Obama gets heat for treating Americans like adults in terror incident
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
So the president took a few days to speak to the nation about the failed terrorist effort on Christmas Day.
b.f.d.
While we would expect that the GOP voices would not miss an opportunity to criticize Obama – no matter what he did – this time the media, from the left all the way to the right, was quick to jump down the president’s throat for waiting until he actually had something to say before addressing the nation.
According to the media and the Republican critics, the president erred in not taking immediately to the airwaves to provide his fellow Americans ‘assurance and comfort’ that everything was, indeed, okay.
What are we…five year olds? Obviously, everything was and is not okay and hearing the President of the United States pretend otherwise would only have provided me with assurance that the government was treating me like an imbecile.
But Obama didn’t do that. He waited until he knew what he was talking about before passing the information along to us- a lesson Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano might want to take to heart. When government officials speak before they think, they say stupid things like “The system worked.”
Apparently, President Obama believes that we should be treated like adults. Go figure.
In point of fact, it wasn’t until the last twenty-four hours that Obama had enough facts to tell us something useful. Speaking today from Hawaii, Obama said-
A systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable. There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potentially catastrophic breach of security. We need to learn from this episode and quickly fix the flaws in our system because our security is at stake and lives are at stake.
Via LA Times
The president went on to report that there had been information provided to the intelligence community that should have been put together and that, had things worked as they are supposed to, the terrorist would never have been permitted to board the plane he attempted to blow up.
While some Americans may find that news in no way reassuring, I find it to be quite to the contrary. I’d much rather the president get to the bottom of the problem and do something about it rather than read me bedtime stories so I can fool myself into sleeping better at night.
It’s time to grow up folks. It’s a rough world we live in and having leaders who would tell us otherwise is not going to do anyone any good.
To my Republican friends I would say this – enough already with the whole political points game. Serious times require serious people and there doesn’t seem to be a serious bone in your collective bodies except for when it comes to feathering your own re-election opportunities. Your behavior – in the midst of an important national situation – is immature, immoral and wholly unacceptable. Whether you like it or not, Obama is the president we have. Until that changes, maybe you should get your heads out of your collective behinds and see if you can’t figure out that terrorist attacks don’t make for good political gamesmanship. You might also take note that people who can read and think know all too well that it was the GOP in Congress that shot down approval of a technology system capable of catching a terrorist stuffed with the very chemical compound involved in this incident.
And to the media – whether liberal, conservative or whatever, I would remind you that the president does not serve to make your job easier. While a Christmas Day speech might have given you something to talk to death, at least for those of you who showed up to cover the event which excludes MSNBC, such a speech would have served no public benefit whatsoever as the president didn’t yet know enough to say anything important. If you want information to talk about, get your pundit’s posteriors off your cushy studio seats, go out there and dig it up for yourselves. That is, I believe, the actual job of a news organization.
It is often suggested that when someone is treated as an adult, they will, in turn, act like an adult. President Obama is doing his part – maybe the rest of us should get on board and do ours.
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Amen Rick! About time someone made a post like this.
Frankly this entire story has been blown way out of proportion. One has to actually wonder what the media would have done had the guy succeeded, they certainly could not have given the story anymore coverage than it’s getting now. The system will never be fail proof, all we can do is be grateful the terrorist failed and plug the hole in the system that this even has brought to our attention.
Life is a risky proposition, real adults understand this!
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Mr Ungar, do you not know that its a violation to speak so frankly? Seriously, your voice is one of reason, the people need this. The people need to solve problems. The polling numbers influence politicians. People need to toughen up, telling the elected to do their job so there is a future for us. I need to start emailing reps myself, thinking its a waste of time is probably just as bad, if not worse, than not voting. If you keep this up somebody is going to ask you to run for president! Thanks for fighting the fight, I don’t know how you do it, salutes from a dem. turned repub. whose now a tired of politics citizen. I think the ways of hard line partisanship are very harmful today, and somehow both sides of the aisle if I may have to start using common sense. Your keeping me interested, Amen! Keep it up!
ebizjoey-
In response to another comment. See in context »thanks for your nice words. I don’t,however, think we are in any danger of anyone asking me to run for anything! Don’t get tired of politics. These people are a pain in the ass but if you tune out then the playing field is all theres…and that can’t be a good thing!
Rick,
Good post – here is the opinion of a real expert in security – you will note that he also expects people over 18 to act like adults:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/29/schneier.air.travel.security.theater/index.html
Misterb-
In response to another comment. See in context »I’m very familiar with Bruce Schneier. He makes a lot of sense…always has. It would be nice if people would listen to what he has to say because it’s just so logical and obvious.
