Recently I wrote about a particularly egregious bit of rightie revisionist history, in which Franklin Roosevelt was somehow an admirer of Mussolini and Hitler until “bullets and ashes started to fill the sky.” This is completely at odds with what’s called Actual Verifiable Historical Facts, which tell us that FDR opposed Hitler from the start. And before Pearl Harbor did as much as he could, at some political risk, to send aid to Britain and other nations under attack by Germany.
Every now and then I like to set records straight, even though I feel it’s a lost cause most of the time. Frankly, the most surprising thing about the “FDR loved Hitler” myth is that it contradicts the older myth that FDR somehow orchestrated the attack on Pearl Harbor so that the U.S. could get into World War II.
And you know that in rightie mythology, conservatives — no matter how doughy — have a special affinity for all things soldierly and military even if they never spent a day in the service, whereas a liberal career military combat veteran doesn’t understand war and is probably a traitor.
And you also know that rightie mythology constantly spills over into mainstream media, and not just on Faux Nooz. So it’s not surprising there is a huge discrepancy between the way media treat President Obama after the Pants Bomb attempt and they way media treated George Bush after the Shoe Bomb attempt. What’s astonishing, however, is that someone at The Politico is actually pointing this out.
Josh Gerstein has actually written a fairly lengthy analysis comparing Obama’s and Bush’s responses to the perspective incidents, and finds that Obama is being treated unfairly.
Eight years ago, a terrorist bomber’s attempt to blow up a transatlantic airliner was thwarted by a group of passengers, an incident that revealed some gaping holes in airline security just a few months after the attacks of Sept. 11. But it was six days before President George W. Bush, then on vacation, made any public remarks about the so-called “shoe bomber,†Richard Reid, and there were virtually no complaints from the press or any opposition Democrats that his response was sluggish or inadequate.
That stands in sharp contrast to the withering criticism President Barack Obama has received from Republicans and some in the press for his reaction to Friday’s incident on a Northwest Airlines flight heading for Detroit.
All together now: IOKIYAR
Another difference is that President Obama forthrightly declared that the Pants Bomber revealed that “A systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable.†When President Bush finally was prodded into saying something about the Shoe Bomber, he would not admit to a fault in his administration. He said,
This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11. We’ve taken a lot of measures to protect the American people. But obviously we’re still not completely safe because there are people that still plot and people who want to harm us for what we believe in.
Joan Walsh writes, “Predictably right-wing gas bags are as hung up on Obama calling Abdulmutallab an ‘extremist’ and not a ‘terrorist.'” It’s beyond me why that’s important. It says something about rightie psychology, but I’m not sure what.
Dick the Dick has emerged, finally, from whatever nether region he inhabits to thump his chest and claim all the bananas.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney accused President Barack Obama on Tuesday of “trying to pretend we are not at war†with terrorists, pointing to the White House response to the attempted sky bombing as reflecting a pattern that includes banishing the term “war on terror†and attempting to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
“[W]e are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe,†Cheney said in a statement to POLITICO. “Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war?.â€
However, if you read the Politico piece and compare the actual Obama Administration response to the Pants Bomber to the actual Bush Administration response to the Shoe Bomber, you see it was the Bushies trying to pretend nothing had happened.
Further, I don’t see President Obama “pretending” anything. Little George liked to put on his quasi-military costumes and strut around in front of troops and call himself a “war president.” President Obama is less into the strutting part and doesn’t go around clubbing people with the “w” word, reminding them that war presidents are special. What matters is whether the President is responding properly to volatile situations, and frankly he’s more of a “war president” than I’d like.
But I don’t see “pretending.” There is only an assumption of failure, based entirely on the fact that the President is not a Republican. You might think of it as a variation of “driving while black.”
