I can't help but think that the WTC attacks happened on W's watch. How can the wingnuts give W credit for preventing more terrorist attacks but not attribute some blame for 9/11?

the guy does have a legitimate point. obama certainly is the most dangerous president ever — dangerous to republicans who want the white house or congress for that matter...

I agree with Fran, it's never mentioned that 9/11 happened on Bush's watch and there was ample info at the time to most likely thwart the attack.
As for Thiessen's ridiculous argument, I think the only tool that's been removed is Bush.

In times like these, I think, to paraphrase Ari Fleischer, that Thiessen needs to watch what he does, watch what he says, because, as Orin Kerr reminds us:

for the folks who thought that President Bush had the power to arrest anyone in the United States and detain them as "enemy combatants" without any hearing as part of his Commander-in-Chief power, that this power is now enjoyed by Barack Hussein Obama. That's right: A liberal with the middle name "Hussein" who pals around with terrorists and is adored in Paris now has all that Commander-in-Chief power. And if he decides that you're a threat to the nation, he can order you seized and locked up indefinitely. Congress can't get in B. Hussein Obama's way: As the FISA Court of Review emphasized back in 2002, Congress "could not encroach on the President’s constitutional power." And that meddling Supreme Court can't stop "The One," either. Or at least that's your view of things.

Of course, late conversions into believers of checks and balances are more than welcome.

http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_01_18-2009_01_24.shtml#1232500639

The idea that Obama is "the most dangerous president ever" is becoming much too popular among our psychotic right-wing citizens. The subtext, that he (this horrid "darkie") should be removed by whatever means has been around for some time. These creatures are essentially inciting murder.

indeed, given that torture and secret prisons weren't official US policy until George W. Bush took office, one has to wonder how the country survived as long as it did without those vital programs.

A bit more exposition of the particular CIA program from someone would be helpful as background, anyone?

maybe he's gunning to be a guest host for Limbaugh or Hannity, but these ridiculous pieces aren't doing him any favors.

Actually, I'd say these articles are setting him up perfectly for that position.

And I'm sure he knows it.

what -jlinge- at 2:21 said... Maybe we should snatch Thiessen and "question" him until he admits that he's trying to incite murder. Then we can just lock him up. As a deterrent to others like him, of course.

He doesn't believe any of the drivel he has written, but his ideas and the rhetoric he uses to express them will likely ensure they hang around in the right-wing echo chamber for awhile.

Steve Benen wrote: "... maybe he's gunning to be a guest host for Limbaugh or Hannity, but these ridiculous pieces aren't doing him any favors ..."

He knows exactly what he's doing. He's currying favor with the fake, phony, trumped-up, scripted, focus-group-tested, corporate-sponsored, pseudo-ideological cult of hatred known as "conservatism" in America today. He's looking at scumbags like Limbaugh, Hannity and Coulter rolling in the big bucks, and he wants to fatten up his own wallet with some of that.

The most sickening thing about people like Thiessen is not just that they are purveyors of lies and hate. It's that they are in it for the money. It would be bad enough if they were really "true believers", but they are not. They are as fraudulent as the Madison Avenue-created, one-dimensional, cartoon comic book "conservative" pseudo-ideology they pretend to embrace. They peddle lies and hate to weak-minded, ignorant, gullible dittoheads because it pays.

I once plotted with several other people to attack an entire keg of beer, but fortunately the CIA stopped us.

Did the CIA stop planes from flying into Heathrow Airport?

"It's not even the end of inauguration week, and Obama is already proving to be the most dangerous man ever to occupy the Oval Office."

Combine this with the Palin yahoos shouting "he's a terrorist", and we're already set up for some Oswald type to take a potshot at the President and be hailed by Limbaugh as an American Patriot.

