Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:39 pm
On December 4, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, made the following statement about the terrorist attack in San Bernadino, California:
“It’s now clear Wednesday’s tragic attack in San Bernardino was an act of radical Islamic terrorism with possible ties to ISIS. The fact Hillary Clinton and President Obama continue to exploit this situation to push for more restrictions on Americans’ Second Amendment rights is as deplorable as it is dangerous. Apparently the Democrat Party isn’t willing to let this ‘crisis go to waste,’ even if it means making it harder for Americans to protect themselves after terrorists again showed their ability to strike on U.S. soil.
“More broadly, this attack is another troubling reminder of how badly President Obama and the Democrat Party have handled the threat of radical Islamic terrorism and the rise of ISIS…In light of Wednesday’s attack, the picture this paints is truly alarming and shows President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Democrat Party as a whole cannot be trusted to keep America safe from radical Islamic terrorists.”
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Right. And like all your candidates and elected officials, let’s just ignore the terrorist attack carried out against a Planned Parenthood clinic a few days before by a “white Christian Republican.”
That’s not deplorable.
It’s not deplorable that Ted Cruz was palling around with a guy who calls for the execution of abortion providers and was doing so just one week before this terrorist attack.
It’s not deplorable that Carly Fiorina is one of the biggest supporters of the faked PP videos that played a part in radicalizing the terrorist.
None of that is deplorable.
It’s also not deplorable either that Priebus and Republicans want terrorists to be able to buy the assault weapons with which they conducted their attack. But it’s deplorable to want to prevent them from buying assault weapons in the future.
I’d say this proves Priebus has a warped sense of values and that we can’t trust him to tell us up from down. It also tells me Priebus thinks y’all are really stupid.
According to Priebus and the Party Without Values, “President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the Democrat Party as a whole cannot be trusted to keep America safe from radical Islamic terrorists.”
Let’s look at the respective performances of Republican and Democratic Presidents:
George W. Bush (R): World Trade Center attacked, 3000 Americans killed, by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.
Response: Bush invades Afghanistan, drives out Taliban, but shows no interest in bin Laden, letting him escape into Pakistan.
Compounds this failure by invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 and through mismanagement of that war, creates a vacuum of power in the region and in the process, the Islamic State.
Republicans make a big deal of Benghazi but when, back in 2014, Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA), told MSNBC’s Ed Schultz that “during the George W. Bush period, there were 13 attacks on various embassies and consulates around the world. Sixty people died,” PolitiFact rated his claim “mostly true,” not because he lied about it but because “Garamendi slightly understated the number of deadly attacks and total fatalities, even using a strict definition.”
So under Republicans we’ve got quite the ugly scorecard: 9/11 and 3,000 dead, 13 embassy attacks and 60+ dead, two wars and thousands more dead and no bin Laden to show for it, and they say 4 dead in Benghazi and 14 dead in San Bernadino show Americans that it’s Democrats who can’t keep us safe?
Barack H. Obama (D): Inherits Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Hunts down and kills bin Laden. Decimates al Qaeda’s leadership. No 9/11’s on his watch.
It is easy to see through this simple comparison who has done a better job keeping America safe, and it’s not the Republicans.
As Bernie Sanders said last night of Donald Trump,
It’s fun for the political media to treat Donald Trump like he’s the lead character in a soap opera or the star player on a baseball team. But the truth is his language is dangerous, especially as it empowers his supporters to act out against Muslims, Latinos, and African-Americans.
Bernie had nothing to say about the fact that Trump has no clue what Russia is doing in Syria, claiming they are bombing ISIL when he fact they are bombing the people we are supporting against Bahar al-Assad’s regime.
Trump said in October that “I like that Putin is bombing the hell out of ISIS,” but it’s not Putin who is bombing the hell out of ISIS but Obama, the president whom Republicans claim is doing nothing to stop the Islamic State.
So if bombing ISIL makes you a good leader, then Republicans are saying Obama is a good leader; that despite all the rhetoric, he is doing exactly what they say he should be doing, but isn’t, even though he is.
And we can trust these guys to protect America when we can’t trust them with facts? Really?
Diplomacy in Syria is crucial to defeating ISIS. Why isn't the media highlighting this in Obama's address? @naiman https://t.co/HZYyKWWrrr
— Just Foreign Policy (@justfp) December 7, 2015
So when Republicans say skip diplomacy, proceed directly to war, you should know who to trust.
It’s not the GOP.
Democrats stand firm behind American values. We don’t treat people like the Nazis treated people. We just don’t. It isn’t the American way. Yet, when the going gets tough, the Republicans turn to fascism, the demonizing not only of our enemies, but of our own citizens, and of innocent people simply because they are not the same color, not the same religion as the rest of us.
America – and the world – cannot afford another Republican “Mission Accomplished.” We’re in enough trouble as it is.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
