Playing Politics With National Security: The Republicans Go Negative!

In the midst of the Detroit terrorism investigation surrounding the Nigerian national who attempted unsuccessfully to blow up a Northwest jet on Christmas Day, the Republican party is going negative and blaming the whole incident on the Obama Administration.

President Obama has taken responsibility for the lack of intelligence information being put together to prevent this fortunately botched attempt at bringing down an American plane. This is more than the Bush Presidency was willing to do after September 11.

And yet, Congressman Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, running for governor in that state next year, has decided to milk the issue for all it is worth as a means to raise campaign funds.

Also, South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, thought to be planning a presidential run in 2012, and having called earlier for the health care reform plan to be Obama’s “Waterloo”, is also using the issue against the administration, even though the whole system of homeland security was organized under President Bush in 2003.

These are cheap shots being utilized for political gain, just days after the crisis occurred. And the trend is toward profiling everyone who is of Middle Eastern or African or Asian heritage, because there have been Al Qaeda terrorists in this country and overseas of all these ethnic origins.

I guess the answer is put everyone in this country who is of any minority group–including Latin America too–on the profiling list, and therefore, limit or refuse air passage to about 40 percent of the American population, and most of the world’s six billion plus population!

But then again, one of the spokesmen for Al Qaeda is a white Anglo, and I seem to remember that we have domestic terrorists such as Timothy McVeigh in the past, the various militia group activists, the Ku Klux Klan, and just maybe some of the “Tea Party/Freedom Works” people who, at various rallies, have sounded ready for violent revolution and bloodshed in their rhetoric.

So maybe we should shut down all air travel altogether! But wait, that would be an economic disaster, and would be conceding victory to Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations!

In other words, we cannot give in to the terrorists, but can also not profile people based on their ethnicity, as a terrorist can be of any background or nationality. What we can do is better our intelligence gathering, connect the dots better, and all be watchful and alert, and also do a lot of praying.

But ultimately, there is this fact. The chances of anyone being a victim of a terrorist attack are far less than being hit by lightning! We cannot allow ourselves to be taken “hostage” and become hysterical. But the Republican party, famous for McCarthyism in the past, is now disgracing our political discourse by utilizing a similar hysteria and panic against the threat of terrorism! Shame on them! 🙁

One comment on “Playing Politics With National Security: The Republicans Go Negative!

  1. tate December 30, 2009 3:30 pm

    Professor,

    I would agree with your thinking here.

    We can’t simply try and prevent future attacks by condeming every person of Middle-Eastern decent and labeling them a terrorist. We must remember that “terrorists” are a small group.

    We see overreactions of a similar nature with the round-up of all Japanese American’s, by executive order, when many were business owners, homeowners, had served with distinction in our armed forces, etc. They lost everything as a result of our paranoia. It was not until 1988 that Reagan offered all direct survivors 20,000 tax free for their pain and misery – a small amount for the many lives this poor policy derailed.

    We must use the intelligence we are gathering. This man’s father called and warned about his extreamist activities and nothing was done. He was not on the “no-fly list” and, as a result, was able to get on the plane in the first place.

    Communication improvements need to occur if we are to see the last of these stories. Our government (and those of our allies around the world) must create a self-checking system that uses “real-time” data as a means to prevent these types of situations.

    More than not, the failure of intelligence agencies to utilize “new” data with any type of speed allows for these trivial people to make news headlines.

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