My Real Politik

The Other Side of Terrorism: It hasn't stopped since 9/11

 

There is a disturbing and growing trend among some conservative commentators to claim that there were no terrorist attacks under President George Bush's term. Last November on Fox News' Hannity former Bush Press Secretary Dana Perino suggested the President Obama was playing politics and demanded that the Fort Hood shootings be considered a terrorist attack. She continued by saying "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term."

On December 28th, conservative commentator and former White House aid to Dick Cheney Mary Matalin claimed the Bush Administration had "inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history."

On Good Morning America earlier in January, former New York mayor Ruddy Giuliani said "We had no domestic attacks under Bush, we've had one under Obama." 

To make matters significantly worse, not once did it occur to Fox's Sean Hannity, ABC's George Stephanopoulos, or CNN's John King to stop their line of scripted questions to ask these commentators to clarify their remarks.

How can any American not stop to say, "wait, did you really just say that?" Seriously, are you so incompetent that you'll simply let any pundit spout off ridiculous claims without any fear of retribution?

(Okay, I guess that question is a little naive)

Each pundit has since in their own way rebuked their statements, seeking to qualify them by claiming they "obviously meant during Bush's second term," or only mean an "Islamic terrorist attack since 9/11."

So, according to these individuals, after 9/11 there were no domestic terrorist attacks against the U.S.? Let me take this moment to remind them of:

• the 2001 Anthrax attacks against against politicians and media officials, killing five including federal postal employees
• the 2001 Shoe Bombing plot by Richard Reid
• the 2002 Mailbox Pipe Bomber Lucas John Helder
• the 2002 LAX shooting by Egyptian national Hesham Mohamed Hadayet
• the 2002 Beltway Sniper attacks by John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo resulting in 16 deaths across the country
• the 2003 foiled plot by Iyman Faris to aid Al Qaeda by bringing down the Brooklyn Bridge
• the 2005 foiled LAX bombing plot
• the 2006 attack on at UNC-Chapel Hill by Mohammed Reza Teheri-azar to "avenge the deaths or murders of Muslims around the world."
• the 2008 nail-laden pipe bombs that were exploded at a Federal Courthouse in San Diego
• the 2008 infiltration of White House computer archives by Chinese intelligence hackers

The fact of the matter is that the true reality of terrorism is far from the popular paradigm. I must say, I'm utterly confused on just what definition of terrorism the Cheney et. al. camp are going by. Perhaps we should amend the term "terrorism" to include "any attack that can be used by a Democrat or Republican for political gain or by the media to proselytize fear."

The "Bush kept us safe" slogan is a farce. Period. This is not to say that Bush's attempts to keep Americans safe were a failure- I believe President Bush did everything in his power to preserve our security. In fact, I think he did a bit too much. Nonetheless, you can't prevent every attack and the list above is a testament to that. So, instead of politicizing these attacks (which have continued through Obama's Presidency), lets dismiss this new emulation of ambulance chasing by ceasing to listen to distorted partisan rhetoric and instead seek to achieve the common goals every American can support- working together to preserve our own well being.

The Other Side of Terrorism: Domestic Hate and Religious Extremism

This is an excerpt from "White Power USA," which aired on Democracy Now last Monday as well as on Al Jezeera English. "White Power USA" is a short documentary produced by Rick Rowley and Jacquie Soohen which gives insight into growing social and political support of white supremacist hate groups across the country.

The US Department of Homeland Security warned last June that right-wing extremism represents "the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States." Many on the right balked at this claim, citing it as a partisan attack.

Yet, as Republicans have been quick to demand the Ft. Hood shootings and the failed Christmas Day Bombing be declared terrorist attacks on the US, the same demand was largely absent after the assassination of abortion doctor George Tiller by a supporter of Christian anti-abortion groups like the Army of God, regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States government. 

On January 22 of last year, Matthew L. Derosia of St. Paul MN rammed an SUV into the front entrance of a planned parenthood clinic, claiming the Jesus had called on him to do so. Had Mr. Derosia been of Islamic decent instead of white and had he a Qur'an in his truck instead of the Bible, this incident might quickly have been exploited as a terrorist attack. Yet, it slipped strangely under the radar.  

In the Shadow of King- Intolerance is Alive and Well

"The United States is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

Martin Luther King Jr, April 4, 1967

After Martin Luther King Jr gave his "Beyond Vietnam" speech in New York's Riverside Church, Time magazine called it "demagogic slander" and the Washington Post claimed King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people." 

Forty years later, with a black man as president, we may have learned greater tolerance towards racial differences, but we are tragically far from tolerance of differing opinions. 

This parochial addiction infects every possible aspect of American life from our literature to our entertainment, our government and our media. It distorts the electoral process and is consequentially the single largest threat to American democracy. Out inclination to blame notwithstanding, there is no one scapegoat at which we can direct our damning finger- the media and our government are really only reflections of ourselves. They may be distorted, but the origin of their perversion is the same just as our partisan ridicule is largely a reaction to what we see and hear in our news and from our government. 

And so on this celebration of Martin Luther King's legacy, I'm challenging myself to listen to people that I might normally shut my ears to. Listening is the only way we can begin to understand each other, and if we fail to understand each other we defer to our innate urge to fear that which we do not understand. It is this fear that is at the heart of discrimination and this fear that only tolerance and tolerance alone can overcome. Instead of judging people by the creed of their politics, let us instead judge them by the content of their character.

