White House: Full Steam Ahead On National Security And Terrorism
White House press secretary Bill Burton, during a gaggle on Air Force One this morning, detailed Obama’s upcoming schedule this week, and it’s striking how hard the focus has suddenly shifted to national security and terrorism.
Burton detailed that Obama will hear from the CIA today on the agency’s analysis of the foiled airline bomb plot. He added that Obama is also meeting with counter-terror czar John Brennan to discuss it, and that his national security team will discuss a larger, multiagency review tomorrow.
Obama may address the media after that review, and Burton even confirmed that the Christmas Day plot could take up a portion of Obama’s State of the Union address — hardly something the White House expected to use to address terrorism.
The sharp shift illustrates that a fundamental underlying dynamic of this presidency has been upended: Throughout the last year, Obama consistently scored higher marks on foreign policy and national security than on domestic affairs, largely because the financial crisis and health care reform have been front-and-center.
Indeed, the White House was reportedly caught flat-footed by the vociferous GOP criticism of Obama’s response to the thwarted plot, suggesting that the GOP’s rapid response gave White House advisers a bit of a rude awakening. Now the question is how successfully the White House will manage the transition into a new political reality, one where terrorism and national security have, at least for now, been thrust to the forefront.
GOP candidates in scores of districts are likely to bang away at the terror drum throughout 2010. Terrorism as a political issue has a nasty habit of suddenly flaring up at unexpected moments, and as more info about this or other plots becomes known, the White House’s management of the issue could play a real role in determining Dem fortunes on election day later this year.
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“Obama’s State of the Union address — hardly something the White House expected to use to address terrorism.”
Now that’s just sad, Greg. I think you must be very wrong about this. Obama could hardly have hoped to avoid discussing terrorism after all the emphasis on his new new Afghan strategy.
And hope is the wrong word but I am ‘assuming’ that Obama’s renewed focus on security and terrorism has more to do with potential threats to our country than with ‘optics’ and politics…
sbj — fair point. I meant terror threats above and beyond discussion of the Afghan war.
“Bush Officials Admit They Support Obama’s Counterterror Policies.”
“A half-dozen former senior Bush officials involved in counterterrorism told me before the Christmas Day incident that for the most part, they were comfortable with Obama’s policies, although they were reluctant to say so on the record.”
NYTimes via:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/04/bush-officials-admit-they_n_410446.html
Republicans are too cowardly to admit that Obama has done a MUCH BETTER job attacking terrorism than Republican “Mission Accomplished” Bush.
Full steam ahead Acorn and the SEIU will take down the terrorist and protect America!!
how terrible poor poor Obama has to waste his state of the union address, addressing radical islam and their exploding jihads. poor poor CIC
“Former Bush Officials Refusing to Endorse Policies They Support Out of Pique.”
“Obama is, they think, doing the right thing. But some of them don’t want to say he’s doing the right thing because that might make Dick Cheney mad and they’re timid, gutless careerists? And others don’t want to say he’s doing the right thing because their feelings are hurt that a Democrat said bad things about his grossly unpopular Republican predecessor? For this they’re going to undermine support for policies that they themselves believe are keeping the country safe?”
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/01/former-bush-officials-refusing-to-endorse-policies-they-support-out-of-pique.php
FULL STEAM AHEAD this putz can’t even keep the white house safe
A 3rd uninvited guest got into White House dinner
breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9D13MMO0&show_article=1
Trolls to the left of me, trolls to the right?
Republicanism in a nutshell:
While con artist Republican Chertoff is deceitfully using FEAR to sell corporate tools that take naked pictures of you (literally), Republican DeMint is refusing to appoint a head of the Transportation Security Administration out of fear that TSA employees might unionize for decent wages.
So poorly paid employees that Republicans openly disrespect are going to be taking naked pictures of every plane passenger that goes through airports that Republican Chertoff can con into buying his corporate owner’s naked picture taking screening technology.
And that’s
Republicanism in a nutshell: Corporations Win, Citizens (and employees) Lose.
The only way I can possibly explain the right’s meme that Obama is soft on terrorists is that he does NOT advocate torture. Therefore my conclusion is that everyone complaining about Obama’s policy and response to the Christmas underpants (crotch on fire) bomber wants to see him tortured. Either that or Bush/Cheney were also soft on terrorists for trying them in criminal courts.
There’s a dangerous dynamic at play here. The political sleight of hand that’s occurring is a hysterical reaction to an event that this country ought to be able to withstand.
Number of people killed on Flt 253: 0.
Number of CIA personnel killed in Afg on one day last week: 7+.
Number of people who will die each year the status quo is maintained each year: 45,000+.
Number of people in the USA who will eventually die of something: everyone.
Spending all the country’s resources, or at least a preponderance of them, on trying to eliminate every single threat is going to lead to worse healthcare, worse schools and higher ed, worse infrastructure, worse investment and research and development, etc.
I hope the admin and congress go about their grown-up business while also keeping their eye on priorities that matter. I hope they don’t waste all their time trying to keep everyone alive while forgetting that quality of life is important. They need to push back hard against the ignorance born of fear. This is getting ridiculous.
News Ref, having been a member of a union in a federal agency let me point out that those unions do not negotiate for wages. Most of the federal government is under the General Schedule for pay that goes from GS-1 thru GS-15 at most agencies. The Office of Personnel Management prescribes criterion for establish the GS Level for positions according to knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform those duties. The issues around unionization have little to do with pay.
correction “to establish”
all of you people on the Obama bandwagon crack me up! How in the hell do you function each day? Really? By this summer, I want to know how many of you still support this socailist/marxist in the W.H. By then, he will we will be on our way to his New World Order, the dollar gone, more attacks here in U.S. and of course, more gov. owned companies. I will talk to ya then. Oh, and, until then, I will be building my ammo collection for the revolution that is coming…But you guys just keep sipping your Kool ade!
It’s all fun and games until one of them gets squirted in the eye.
So good to see SBJ is still so full of himself.
Who “thwarted” this attack again?
“all of you people on the Obama bandwagon crack me up! How in the hell do you function each day? Really? By this summer, I want to know how many of you still support this socailist/marxist in the W.H.”
O you can bet I will still support that socialist/marxist. And just wait til we get you in the re-education camps – you’ll be singing a different tune.
Who “thwarted” this attack again?
–
the exploding jihad thwarted his own attack and a flying dutchman ensured the jihad was captured.
Not Obama not DHS and certainly not the dem’s
‘Troops,’ ‘Casalara, ‘Hugo’: Please stick around until Election Night 2012. We will all want to hear you explain why Obama the Black Socialist Kenyan Negro Marxist Hitlerian Usurper just got re-elected with 55-57 percent of the vote. It should be fun.
sure Nick I will be around with tissues and a straight jacket when you awake to reality.
Troops, I notice you did not say “we”. Silly Teabagger, playing with sock puppets is for kids.
My point is to do with language: saying something is thwarted suggests an active opposition which caused the plan to fail. This plan failed when the guy’s underwear caught on fire rather than exploding. (Apparently they have affirmative action in al Qaeda too.) This wasn’t “thwarted” by anyone.
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