But righties place enormous importance on what things are called. The other day Charles Krauthammer had a fit because President Obama refers to Iran as the “Islamic Republic of Iran” instead of just “Iran.” Krauthammer fumed that Obama had “conferred legitimacy” on the Iranian governing regime — as if the words of a President could do that. Personally, it seemed to me the President was reminding Iran that it’s supposed to be a republic, not a dictatorship. And the Islamic Republic of Iran is not the regime; it’s the entire country, citizens and all. And, anyway, it’s the proper name of the country. Details.
In a just world, the only time Dick, The Dick ,would be allowed to open his mouth would be to defend himself in front of The Hague.
Dick should look at the country around him and realize that he and his sock-puppet, and their erstwhile followers, are largely responsible for the awful state of this nation.
Dick Cheney has done more in 40+ years to undermine the US than any group of 5th columnist’s could have ever dreamed of. From his actions as a Congressman, to his roles under Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush “The Not Totally Stupid One,” to his role as the hand inside Smirky, The Wonder Chimp – Who Looked SOOOOO Manly in a Codpiece, he has been a, if not, THE, central figure in the unravling of this nation.
And look at his spawn, I’m not just talking about Liz, I’m talking about Peter King, and Hoekstra, and Michele Bachman, and others of the willfully ignorant Reptile Party. People whose only talent is finding TV cameras, and then not being able to to think rationally when they’ve found them.
Lying is all they have. Truth is like Kryponite to these people. Unfortunately, our media can’t handle the truth. It’s too one-sided. And so, every lie they tell is just another brick in the wall that we’re about to hit head-on.
At least the Romans could blame the lead in their water for their demise. What’s going to be our excuse?
Oh had only the undie pants blown up and 300 plus innocents were dead, why is Obama so lucky? One day it will happen one day we dimwitted teabaggers will get our glorious mass casualty terror attack, then the whole country will again rally behind the president (I mean former vice president).
Someone should wheel Charles Krauthammer up to the top of a very steep hill and then push very hard, weeeeeeeeee all the way down!
[Concern troll. Comment deleted — maha]
“Guantanamo detainees should not be released to Yemen at this time,†Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “It is too unstable.â€
“In addition, two of the planners behind the Christmas Day bombing plot had been released to Saudi Arabia from Guantanamo Bay in 2007 and ended up rejoining terrorist ranks in Yemen, according to a report by ABC News’s Brian Ross.”
Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), :
“said the Obama administration should have learned from the mistakes of the Bush administration.”
“The Bush administration made a mistake — they experimented,†Bond said. “Why you wouldn’t learn from your mistake is beyond me. Why the administration would continue to do things that have proven to be disastrous is incomprehensible.”
I forgot the link:
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/73883-senior-democrat-halt-detainee-transfers-to-yemen
The other day Charles Krauthammer had a fit because President Obama refers to Iran as the “Islamic Republic of Iran†instead of just “Iran.†Krauthammer fumed that Obama had “conferred legitimacy†on the Iranian governing regime
Notice that he refers to our President as “Obama” instead of President Obama.
So I guess cheney’s spawn will show up soon with our next dose of hate Obama.
Re: “whereas a liberal career military combat veteran doesn’t understand war and is probably a traitor”
I am one of those liberal career military combat veterans (35 months of combat) and IMO, it is because I have seen what war can do, whereas Dick had five deferments so he could avoid the military.
A long time ago, in a different lifetime, the young Marine PFC in the bed next to me, had had both otic nerves severed by shrapnel. I still remember far too much about the young man, but will pass on that even tho he was blind he cleaned up his plate far better than I ever could.
All together now: IOKIYAR
Only if I can follow it up with “FU, MSM.” It drives me crazy that these idiots can’t remember 8 years back, or grasp the facts of the recent incident and make reasonable comparisons and evaluations. If I were that incompetent, I wouldn’t be able to hold down a job.
I will give Politico props for noticing the obvious, for once.
Just read on the web…the visa for the underpants fool was issued 6/08. What were bush and cheney doing????
