alt-A mortgages and mortgage-backed securities (MBS)—risky loans with a total principal balance of $1.6 trillion. These are now defaulting at unprecedented rates, accounting for both their 2008 insolvency and their growing losses today. Since 2008, under government control, the two agencies have continued to buy dicey mortgages in order to stabilize housing prices.
An Alt-A mortgage is one in which the quality of the mortgage or the underwriting was deficient; it might lack adequate documentation, have a low or no down payment, or in some other way be more likely than a prime mortgage to default. Fannie and Freddie were also reporting these mortgages as prime, according to Mr. Pinto.
It is easy to see how this misrepresentation was a principal cause of the financial crisis. -Wall Street Journal
And to think, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
8:47 am
Mrs. Godzilla
Those fee cuts for doctors. Interesting how Democrats point to the CBO to say over ten years the proposed changes will save, what, $136 billion? What I have not heard any in Congress answer is that the CBO must include in their analyses assumptions provided by Congress, and a key factor here was that Medicare reimbursements to the medical community would be cut 21 percent and there would be no increase in payments for ten years.
Remove that joke of an assumption and the ’savings’ disappear. Which is why no Democratic Congressperson has answered the question, instead relying on “But the CBO says” talking points.
Now, back to the Obama administration’s war on man-induced criminal enterprise disasters…
bob
December 30th, 2009
8:48 am
road, Your buddy Dodd played politics on this issue also.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Sen-Dodd-D-Conn-slashed-aviation-security-funding-for-pet-constituency-80209967.html
@@
December 30th, 2009
8:51 am
Rightwing Troll:
Don’t call me “chick”!!!
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:52 am
We’re piling on now-
The cover of Al Gore’s new book, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, features a satellite image of the globe showing four major hurricanes–results, we’re meant to believe, of man-made global warming. All four were photoshopped. Which is nice symbolism, because in a sense the whole hurricane aspect of warming has been photoshopped.-FT.com
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
8:53 am
Paul
I think you’d be better to compare the underpants bomber to the shoe bomber.
jt
December 30th, 2009
8:53 am
@@ -
Great article. Mr. Steele does indeed nail it.
Even though it is blasphemy, there is truth to this statement in the article.
“He became Ronald Reagan through dissent, not conformity.”
Not unlike our last president, President Obama suffered permanent brain damage while attending Harvard.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
8:55 am
It sure is nice to wake up every day knowing that we have someone worthy of the Office of the President of the United States in DC now. No need to fear about whether or not we’ll get dragged even deeper into economic pergatory. No worries about whether we’ll be supplying WMDs to yet another rouge regime. No losing sleep wondering whether the food was really safe to eat… no more Republican “principles” killing us off. Life is good. Isn’t life good! Well, except for those followers of the Party of No. They’re just skeered of their own shadows.
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
8:55 am
Sorry, I meant to say wimmenz…
Paul
December 30th, 2009
8:56 am
Mrs. Godzilla
The point wasn’t to compare the terrorists. It was to illustrate the different standards some use in assessing the responses of the Bush Administration compared to the Obama Administration.
Disgusted
December 30th, 2009
8:56 am
Is the price on the scan mostly to pay for the equipment? Does it require a highly skilled individual to administer the test and read results? I will need a lot more data before I’m willing to say this is a bad decision.
Yes to both questions. The equipment is very expensive, and operating it requires a highly trained technician. Then a physician specialist must read the scans and make determinations about them. Then the analysis must be transmitted to the specialist treating the patient.
Why is the equipment so expensive? For the same reason we got $3,000 government-purchased toilets a few years ago. There are few purchasers, and the R & D that went into the equipment must be piled onto those few purchases. I have a physician golfing friend who purchased a machine and operates it in the 12-physician office he operates in the Ohio Valley. He’s making a fortune off it–high demand, low supply. Even the million-dollar purchase is no obstacle to that.
Why are the physician fees for reading the scan results so high? Again, few physicians are trained to do so–high demand, low supply. At any one time, there are hundreds of thousands of cancer patients and others who need such services.
And people still want to argue that the good old private enterprise system is the best way to go about providing such medical services.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
8:57 am
Sarah Palin’s face got photoshopped on a real body and I know because I stayed at a Holiday Inn before.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
8:59 am
Even with the Treason Times spinning this as hard as they can, it makes the Presidential Daily Briefing from August 2001 look totally inconsequential and vague-
Two officials said the government had intelligence from Yemen before Friday that leaders of a branch of Al Qaeda there were talking about “a Nigerian” being prepared for a terrorist attack. While the information did not include a name, officials said it would have been evident had it been compared with information about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit on Christmas Day.
The government also had more information about where Mr. Abdulmutallab had been and what some of his plans were.
Some of the information was partial or incomplete, and it was not obvious that it was connected, the official said, but in retrospect it now appears clear that had it all been examined together it would have pointed to the pending attack.
Total failure.
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
9:00 am
BTW, I don’t disagree with your assessment above, I would love to be using the name President McCain since I come from an family of service members, I just couldn’t stomach the name VP Palin…
I see that Drudge is lamenting that Pelosi gets to vacation in Maui unaccosted by media, while Palin was “driven off the island” by the media.
Two things:
Pelosi is a highly placed representative and requires protection.
And, who wants to see Pelosi in a bathing suit? I’d love to see that Palin chick in a bathing suit…
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
9:01 am
@@
December 30th, 2009
8:41 am
HERE HERE…*applause* Excellent article! Now only if the white dummycrats will atleast read it and learn something about themselves.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
December 30th, 2009
9:01 am
Comfort yourself, taxxie, keep on comforting yourself.
Remember, head in the sand, we wouldn’t want to get upset!
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
9:03 am
Paul
Then perhaps you should have compared two similar situations when comparing the responses.
Shall we compare Bush’s response to Katrina against Obama’s response
to the bridge collapse in Minnesota?
jt
December 30th, 2009
9:06 am
Disgusted – your comment.
“And people still want to argue that the good old private enterprise system is the best way to go about providing such medical services.”
Anyone with the ID of a summer squash doesn’t need to argue. They KNOW that private enterprise is the way to provide the best medical service.
In the meantime, go get your nuclear scan at your local government clinic. Ya might be able to pick up a flu shot right you are there. Maybe.
jt
December 30th, 2009
9:07 am
I meant IQ.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:08 am
I asked this yesterday, didn’t see an explanation. (Except Mrs. Godzilla, who offered ‘that’s the way our justice system works’ which I thought would be a 2010/2012 gift to Republicans if the President uses it to explain why Americans were killed, or nearly so. Also, Doggone/GA offered any interrogations outside US criminal law safeguards is torture – so thanks to you two for your thoughts.) Still applies under the current topic.
Regarding the bomber: we’ve had several threads about torture doesn’t work, long-term relationship building and interrogations do. We’ve had discussions about the superiority of law enforcement methods over the Bush approach.
Question: given the Obama Administration is treating this case as a law-enforcement matter, and given the ’suspect’ (not unlawful enemy combatant) has been Mirandized and has a lawyer –
Can anyone who advocates the ‘law enforcement’ approach explain to me how we are going to interrogate this man, build long-term relationships to discover who he worked with, who provided the explosives? (Pres Obama’s undoubtedly well-informed assertion he was merely an ‘isolated’ individual aside).
Because once you’ve been Mirandized and have a defense attorney and have US Constitutional rights applied, it seems as if the interrogations and long-term relationships are no longer options. So he can say nothing and there’s not a darn thing we can do about it. Even if he said other attacks are coming. Under the Obama approach.
Old Retired English Professor
December 30th, 2009
9:08 am
HERE HERE
Oh, for Pete’s sake! I’m sick of seeing this barbarism on this blog. It’s Hear, Hear!, an English expression equivalent to “Listen to the fellow!”