Main Entry: se·di·tion
Pronunciation: \si-ˈdi-shən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English sedicioun, from Anglo-French sediciun, from Latin sedition-, seditio, literally, separation, from sed-, se- apart + ition-, itio act of going, from ire to go — more at secede, issue
Date: 14th century
: incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority

If Obama thinks he going to reason with these crazies, he doesn't understand America. We're a nation teetering on various brinks - economic, environmental, financial, energy - and bad-faith argumentation is the radical right's most potent weapon. At some point, liberals will have to fight them. And given how neutered so many of us are, I'm pretty sure we'll lose. They have the media megaphones, we have blogs and two hours on MSNBC.

I think Thiessen's words should be celebrated, repeated, and shouted from the rooftops as The Official Position of the Republicun Party.

He's great publicity for Democrats. Really.

"but these ridiculous pieces aren't doing him any favors."

You're kidding right? The wingnuts eat this crap up. Hell it's mothers milk to them. Thiessen is on his way to becoming a giant of the Greedy Old Perverts.

Maybe what Thiessen meant was that Obama is the most dangerous President to the GOP ever. Thiessen can't imagine that a commitment to the Constitution could make Americans safe, but what if it does? Thiessen could have a hard time finding work.

What's frightening is the realization that crazy polemicists like Thiessen literally put words into George Bush's mouth -- and that Bush said them.

He doesn't believe any of the drivel he has written, but his ideas and the rhetoric he uses to express them will likely ensure they hang around in the right-wing echo chamber for awhile.

"Thiessen believes Obama is the most dangerous president 'ever.'"

Nope. That contest was won by Darth Cheney.

And given how neutered so many of us are, I'm pretty sure we'll lose.

Speak for yourself. Liberals have kicked conservative ass since the Revolution...

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon happened while George W. Bush was president, ergo, they are the fault of his predecessor, Bill Clinton.

Any terrorist attacks now will happen while Barack Obama is president, ergo, they are his fault.

See, once you start from the premise that no bad thing can possibly be the fault of a Republican, Republican logic is easy.

But I thought the reason we haven't been attacked since 9/11 was supposed to be because "we're fighting them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here?

The reason we haven't had a terrorist attack in quite a few years is mainly because al Qaeda was never more than a few hundred people, of which maybe 10 or 50 or so had the motivation and ability to actually carry out an significant attack.

Saying so (refusing to hype the terrorist threat) won't win you votes, won't sell eyeballs to your advertisers, won't get you gigs as a terrorist expert, won't let you be a Serious Foreign Policy person, won't get you gigs writing for NYT, WashingtonPost, LATimes, TNR, etc., won't get you a sinecure at a think tank like Brookings, AEI or WINEP, nor will it get the fanboyz and jocksniffers all het up at a schmucktank like National Review.

Which is why we continue to labor under this illusion, at even the leftie blogs.

Kanopsis at 2:35 suggested that "Maybe we should snatch Thiessen and "question" him." Naaah, let's just wait until he shows up at Fox and then we can nuke him, Rupert, and the whole facility." ;-)

"The reason we haven't had a terrorist attack in quite a few years is mainly because al Qaeda was never more than a few hundred people, of which maybe 10 or 50 or so had the motivation and ability to actually carry out an significant attack."

And here Rummy was telling me on TV that they made multistory underground mountain cave complexes with massive munitions storage areas, electricity and telephone and internet connections.

You mean to tell me that this was a lie?

http://www.burningcircus.com/content/inserts/binladensfort.gif

Aww.... You didn't mention my favorite plot, the one where the Bad Guys were going to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge by attacking it with... (wait for it...) blowtorches!

'Cause, you know, THAT would work!

Then again, there were those guys in Florida who wanted Al Qaida uniforms, that group that was going to storm Fort Dix, and my other favorite, the guy who was going to blow up JFK by planting a bomb in a fuel pipeline that goes to JFK. A pipeline in New Jersey. Made me wonder why the gas company didn't blow up every time I lit my stove. I'm kidding about that last bit.

