June 18, 2008
McCain Campaign Makes 9/10 the New 9/11!
Actually, accusing Democrats of having September 10, 2001 attitudes about the war on terror dates back to the 2004 election, but Republican presidential contender John McCain's campaign's claim that Democratic rival Barack Obama has a "September 10 mindset" appears to be the first use of 9/10 in this election year.
On Monday, Obama had made remarks ABC News' Jake Tapper, regarding the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision to allow Guantanamo Bay detainees the right to challenge their detention. While the Bush administration stance is that their controversial programs and policies have prevented any terrorist attacks in the country since September 11, 2001, Obama said, "It is my firm belief that we can track terrorists, we can crack down on threats against the United States, but we can do so within the constraints of our Constitution."
Then he also referred to the terrorists arrested for the WTC attacks, "They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated. And the fact that the administration has not tried to do that has created a situation where not only have we never actually put many of these folks on trial, but we have destroyed our credibility when it comes to rule of law all around the world, and given a huge boost to terrorist recruitment in countries that say, 'Look, this is how the United States treats Muslims.'"
Yesterday, McCain adviser Randy Scheunemann belittled Obama's remarks, saying, "Once again, we have seen that Senator Obama is a perfect manifestation of a September 10th mindset... [These terrorists] are very dangerous people. These aren't just your run-of-the-mill drug dealers that are picked up on the South Side of Chicago."
The McCain campaign also brought out Mr. 9/11 himself, Rudy Giuliani, for a quote:
"Throughout this campaign, I have been very concerned that the Democrats want to take a step back to the failed policies that treated terrorism solely as a law enforcement matter rather than a clear and present danger. Barack Obama appears to believe that terrorists should be treated like criminals -- a belief that underscores his fundamental lack of judgment regarding our national security."Obama's response was, "Let's think about this: These are the same guys who helped engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11."
Photograph of the World Trade Center through the arch at Washington Square Park, taken in July 2001, by wallyg on Flickr
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Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.
Of McCain.
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"...These are the same guys who helped engineer the distraction of the war in Iraq at a time when we could have pinned down the people who actually committed 9/11"
Bingo.
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If you want to know just how low the Republicans can go in fear mongering at the expense of out constitution read Glenn Greenwald at Salon.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/16/gingrich/index.html
The fact is hundreds of the detainees we are holding were simply snatched up from their homes some in the USA. If we want to have a gov that cant just arbitrarily imprison people, we need to properly apply the laws and the courts to those we feel are a danger. If we can't offer evidence for these detainees, our whole system is degraded.
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The best is "These aren't just your run-of-the-mill drug dealers that are picked up on the South Side of Chicago." thats right drug dealers kill for profit and have no morals. Radicals feel that the end justifies the means.
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"these terrorists are very dangerous people" - yes, terrorists are dangerous people, but please show me that these people that are locked up are terrorists.
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You know what happened on 9/11? EVERYTHING CHANGED! Get used to the post-9/11 world and get out of your pre-9/11 mindset you loony libs.
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also... needless reference to "south side of Chicago"...
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where are all these asian conversatives coming from?
gothamist should do a survery of how many asians are on this site.
One China, there, that oughta get them riled up.
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and for my Korean brothers and sisters,
One Korea. gotta get those conservatives in here.
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Wwhere is the 1993 World Trade Center bomb-builder? Is he in a U.S prison, "incapacitated"?
Abdul Rahman Yasin fled the United States after the bombing to Iraq, and lived as Saddam Hussein's guest in Baghdad until the invasion. He is still free, and wanted by the FBI. Easily Googled.
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Wow, nice racist undertones there, McCain spokesman.
"[These terrorists] are very dangerous people. These aren't just your run-of-the-mill drug dealers that are picked up on the South Side of Chicago."
Because black people can't understand that big scary world outside of the South Side of Chicago, right Mr. Scheunemann? Barack Obama clearly cannot tell the difference between Sugg Knight and Usama bin Laden.
I just can't wait for five more months of this!
::cries and hides::
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Amusing how GOPs hate cities, except when they become useful for propaganda purposes.
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Um, Alex, the only thing that changed on 9/11 is that Americans began to lose their liberties because of a foreign attack on US soil. The best way to deal with these kinds of things is to protect our own and quit going around the world policing every other nation. That's not a liberal or conservative mindset... that's just common sense. Politicians who use that date to further their own careers are just as bad as the terrorists who brought down the towers. Fear-based advertising (or campaigning, in this instance) is an often used tactic that tends to work on the weak minded.
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And what was the Republican in the White House doing on 9/10/01? Sitting on a report that told him that Al Qaeda was going to attack America.
Does that mean that Bush is responsible for 9/11? No. It's just to show that McCain is being silly, grasping at whatever straw he thinks will lift him over Obama.
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McCain has a healthy "9/12" mindset...but it's 9/12/1954.
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On the morning of 9/11/01, I spent several hours thinking my brother was dead before I heard from him. I don't need a half-retarded failed pilot who has spent a political career with both hands in the till lecturing me on 9/10 or any other date in history.
If not for the incompetence of his party's gift to the nation, George W. Bush, 9/11 might have been averted.
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"If not for the incompetence of his party's gift to the nation, George W. Bush, 9/11 might have been averted."
Bush has certainly not been much of a president, but don't delude yourself into thinking he is responsible for 9/11.