Bob Cesca's Terrorist Attacks and Presidents

With all the chatter this week about the desire by some to return to the "good old days" of the Bush Administration when there were no terrorist attacks (!?!), Bob Cesca has compiled an excellent set of graphs showing the number of terrorist attacks, fatalities from those attacks, during the terms of Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. The criteria that he used when gathering data was:

• Domestic (Abortion clinic attacks, Oklahoma City, Unabomber, Anthrax)
• Domestic Islamic (9/11, WTC 1993, Beltway Snipers)
• Overseas Islamic (Iraq, Afghanistan, USS Cole, Embassy Bombings)
• Known Failed Attempts (Shoe Bomber, Underpants Bomber)
• Overseas Attacks Against U.S. Allies (London, Madrid).

Realizing that these graphs include numbers for two presidents who both held office for two terms, while Obama has been in office for only one year, this final graph is of Presidents Clinton and Bush only. He also removed data for domestic attacks for abortion, failed attacks, and those that occurred in Afghanistan and Iraq.

So. What was that you were saying about being safer during the Bush Administration? For a more thorough explanation of these graphs and numbers, go here.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon.

k

Perino, No Terrorist Attacks Under Bush - Obama Appoints to BBG

Last week, President Obama appointed Dana Perino to the Broadcast Board of Governors (BBG). This group oversees all non-military government broadcasting overseas including Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and others.

Dana Perino was President Bush's Press Secretary at the end of his administration and, according to CBS News, among other things called torture safe, legal, and effective.

Since his election, President Obama has worked hard towards bipartisanship, reaching across the aisle when formulating policy, building his cabinet, making appointments, and setting legislative agendas. Some of his appointments have been inspired and reflected an almost Machiavellian view of his long-term political goals. Other choices have been incomprehensible to not only his progressive supporters, but to members of the media and his party.

This selection of Perino, to many on the left is an insult. As Press Secretary, she was responsible for spreading the propaganda of an administration that had lied us into two wars, broken treaties, thrown away any moral authority this country might have owned, and has continued to do so ever since.

Since her appointment, she appeared on the Sean Hannity show on Fox News to discuss the recent tragedy at Fort Hood. The investigation is still ongoing and while some information has been leaked, it is clearly too soon for any determination to be made as to the motivations of the man responsible.

In her conversation with Hannity, Perino said,

"There is one thing that I would say about Fort Hood that I feel very strongly about and I don't say this to be political, but we did have a terrorist attack in this county and we need to call it what it is."

After Hannity asks her - after several more slurs on the President, why no one else can say it so simply, she then goes on to say,

"We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term.I hope they're not looking at this politically. I do think that we owe it to the American people to call it what it is."

How many Republican appointments has President Obama made that have actually supported him afterward?  One? Two?

Like most Republicans and virtually everyone appearing on Fox, Ms. Perino neither corrected Sean Hannity's lies, nor did Mr. Hannity correct Ms. Perino's outrageous statemet that "We did not have a terrorist attack on our country during President Bush's term."

Hello? September 11, 2001? The World Trade Center Towers? The Pentagon? Flight 93? "My Pet Goat." Undisclosed locations? Lynn Cheney sitting in the Situation Room passing on orders from Dick because he was too afraid to come out of hiding and W was being flown all over the place?

That was what is referred to as a terrorist attack on this country. It happened on President Bush's watch. He had plenty of warning, but he told his briefer, "Okay, you covered your butt" and went back to his vacation. You can probably be excused from thinking anything happened while Bush was president though, he was on vacation for more than a third of it.

By the way, this is a position that requires Senate confirmation. If you have a concern with this appointment, as I do, contact your Senator.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon.
k

Catch the video and more at Crooks and Liars here

Another GOP Serial Idiocy

This is obscene. Every time I think the GOP can't sink any lower, they sink lower.

There are conflicting opinions about whether or not viewing violent images can cause trauma, but there is some evidence that the repeated viewing of the attacks on the towers on 9/11 resulted in traumatic stress reactions in some people. Persons personally affected by the attacks may be offended by the following video. Persons with post traumatic stress disorder - whether from 9/11 or not - may react negatively to images of violence depicted. As a counselor then, I ask you to watch with caution.




The use of dramatic music coupled with violent memories (the attacks of 9/11) interspersed with battle images are designed to manipulate the emotions of the viewer. We have barely passed 100 days of the Obama administration. The GOP cannot accept the fact that they lost the election. They cannot accept the fact that the people of this country no longer want to follow the policies of the Republican party - in fact, they want to follow the promises President Obama made while campaigning, one of which was to close Guantanamo. The GOP, in desperation, are using terrorist tactics because President Obama wants to close Guantanamo.

Their newest scare tactic is to say that the men imprisoned at Guantanamo are so bad, that if we close Guantanamo and bring them to the U.S., we will be at risk of, what? They don't really say. They just play scary music and show us images of the attacks of 9/11 and soldiers in combat.

Using fear tactics with this video, they are saying that the country that has Charles Manson, Sirhan Sirhan, Charles Dahmer in custody, and jailed Ted Bundy and numerous other serial killers, somehow can't contain the members of Al Queda responsible for 9/11. Even more ludicrous, is the fact several of the people held in Guantanamo are probably not guilty of anything, and that many of the ones released have become terrorists because of what happened to them at Guantanamo.

Terrorism is fear. Fear comes in many forms, and terrorism is usually thought of as creating prolonged fear. It is usually defined as violent and often political, although local statutes often use terror to define criminal acts that might not be considered terrorism elsewhere. What the GOP is doing with this ad and their campaign is to frighten Americans to pressure President Obama to keep Guantanamo open. The are trying to associate the perpetrators of Al Queda with Guantanamo, and the necessity of keeping the prison open with our national safety. That if he closed the prison, that these terrorists will attack us, which is a disingenuous and pathetic argument made by little men who cannot accept the fact that they lost an election and that their part has shrunk to 21% of the American people.

They are hoping that if they frighten us enough, that we will turn to the GOP to save us. Why they think this might work when after 7 years since 9/11 we are less safe then before, Osama Bin Laden is still at large, Al Queda has virtually taken over Pakistan (and its nuclear weapons), and Bush's torture program actually served as an excellent recruitment tool for Al Queda, I can't fathom. I understand planning a comeback for the next election, but this is way, way over the top.

If you have any thoughts, let me know.

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon.
k