Has the President himself yet issued a statement on this event? Not to my knowledge, but if he has please report it.

The interesting thing is that the media is silent on the 3 hour delay in advising the President — they have made excuses about the misreporting (firecrackers, etc.) but the same misreporting occurred on 9/11. I recall Katie Couric reporting initially that a “small plane” had hit the towers in an apparent airline accident.

I believe, like Bush, Obama is never on vacation – a President works 24/7 and has the best communications capabilities to always maintain contact with his national security council. It’s just once again, the media’s apparent double standard in what/how they report.

CBS actually had a headline on it’s web site: “Is the President ever really on vacation?” A statement that has never been afforded a Republican President, and you are correct, Bush was excoriated; Obama is getting a pass. It is unfortunately, just how it is. The media is liberal and most/all of them voted for Obama and will do whatever they can to protect him from criticism — to the point of making excuses for him, rather than reporting the facts. It is a sad commentary on the state of a “fair press”.

SO be fair in your story; “politicizing” an event like this is nothing new, the newness is in now “politicizing” such an event is a bad thing, where in the Bush years, it was a good thing and the media, in SOP, jumped on board with the democrat talking points….then, just like now.

Peter King never hesitates to shoot off his mouth and prove himself an absolute raving lunatic and fool (I think he must be IMN Blue). The suspect is on the no-fly list, a quick scan of stories reveals he boarded in Nigeria, stopped in Amsterdam, he got on with ONE BAG, a carry on – this is a failure of screening.

As for Bush’s actions, by this time we’d have had a John Boehner Orange Tan Alert broadcast on a constant crawl across the bottom of that FOX NOT NEWS CHANNEL liberal media and more fear marketing of Bush’s Blunders everywhere.

As to Katie Couric and 9/11 – in the ’40s a bomber crashed into the Empire State Building, Couric thought it was an accident from reports made to her, no one prior to 9/11 thought of such action as done intentionally, after the WTC attack a baseball pitcher and his instructor crashed into a building and there were reports of a terrorist attack – those were wrong too.

What we do know after the 8 years of the Bush disaster is that the myth the Republicans are stronger on national security is exposed as a lie.

King, as usual, hasn’t missed a chance to go after Obama and politicize the government’s response to the attempted attack. There was no government response? I guess not if you don’t count the TSA’s implementing new travel regulations — albeit stupid ones — within hours, or the public statements on the matter by the White House or DHS.

I think this kind of thing isn’t so much Republican vs. Democrat (and TfT, I know you love to come up with weird abbreviations, but it’s the “Democratic” Party, not the “Democrat” Party — your criticisms are a bit easier to take when they’re not factually incorrect) as a recognition of the fact that Bush #43 spent nearly a third of his term either at Camp David or at Crawford. Obama is nowhere near being on track to spend this much time away from the office. Yes, Presidents need vacations like anyone else, and they’re never out of touch — the NYT story on this pointed out that Clinton ordered cruise missile attacks from Martha’s Vineyard and Bush #41 ordered troop movements from Kennebunkport. And yes, Presidents get daily national-security briefings wherever they are. But there’s a difference between recognizing that crises can occur anytime and choosing not to interrupt one’s vacation to deal with them — especially when they were more slowly-emerging crises like Katrina.

I’m pretty sure that no one was waiting so as not to disturb Obama’s beauty sleep here – yes he’s on vacation but the whole point of having a team out there is if something happens, and it did, and they mobilized. There was a statement, there were new mandates for TSA screening, and there was a lot probably going on behind the scenes. That said, it DOES look bad that Obama went and played golf. He wouldn’t have gone to play golf if this plane had gone down, and I do agree that they should be treating this as seriously as if it had. Obama & co. are smart enough to know how appearances are leapt on – there’s playing into it and there’s responding accordingly in serious situations. They don’t need TV spots to “prove” that they are working, but they should know by now that it helps.

I was watching MSNBCs coverage this morning, and the female host (name escapes me) immediately came to the defense of the Obama administration and said something like: “let’s not lay blame on the Obama administration for this” (paraphrased). MSNBC — the network who to this day blames the Bush administration for anything/everything.