Yes, the Bushies certainly kept us safe all these years.

Unfortunately, people like Thiessen and Palin are the ones who are the real enemy #1 - Obama has not much to fear from ABROAD, but MUCH to fear from people WITHIN the US!

...(And this puts aside the notion that we might be able to get intelligence without torturing suspects.)...
But that's the whole problem - if we don't need torture now, we didn't need it then and there goes the entire (so-called) justification for torture. Might even make some people (hint, hint) liable for trial, huh?
Not to mention, Theissen will now have to come up with a different excuse for the stains in his underwear.

My concern is growing about the increasing number of Republican charging that Obama is a Socialist and that he is not just "dangerous" but "the most dangerous President ever."

Such hyperbole during the campaign prompted John McCain to ask his supporters to dial it back. I don't see that happening now that Obama is in office.

It's ironic that with such an articulate person holding the nation's highest office we're losing civility in public dialogue. It's starting to sound like 1995 again.

It's clear that part of the Republican strategy to return to power is to capitalize on anything faintly resembling a terrorist attack. This stuff is prep work, scaring the base. All they have on their side is fear itself.

Bush kept America safe? 9/11 !!!
Bush kept America safe? 9/11 !!!
Bush kept America safe? 9/11 !!!

9/11: Three thousand dead, crushed and burned to a crisp while Bushboy and his merry band ignored clear, repeated intelligence that Bin Laden was going to fly jumbo jets into American buildings. Kept America safe, my ass. Bush and his coterie of criminals have created more burning animosity against this country than anyone would've thought possible. If some enraged fanatic DOES manage to slip through and do something horrible, let's be crystal clear that this will be BUSH's FAULT. BUSH created the seething hatred worldwide against this country; BUSH created untold thousands of terrorists. What was once a ragtag band of marginalized, crazed fanatics has because of BUSH exploded into a worldwide hatred of everything he and his minions represent. One can only hope that Obama and the Dems reach out to enough of the right people in time to prevent the impending catastrophe that BUSH has created. Any further attacks on American soil - ANY FURTHER ATTACKS ON AMERICAN SOIL – ANY FURTHER ATTACKS ON AMERICAN SOIL ARE DIRECTLY AND SOLELY THE FAULT OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, and President Obama is going to have his hands full making sure that the unbelievably volatile situation CREATED BY BUSH does not end in another tragedy like 9/11.

Not like President Obama doesn't already have enough of Bushie's mess to clean up, eh? But Dubya’s insane record of destroying America might not stop at Katrina, the economy, and 9/11. Bush might just keep on killing Americans, in absentia. Only time will tell if Bush's murderous policies continue to kill Americans, even though he's finally, thankfully gone.

Once again, if the unthinkable happens and there is another attack on American soil, it is without question the sole responsibility of those who for the last eight years promulgated murderous, brutal, and insane policies which have swollen a tiny band of crazed fanatics into a worldwide hatred of everything Bush. If the unthinkable happens it is BUSH's fault - BUSH created the world we live in today (such as it is); BUSH created worldwide enmity for the U.S.

ANY FURTHER ATTACKS ON AMERICAN SOIL ARE DIRECTLY AND SOLELY THE FAULT OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION, and President Obama is going to have his hands full making sure that the unbelievably volatile situation CREATED BY BUSH does not end in another tragedy like 9/11. Let us hope and pray that President Obama possesses the ability we believe he has to avert the impending catastrophe that Bush created.

It breaks my heart to think of how any American, any sane person could put America in such danger as Bush has. How could he do this? Why does Bush hate America so much? Why did he create the wave of terrorism that now threatens our country?

Boy, you can see why these guys harp about cults of personality. They are so totally in the sack for Bush it's spooky.

I know Bush liked to surround himself with toadies, but it's still shocking when these guys start blathering.

Dude, pull your head out of Bush's a$$ and start seeing the real world again!