washingtonexaminer.com — The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was more than just al Qaeda's latest attempt to bring death and destruction to American shores. It was also, in its still-unfolding political aftermath, a head-on collision between Barack Obama's soaring rhetoric and the reality of terrorism.
Jan 5, 2010 View in Crawl 4
johnnysoftwareJan 6, 2010
@allisonrose870allisonrose870 who sent the Anthrax to the Democratic senators and normal news media organizations just after the 9/11 attacks? Was that done by the enemy you are talking about? You remember the biological WoMD that was mailed up and down the East Coast, don't you?
txaggie08Jan 6, 2010
@WasabiBombI'm glad he's blocking the appointment. I think that unionizing the TSA would end up placing labor demands above national security concerns, and for an organization like the TSA that is a disaster. But DeMint explains it even better:"Consider how the TSA system works now. When the plot by terrorists from the UK was uncovered in 2006, new rules on carrying liquids onboard went into effect within 12 hours. If TSA had been unionized then, officials would have had to first ask permission of union bosses. And if the unions decided the changes were too burdensome on their employees, weeks or months of negotiations could have ensued, before any changes were made. Even in their recent response to the attempt by Abdulmutallab, TSA officials reassigned staff and changed screening procedures within hours, a quick move that would be nearly impossible under collective bargaining with union bosses."<a class="user" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/04/AR2010010403091.html?nav=rss_business/industries" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic ...</a>
nyaaseeJan 6, 2010
Why stop at blaming Bush? Lets go back and blame the administration from 1913 for the Federal Reserve Act and blame the current financial mess on that. s**t let's blame George Washington for Immigration policy while we're at it. We can blame Taft for having a four letter name like Bush. Get off the f**king bandwagon and let your president know it's time to fix what he was elected to fix and quit blaming failure on Bush. But he can't do it. campaign promises go out the window when REALITY interferes with WISHFUL THINKING.Obama needs to accept his presidency. Bush is not coming back. Nor is Obama if he doesn't get his s**t together. Focus on getting new people, regardless of party, into the House and Senate. Decades of nothing working because of career senators differences and power are over. That is the real problem, not a figurehead puppet.
staticthunderJan 6, 2010
"Your example of a bridge is far less attractive, because you cannot destroy a properly designed bridge with a suicide vest or even a car bomb"Since its not an enclosed space you can bring as much explosive as you want, set it however you want, tamp it however you want, have pretty much all the time you want, and since they are largely unguarded, major bridges and interchanges are some of the softest targets we have. Just imagine two interchanges, maybe not even major ones, in LA, and in NYC being detonated simultaneously at 8:30 and 11:30 AM on a work day.With an airplane, you kill 120 people and shut down air transit for 3 days while more security is put in place. With interchange, coordinated by maybe 6 people with fuel oil and fertilizer, or dynamite, or PETN - since there are no scanners to pick up explosives residue - you shut down the entire country and securing the roads is impossible and send everyday commuters into a panic.WHEN YOU MAKE A TARGET HARD, OTHER TARGETS LOOK SOFT.
fissiongrubbsJan 7, 2010
Only in office a year???? How long do you think he NEEDS since he was advised of the attack ahead of time and blew it off?It would be nice if you GOPers grew up one day. Bush was in office when America was attacked. NOT CLINTON. lets see some more name calling and moronic "fail" dialogue please.
marinersJan 9, 2010
Oh what short memories or no memories Republicans have. Thank goodness some of us remember. Bush reign of terror. 9-11, shoe bomber, anthrax. Where was Bush on his ranch for 6 days. Where was Cheney , probably hiding in his dungeon.
beratebirthersJan 9, 2010
The man won the Nobel Peace Prize the same day he blew up the moon. Cool and collected wins the day.
compdude32Jan 11, 2010
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yea you are an engineer. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh boy that is hysterical.Seriously man you need to go back to school.
brbubbaJan 13, 2010
I actually ran the calculations for you and found that the plane at full altitude and almost full cruising speed would only travel about 4 miles. At a more modest 10,000 feet and lower 200 mph speed, we are talking a little more than a mile. And that's assuming a pure vacuum, in real world conditions you would see less than half that. So again, your argument is specious because the actual distance the wreckage would fall isn't particularly great and after 9/11 approach vectors have typically been diverted from going over major cities. So I am still waiting for some "proof" instead of the cackle of a 13 year old boy hitting puberty.