Partisan Asshats

Democrats may not be very good leaders, but they sure as hell are great Monday Morning Quarterbacks. Check out this absurd post from Atrios and the comments from the equally vile Atriettes (and no, I do not mean all Democrats, but if you agree with Atrios and his commenters, then I do mean you):

Since our press seems to lack long term memory, let’s bring us back to those sweet sweet days of September 2001. Bush was fresh off a month of clearing brush in Crawford, and the tee-ball season was about to begin. The White House had already announced what the fall offensive would be. Al Qaeda? No. “Communities of Character.”

Get it? September 11th could have been stopped if Bush had his priorities right and was not supporting some other initiatives.

Two can play that game. Let’s remind the press what Bill Clinton was doing the first time Al Qaeda (with Iraqi help) attacked the world Trade Center:

Gays in the military — January 27, 1993

White House officials say President Clinton will order the military to stop its policy of discriminating against gays in the military. The issue gained little attention during the campaign, but incites heated opposition and debate after its announcement.

Clearly, this radical re-thinking of our strategic priorities led to little increase in national security or protection from terrorism.
The Clinton’s were quick learners, though, and months later tehy figured out how to handle religious extremists who wanted to terrorize America:

Waco compound burns — April 19, 1993

A compound occupied by a religious cult burns to the ground in what is described as a mass suicide. The heavily armed Branch Davidians have been in a standoff with law enforcement officials near Waco, Texas, for 51 days. The compound catches fire hours after federal agents in armored vehicles begin battering the compound’s walls and pumping tear gas into it. Eighty-six cult members, including Branch Davidian leader David Koresh, die in the flames.

Woops- wrong religious radicals. Oh, well.

I wonder what President Clinton and his gang of incompetents were doing when Al Qaeda attacked in Somalia on 4 October 1993?

September 22, 1993 – Bill Clinton, delivers his health care speech to a joint session of Congress. Despite an initial snafu with the wrong text being loaded onto the TelePrompTer, the speech is a smash. The President’s delivery is superb, powerful, and compelling. Response is overwhelmingly favorable.

Maybe if he had been paying attention to Somalia and Haiti, those troops would have been alive? That is how this game works, right Atrios?

Let’s check in on the President while Al Qaeda was blowing up our embassies abroad on 7 August 1998:

The Kyoto Protocol and the President’s Policies to Address Climate Change: Administration Economic Analysis

I guess the intense heat from the explosions and laming aftermaths in Tanzania and Kenya did change the climate in the short term.

I wonder what was on the schedule for the White House when the U.S.S. Cole was attacked? According to the Clinton White House Archive, here is one headline event for the day:

October 12, 2000

100th Anniversary of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, 2000

Who said the Democrats aren’t patriotic? On the 100th anniversary of the US Navy’s Submarine Force, Bill Clinton was doing nothing while Al Qaeda was helping to add to the Navy’s list of submerged vessels.

Gee, Atrios. You are right, I wish Clinton was back in charge.

BTW- All the events above have one thing in common besides President Clinton’s incompetence. You guessed it- Richard Clarke was running the show.