This made me chuckle.
In a major story in the upcoming Newsweek entitled The New Age Of Terror, there is a wide ranging number of topics discussed with respect to the five years since the terrorist attacks on 9/11/01, as well as quotes from many different experts, officials, congresscritters, former administration officials and others. While it certainly is comprehensive, the article has its share of “puff-piece moments” with respect to this administration as well as the obligatory “scaring the bejeezus out of everyone” moment in highlighting how easy it would be to blow a hole in a plane with explosives.
However, in touching on the latest terror plot which was thwarted by UK officials (maybe sooner than they would have liked to because of Dear Leader’s sagging numbers as well as the pending Armageddon all throughout the Middle East), there is this choice blurb from Tom Ridge:
As Americans stood in newly long lines at airports, wondering if they would ever again be able to carry a tube of toothpaste or hair gel in their carry-on bags, there was a feeling of helplessness, a return of the persistent low-grade anxiety that had lingered for months and years after 9/11. Bush tried to reassure Americans that they are safer than they were before the attacks. At the same time, his vice president, Dick Cheney, darkly warned that the Connecticut primary victory of antiwar candidate Ned Lamont over Sen. Joseph Lieberman would only encourage “Al Qaeda types.” (Interviewed by NEWSWEEK, former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge bridled at his former colleague’s remark: “That may be the way the vice president sees it,” he said, “but I don’t see it that way, and I don’t think most Americans see it that way.”)
This is nice on one hand, because it is not the first time that Ridge has spoken openly about the manipulation of terror threats or the complete and utter bullshit from this administration with respect to terror threats. However, it does beg the question as to why so many people who supposedly have dedicated their careers to public service (and yes, many were involved before 6 years ago) feel the need to do their jobs AFTER they actually leave their positions.
It also begs the question of why Tom Ridge – someone appointed as the first head of the Department of Homeland Security – hates America and sides with the terrorists.