Here’s a link to a very informative article on the full-body scanners:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/30/dutch-to-use-full-body-sc_n_406923.html
Their use appears to raise more troubling questions than it would resolve, at least for now.
Shouldn’t even be posting this – because I can’t remember the title nor the author – but there’s a new book out in which the author lays out the argument that the last decade was the worst decade in American history.
Assuming that it was conceived and run by neocons and their toadies in high government positions, why oh why does anyone give them even the time of day. Do the Media ever honestly look at the stuff they choose to air or print and consider the ramifications of allowing spillage from the perpetrators of the “worst decade in American history” to continue to spew lethal viruses into the American atmosphere?
(Good article, maha.)
We got to start doing full body cavity searches on everybody in order to be completely effective.
What’s gonna happen when the next terrorist packs his butt with explosives?
Swami,
If they start packing thier butts with explosives, we’ll have to stop serving Tabasco sauce on airplanes. It would be another inconvenience, but it would be the patriot and American thing to do…
My point is, where does this all end? You have at least a 20X better chance of being hit my lightning than being on a plane with a terrorist. I think it was Nate Silver who did the math on that one.
p.s.
Notice that Cheney doesn’t criticise the terroist or the act but he criticizes the President.
Correction:
p.s.
Notice that Cheney doesn’t criticise the terrorist or the act but he criticizes the President.
(Why does that icon look so much like me? Do you have a camera that sees through my computer?)
Do you have a camera that sees through my computer?)
Yes. And put some clothes on, OK? Thanks much.
Eric,
Try being a bald, angry, and yet quizical, yellow circle. Until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes…
Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) blasted Cheney today, saying “that the apparent leaders of the al Qaeda cell in Yemen were 2 terrorists who were released by Vice President Cheney in secret.” “I think there’s a level of accountability that has to be levied personally on the vice president,” said Massa.
stupid is as stupid does
said the wise man Forrest Gump
if this is axiomatic
no wonder we’re such a dump
spinning round in circles
a mad dog chasing his tail
if the USA was a person
it would be locked away in jail
criminal deplorable behavior
is the flavor of the day
gonna catch the terrorists
there will be hell to pay
can’t you see them shaking
Al Qaida is on the run
is our strategy working
or has it yet begun
nine years of fighting terror
from sunrise to setting sun
aren’t the results just awesome
this country’s number one
if one was a negative number
we just might attain that score
but the terrorists aren’t counting
where’s the sanity I implore
a war that will never end
who’d think we see that day
it’s all so damn depressing
makes an atheist want to pray
finefroghair,
WOW! Excellent, excellent, excellent.
Wow! First incredible vanishing payphones, now this:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/12/30/carrier.asks.fcc.to.phase.out.land.phones/
This man named Cheney
is he smart
is he brainy
this stupid dick
this man named Cheney
how he blathers
how he spews
how he obfuscates
on the evening news
is that a sneer
is that a smirk
is he for real
this awesome jerk
he seems composed
he seems together
he seems relaxed
regardless the weather
the man has balls
he sure has style
what would you expect
from a damn reptile
and that’s the problem
don’t you see
he cares not for us
or our posterity
his reptilian brain
just keeps attacking
he has no qualms
a conscience it’s lacking
Ummm… guys. It was RIGHT-wingers like Henry Ford, Charles Lindberg, and Gerald L.K. Smith who admired the fascists and Nazis.
This all seems to trace back to Jonah Goldberg’s book, which though total nonsense, I have to admit was a brilliant tactic for the right. By rewriting the political spectrum to blame the left for right wing as well as left wing extremism, the left is now reponsible for every atrocity of the twentieth century while the right is pure and saintly.
“[W]e are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t”
According to the US Constitution, we aren’t at war unless Congress explicitly declares it. Alternatively, some people seem to think we’re at war whenever the president says we are. Either way, it’s hard to figure how The Dick can be right about this.