Watch the Repubs twist themselves into knots trying to explain why the Abdulmutallab case is oh-so different from the Richard Reid case
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/cheney_3.php
[Josh Marshall] Here's my prize for the day. Who can be the first to get an answer out of Hoekstra, King, Ridge et al. about why they're saying the Xmas bomber needs a military trial when they supported a regular trial for the "shoe bomber". We don't get many examples in politics where a perfect apples to apples comparison demonstrably shows a series of politicians as complete hypocrites and fibbers. Not that we don't see that a lot, but seldom is it quite this straightforward. . . .
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/ill_get_back_to_you_on_that.php
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/pretty_weak_guys.php
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/it_gets_even_better.php
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/and_better_still.php
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_12/021699.php
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/shoes-vs-underwear-gop-terror-double-standard
Shoes vs. Underwear: The GOP's New Terror Double Standard
The dumbest of them all: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/doh_16.php
Terrorism – bad for the country, great for GOP fundraising
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/12/more_terrorism_fundraising_nrsc_uses_detroit_incident_in_e-mail.php
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/30/820559/-Using-Terror-As-A-Fundraising-Tactic:-Its-Not-Just-For-Peter-Hoekstra-Anymore
Don’t hold your breath
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/waiting.php
[Josh Marshall] When does the story become the GOP's unprecedented politicization of a terror attack? Three days before the first fund-raising letters go out? The obviousness of the point would seem even more obvious since the main complainers are demonstrably hypocritical on their basic arguments. Someone lemme know when this becomes the story.
http://www.americablog.com/2009/12/republicans-are-giddy-about-using.html
[Joe Sudbay] Republicans really only had one political issue for the past few election cycles: Fear. They won when they could scare the American people. And, in the wake of the latest terrorism incident, the Republicans are hoping their glory days of scaring Americans are back . . . [read on]
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_12/021689.php
[Steve Benen] By all appearances, it doesn't matter if the Republican attacks are baseless and ridiculous. It doesn't matter if Republican national security policies failed. It doesn't matter that Republicans are more anxious to denounce the president than they are to denounce terrorism.
What matters now is what mattered before -- whether GOP voices can create and exploit just enough misguided panic and fear to benefit politically. If they can shout "soft on terror" often enough, and the media overlooks all available evidence, maybe the public won't notice how ridiculous the Republican lies really are. . . [read on]
More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_12/021690.php
The Democrats are starting to speak up, finally
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_12/021702.php
"In general, we are facing the consequences of the Bush administration's failures to deal with al Qaeda," [DCCC chair Chris Van Hollen] told Hotline OnCall. "The Republicans have no business in pointing fingers at the Obama administration on terrorism and national security."
"The Obama administration has been much more aggressive about going after al Qaeda than the Bush administration, which turned its focus from al Qaeda to Iraq," he added. The Obama admin has "been on the offense in places where the Bush administration had taken its eye off the ball." [read on]
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http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/cheney-on-flight-253-obama-trying-to-pretend-we-are-not-at-war.php
"As I've watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won't be at war. He seems to think if he gives terrorists the rights of Americans, lets them lawyer up and reads them their Miranda rights, we won't be at war. He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of 9/11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won't be at war.
"He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core al Qaeda trained terrorists still there, we won't be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, 'war on terror,' we won't be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren't, it makes us less safe. Why doesn't he want to admit we're at war? It doesn't fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn't fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency - social transformation -- the restructuring of American society. President Obama's first object and his highest responsibility must be to defend us against an enemy that knows we are at war."
[NB: “Trying to pretend”? You miserable prick.]
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/cheney_3.php
[Josh Marshall] I guess it's worth remembering what's always been the Cheney signature on terrorism: clinical level of paranoia leading to delusions and lying to the public (already causing the the deaths of thousands of Americans) and seeing terrorism primarily as a tool for use in American domestic politics. . . .
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/12/midterms-are-coming
[Kevin Drum] What a loathsome human being. . .
http://news.firedoglake.com/2009/12/30/my-kingdom-for-a-dick-cheney-follow-up-question/
[David Dayen] I’m beginning to wonder if Politico pays Dick Cheney per link generated. It seems that every couple weeks or so, they send over a dictaphone to his house which he then fills with the usual paranoid rantings and rhetorical shots at the President. Unfortunately, the dictaphone isn’t accompanied by a “reporter” who could then ask Cheney a “question” about whatever it is he’s discussing at the time. . . . [read on]
More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_12/021688.php
Thank you, Eugene: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/30/AR2009123001696.html
[Eugene Robinson] It's pathetic to break a New Year's resolution before we even get to New Year's Day, but here I go. I had promised myself that I would do a better job of ignoring Dick Cheney's corrosive and nonsensical outbursts . . . [read on!]
The WH hits back
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/12/30/pfeiffer/index.html
"To put it simply: this President is not interested in bellicose rhetoric, he is focused on action. Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country. And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the President. . . .
"The difference is this: President Obama doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it, and – unlike the last Administration – we are not at war with a tactic (“terrorism”), we at war with something that is tangible: al Qaeda and its violent extremist allies. And we will prosecute that war as long as the American people are endangered”
More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/wh-hits-back-obama-doesnt-need-to-beat-his-chest-to-prove-nation-is-at-war.php
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/21575
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/world/europe/31terror.html
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/12/islamofascism_vs_boobs_penises.php
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/12/full-body-scanning
Despite the silly bleating that we can’t imprison terror suspects anywhere but Camp Delta, the Obama admin says they’re going ahead with plans to close Gitmo anyway
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/terrorism/white-house-to-lieberman-and-repubicans-sorry-were-still-closing-gitmo/
“The detention facility at Guantanamo has been used by Al Qaeda as a rallying cry and recruiting tool — including its affiliate Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. As our military leaders have recognized, closing the detention facility at Guantanamo is a national security imperative.”
More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/12/30/820489/-White-House-stands-firm-on-Gitmo-closure
Can the House and Senate health care bills get reconciled?
http://washingtonindependent.com/72462/competing-health-care-bills-face-difficult-merger
The health care reform mandate throws millions of new people into the private insurance pool. This is the thing that has most progressives upset. But this could be a “be careful what you ask for” moment for private insurance. Here’s why
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/12/end-health-insurance
The GOP might regret having to run on the repeal of health care reform in 2010
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/uncategorized/white-house-piles-on-demands-gop-say-whether-they-back-full-repeal/
http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/uncategorized/tea-partiers-to-republicans-you-better-call-for-full-repeal-of-reform-or-else/
Sarah Palin wants us to think she’s a tough old gal, but she still runs to hubby when she wants the dirty work done
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/revealed_banned_list_at_going_rogue_book_event_dra.php
Bonus item: Worst Republican scandal of the decade?
http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/12/decade_in_review_the_worst_gop_scandal.php
What's the best (or worst) Republican political scandal of the decade?
- Gov. Mark Sanford's Argentinian affair
- Rep. Mark Foley's IMs to young male pages
- Sen. Larry Craig's "wide stance"
- The Abramoff investigation
- Other:
[NB: Oh, come on Marc, you can do better than that. These sexual escapades pale by comparison with the real GOP scandals – starting a war based on lies; legitimating torture; Abu Ghraib; squandering a record govt surplus into a record deficit; outing Valerie Plame, and the subsequent lies about it; politicizing the Justice Department . . .]
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