The Worst Kind of Traitor

During a luncheon last week at the National Press Club, Mr. Cheney discussed a variety of topics, including gay marriage (of which he is surprisingly in favor), the bankruptcy of General Motors and President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the United States Supreme Court. Ironically, the event was honoring the recipients of the Gerald R. Ford annual awards for distinguished reporting on national defense and the White House. A portion of Cheney's comments focused on Richard Clarke's recent remarks in "The Washington Post". Serving as the chief counterterrorism advisor to both President Bill Clinton and Mr. Bush, Clarke had this to say regarding the former administration: "Cheney's admission that 9/11 caused him to re-assess the threats to the nation only underscores how, for months, top officials had ignored warnings from the CIA and the NSC staff that urgent action was needed to preempt a major al-Qaeda attack...Yes, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice may have been surprised by the attacks of September 11, 2001 -- but it was because they had not listened."

Before specifically responding to Clarke's editorial, Cheney invoked images of the ashes of the World Trade Center and the individuals jumping from the North Tower, the smoking Pentagon and Flight 93. After he had finished tugging at the heart strings, Cheney then commenced to subtly drop possibly the biggest lie ever since that horrible day occurred in September more than seven years ago: "You know, Dick Clarke. Dick Clarke, who was the head of the counterterrorism program in the run-up to 9/11, he obviously missed it."

Why is it such a lie? Let's take a look at the evidence. First, on January 25, 2001 (five days after Mr. Bush took office), Clarke sent a memo to Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor at the time, which recommended an immediate review of the al-Qaeda network and stated that "We would make a major error if we underestimated the challenge al Qida [sic] poses or overestimated the stability of the moderate, friendly regimes that al Qida threatens". In his book, "The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation", "The New York Times" reporter Philip Shenon reprinted other e-mails from Clarke which continued to warn Rice and other members of the Bush administration throughout 2001 about the threat from al-Qaeda. Apparently the titles of those e-mails weren't ominous enough to Mr. Bush and his team of irresponsible morons:

• "Bin Ladin [sic] Public Profile May Presage Attack" (May 3)
• "Terrorist Groups Said Co-Operating on U.S. Hostage Plot" (May 23)
• "Bin Ladin’s Networks’ Plans Advancing" (May 26)
• "Bin Ladin Attacks May Be Imminent" (June 23)
• "Bin Ladin and Associates Making Near Term Threats" (June 25)
• "Bin Ladin Planning High Profile Attacks" (June 30)
• "Planning for Bin Ladin Attacks Continues, Despite Delays" (July 2)

And then on September 4, 2001, Clarke wrote one last memo to Rice, which was titled "Imagine Hundreds of Dead Due to Government Inaction". As you can probably deduce from the name of the document, Clarke urged "policymakers to imagine a day after a terrorist attack, with hundreds of Americans dead at home and abroad, and ask themselves what they could have done earlier". Within this memo, Clarke also (1) criticized the military for its unwillingness to retaliate for the attack on the USS Cole or strike Afghan terrorist camps, (2) accused senior CIA officials of trying to block the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle program and (3) expressed his concerns that, if attacked, the United States would need to rely heavily on foreign governments for assistance. As we all know, this country was attacked just seven days later.

Now I have heard a lot of bullshit come out of Cheney's mouth over the last eight years but this certainly takes the cake. Instead of taking responsibility for how he, Mr. Bush and their cronies turned their backs on credible intelligence from within their own administration and, in turn, allowing 9/11 to take place, Cheney wants to blame Richard Clarke, despite the evidence in front of him. I only wish that President Obama would call for the prosecution of numerous members of the previous administration.

Vacationers Are Apparently Acceptable, Part II

As I mentioned in my previous posting, various Republican members of Congress are criticizing President Obama's plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Through their remarks, these individuals are creating a perception that the facility is bulging at the seams with terrorists anxious to be released so that they continue the horrors of September 11th. Or those terrorists will be placed into minimum security prisons within the United States with access to all types of weapons. Or, even worse, allowed to freely roam our streets without any sort of supervision. All of those are extremely inaccurate. However, certain Republicans from Kansas (Sen. Samuel Brownback, Sen. Patrick Roberts and Rep. Todd Tiahrt) are contributing to this ridiculous chatter about these "dangerous criminals".

What is amazing about these three politicians from the Midwest is that, while they openly speak out against closing Guantanamo Bay, they seem to forget about the inmates currently incarcerated in their own state. Take a look at the following list and let me know which group you are more scared of:

• Scott Roeder has been charged with first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for shooting and killing George Tiller just three days ago. Before he was assassinated during Sunday morning's service at his church, Tiller was the Medical Director of the Women's Health Care Services clinic, which provides abortions to consenting women.
• Previously named "Man of the Year" by a local charity, John Robinson is currently on death row for murdering six women. Nicknamed the "Slave Master", Robinson met some of his victims through the Internet.
• Once the President of the Congregation Council at his church and a Cub Scout leader, Dennis Rader is serving a life sentence for murdering ten people, including four in the same family. The "BTK Killer" received his nickname from his method of binding, torturing and killing his victims.
• Sentenced to five life prison terms, Don Nemechek was convicted in February of 1977 for killing five individuals (including a 2-year-old boy) within a twenty month period.
• Gary Beach was convicted of first degree murder after investigators discovered the bodies of five victims (including his step-nephew) decomposing in his house.

Plus someone should remind the right wing that we are currently and safely imprisoning these domestic terrorists within our borders:

• Terry Nichols, a veteran of the U.S. Army who conspired with Timothy McVeigh in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. Nichols is serving 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for this horrendous event, which claimed the lives of 168 people.
• Eric Rudolph, serving five consecutive life sentences for committing a series of bombings (including during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA) which killed two people and more than 150 others.
• Theodore Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", who carried out a campaign of mail bombings which killed three people and injured twenty-three others.
• Richard Reid, convicted on charges of terrorism and serving a life sentence for attempting to destroy a commercial aircraft by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes.