The way the Obama White House reacted to the failed Christmas Day attempt to blow up an airliner in Detroit shows a marked contrast to how the Cheney administration — sorry, the Bush administration — handled such things. Umar Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian man charged over the weekend with trying to destroy an airplane, claims to have received training and orders from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen. The man’s father, who warned U.S. officials a month ago of his son’s religious fanaticism, agrees that the young man had traveled to Yemen.
Straightaway after the incident in Detroit, the Obama administration issued a new regulation preventing passengers from leaving their seats beginning an hour before landing, and launched an extensive review of how terror watch lists are used, with the objective of making the lists more accurate and practical. Abdulmutallab was read the charges against him in an actual, for-real U.S. court by a U.S. District Court judge, as per American law. Attorney General Holder said the suspect will be tried in an American court, and announced immediate investigations, here and in the UK and Yemen, to check out Abdulmutallab’s claims and determine who else was involved and bring them to justice. Holder’s emphasis was on the use of intelligence gathering and police investigative work, as he reassured Americans that the administration is taking care of business.
In an interesting sidelight, Sen. Joe Lieberman demanded that the White House get more involved in fighting terrorism in Yemen, apparently unaware, in his role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, that the U.S. has been doing exactly that for more than a year. And to think that New York Times columnist Gail Collins was criticized for repeating the obvious, that Lieberman “isn’t actually all that smart.”
So what would have happened if Bush/Cheney were still in power? First, the suspect would have been whisked off to some “secret” location, and probably held in isolation until he went as crazy as terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui. The laughable, color-coded terror alert circus would have gone flame-red, and Bush officials would have been on TV 24/7, squawking like parrots on meth about gloom and doom and scaring hell out of the public — something conservatives seem to think is the same as being patriotic. And, of course, to top it off, Bush would have gone to war — not against Yemen, but some country that had nothing to do with Abdulmutallab. Maybe Dubya would’ve attacked the country next to Yemen — Saudi Arabia — which in a way would be the ultimate ironic twist, considering that nearly all the 9/11 terrorists were Saudis. Thank God there are sane people in the White House this time around.
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2009.
Excellent analysis, Mr. Grooms. I also like how some people complained that Obama was on vacation and how he should be impeached for not returning to the White House, even though no disaster actually occurred and also conveniently forgetting that Bush kept enjoying HIS vacation as Katrina was killing tons of people and destroying a city.
And I agree with you about those useless terror alerts. I still laugh over how they conveniently appeared the most right before the Kerry-Bush election.
Hey thanks, Frank. As usual, you can’t even manage to understand a simple blog entry. I knew we could count on you to parrot the FoxNews / WorldNet nazi viewpoint, in the guise of someone who can think for himself — and you came through again!
SERIOUSLY, C.L. — When are you gonna start blocking Grffin’s horseshit, since all he does is drive more thoughtful commenters away from the site with his constant, crazed b.s.? HINT: Your site will get more hits in the long run if you dump the douchebag.
You’re right, Jay. It’s also clear at this point Frank is basically cyberstalking Mr. Grooms. If any confrontation were ever to happen in person, CL would have to be held partly liable for not doing anything to control the situation. Maybe Mr. Grooms can take out a restraining order? Looking at his past posts approving of domestic violence, animal cruelty and racism, it’s clear that Frank is an unhinged individual capable of anything.
Maybe if more people stood up to Frank, he’s STFU? It’s hard to bash C.L. for allowing their readers to post whatever they want while the observer’s commentators are as acidic.
To me, if Frank wants to constantly show his ass, that’s his right. However, it’s also our right to point out what a dumb ass he is and remind people that he shouldn’t be taken seriously.
What?
???? Frank, there’s a post from you RIGHT BEFORE Meredith’s post! You’re rushing through posting your nonsence so fast you don’t even know what you’ve posted!
What?, people do “stand up” to Frank. (“stand up” is the wrong term since that implies he intimidates others. That’ll be the day). But he is completely incapable of understanding what others are saying so it’s a waste of breath. But dont worry, NOBODY takes him seriously.
Rather silly to assume what Bush would do and what exactly did Obama do? How much more of a warning did it take when the guy’s own father called and warned his son was radical? He should have been on the no fly list to begin with. As for sitting in your seats..how exactly is that going to save lives? Maybe they ought to consider that terrorists are not BRINGING explosives on planes, but perhaps picking them up IN THE airport by operatives who work for vendor companies. Like restaurants, magazine stands. Easy to obtain a minimum wage job in the USA and it sure wouldn’t take too much to pass something into the airport via the “vendor” route. How well are THOSE deliveries screened? The same as prisons? I doubt it. For the record, I’d rather a Bush/Cheney be in charge should another serious terrorist attack occur. I’d sure hate to wait on Obama and Michelle to get back from their Broadway show before he tries to figure out what to do next. And by the way…we’re in Afghanistan, why??? To get Bin Laden? Wonder how long that will take.
From what I can tell, we are in terrorist “wack-a-mole” mode now. I hear tv pundits calling for bombing Yemen now.
Here’s a stock tip: Buy more shares of weapons contractors corporations.
It’s still taboo to take the scientific approach to this mess and ask WHY ARE THEY ATTACKING US?
Hint: it’s not because we are a relatively free and prosperous nation!
Obama is supposedly so smart but cant put two and two together, he should read a book, Imperial Hubris:
http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Hubris-West-Losing-Terror/dp/1597971596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262096462&sr=8-1
Dear Frank:
Carlton Hargro — editor of Creative Loafing — here. None of your posts have been deleted or blocked. I’m the only one who can authorize that, and I haven’t. If you don’t see one of your comments, it’s probably a technical glitch. As I’ve said before, we (for good or ill) don’t and won’t censor comments unless they are violent or threatening. So far, no one has crossed that line.
Message to C.L. — It is not censorship to block posts by someone as obsessive and deranged as Griffin. Your website is essentially a commercial enterprise and is under no obligation to offer free access to dickheads — just as malls and shopping centers don’t have to allow politicking or distribution of leaflets, etc. It is also obviously not censorship to put an end to a cyberstalker which is certainly what Griffin has become, as MeridithMD. My guess is that Griffin is allowed to show his sorry ass on your site in order to not decrease the number of hits the site gets. As I pointed out before, however, I can’t tell you how many people I know who have said they would take part in the C.L. site’s discussions if “that douchebag Griffin” didn’t ruin the site with his right wing bile. I say it’s time to DUMP THE DOUCHEBAG.
My fellow readers, I think in 2010 we should all resolve to turn the other cheek instead of bashing Frank Griffin no matter how hateful he turns towards everyone else. I noticed that in the last few hours on New Years Eve when the rest of us were spending time with family and friends, Frank was spending his time writing several posts on this blog. This tells me that while the rest of us were with loved ones he was all alone and bitter, friendless and with a family that doesn’t want him around. Such a man should be pitied, not hated. Let’s do our best to tolerate him in the new year. Peace and God bless.