My Conflicting Opinions of Fox News: Haiti Earthquake Coverage

An interesting analysis by the media watch group Media Matters breaks down Fox News' 1/13/2010 Haiti earthquake coverage as compared to its counterbalance MSNBC:

"Fox News' three top-rated programs for 2009, combined to devote a total of 6 minutes, 41 seconds of coverage to the earthquake in Haiti. Among the things they chose to air instead were Beck's interview with Palin -- to which he devoted nearly his entire show -- Hannity's continued advocacy for Brown; and O'Reilly's discussion of Stewart. Countdown, The Rachel Maddow Show, and Hardball, MSNBC's three top-rated shows, devoted 2 hours, 2 minutes and 33 seconds to the earthquake -- more than 18 times the coverage devoted by Fox News' top three shows. Other Fox News shows -- such as Special Report with Bret Baier and The Fox Report with Shepard Smith -- did devote extensive coverage to the earthquake."

The initial reaction might be a balk at Fox's insensitivity, however I welcome the break from the constant barrage of Haiti coverage. While of course my heart goes out to the people of Haiti and I'm supporting their relief, there are actually other things going on in the world.

Since the earthquake, the UN announced 2009 to have been Afghanistan's deadliest year since 2001, the nations top Banking Execs are appearing on Capital Hill, Prop 8 is going on trial, Israel is deporting American journalists, the Defense Department surpassed $700 billion in their budget for the first time in history as Obama requested an additional $33 Billion to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, six of the nation's largest insurance companies have been implicated in launching a $20 million anti-health reform campaign, the Federal government has accused Bank of America of illegally hiding Merrill Lynch losses from investors before acquiring them in 2008, 1 in 8 Americans are now reported to be on food stamps, Google is pulling out of China because of serious censorship and hacking threats, food giant Monsanto's genetic modification of corn has been linked to a "dramatic public health" threat, and the creator of SpagettiOs Donald Goerke passed away.

But you wouldn't know any of this because right now, nothing else is as important as splattering the nation's television screens with graphic horror stories from Haiti so that mainstream media can earn an extra half-a-point in the Neilson ratings.

Fox News may not be any less cannibalistic, but at least there is some variety to their balderdash.

My Resolution is to Drop the Bush Excuse

 

The desire to make excuses for the politicians we support in the face of adversity is so tempting and natural that it has become virtually impossible to be bipartisan. Democrat or Republican, the moment we face uncertainty with the current administration, we invoke the Bush administration to reaffirm our notion that we are still right and the opposition is still wrong.

Some Christmas Context

Amidst the never ending politicization of the attack on Flight 253 on Christmas Day, Rachel Maddow has provided some extremely sobering context to the political grenades currently being lobbed over the White House gate.

Obama and Reagan; or "It's the Economy Stupid!"

As some begin to question Obama's direction, it's once again time to put things into proper context. As we look upon the past for guidance, there's a notable comparison of Obama to Lyndon Johnson, who's sweeping domestic vision was marred by a messy war in Vietnam. Despite his best efforts to be open about his intentions in Afghanistan, President Obama has not had the resounding support he'd hoped for his troop increase.

I think James Carville might have said it best during the Clinton campaign: "It's the economy, stupid." The economy single handed ended both Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush's presidencies, despite largely successful international policies.

Professor Charles Franklin of the University of Wisconsin has a short and simple comparison at Pollster.com between Presidents Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. Both Obama and Reagan are currently tied for the lowest approval ranking of any post-WWII President after their first year in office at 46%.

Just What the Heck is Our Position on the Economy Anyway??

A great observation from my friend Adam Hare:

"On the Dec. 13th 'This Week' Sunday morning, Lawrence Summers, director of the National Economic Council, said, 'Today, everybody agrees that the recession is over, and the question is what the pace of the expansion is going to be.'

Asked on Dec. 13th by moderator David Gregory if the recession were over, White House economic adviser Christina Romer said, 'Of course not. For the people on Main Street and throughout this country, they are still suffering, the unemployment rate is still 10 percent.'"

...Sister!

Daughter!

Sister!

Daughter!

Two Sides to the Economy- since when is one side always right?

As President Obama's Jobs Summit begins today, the economy has really moved back to the forefront of the public debate, leading many to wonder why it was back-burnered in the first place. The obvious explanation is that the Stimulus bill along with the TARP funds issued during the Bush Administration needed some time to do...well, whatever it is they were expected to do- presumably to prob up the failing banks so that lending could resume and companies could begin to loosen their belts.

As we're nearing the one-year-later mark following the stimulus, the number of constituents hailing its success is slim to none. New unemployment statistics are due out on Friday, but most are expecting the 10.2% Unemployment rate to grow, or at best remain stagnant for many months to come. 

I've been drawn to a interesting debate on NPR's Intelligence Squared, which is an hour-long Oxford-style debate in which the winner is decided by an audience vote at the end. The most recent debate was over the notion that "Obama's Economic Policies are Working Effectively." There are three panel members on each side of the debate ranging from former Treasury members, to economic policy developers, professors, writers, and governors. 

It's a great debate to throw on in the background at work if you're still as utterly conflicted about the economy as I am. 

Watch! White House Jobs Summit

JOIN THE LIVE CHAT

VISIT WHITEHOUSE.GOV

Say what you will about Obama policy, the ability to watch a White House summit via live streaming is a pretty remarkable embrace of technology for a government to make. Whether it's legitimate transparency, or a craft PR move, I still think it represents a rather "unprecedented" step in the right direction towards bringing more of the public into the fold of Executive policy development. 

Dey Took Er' Jerbs!

http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html

This is an eye-opening animation of how the jobless rates have grown since 2007. The graphic is attributed to Latoya Egwuekwe, and it really gives one a startling perspective on just how dire our situation is.

I took two things from this: 1. It's amazing to see just how exponentially jobless rates have grown over the past 2 years; 2. If this trend truly did begin in 2007 and the warning signs were apparent, where the hell was our regulative government??

And where are they now?