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
9:08 am
Whatever helps you sleep easier, Andy.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:13 am
Mrs. Godzilla 9:03
[[Then perhaps you should have compared two similar situations when comparing the responses.]]
I thought I did?
Critics lambasted Bush for not acting upon warnings.
Same people say nothing about Obama’s not heeding warnings.
Critics say 7 1/2 months was plenty of time for Bush to act to prevent an attack.
Same people say nothing about Obama’s 11 months.
Critics made fun of Bush’s reading to kids, silent about Obama giving a speech and heading to the golf course.
See, I think it’s entirely political. Whether it’s the Ft Hood attack (not a terrorist attack, according to Obama supporters) or the AQ attack on NW Airlines, the Obama Administration is desperate to avoid the charge that just a year in, they couldn’t prevent an attack on the US.
It all flows from that.
jt
December 30th, 2009
9:16 am
Old Retired English Professor
Does the term “holed up” bother you as much as it does me.?
As in, “the suspects were holed up in a cabin.
Is that the correct spelling?
Curious Observer
December 30th, 2009
9:17 am
Can anyone who advocates the ‘law enforcement’ approach explain to me how we are going to interrogate this man, build long-term relationships to discover who he worked with, who provided the explosives? (Pres Obama’s undoubtedly well-informed assertion he was merely an ‘isolated’ individual aside).
Why, every good conservative knows that the only way to secure such information is to water-board the heck out of him. He’ll love us for it and immediately renounce terrorism. And the information we secure will be absolutely reliable.
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
9:18 am
Old Retired English Professor
December 30th, 2009
9:08 am
Here here!!! *Applause*
jt
December 30th, 2009
9:18 am
See, I think it’s entirely political.
No shiat Sherlock.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
9:21 am
Obama has not lost a single airliner full of passengers or a tall building to terrorists on his watch, no matter how badly the Republicans want that not to be the case. Ewwwwww. Just plain sick and ewwwww.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
9:21 am
Paul
No you didn’t.
Neither did any of the other pundits.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:21 am
Curious Observer
In other words, you don’t know. Thanks anyway
Old English
What do you mean, it’s “Hear hear.” It has to be “Here here” so Mel Brooks can answer “Where? Where?”
jt
Sometimes the obvious is not clearly stated. And after 300 posts when it is, people say, ‘well… of course…” Unless they’re partisans. Then there’s another explanation.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:23 am
Mrs. Godzilla
How did I not compare two similar situations? Twice now you’ve merely said ‘no you didn’t.” You’ve made an assertion. Please provide a fact or two, or an opinion or two, to explain. Thanks.
@@
December 30th, 2009
9:24 am
jt:
You need to understand why I voted Bush. He, with conviction, fought against the soft bigotry of low expectations. He looked the democrats squarely in the eye and said, in regards to the Iraq war…..“Hindsight is NOT wisdom, and second-guessing is NOT a strategy.”
Barack Obama was launched to the Oval Office on both. I don’t dislike GWB. I didn’t find him frustrating like I do Obama. I will say I was more a Dick Cheney fan. That gets me all sorts of attacks here. I don’t care. We would be looking at a much different Middle East had Cheney been loosed. I dare say Rumsfeld would have been forced to implement the surge or would have resigned sooner. Had Cheney been in charge, I think we’d have been out of that hellhole by now.
Robert
December 30th, 2009
9:28 am
“Mark my words,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”
“I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate,” Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. “And he’s gonna need help. And the kind of help he’s gonna need is, he’s gonna need you – not financially to help him – we’re gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not gonna be apparent initially, it’s not gonna be apparent that we’re right.”
“Gird your loins,” Biden told the crowd. “We’re gonna win with your help, God willing, we’re gonna win, but this is not gonna be an easy ride. This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task.
McCain had this to say.
“What is more troubling is that Sen. Obama told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them because it wouldn’t be apparent Sen. Obama would have the right response.”
Biden said it and it was described at the time as one of his many “gaffes”. He reminds me of a drunk…the truth usually comes out after a few glasses of wine. It’s also ironic that he made the “gird your loins” remark. I guess the Nigerian terrorist wasn’t listening to Biden closely enough. He must have thought he said “Burn your Loins”.
@@
December 30th, 2009
9:29 am
The last paragraph in my 9:24 should not be italicized.
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
9:29 am
LOL…the kenyan is basically stumbling blindly thru the forest…LOL.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
9:32 am
@@….in regards to voting for bush, I didnt need hindsight, I could tell he was incompetent and not up to the job from the moment I heard him open his mouth. his entire life has been epitome of low expectations. nice guy, but he should’ve stayed out of politics.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
9:33 am
Torture is watching the Party of No going through a protracted denial phase. That too will pass and they can move on to accepting their fate in the history books under the heading of “Failure”.
@@
December 30th, 2009
9:36 am
Sam:
And nice guys finish last. Say what you want, but he had principles from which he would not waiver. Fiscally responsible, he was not.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:38 am
Well, since no one has a serious explanation to my question at 9:08, I’ll offer this.
Jay had several threads about how torture (restricted here to mean waterboarding) does not work. He made the case that noncoercive methods, including long-term relationship building, would provide effective results (but I do not recall his position of information was known to be time-sensitive). I had the impression the expectation was when the Obama Administration took office we’d turn to such interrogation methods to further weaken AQ and protect American lives.
Instead, it appears that hope has been dashed by the Obama Administations decision that (and I am not speaking of law enforcement investigative methods, here) terrorists are accused criminals and are to be afforded US Constitutional protections, including Miranda, appointment of lawyers, and investigation and prosecution through the US court system.
So all those other interrogation methods offered as a reasonable, effective alternative to the Bush Administration’s excessive methods will not happen.
So there is much we will not learn and casualties will likely result.
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
9:41 am
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:38 am
The idiot kenyan doesnt care who dies. If he can retain the moral higher ground then the rest of us be damned.
Robert
December 30th, 2009
9:45 am
Sam, President Bush would never have said the Nigerian terrorist was a “suspect” and that he was attemting an “alleged” bombing. I think President Bush would have called it like he saw it. Most Americans can appreciate that…you know, straight talk.
Instead of calling him an enemy combatant, which is what this Nigerian terrorist is, our president called him a suspect with an alleged bomb attempt.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
9:47 am
It sure is nice to have someone in office taking the moral high ground instead of the principled poop deck.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:51 am
Outhouse 9:41
I think that’s a bit extreme. I believe Pres Obama takes his oath very seriously and has demonstrated he’s willing to order the deaths of those who pose a threat – whether they’re in Somalia or Yemen or Pakistan or Afghanistan. It’s how to handle them when they aren’t killed outright that’s the problem.
joe matarotz
December 30th, 2009
9:51 am
I disagree with Jay. This attack was a tremendous failure.
A failure by the President to show decisive leadership.
A failure by the President to recognize that the attacker was not an isolated extremist.
A supreme failure by the head of DHS, whose ineptitude is now apparent to everyone.
Whether or not you are an Obama supporter does not change the fact that he failed in a crisis. Not surprising.
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
9:51 am
“Hindsight is NOT wisdom, and second-guessing is NOT a strategy.”
In other words, let us not dwell on my monumental lies and mistakes…
Dear God, the man INVADED a country and the house of reason he used to do so was built on lies and outright deception. (go ahead and bleat on about how the dummycrats voted for it as well, but it was he and his administration that made the case for it, it was not Hairy Reed or Nasty Peosi who proposed we do this, it was W and his merry band of NeoCon Armchair warriors)
So, unfortunately we MUST dwell on this lest it happen again…
thomas
December 30th, 2009
9:54 am
Paul,
Are you suggesting that the lawyer of the suspected terroist( I say susspected because it would be against the constitution and against his rights to make him guilty w/o a trial)would advise his client to say nothing to law enforcement and take the case to trial in hopes of finding the slightest bit of made up reasonalble doubt?
stands for decibels
December 30th, 2009
9:54 am
You guys still jabbering about the story that will have been forgotten when everyone goes back to work next week?