I don’t know about you, but I felt incredibly frightened that some people thousands of miles away were almost in a terrorist attack, but actually not. I feel the same way when I hear about a traffic accident in Connecticut or a drowning in Ohio: there but for the grace of God go I!
It’s fun to imagine that we’re all in some giant, 300-million-person war on an abstract concept of asymmetrical warfare, and God knows, it’s profitable for our 24-hours “news” networks to pretend we are. Thanks for being a voice of sanity among all the lunacy.
Not that I mean to belittle this, it is a big deal, but some of the media frustration seems to come from their annoyance that Obama isn’t playing along, as in: “we scare people, you calm them, then we scare them again. Don’t you get it? It’s called a News Cycle.” Certainly Maureen Dowd’s terrible column is all about this; she brings up real, solvable problems, then rates Obama by the most petty, facile standard imaginable: did he make Maureen Dowd feel OK with his soothing talk? No? Then I guess he failed.
The internet didn’t kill print media; giving lightweights like Maureen Dowd space to air their thoughts is what’s killing it.
In response to another comment. See in context »If ever a guy should be water boarded, this muslim terrorist should be…..obama gives him lawyers and miranda rights….
Isn’t this guy entitled to a bail hearing, too?
Seriously? The US Constitution gives the accused those rights. If you don’t like it move to China.
In response to another comment. See in context »The Dutch are just as stupid as the people we have running Homeland Security: the ducth are going to start full body scans of those traveling to the USA….thus freeing up terrorists to blow up any plant NOT flying to the U.S.
See, Dutch using full body scanners for u.s. flight:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091230/ap_on_re_us/us_airliner_attack
Good article Rick. The President is going to be held accountable in the court of public opinion for what he says, so the prudent thing to do is to the take the time to “get it right.” We all benefit when that happens.
On a side note. Janet “the system worked” Napolitano needs to go. It is impossible to have any faith in her abilities. She has no credibility after her ignorant, asinine offensive comment. When I first read the statement I had visions of Bush in front of the mission accomplished banner.
Seriously weird nickname. Perhaps you’re unaware of this (what else could one think based on your nickname)but the gun was not invented till the mid 15th century CE, over 1,400 years before the birth of Christ (if in fact he existed at all).
In response to another comment. See in context »Maybe it’s hispanic, as in “Jesus (hey-zues) loves guns”…
In response to another comment. See in context »It was a very silly comment. But you might want to read Michael Ralston’s piece in defense of Napolitano. He correctly points out that the Department of Homeland secuirty is way too much for one person to run and that it should be broken up. I think he makes a very good point.
In response to another comment. See in context »Who’s this Michael Ralston guy?
In response to another comment. See in context »Well, you know better than anyone how bad I am at spelling!!!! Sorry – that excellent piece I referenced belonged to none other than Michael ROSTON!!
In response to another comment. See in context »Happy new year, Michael.
Thanks Rick, I look forward to another year full of your insights, too.
In response to another comment. See in context »Very well said, Rick.
Thanks, Erik. And a happy new year!
In response to another comment. See in context »I think the public would be slower to get up in arms about this type of thing if the President showed he actually cared about something instead of waiting and waiting and waiting on everything he does. Where is the fire he has when he was campaining? Where is the passion? Either a) it never existed at all and he lied to us from the get-go, or b) he doesn’t really care, or c) he is worried about offending everyone other than America. Should he have said something the minute it happened? No. But when he did address the nation, he should have said “I’ve been aware of the situation since the beginning but wanted all the information from (fill in the blank) before reaching out to the America people”. Yes, we are all adults, but he didn’t get elected to sit back silently on every issue. Does the country need it’s hand held? No, but it needs to know it’s Leader is on top of things.
Philip-
Let’s be serious here.
1. Do you really think there is a snowball’s chance in hell that this president, or any other president from any party at all, would not have been as on top of this situation as humanly possible from the moment it happened? Did you really need Obama to tell you that he was on top of it? Come on, that is precisely what I mean about being an adult. Whether you like him, hate him or whatever, how silly is it to assume he was just putting this in the back seat? And if people need him to stand on TV to say, “Don’t worry, I;m on top of it” we have far bigger problems than the occasional airplane attack.
2. Look what happened when he got so much BS that he did get in front of the camera yesterday. What he said yesterday was a whole lot different from what he said today, now that he actually possesses the relevant information. So what happens? The media is jumping all over him for the change in what he said yesterday versus the facts he related today. If you don’t see the insanity of the media behavior- and by extension all those who are so anxious to have the president reassure them that they don’t have the patience to wait for him to actually have something to say- then what can I tell you?