Obama should have made a public statement himself — yes, lots of changes are being made and the admin has called for an investigation. But had Bush been silent on something like this, you folks in the media would have verbally beat the living crap out of him.

As I said, no President is ever really on vacation — it’s a 24/7/365 job. My point is the media doesn’t afford the same understanding when the President is a republican rather than a democrat.

This is a President who has been on television every single day (or nearly every single day), and now in light of this event, he is not.

BTW: People mobilized on 9/11 as well, but that didn’t stop the media from excoriating Bush; people mobilized during Katrina (I recall watching the NG Helo’s rescue thousands of people immediately after the levies broke), and yet the media went after Bush and didn’t go after Blanco and Nagin. The double standards are disgraceful.

I don’t hold Obama responsible for this incident, I hold the terrorists responsible.

I do hold the media responsible for the double standard — and it couldn’t be more clear.

I’ve learned that whenever anything ever happens, people are gonna bitch at the president for whatever reason.

I’m shocked that Peter King would somehow find a microphone and slam Obama. I’m shocked I tell you!!

It’s called political grandstanding! Rhetoric that stretches the truth. Hyperbole in an attempt to push an agenda or story angle.

Both parties do it and if you think about it for a bit, politicians do it in attempt to manipulate voters, polls, the public and bloggers/commenters to carry their flag, I mean bucket of water, I mean agenda.

Politicians manipulating, I’m shocked I tell you!!

One of many many things broken with DC. If you don’t like a congressman for grandstanding… I mean manipulating, vote them out if you live in their district.

Peter King is an idiot. What he fails to recognize is that politicizing these attempts is not something this administration has any interest in. They don’t feel the need to come out with some stupid orange terror alert. While this could have been a disaster, the fact is that it wasn’t. In light of that, the President’s response was on point.

“The President convened a secure call this morning at 6:20 a.m. Hawaiian time with John Brennan, his Homeland Security and Counter-terrorism Adviser, and Denis McDonough, National Security Staff Chief of Staff, where he received an update on the heightened air travel safety measures being taken to keep the American people safe and on the investigation. The President will continue to actively monitor the situation.”

If I were a member of the party that was warned in August of 2001 about possible attacks in the US and failed to beef up security at Airports, I’d keep a low profile. But, instead this idiot is pissed because he sees a chance to exploit this. Just remember Mr. King that it was your party who was in charge on 911. YOUR PARTY!

Politicizing!!!!!!!!!!!?? The Obama Administration’s weak response to terrorism is a pattern, not an anomaly. Consider: the President down-plays Major Hassan’s attack at Fort Hood that killed 13 and fails to comfort or reassure the nation; the President gives a wet noodle speech to the cadets at West Point and deliberately communicates that we are not going to Afghanistan to win; and now, when we have a terrorist bungle on a plane, he can’t reassure or lead the nation. This pattern of behavior deserves to be used for target practice by the media, because I assure you, it is not lost on the American people.

We don’t need media analysis to tell us how to respond to major events — major events like this arouse a visceral response, but we do not trust the media when they do not validate what we are saying and thinking around the water cooler.

NewsBusters: Atlantic Editor Lauds Lack of Obama Public Response to Terrorist
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2009/12/27/atlantic-editor-lauds-lack-obama-public-response-terrorist
—
NewsBusters — NWA: NBC Plays D For O
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mark-finkelstein/2009/12/27/nwa-bomb-plot-nbc-plays-d-o

I tell you what MMcFM – Why don’t you stick your head under the covers until morning. It will be okay by then. You teabaggers are all the same…dumb asses.

PS – the phrase “plays down” is the new republican meme. Try something original.

Merry Xmas. Peter King. You’re a real Murcuhn hero!! Yup.

Bill Adkins says:
December 27, 2009 at 10:50 am

Peter King never hesitates to shoot off his mouth and prove himself an absolute raving lunatic and fool (I think he must be IMN Blue).

Man, it’s such a shame that I’ve invaded your life like this. Always thinking about me… always worried what I’m going to say. 10 bucks says you’ve mentioned me to people in the real world. Wow! Maybe it’s just your distain for Jews that keeps me on your mind. Who knows?