Paul
December 30th, 2009
9:57 am
thomas
Let me think about that.
Yup.
AmWet Is A Coward
December 30th, 2009
9:57 am
Anytime, sweetheart, come and see me.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
9:58 am
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered the federal government to rethink how it protects the nation’s secrets, in a move that was expected to declassify more than 400 million pages of Cold War-era documents and curb the number of government records hidden from the public.
Among the changes is a requirement that every record be released eventually and that federal agencies review how and why they mark documents classified or deny the release of historical records. A National Declassification Center at the National Archives will be established to assist them and help clear a backlog of the Cold War records by Dec. 31, 2013.
Obama also reversed a decision by President George W. Bush that had allowed the intelligence community to block the release of a specific document, even if an interagency panel decided the information wouldn’t harm national security.
The government spent more than $8.21 billion last year to create and safeguard classified information, and $43 million to declassify it…
Good job, President Obama. Two more birds with one stone — transparency with cost savings. Besides, it’s not like the Chinese and everyone else has not already hacked into every database and took everything anyway. The only ones that don’t know all our government’s little secrets are we the people. Let’s level that playing field.
danjonglee
December 30th, 2009
10:00 am
“Yes, the buck stops in the Oval Office. Obama may have rather smugly given himself a “B+” for his 2008 performance but he gets an F for the events that led to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarding a Detroit-bound plane in Amsterdam with a PETN bomb sewn into his underpants. He said today that a “systemic failure has occurred”. Well, he’s in charge of that system.” UK TELEGRAPH
AmVet
December 30th, 2009
10:04 am
What the hell is all this Republiblathering about an attack?
From what I’ve heard, the only thing “attacked” was the dorks own nether regions…
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
10:04 am
B+…thats just silly. Obobo deserves an F+ and come the 2012 elections he will receive it!
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2009
10:06 am
Paul
per your earlier question:
Using the law enforcement model leaves you room for investigation. Even if the guy clams up, he’s left a trail that can be followed. The same can be said if he were blown away in combat, but he may be inclined to boast while in lockup. That in itself could provide valuable intel. Any communications between him and the outside world can be monitored for any and all connections to others in Europe, Yemen or where ever they are.
The biggest advantage I see of going the law enforcement route over military is that if they are locked up for life in max confinement, they can’t be martyrs of the cause unlike dying on the “battlefield”. They have no country and are not an organized militia. To give them status by declaring war only helps validate their cause in the eyes of both their followers and themselves.
I personally think we should be using a combination of military and law enforcement styles. Use all available law enforcement to investigate any and all leads to map out the entire structure of the organization from their hierarchy to funding all the way to the cells around the world. Then use strategic strikes to take out as much of the organization as we can. Turn the tables on them and strike fear in them because they can’t predict when, where, or how we’ll strike.
Common Sense
If you catch this, I’m an 1895 in immigration.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
10:07 am
You guys still jabbering about the story that will have been forgotten when everyone goes back to work next week?
Speaking of… where’s Jay.
@@
December 30th, 2009
10:07 am
Well…Obama’s war is off to a great start! /snark
KABUL — Protests erupted in Afghanistan Wednesday in response to a U.S. military raid that may have killed 10 civilians, including eight children, over the weekend.
Hundreds of demonstrators blocked streets in the eastern city of Jalalabad, chanting anti-U.S. slogans and burning an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama.
“We went out [to the streets] to show our anger against the barbarity of the Americans,” said Moharam Moeed, a 25-year-old protester from Nangrahar University.
Many of the demonstrators were university students, said Noor Agha Zwak, the provincial spokesman. Some shouted “death to Obama” and “death to the foreign troops,” witnesses said.
A coalition of university and civil society groups behind the demonstrations issued a statement saying “the government must prevent such unilateral operations otherwise we will take guns instead of pens and fight.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126218273073510225.html
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
10:14 am
More stupidity from the kenyan…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20091229/wl_oneworld/world3684371262117514
Obama Quietly Changes U.S. Immigration Policy
Buzz up!43 votes Send
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Delicious Digg Facebook Fark Newsvine Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Yahoo! Bookmarks Print Play Video Barack Obama Video:AP Top Stories AP Play Video Barack Obama Video:Calls For Obama To Fix ‘System Failure’ Intensify CBS 2 New York Play Video Barack Obama Video:Obama: US intel had info ahead of airliner attack News 8 San Diego Edward Alden, New America Media Edward Alden, New America Media – Tue Dec 29, 3:10 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 28 (New America Media) – The Obama administration quietly announced last week that it would overturn one of the harsh immigration enforcement measures enacted by the Bush administration following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Beginning next month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said, those who arrive in the United States fleeing torture or persecution abroad will no longer automatically be welcomed with handcuffs and months in a jail cell. Instead, many of those seeking protection will again be permitted to live freely in the country while their applications for permanent asylum are considered by an immigration judge.
The measure is the latest in a string of little-noticed initiatives by the Obama DHS to reconsider some of the most controversial enforcement policies of the past decade. The administration in August launched an overhaul of the immigration detention system, which had grown out of control as the number of detainees doubled in just five years to more than 440,000 annually. Some of those were simply lost in the system, while others fell ill and died due to poor medical care, and the administration has pledged to stop such abuses. That same month, it moved families out of the notorious T. Don Hutto immigrant detention facility in Texas, which had become a national disgrace after revelations that pregnant women and small children were being held there in prison-like conditions.
The administration has also largely halted workplace raids that resulted in jailing, deportation and even criminal charges for many unauthorized workers, and is focused instead on in-depth audits of companies suspected of hiring those workers. And DHS has curbed the authority of state and local police forces to demand immigration documents from anyone stopped for minor offenses like traffic violations, saying that such checks should be done only for those jailed on criminal charges, particularly for serious criminal offenses. To drive home the point, DHS in October stripped the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona of federal authority to make immigration-related arrests.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
10:15 am
@@…what good are sticking to principles when they are completely out of whack? it was stubborness and inability to see the light, not unwavering principles.
Robert, not sure thats much to be upset about. a guy who hasnt been charged is a suspect and alleged to have done something. pretty simple. the guys a lawyer so he talks like one.
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2009
10:15 am
HD
Saw your question last night. If we had the trained personnel, I think we would be a lot better off using the Israeli model. TSA doesn’t physically screen until people hit the US soil. As we have just seen, that could be too late in the case of a terrorist attack. Even if we use contracted security, I think we’d be safer than using what ever personnel is provided by the country where the flight departs.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
10:16 am
The three stooges are already on:
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) sent a letter to President Obama today asking him to halt the transfer of six Guantanamo detainees to Yemen. The request, they say, is in light of the danger they’ve apparently just now realized Yemen poses, because Nigerian terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has said he was trained there.
The only problem: those six detainees have already been returned to Yemen.
AmVet
December 30th, 2009
10:18 am
Maybe just maybe, the nut job was in their quasi-Moral Majority based, IslamoRepublican Division.
Which specializes in underwear apparatus.
He reportedly said, right before he was captured, “I’ll be greeted as a liberator!”…
jconservative
December 30th, 2009
10:21 am
I basically agree with Jay on this one. The problem is not the terrorists, the problem is the American people’s unwillingness to accept the fact that we are in a war with terrorism.
First thing to realize is that wars, even wars on terrorism, have casualties. If we continue to get bent out of shape by something like this attempted attack, then we will, in fact, lose the war on terror.