3. Campaigning and governing are two very different things. You should know that. I don’t want half-cocked passion in the time of a crisis. I want calm, cool, intelligent leadership.
In case you think I’m some ‘ Obama is great no matter what’ type, you should dig back and read more of my posts. I don’t hesitate to criticize the man when I think he has it coming -which has been more often that I would like. But in this case – come on…grow up…let him do his job and grow a pair. As he’s proven, he’ll not only tell us what he can when he can, he’ll actually tell us the truth, as he did today. I’ll take that to presidential hand-holding any day of the week.
In response to another comment. See in context »That’s what I am saying though-he’s been so non-committal on everything else that this is just more fuel added to the fire. I’m not saying that I personally need him to get on TV (Lord knows he’s been on TV enough) and tell me he has things under control. But I’m one person. The only way I can think to describe my point is that America (or any country that elects its leader) is made up of sheep. Sheep aren’t smart (I know, I lived in the country). Sheep need a shepherd to tell them everything is going to be okay. Does that make it right-no necessarily. But it’s the reality of the situation. If an American flew to Venezuela with an explosive in his pants threatening to blow up a city, you can bet that Chavez would be on the airwaves telling his sheep that he is on top of the situation. It’s a poor example, I know, but my point is that you can tell people to grow up all day long, but the reality is that they need their shepherd to tell them he is in control. Especially if he is silent or wish-washy on the other issues. This goes for both sides of the political spectrum. I’m a conservative, but I hold everyone accountable across the board.
All that being said, I think you are a good writer, even if I don’t hold to all of your views.
In response to another comment. See in context »Philip – sadly, I think you are right about the sheep comparison. But that is the point. Just because this nation has allowed itself to become one of sheep, deeply susceptible to illogical and nonsensical statements as demonstrated today by Vice President Cheney, that just doesn’t make it acceptable. Being a nation of sheep is precisely what is destroying this nation as it has so many others.
In response to another comment. See in context »By the way, I’m curious what you have in your mind when you say that Obama is always so slow. I can only think of Afghanistan. As we now know, he had the time to study the issue because, no mater what he decided, the troops were not scheduled to go until 2010. How can it possibly be a bad thing that Obama took advantage of the time he had to make the best decision he could (one, by the way, that I think was a poor decision.) Even thought I don’t like where Obama ended up on Afghanistan, I cannot, for the life of me, understand the criticism for him taking the trouble to think it through up until the moment he no longer had anymore time.The criticism over this is another example of our being led to believe that faster is better when, any rational person knows that it is typically precisely the opposite.
I’m getting the feeling that Obama doesn’t want to define the United States by merely the opposition to the slightest threats we face. What an odd concept.
Who are we supposed to be, then?
I truly have no idea what you are attempting to say here. Maybe you could take another shot at it?
In response to another comment. See in context »What I meant is that the US needs to stop defining itself by what it’s fighting, and time to decide who we are and what we want to become. If you define yourself by what you’re fighting, you’re only aspiring to be incrementally better than your opponent, and excuse the rest out of necessity.
In response to another comment. See in context »Whether it’s the Cold War or the War on Terror, the enemy could be pointed to on a map. Internally, we can call it “Red State” vs. “Blue State”. But the real problem is every last damn one of us who practices partisanship. Ideology is not just not the solution, but the root of many of our current problems.
OK. Now I understand and completely agree.
In response to another comment. See in context »We need to try and be the UNITED States of America in our attitudes, our future is at stake. We do nothing and the economists agree doomsday will come. To much bickering with no solutions today. I stopped listening to AM talk radio, this guy (Obama) couldn’t go to the bathroom the right way to listen to them, tired of that. This blog is popular because he is opening eyes, away red herrings! Good job Rick and Happy New Year!
In response to another comment. See in context »Well said, ebiz…and happy new year to you too!
In response to another comment. See in context »Great post, Rick. You know what’s funny? Until you brought this to my attention, it never even occurred to me that the President waiting to address the situation was a problem. His handling of it seemed altogether appropriate. Obviously I wasn’t paying attention to the critics, probably because there seemed to me nothing in this to be critical of. Now that I’ve read your post, I’m actually ticked off that this is even an issue. We seem more and more a nation of chronically dissatisfied adolescents.
Thanks, David. And happy new year!
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] Good reads: Dick Cheney is a coward and a disgrace. And Obama gets heat for treating Americans like adults in terror incident. And Change you can defeat Al Qaeda with. And On Drama Queens and Cool Cats. All well written and [...]
“To my Republican friends I would say this – enough already with the whole political points game. Serious times require serious people and there doesn’t seem to be a serious bone in your collective bodies except for when it comes to feathering your own re-election opportunities.”