The suspect is on the no-fly list, a quick scan of stories reveals he boarded in Nigeria, stopped in Amsterdam, he got on with ONE BAG, a carry on – this is a failure of screening.

Yes… and who’s in charge of screening again?

As for Bush’s actions…

See, now this is where it gets really sad. It seems that no matter what happens, no matter the situation, the only thing you (and people like you) are comfortable talking about is Bush. It’s a year since he was in office… but all you want to do is talk Bush. But, as is commonly know, it’s easier to attack than to defend… and since you’re not good at either, you might as well stick with the easiest.

What we do know after the 8 years of the Bush disaster is that the myth the Republicans are stronger on national security is exposed as a lie.

*Sigh* You don’t even read the news any more, do you? You don’t understand the situations, or give any independent thought to life… just maintain the hate. This has nothing to do with anything… just needless Bush bashing because you simply can’t talk about current events intelligently.

However, you (Ted, Vidiot, roxy, etc.) do make for a good barometer… the angrier you get at Bush now, the more Obama must be making mistakes. Since you can’t defend, and you deflect with attacks… the harder you try, the more you must feel you have to cover for. And judging by this bit of nonsense, the lack of context to the actual story, and the continual “Yeah, but what about Bush” defense… ya’ll really think the Admin has screwed up pretty substantially… even if you can’t admit it.

ImNotBlue – Sigh, yawn, belch, fart….do you have anything intelligent to say or do you just like to babble? Moron.

“This came very close to being one of the greatest tragedies in the history of our country,” said King, a congressman from New York.”

Compaired to what?

Rep King also said in another interview the terrorist had a sophisticated device, while every other report had it as a home made device.

It looks like Rep. King was looking for a camera before they even took the guy off the plane.
Who does he think he is, Chuck Schumer?

Ted says:
December 27, 2009 at 6:29 pm
ImNotBlue – Sigh, yawn, belch, fart….do you have anything intelligent to say or do you just like to babble? Moron.”

I think you’ve summed up blue completely.

That said, Blue, I’m not angry at nor do I hate Jews. I just point out how shamed Jews are that you claim to be one of them.

Ted says:
December 27, 2009 at 6:29 pm

Thanks Ted! Anytime you tell me I’ve done something you don’t like, I know I’m on the right track. Thanks buddy, I appreciate it.

puck30 says:
December 27, 2009 at 7:17 pm

Rep King also said in another interview the terrorist had a sophisticated device, while every other report had it as a home made device.

Well, just because it’s homemade, it doesn’t mean it’s not sophisticated. I think the difference between a “sophisticated” and “non-sophisticated” (if we want to call it that) is the electronic component. A knife or a gun is “non-sophisticated,” a bomb with some sort of electronic trigger is “sophisticated,” even if it’s homemade or relatively simple.

Bill Adkins says:
December 27, 2009 at 8:11 pm

Yeah, I’m not surprised you agree with Ted… although he just offers schoolyard insults as his contribution… you tend to be a little more targeted and nasty in your personal attacks.

Anyway, yes… you do hate Jews, and yes you are angry. Perhaps you’re not reading your posts, so you’re confused… but I do read them, and I’m not confused. Now, I’ve already explained how your statement that (paraphrasing) if Jews don’t support YOUR politics, they’re Nazis IS anti-Semitic, stupid, and offensive. And every time I explain this… you run away for a few days, and hope that everyone forgets. But I won’t… and odds are, everyone else won’t either.

Sooo… thanks for playing. Go be angry now, and we’ll see you in a few days, when you next bit of hate infects this site. By-ee!

(PS- If either of you, Ted or Bill, really disagree with what I say… why don’t you point out what you disagree with… why not make specific arguments? Is it because you don’t know the arguments well enough, or because you can’t find fault in my argument, but fundamentally you can’t agree? I know… Ted will just “insult” me as a response, and Bill’s going to run away… but I can’t help but ask.)