We will have people killed. Airplanes will explode, water systems will be poisoned and a portable nuclear device may explode. People will die. Accept that fact.
But also accept the fact that from 2002 – 2008 a total of 293,463 people have been killed in US traffic accidents. Now we accept that as a nation. We apparently think that is OK because we make little effort to resolve the matter. We do not get bent out of shape by that number. But the threat of an airliner going down puts the whole country in a brain dead panic.
We are losing the war on terror and will continue to do so until the American people accept the fact that there will be deaths. Once that mental barrier has been crossed we will be able to rationally fight the war. Presently all our efforts are knee jerk reactions to events.
So 278 people will have died. So what! 37,261 people were killed in US highway accidents in 2008. Which is the bigger problem? I repeat – which is the bigger problem?
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
10:22 am
He reportedly said, right before he was captured, “I’ll be greeted as a liberator!”…
Good one!! hehehe
jt
December 30th, 2009
10:24 am
A sincere public service announcement–
Remember this. Our next election might bring us a President Obama more deeply indepted to his Chicago bookie or frazzled out like Jimmy Carter, or a Mitt Romney, owned by hair-care conglomerates and past mistress’. It is beside the point.
The tragedy lays with our perversion or muddying of our justice system and/or constitution.
This corruption of our legal system, if history is any guide, will not be reserved by the state for suspected terrorists, or even Muslim Americans. In the coming turmoil and economic collapse, it will be used to silence all who are branded as disruptive or subversive. Jobs depend upon it.
You WILL buy health insurance and whatever.
You WILL pay your fair share.
You WILL buckle your seatbelt.
This corruption of our legal system, if history is any guide, will not be reserved by the state for suspected terrorists, or even Muslim Americans. In the coming turmoil and economic collapse, it will be used to silence all who are branded as disruptive or subversive.
Robert
December 30th, 2009
10:24 am
Improve Intelligence Gathering at Home and Abroad.
“Barack Obama will improve the American intelligence apparatus by investing in its capacity to collect and analyze information, share information with other agencies and carry out operations to disrupt terrorist operations and networks.
Improve Information Sharing and Analysis.
The attacks of September 11th demonstrated the critical importance of information sharing. While some progress has been made, we are still not good enough at “connecting the dots.” State and local emergency officials represent more than 95 percent of America’s counterterrorism
capability, but they too often do not get actionable intelligence from federal sources. Barack Obama will improve our intelligence system by creating a senior position to coordinate domestic intelligence gathering; establishing a grant program to support thousands more state and local level intelligence analysts; and increasing our capacity
to share intelligence across all levels of government.
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/CounterterrorismFactSheet.pdf
I find it hard to believe much of what he says. His words and reality are proven to be different time and time again.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
10:24 am
The only ones with their panties in a wad over this failed attempt to blow up something are the Party of No and those other 300 terrorists sitting overseas waiting to board a flight.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
10:25 am
“I repeat – which is the bigger problem?”
“Collateral damage” is no problem…until it’s OUR “side” that is suffering it. Too many Americans have no problem with innocent civilians dieing in our “war” on terrorism…until it’s OUR innocent civilians. Where is the outrage at all the innocent Iraqi civilians killed so far?
AmVet
December 30th, 2009
10:26 am
Wow! The fallout from this “attack” is getting pretty damned big!
Now the hash-up-the-crack Dutchmen are gonna get full body scanned before flying to the good old USA.
Thanks, sandies…
Call it like it is.
December 30th, 2009
10:30 am
What a snore fest! Jay once again pulling up his old blogs, switching the sentences around and rehashing the same garbage. Republicans are chickens because they don’t want terrorist’s here. Republicans using scare tactics to gain support, blah blah blah….So Jay what does one get paid to write the same crap over and over again?
Lets get to the point, your savior became President and everything was supposed to change, but here we are a year into his term, and we still have all of our agencies not talking to each other. Oh wait I know it’s Bush’s fault. I’m sorry I forgot. Of course him forcing everybody to divulge all of their secret documents now will take care of all this in the future, right?
Even your own disciples are getting bored, you have AmVet talking about 3 stooges movies.
Heres to 2010, hoping you bring something fresh to the table besides bashing the right on everything.
Robert
December 30th, 2009
10:31 am
Sam
December 30th, 2009
10:15 am
“Robert, not sure thats much to be upset about. a guy who hasnt been charged is a suspect and alleged to have done something. pretty simple. the guys a lawyer so he talks like one.”
Yes there is much to be upset about. A guy affiliated with Al Queda trying to blow up a plane full of people should not be given the same opportunities you and I have, which is why Obama called him a suspect who allegedly tried to set off a bomb.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
10:32 am
Outhouse Go Kart
Can I call you Outie for short?
Are you buying scanner stock? Hear it’s moving up.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
10:35 am
Southern Comfort
I agree – a combination of law enforcement methods and military combines the strengths of both. However, it seems the Obama Administration has defaulted to the criminal courts for prosecution, thus making not possible even the mild interrogation methods outlined in the Army manual. Which used to be the be-all and end-all of the anti-Bush crowd.
So when a guy is captured trying to kill hundreds of Americans and he boasts ‘this is where I trained, this is who’s coming and it’s going to happen soon’ there is really not a darn thing we learn from him when he says ‘talk to my lawyer.’
Y’know, I’m also amazed (not reallly, as it is a Democratic Congress, after all) that after the Congress worked for years in response to several Supreme Court decisions to get the tribunal thing to a level that would pass muster, the Obama Administration rode over them and said ‘forget it, we’re going US criminal court’ and the Congress meekly acquiesced to the Executive. Where’s all the outrage that was leveled against the usurping Bush-would-be-king administration?
Hey, I guess that’s one thing the Obama Administration didn’t inherit from the Bush Administration, eh?
Jake
December 30th, 2009
10:38 am
Doggone – There are no innocent Iraqis, just collateral damage. They are all terrorists, future terrorists, mothers and fathers of current or future terrorists, or cowards that used to allow Saddam and his sons to push them around and now allow al Queda and other terrorists to kill them and hide in their midst. That is why it has taken years and tens of thousands of soldiers and ‘trainers’ to try and get these cowards to find enough backbone to stand up for themselves, a trait most Americans are born with!
md
December 30th, 2009
10:40 am
“(go ahead and bleat on about how the dummycrats voted for it as well, but it was he and his administration that made the case for it, it was not Hairy Reed or Nasty Peosi who proposed we do this, it was W and his merry band of NeoCon Armchair warriors)”
Doesn’t fly. If one party can stand up against an out of control health care bill and provide their own analysis, then the other party darn well could have done the same with a war they disagreed with.
jt
December 30th, 2009
10:41 am
And in closing, let me emphatically state, air safety is another victim of centralized authority.
The sovereign State of Georgia could handle all TSA security coming in, or going out, of Hartsfield/Jackson Airport.
Instead, our money is seized to subsidize incompetence.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
10:42 am
“There are no innocent Iraqis, just collateral damage”
Then there are no innocent Americans either, just collateral damage. You can’t make omelets without breaking eggs.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
10:46 am
Call it like it is.
@ 10:30
That’s pretty much the size of it and I’m usually in Jay’s corner on most things and about as far from GOP as you can get and still be on the planet, but our Bruin is beginning to take on the air of Olbermann…I could say the same thing about myself, but I do have four tin drums I bang instead of just the one…
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
10:47 am
“The sovereign State of Georgia could handle all TSA security coming in, or going out, of Hartsfield/Jackson Airport.”
And how would that stop a bomber who detonates his explosives BEFORE the plane lands?
Paul
December 30th, 2009
10:47 am
good morning, josef nix!
four tin drums?
is that like One Tin Soldier?