Change the word Republican to Democrat, and that quote would be equally applicable in 2005-2006.
Grownups don’t get votes.
You know, I’ll be the first to say that it is not only republicans who will take advantage of the misfortunes of a president in another party for political purposes. I also acknowledge that when one of us falls on one side of the political fence, we tend to see the erros, real or perceived, of the other side in starker focus. So, to that extent, your comment that we could replace the word “Republican” with “Democrat” in 2005-6 no doubt rings with some truth.
However, you cannot change the facts with perception. I’m an old guy of 58 years old and I have not always leaned Democrat. Still, in all my years, I’ve never seen either party behave the way the current Republicans have chosen to behave. The Christmas incident is a perfect example of this. As has now been recounted endlessly, Bush had nothing to say about the shoe bomber for six days after the event. A search will reveal to you that the Democrats did not jump on him for his silence. They did not politicize the event. This is not my opinion, this is the way it was. Do the work and you will find that this was the case.
Personally, I thought Bush was right to stay mum until he knew more. But whether he was right or wrong, it was not a situation to be politicized and the Democrats did not do so. You cannot say that about this incident.
Now extend it out. In the history of the United States of America, there have never been the number of filibusters voted on as what we have experienced during the current session of the Senate. Not my opinion – a clear and easily provable fact.
I will also say this. While I will certainly admit my biases, I have this weird tendency towards trying my best to be fair. I may be the only Democrat in existence who did not criticize President Bush when he stayed seated in the children’s classroom for a minute after getting the news of the 9-11 attack. Presidents are human and whom among us would not need a minute to collect ourselves after getting that news? Bush simply had the misfortune of getting the news when he was on camera at a public appearance. What;s more, I have always thought that Bush was displaying some sensitivity to the fact that he was sitting in a room filled with small children whom he didn’t want to freak out. I applaud him for that and I’m not afraid to say so.
So, I’m not a knee jerk Republican basher. That said, you simply are not correct when you say its no different in this instance or how it was in 2005. Given that you may be more alined with the GOP, which is certainly fine, this may be an understandable, visceral reaction. But that doesn’t make it factually correct. It’s not. You should give this some thought and, if necessary, some research time. I don’t begrudge a political party from furthering their prospects. I do begrudge a political party doing so at the expense of all Americans on topics that should have nothing to do with political parties.
I don’t want Republicans to be harmed by terrorists any more than I want Democrats or anyone else to be harmed. I don’t blame Republicans (including President Bush) for the surprisingly few terrorist attack that take place. We got through most of Bush’s two terms with few incidents following 9-11. Good for him and I give due credit. We got through the first year of Obama’s term with one incident that failed. Good for Obama who also deserves due credit.
In response to another comment. See in context ».
So, I have to say that your approach to this reveals the immaturity I speak of in this post. If you think that any government can stop any terrorist effort, then you need to grow up and understand the world we live in. Be glad that both administrations have done a pretty good job and acknowledge that, until Superman gets elected, these things are going to happen in this world no matter who the president may be or what political party he or she may represent.
I reddited you earlier, fyi
http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/ajz23/obama_gets_heat_for_treating_americans_like_adults/
–Kyle
Thanks for that, Kyle.
In response to another comment. See in context »[...] YesterdayThe Jack Bauer decadeJohn McQuaidEdge of ChaosYesterdayObama gets heat for treating Americans like adultsRick UngarThe Policy Page Follow [...]
Hello Rick – I’m a new reader to your blog, must say I was blown away by the first post. Any chance of you leaving the US and hopping on the next plane to become a political commentator/writer in South Africa? Tell you what, it’s more than likely you could offer intelligent input on our health care system too.
On a more serious note it’s exciting to see the level of debate and the nature of conversation that’s happening in the States. As an outsider looking in it speaks to a post (thank God!) Bush maturation that bodes well for you country and the world. Bush fostered a childish co-dependency, it’s exciting and liberating to see Obama’s mature leadership in action and how it’s changing the nature of debate in your country.
Hello Mandy. Thanks so much for the kind words and welcome. Hope to see your comments here in the future.
In response to another comment. See in context »My concern is that Americans have yet to mature anywhere near enough for the challenges we have- even if we are fortune enough to have a president who is.
As for writing in South Africa, that’s a pretty sweet offer! Maybe you can get your friends to begin reading True/Slant and then it will be almost like I’m there!
Happy New Year.
It has been so long since any politician, much less the President, treated Americans like adults. Perhaps we need a re-education program. But seriously, it was reassuring to see Obama take his time, learn the details, then discuss the situation clearly and intelligently. No wonder the Republicans have no idea how to respond.
Agreed, Jon.
In response to another comment. See in context »Happy new year.
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