Blue, I don’t think you know the difference between Wingate and Kroenberg and I think you’re more like the latter and nothing like the former. You don’t ‘explain’ anything,’ you bloviate everything and I’m right here to tell you you’re full of shit. Anytime you disagree with me I know I’m right.

As for Peter King and Drudge and you, you promote fear, you promote panic — you’re an ally of Al Qaeda who have the same goals. You help AQ win by giving more credence and credibility to a bumbler of a terrorist.

Blue, you are splitting hairs with homemade/sophisticated, here’s my point.

On the morning of 9/11 I was in the gym with the tv on CNN when the report first came in. I remember the VERY first thing that was being said that there was an explosion at WTC. Followed by a report of a plane but not a passenger plane. I give Bush a break with the kids, confusion did rein in those first few minutes. Apx. 17 minutes later when the second plane hit, then we all knew it was on and Bush was out of there.

Net-roots did not start flying out of the woodwork at that point. I didn’t see Schumer, Pelosi, whoever on CNN or MSNBC.

Now, let’s forward to Oct. 11, 2006. Cory lidle runs a small plane into a building in Manhattan. Everybody’s first thought? Terrorist! But at that moment the net roots didn’t start blaming Bush.

I don’t mind Rep. King asking questions and debating, that’s his perogative as a member of Congress and a American. But damn! Could you at least wait just a little bit and get some info? The only way he would have got this rant out faster would have been if this was the middle of the week and Hannity’s radio show was on.

Bill Adkins says:
December 27, 2009 at 8:57 pm

Yeah… so what you’re saying, and correct me if I’m wrong here (I’m not), is that while you offer no evidence, no proof, no substantive details to assist your opinions… you remain always correct, and when you (and Ted) rely on personal attacks and insults as a way of making your argument, it’s not because you don’t know what you’re talking about… but because you… uh… uh… you just don’t need to because you don’t need to. Is that about right? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

But keep on attacking me with goofy name calling… it’s fine… I can take it. I’ve learned not to expect too much from you.

As for Peter King and Drudge and you, you promote fear, you promote panic — you’re an ally of Al Qaeda who have the same goals. You help AQ win by giving more credence and credibility to a bumbler of a terrorist.

Wow… pretty offensive stuff their Bill. What, being an anti-Semite simply not enough? Fine.

So people who want to acknowledge that there are quite a number of people out there who want to cause us (and others) harm… and we’re called “fearful” for that. So what’s your plan? What should we do instead? Ignore it? Pretend it doesn’t happen? Relax all extra security measures… and just accept when planes occasionally explode? I’d like to know your plan. Wow me.

puck30 says:
December 27, 2009 at 11:27 pm

Fair enough.

Although, I remember the Fort Dix plot that was foiled before any harm was done… and being told very soon afterwards that “it wasn’t a big deal,” and that it was just Bush trying to scare people again, and so on.

But anyway, I think you bring up a valid point. Making such an overtly political statement so close to the actual event comes off as opportunistic. I tend to agree with what King said, but see where you’re coming from.

Ted you’re always talking about teabagging, so by default making you the teabaggie, just let me know when a good time is to put my motherfucking nuts in your mouth punk bitch.

TFT, you are so right, I say to all you lefties here who love obama so much that you can’t see straight, we all know how much you hate BUSH, but facts are facts, if this had been the BUSH administration the bashing would have started from day 1, just imagine BUSH at his ranch or Camp David and waiting three days and still no comment from him officially, and can you just imagine nyt,wp, cnn, and especially msnbc not to mention abc, cbs, nbc if no one had notified BUSH for THREE HOURS of this attempted TERRORIST ATTACK, would it have taken 3 hours to notify him if GOD forbid it had suceeded???????????? COME ON YOU LIBS, THERE IS A DOUBLESTANDARD, you all are protecting him, giving him a pass, where is he?? still on vacation, why not he knows he can get away with anything and he knows the press and media love him, what fools…………….

Blue – you don’t make arguments, you make insults. When you make an argument, then I’ll debate.

Ted says:
December 28, 2009 at 10:42 am

*rolls eyes*

Here’s an argument for you… really, more of a question… see if you can answer it:
What should we do to prevent this from happening again?