Jake
December 30th, 2009
10:47 am
Doggone – Yeah, or some would say let Americans take care of Americans and let Americans spend thousands fo lives and more than a trillion dollars trying to get Iraqis to take care of themselves. You must have really enjoyed the failed baptist missionary approach Jimmy Carter had to foreign policy.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
10:48 am
If you want to eliminate the possibility of being killed in or by a plane, then don’t fly and stay out of the flight paths, approved or otherwise, of all planes.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
10:48 am
robert, enough with the fake outrage. the guys a suspect and I havent heard obama call him an alleged anything…get over yourself.
md
December 30th, 2009
10:48 am
“I think we’d be safer than using what ever personnel is provided by the country where the flight departs.”
I’m guessing Canada and Ireland would disagree considering we have agreements for them to provide security on exit from said countrys. There are capable people in other countrys as long as everybody is on the same page.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
10:50 am
Doggone/GA
Good morning! Was listening to the former head of El Al Airlines (Israel) the other day. They’ve an unparalleled record at preventing terror attacks. US generally refuses to adopt their methods – been discussed here before. But, he was asked about one of the first restrictions the Obama Administration put in place – stay in your seat the last hour and nothing on your lap or getting into the overhead.
His response? “Brilliant. Now you’ve told the terrorists to detonate an hour and a half out.”
Common sense seems to be seriously lacking in the rush to ‘do something.’
md
December 30th, 2009
10:51 am
Paul and SC,
Still want to know why there are no charges filed for 290 counts of attempted murder. This is where the use of civilian courts concerns me. And say what you will about Bush, but my guess is he would have already filed attempted murder charges vs namby pamby charges that so far carry a max of 40 years.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
10:54 am
“US generally refuses to adopt their methods – been discussed here before.”
Here’s the qustion that occurs to me every time: HOW are we going to pay for it? There is so much objection to paying extra to insure the uninsured, because we “can’t afford it.” Then how can we afford to pay to have our own agents in EVERY international airport, in EVERY country?
And what about trains and buses? What if the terrorists start targeting those? Will we then have to have Federal agents at every bus and train terminal? In the US, Canad, and Mexico?
“Common sense seems to be seriously lacking in the rush to ‘do something.’”
And that is a failing that transcends all political boundaries.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
10:55 am
md
“…then the other party darn well could have done the same with a war they disagreed with.”
Except for one thing, they didn’t disagree with it…it may well have cost Sister Hillary the election, but she never claimed in backstepping that she didn’t vote the way she did and she never made excuses…a rare breed, she. The rest of ‘em want to go whimpering “I was duped…” She simply said she took action based on the information she had at the time…
@@
Thanks for that link…kinda like the fellow myself…
PAUL–
G’morning! I sometimes feel that way, that’s for sure!
Jake
December 30th, 2009
10:59 am
Taxpayer – And if you’re not ready to invade a sovereign nation or two to keep the oil flowing, please park your car!
md
December 30th, 2009
11:00 am
I agree Jo, I just get tired of the side choosers that don’t think their side ever does anything wrong.
md
December 30th, 2009
11:02 am
Its ok Jake, the department of energy was created during the Carter years to ween us off foreign oil. Give them a little time, they say they are working on it. Another 40 -50 years they may have a clue.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
11:03 am
“And if you’re not ready to invade a sovereign nation or two to keep the oil flowing”
If that’s a valid reason for attacking a sovereign nation…then we attacked the wrong nation at the wrong time. We should have attacked Iran in 1991 when they set 600 oil wells on fire in Kuwait. Now THAT’s an oil issue.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
11:03 am
Doggone/GA,
We should all just become Federal Agents. Then, we could just pay ourselves to protect us. I’ll bet the DoD would just be thrilled with the increased budget. With all those trillions of dollars, we could invade the world! We could annoint Cheney as the Supreme Ruler.
There. That should keep the followers of the Party of No drooling all over themselves for a while.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
11:05 am
I’m ready to invade the sovereign state of Georgia so we can drill here drill now and Payless. hehehe. Republicans are so gullible. An education would do them wonders.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:06 am
i’ve always wanted to be a federal agent. can i start spying on my neighbor? she tends to leave the shades open…
Robert
December 30th, 2009
11:07 am
Sam
December 30th, 2009
10:48 am
robert, enough with the fake outrage. the guys a suspect and I havent heard obama call him an alleged anything…get over yourself.
You get over yourself, and while you are at it…grow a pair. This man tried to blow up our plane and instead of doing what is in the best interest of our country’s safety, we read him miranda rights in his hospital bed, give him a lawyer and now he will disclose absolutely NOTHING. Why don’t you think about innocent people dying instead of giving hugs to people trying to kill us. Typical.
Oh yeah, he did say “alleged”. It’s all over youtube. Look it up.
Jake
December 30th, 2009
11:08 am
md – Reagun screwed the pooch on that one by turning it into his star Wars laser weapon fantasy, like he did with several otheer things.
doggone – Wasn’t that Iraq and Saddam that invaded Kuwait and torched the oil wells in 1991? Bush senior did invade them and American riggers put out the fires too!
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
11:08 am
md
“I agree Jo, I just get tired of the side choosers that don’t think their side ever does anything wrong.”
That set-to I had in here the other day with the one poster who had least had the mmmph to respond, albeit rather naively and with a two-step to make a Cajun dancer proud, Since I don’t give any of the politicians credit for much, and I’m rarely disappointed, every administration has its good points and its bad. We curse Nixon with every breath, and I certainly am no fan, but the fact of the matter is that he did more for the evironment than any before or after and his record on Indian affairs is the best of any president we’ve had before or since…
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
11:10 am
The oil companies would have had US invading Iran, on whatever trumped up charge, long ago but for one costly detail. Their sour crude. Now, isn’t that just sweet.
Jake
December 30th, 2009
11:12 am
Taxpayer – Although it is almost incomprehensible to me, I do realize there are probably millions of Americans that share your kumbaya one happy world of tree huggers vision. If all of you would stop blatherng on about it and actually do something, like parking your cars, it would significantly reduce our dependence on that middle east oil. just sayin’
md
December 30th, 2009
11:12 am
From the “educated” tax guy earlier today:
“No need to fear about whether or not we’ll get dragged even deeper into economic pergatory.”
Where have you been living the past year if you don’t think we have have been dragged deeper into economic pergatory. Bush spent the equity loan and now Barrry has maxed out the credit cards. What kind of funky math did they teach at your school.
TW
December 30th, 2009
11:15 am
How nice to see the Democrat POTUS held to a higher standard than the repug.
No greater proof that the POTUS is once again an adult
Thank GOD!
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
11:15 am
“Wasn’t that Iraq and Saddam that invaded Kuwait and torched the oil wells in 1991? Bush senior did invade them and American riggers put out the fires too”
Yep, sorry…my fingers got away with me. And Bush senior did not attack Iraq. Troops were sent into Kuwait, and once the Iraqi forces were over the border the defense was labled a success.
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
11:15 am
President Obama takes the heat President Bush did not
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/31049.html
A sensible read
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
11:16 am
Correction: I said “once the Iraqi forces were over the border”
I should have said: once what was left of the Iraqi forces…”
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:19 am
Sam 10:48
[[enough with the fake outrage. the guys a suspect and I havent heard obama call him an alleged anything…get over yourself.]]
Go to the 50-second mark.
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2009/12/3-days-later-obama-finally-comments-on-attempted-detroit-terrorist-bombing/
“A passenger allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device.”
“The suspect was immediately subdued.”
“The suspect is now in custody.”
Finally, he says “A full investigation has been launched into this attempted act of terrorism.”
More than a few mixed messages in that.
md 10:51
[[Still want to know why there are no charges filed for 290 counts of attempted murder.]]
