"I think we all agree that there should be honest debate about these issues, but it is telling that Vice President Cheney and others seem to be more focused on criticizing the Administration than condemning the attackers."
Spot on, but it gets better.
To put it simply: this President is not interested in bellicose rhetoric, he is focused on action. Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country. And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the President.EXCELLENT!! For a number of reasons actually. First it squarely hits Republicans right where they hate it most: calling them out on their weakness on national security and most importantly on their cowardliness when it comes to leading by actions rather than words.
[...]
There are numerous other such public statements that explicitly state we are at war. The difference is this: President Obama doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it, and – unlike the last Administration – we are not at war with a tactic (“terrorism”), we at war with something that is tangible: al Qaeda and its violent extremist allies. And we will prosecute that war as long as the American people are endangered.
The White House statement also laments on the fact that tough talk is meaningless and best reserved for fifth grade playgrounds. But people like Dick Cheney, George Bush, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly and the rest of the Republicans have to talk tough to make up for all they lack. They have to see Glorious War on their Fox News teevee sets and macho tough men talking about smoking out bad guys and rambling about sissy liberals. They have to have it to survive. It helps them evade reality and when the MSM catches on to their John Wayne movie set drama where masculinity is measured by drawing Nielsen Ratings, it makes their evasion of reality that much easier.
But most importantly, to people like Cheney and the other Bushies, it's all about saying the right things. You don't have to actually shrink government, rein in spending, and squash deficits, all you have to do is talk about doing it. Modern conservatism or Republicanism is not about adhering to certain principles, it's about lip service to a make-believe doctrine of 18th century thinking-- and about talking tough. It's that simple. Talk about invading countries just for the smell of it, dropping Freedom Bombs on people who disagree with us and about shrinking government and you are in the good graces of people like Bush and Cheney and everyone at Fox News.
Thankfully, like President Obama's media statements says, this president does not have to walk around chest thumping war and talking tough merely paying lip service to a psychotic Marlin Brando renegade bunch of cowardly pansies. Leave that to the GOP and move this country forward. Hello 21st Century.