Well, they did get him for attempting to destroy an aircraft…. Priorities, priorities…
Mrs. Godzilla
Candidate Obama and Congressional candidates ran on the platform Pres Bush mucked everything up and they’d do better. Lots better. So by their rhetoric, the shoebomber deficiencies are a given.
Pres Obama has shown himself to be every bit as incompetent in that regard as was Pres Bush.
Some change.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
11:20 am
Jake,
My car is parked, right beside my truck and van and motorcycle and tractor and tiller and both lawn mowers. All lined up in a pretty little row. I even keep my tires properly inflated.
My house exceeded the energy savings minimums that the power company required in order to get their lower rate along with a rebate, etc. My twenty acres of woods, except for the patch that I cleared for the house and garden, more than take care of my family’s impact on this here earth. So blah blah blah dude. You don’t know squat about me so at least own up to that fact. But do blather on.
NJ
December 30th, 2009
11:20 am
The problem is that the U.S. has been expecting other countries to foot the bill for watching out for WHO gets onto planes heading for America. The ill will that Republicans have created in Europe is largely responsible for the fact that no one over there is looking out very hard for people getting onto airplanes coming HERE. This is why the make friends rather than play tough guy method of governing works best. You friends will watch your back. Those who thing you are arrogant will go through the motions, publicly bemoan your losses, and laugh behind your back.
The previous administration was told, almost five years ago, that the real rising threat was being directed from Yemen. When Pakistan was telling the Bush Administration that Bin Laden was not in Pakistan, but they believed he had escaped the country, what Americans were not told at that time was that the Pakistani government believed that he was in Yemen, the goal being to open more and more flash points of terrorism that they would simply overwhelm the U.S. ability to deal with them all.
RW-(the original)
December 30th, 2009
11:22 am
Call it like it is & josef,
Jay B does most assuredly like his dead horses beaten well, but what I find remarkable when he goes on one of these tangents is that he seems to weave in something about others being obsessed with the issue into his story line.
TW
December 30th, 2009
11:23 am
DoggoneGA – yup. But then Bush Sr. let the Iraqi people think we’d help them revolt. Yet when they flooded the streets, expecting our help, Sr just grinned while saddam mowed them down like grass to the tune of 100,000.
Guess it’s just something in that Bush blood that can’t stand Iraq civilians.
sick.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:23 am
until he has all the facts, which he didnt..it is an alleged attack, until he is convicted, he is a suspect. its pretty simple stuff guys…i cant believe this is causing you this much trouble. why dont you go ahead and tell us what he should have said…
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
11:25 am
Yesterday when President Obama spoke, he spoke as President of the United States of America, not as a Democrat, liberal, African American or any such other label…we’ll see what comes of it, but if he will stay above the political haymaking and let the chips fall where they may…
AmVet
December 30th, 2009
11:25 am
For no good reason, I thought I’d check out that paragon of AJC Conservatism (HA!) – Jimbo Wooten.
20 posts in five days? ??? Tsk, tsk, tsk, conned. And ragweed accounts for a big percentage.
Man oh man oh man, the depths that neo-connical relevance has fallen to these days.
Instead of propping up Bookman’s numbers, who can easily get 20 posts in ten minutes or less, you Republifatihful should really think about taking care of your own. You know, charity starting at home and all that stuff.
The old boy’s gonna get a loneliness complex or something.
Besides its a given, that the depth of knowledge and elucidation to be had while reading Reich-winger sites like Jimbo’s is thee single best way to learn the truth about what is actually happening in the world!
After AM radio of course.
Silly “compassionate” “conservatives”.
Just give up while you’re behind. WAY behind…
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:27 am
Sam
And if he’d been captured by US forces in Yemen, in an AQ camp, carrying a gun, would he still be a suspect?
Mrs. Godzilla
December 30th, 2009
11:28 am
Paul
Can’t agree.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
11:28 am
” But then Bush Sr. let the Iraqi people think we’d help them revolt. Yet when they flooded the streets, expecting our help, Sr just grinned while saddam mowed them down like grass to the tune of 100,000.”
And that made me sick to my stomach. Just as during the Balkan war they made a Srebrenica a “safe haven” and stood by while thousands of Muslim men and boys were slaughtered. That made me sick too.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:29 am
josef nix
[[we’ll see what comes of it, but if he will stay above the political haymaking and let the chips fall where they may…]]
We had bloggers here who blamed Bush for procurement decisions made by midlevel bureaucrats at the Pentagon and policy decisions made by careerists. Yet to these same bloggers, Obama’s above it all.
Continually amazing.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:30 am
not sure about that one paul because it would be a on foriegn soil…my bet is he’d be a dead suspect either way.
Robert
December 30th, 2009
11:30 am
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:23 am
“until he has all the facts, which he didnt..it is an alleged attack, until he is convicted, he is a suspect. its pretty simple stuff guys…i cant believe this is causing you this much trouble. why dont you go ahead and tell us what he should have said…”
You still don’t get it. He wouldn’t have had to use those terms if he was not given the same rights you and I have. We are at war with this kid, are we not? Would you suggest we read Osama bin Laden his miranda rights and call him a suspect if we caught him? I see no difference. This Nigerian terrorist is part of the Al Queda organization and we are calling him a suspect. He even said more was to follow, but we will not get to know about this since he now has a lawyer advising him to disclose NOTHING! Like I said, grow a pair.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:31 am
Mrs. Godzilla
Please don’t tell me you’re developing the habit of making statements with no background explanation.
Kinda like the kid who says to mom “can I go to Susie’s house?” “No.” “Why not?” “No.” “We won’t get in trouble.” “Can’t agree.”
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:31 am
you do the same thing paul…
Jake
December 30th, 2009
11:32 am
Taxpayer – Well I know a little about you now that you shared and it supports my earlier post and my opinion that you are just one of many that enjoys the bounty of American capitalism (lots of toys and acreage too, good for you!) and the security our imperialism and military provide and then you have the gall to criticize the manner in which people like GWB make that all possible for you.
md
December 30th, 2009
11:32 am
TW,
Bush senior did what the UN said he could do. If you want to point fingers, you should at least point them in the right direction.
RW-(the original)
December 30th, 2009
11:33 am
Wooten is still here? I thought he retired
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anybody that reads that Politico article linked at 11:15 I would offer that there are tremendous differences. Very few people in December 2001 thought GWB was soft on terror as many do about Obama in December 2009. I also heard several conservatives, myself included, say that Obama was right not to jump in front of a camera right away and give this guy more importance than he might deserve, but once Napalatono and Gibbs came out on Sunday morning both saying the system had worked just right he had no choice and that’s when the outrage began to build.
Then we had the Monday morning revisions from the mouth pieces followed by Obama coming out and declaring this guy an isolated and also “alleged” terrorist. Then on Tuesday Obama comes out and says the system was a total failure. (On this one I’ll stand down until I see whether he means it or he’s looking for an angle where he can claim another nugget of his “inheritance”), followed shortly after by his administration sending out notes to the press that this really was an AQ plot.
Not very reassuring on balance.
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:33 am
if you see no difference between this idiot and obl, then you are in fact as goofy as i ’supsect’ you are…and , what do you suggest was said?
Roger
December 30th, 2009
11:34 am
Jay, what kind of cool aid you been sipping on? No Doz & Air Wicks? Wake up and realize there are a group of folks out there that wants to destroy the Western Civilization as we know it. If you were on guard duty- – - how many folks would you let by your perimeter or check point without full scrutiny?
md
December 30th, 2009
11:35 am
Taxpayer has 20 acres? A good democrat would share that with the not as fortunate.
Oh sorry, a good democrat only shares the 20 acres that belongs to non-democrats.
Robert
December 30th, 2009
11:37 am
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:33 am
if you see no difference between this idiot and obl, then you are in fact as goofy as i ’supsect’ you are…and , what do you suggest was said?
I think that if you are a part of a terrorist organization, which this kid was a part of and of which OSB is also part of, gives us the green light to treat him as an enemy combatant with different rights you and i have. It’s really that simple. As far as what he should have said, he should have called him what he is, which is a terrorist, enemy combatant…not a “suspect” who “allegedly” tried to blow up a plane. Again, grow a pair.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
11:38 am
RW
Being something of a compulsive-obsessive myself on my own issues, I can understand the Bruin’s fixations, but I do wonder sometimes if he is cognizant that he’s doing it…
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:39 am
Sam
How does “you do the same thing” relate to my 11:19?
your 11:30
That’s the difficulty I see in the Obama approach. If they are criminals entitled to US Constitutional protections, treated as innocent until proven guilty and all, then what real difference does it make where they’re captured or who captures them?
Sam
December 30th, 2009
11:40 am
this just in, “Obama will invade yemen and armenia tomorrow morning in retaliation for alleged terror suspect’s arrest…” straight off some guys blog, so it must be true..
Robert
December 30th, 2009
11:41 am
Sam, I am through with you. First, you disputed the fact that Obama used the term “alleged”, which you were wrong about. Then you want to pretend to be unconcerned with the whole thing. It is a big deal whenever we are under attack. I guess you are of the thinking that treating him with kindness and hugs would solve the world’s problems. I don’t buy into that belief system, and neither do the majority of Americans, so bye.
RW-(the original)
December 30th, 2009
11:42 am
josef,
Maybe it’s our fault. If he can’t get us (collectively on the blog) to fall in line and agree with him he thinks he can change a few words and perhaps we will.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:42 am
Sam
Pres Obama’s already invaded Yemen. Old news.
md
December 30th, 2009
11:43 am
My understanding is that retalitory strikes are being planned. Technically that would be a strike on a sovereign nation. But definitions do tend to change depending on perspective.
Rightwing Trolls
December 30th, 2009
11:44 am
Since you nut sacks are cheering about Obama “losing” the war, I feel I need to remind you that Obama’s “losing” the war equals American soldiers dying.
Do your partisan feelings and need for Obama to fail really outweigh the lives of American Soldiers? I mean isn’t enough that he’s bungled the whole healthcare thing, and his admin is basically finding it’s “heckuva job Brownie” moment over this whole undie bomber dude???
Why cheer on the deaths of American soldiers???
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
md
December 30th, 2009
11:47 am
“Why cheer on the deaths of American soldiers???”
Out of curiosity, did you post this same question during the Bush years? If so, good for you, if not, why not.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
11:49 am
PAUL
Say anything against him and watch the fall out…had one in here the other day jump on me saying that I was every kind of racist in the book and that “he couldn’t do anything you would like because he’s African American and Harvard…etc…” because I took him to task over his hypocritical b*ll on one of my issues. She completly ignored the fact that I had just come out swinging supporting his addressing the school children…as Hillbilly (I think it was) posted the other day “…still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest…”
Dr. Alan Phillips
December 30th, 2009
11:52 am
The initial reaction that the systems worked well, is a confession of incompetence and condescension on the secretary’s part to a majority of the American flying public. To merely modify a statement some 24-48 hours later to tell the true story due to public pressure is a confession of an administrator in denial. One has to give the White House credit for transparency and the initiation of an investigation. let us hope that investigation is quick and results in the President making the necessary changes to protect this nation.
The “Brownie, your doing a heck of a job” moment was ludicrous during the Katrina days. It resulted in the forced resignation of the incompetent bureaucrat. Let’s hope this “the system worked” moment will produce a similar result. There are people who can do this job we need to find one.
RW-(the original)
December 30th, 2009
11:53 am
I hate to be overly cynical here but with the Christmas Eve announcement that we the American people would now be on the hook for unlimited bailouts to Fannie and Freddie coupled with the middle of the night announcement that we were being fleeced for another 3 or 4 billion for Government Motors, getting blustery about tightening security holes might be just the thing Obama needs for political cover.
/So much for my standing down like I claimed at 11:33…{–Thought I’d save the libs some time.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
11:56 am
RW
You may recall once when I was defending him I said he reminded me of the boy back in high school who wanted to be a one of the “cool kids” but was never sure whether or not they really did think he was one of the crowd so he always said what he thought they wanted to hear…here he is with a blog getting hundreds of clicks a day from one of the most diverse bunch you’d ever hope to see in one place, and still…
md
December 30th, 2009
11:57 am
Jo,
I agree that every man should receive credit where credit is due. And in saying that he came out with a strong statement – but it was not his first statement, and there in lies the problem. And as the CEO, his underlings reflect on him, and Napalitano appears weak to far too many. And trying to PC the defintions shows that politics are involved, and doesn’t scare too many terrorists.
RW-(the original)
December 30th, 2009
11:57 am
For anybody that got an ebook reader recently here’s about a quarter million free books
You can also read them from your computer if you want. Just don’t try to do either in the last hour of your flight.
Paul
December 30th, 2009
11:58 am
josef nix
okay, my comment’s awaiting moderation. Let me try this with a few substitutes:
josef nix
Gets old, doesn’t it? I find it especially interesting that Candidate Obama specifically excluded race from his campaign, Pres Obama has largely ignored the racial mantras of the past, yet when he faces criticism, it’s his supporters who invoke the ‘racist’ charge.
Seems standard operation procedure for the farfarlalaland Left. Criticize the performance of an African American? You’re racist.
Question gay marriage? You’re a homophobe.
Question abortion? You’re a right-wing Bible thumping nut.
Question spending policies? You’re a rightwing militia white extremist.
In each case, it’s an attempt to avoid a discussion of issues and slander and intimidate one’s opponent.
All to common and all too sad.
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
12:00 pm
Well to be honest with you, I didn’t blog much back then, so no.
I can tell you I was never happy with the moonbats glee over American Soldiers dying, and never will be. As a matter of fact my younger brother almost lost his life to an IED outside Fallujah in 2003. I have always supported the soldiers, and never cheered their losses.
But I’ve had plenty of opinions about the Iraq war, and those who’ve started it and those who prosecuted it…
Afghanistan? We absolutely needed to be there, and the ball was dropped there BIGTIME to go to Iraq. Now look at the mess it’s in and the mess Pakistan is in.
To be fair, there’s nothing anybody could’ve done to avoid how things have turned out in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but we could’ve killed the man who attacked us and been on our merry way to let the savages do as they pleased with their own country. And perhaps, just perhaps, if OBL was removed from the equation, Pakistan’s situation could’ve been avoided. Yes he would’ve been martyred, but what’s a more powerful symbol to rally around, a martyred fighter, or a charismatic leader who defeated the great satan?
I’m jus sayin…
md
December 30th, 2009
12:02 pm
Paul,
Here, here.
Hear, hear.
Whichever you prefer.
The side choosers don’t really care about the country, as long as their side “wins”.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
12:05 pm
“Yes he would’ve been martyred, but what’s a more powerful symbol to rally around, a martyred fighter, or a charismatic leader who defeated the great satan?”
There’s more to it than just that. What a lot of people forget, or maybe don’t know, is that OBL is (or at least was) an extremel rich man and he funded the operations of Al Qaeda pretty much out of his own pocket. If we had gotten him “dead or alive” the control of that money would have passed into other, and presumably safer hands and been unavailable to fund terrorism.
That wouldn’t have stopped it, but it sure would have put a BIG dent in it.
md
December 30th, 2009
12:08 pm
“But I’ve had plenty of opinions about the Iraq war, and those who’ve started it and those who prosecuted it…”
But you also want to point fingers at only one “side”, when there were many democrats on the intelligence committees/ etc that could have sounded the alarm and not voted in favor.
Didn’t happen.
DoggoneGA
December 30th, 2009
12:13 pm
“that could have sounded the alarm and not voted in favor.”
That’s quite right, but the bottom line is they gave Bush an AUTHORIZATION to go to war, not a command to do so. The bottom line is: HE made the decision, they just enabled it.
And before you try to get started on ME, I have said here many times that if I had the power to do it I would have tried as traitors EVERY Representative and Senator that voted yes on that resolution. Not because it resulted in a war against a country that did not attack us, but because Congress abdicated it’s Constitutional authority to declare war…and gave it to an incompetent President.
The bottom line, for ME: *I* knew he would abuse that authority. They are supposed to be intelligent people, why didn’t THEY know it too?
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
12:14 pm
Sigh!
from this very thread above:
““Hindsight is NOT wisdom, and second-guessing is NOT a strategy.”
In other words, let us not dwell on my monumental lies and mistakes…
Dear God, the man INVADED a country and the house of reason he used to do so was built on lies and outright deception. (go ahead and bleat on about how the dummycrats voted for it as well, but it was he and his administration that made the case for it, it was not Hairy Reed or Nasty Peosi who proposed we do this, it was W and his merry band of NeoCon Armchair warriors)
So, unfortunately we MUST dwell on this lest it happen again…”
So yes I’m finger pointing, and yes you are right to call me on it.
The Dummcrats in congress were W’s co-dependent enablers on this whole Iraq matter.
My mea culpa… where’s yours?
md
December 30th, 2009
12:22 pm
Mine?
I’m a firm believer in the corrupt 2 party system (which means I believe they are corrupt). I don’t trust any of them, haven’t for a long time. They are playing a game and we are the pawns. As it stands, the only way for us to “win” is to clean house and start over (not gonna happen) or vote in balanced gov’t which may, just may, keep them in check. But the dummy voters keep voting for their “side”, and we all get screwed.
Outhouse Go-Kart
December 30th, 2009
12:23 pm
While the kenyan ranks right up there with our very WORST presidents I must say I feel more safe with him in control than that drunken fool, Biden.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
12:28 pm
PAUL
Hear, here! (how’s that for compromise)
“Seems standard operation procedure for the farfarlalaland Left. Criticize the performance of an African American? You’re racist.”
Nevermind that as they take off, they preface and punctuate their accusations with the most vulgar and stereotypic references to their targets, impugning their race, region of birth, socio-economic class, housing, educational backgrounds…which, if you replaced them with the infamous n word, would lose absolutely nothing in the translation…
Question gay marriage? You’re a homophobe.
Yep…and that said you can take off like yesterday or on the Crist thread with all the snicker-snicker you want…
Question abortion? You’re a right-wing Bible thumping nut.
And if you dare try and see both sides of the issue by listening to those who have actually confronted the matter on a personal basis…
Question spending policies? You’re a rightwing militia white extremist.
You mean the current administration’s spending policies or the previous admininstration’s? Uh, which is which?
Southern Comfort
December 30th, 2009
12:31 pm
md
I don’t have an answer for the lack of attempted murder charges. I’m hoping that some young DA who’s hungry for action gets to sit in and is able to persuade those in charge to add the counts to his charges.
Any terrorist we can catch here and isolate in prison can not reach out and convert any others. Any terrorist killed on the battle field can not reach out and convert any others. If we can manage to cut off financing and recruiting, we can take them out once and for all.
“I’m guessing Canada and Ireland would disagree considering we have agreements for them to provide security on exit from said countrys. There are capable people in other countrys as long as everybody is on the same page.”
That works if and only if the last part of your statement is true. All it takes is one rogue element to allow something to pass thru. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the US or abroad. If it happens here, we have the ability to put that person on trial and administer judgement and punishment as warranted. If it’s abroad, I don’t know if we have the jurisdiction to do that.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
12:32 pm
Outhouse Go-Kart
@ 12:23
Unmentionable calls Copy Me Biden Fierce Advocate’s insurance policy!
md
December 30th, 2009
12:36 pm
“Any terrorist we can catch here and isolate in prison can not reach out and convert any others”
Not too sure about that, we have many young gang members in prison that are very persuadable and not too happy with the good ole us of a, if they could be persuaded to join a gang, I could see them joining another “cause”.
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
12:40 pm
gone upstairs
Rightwing Troll
December 30th, 2009
12:44 pm
You’re not switzerland…
You helped one side or the other with electoral gains, whether you voted or not…
Regrets???
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
1:01 pm
What kind of funky math did they teach at your school.
No “funky” math for me, sister md. Mine is the real thing.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
1:06 pm
then you have the gall to criticize the manner in which people like GWB make that all possible for you.
Try paying for the mess that only a Republican could deliver onto us, tool. The gall is in supporting the Party of No’s insistence on war mongering, tax cuts fo rthe wealthy, drug company giveaways, etc., and charging it all on the People’s Bank of China and then complaining about it afterwards. Republicans are such losers.
Taxpayer
December 30th, 2009
1:09 pm
Taxpayer has 20 acres? A good democrat would share that with the not as fortunate.
Oh sorry, a good democrat only shares the 20 acres that belongs to non-democrats
Or you could just work for your own. But if you ever need something to eat, just let me know. I always share my crop with others. It’s just the correct thing to do — not be greedy, that is, and pay my own way.
Dusty
December 30th, 2009
1:16 pm
Well, I guess there’s a new topic Anyway…
Paul @11:29
You are amazed at the postings of far left bloggers here. I have passed amazed. I am now in disgust.
josef @12:28
Your listings were perfect. Lefties here seem to have a protocol they follow every day. You gave us the usual examples. Every day they give us “The Tie that Binds”, an old hymn title on a different” tie”.
Bill Orvis White
December 30th, 2009
1:35 pm
Once again, clueless Liberal Jay doesn’t get it. He’s one of the many Secular Progressive September 10th McFlys who are waving the white flag of surrender to those who wish to destroy us for our values and freedoms. People like Liberal Jay say that the agencies that were appointed to handle cases like this Underwear Terrorist, were created during the Honorable GW Bush administration and that they are to blame. Wrong. Mr. Nobama is completely responsible for this incident because he failed to listen to the information provided to him from this terrorist’s father. While Mr. Nobama was going off on high-priced dates to New York City, this terrorist was plotting and planning. So, he struck on Jesus’ birthday when Mr. Nobama’s pants were down, earplugs in and blinders on in a tropical paradise. Mr. Nobama and his entire administration put us at risk the day he and that Godless staff were installed into power. They should have resigned months ago. So, what should happen next? Impeachment and then a quick removal of the problem followed up by a special election where we all know that either Mr. Cheney, Mrs. Palin or the Honorable Mike Huckabee will come to power to clean up this Godless mess.
God Bless, BOW
josef nix
December 30th, 2009
1:53 pm
DUSTY–
Those were Paul’s listings—I was just reacting…
md
December 30th, 2009
1:57 pm
“You’re not switzerland…
You helped one side or the other with electoral gains, whether you voted or not…
Regrets???”
Yea, I reget that there are so many blind followers of the 2 parties. I vote as an independent, so no I’m not switzerland, but I am part of the swing vote. And the last time I voted a straight party ticket, I was a democrat.
I finally shed the blinders and now at least think I can see better.
Ever wondered why there is such a thing as a rich democrat? If they believed their own bs, they would share their wealth and be quite happy living a life in moderate comfort.
They don’t – they play the suckers, and I got tired of being one.
Rightwing Troll
December 31st, 2009
7:18 am
That’s a start…
I’ve voted straight ticket once, straight down the board, any incumbent was voted against… it didn’t work, especially here in GA…