Boehner: Connecting Museum Attack With DHS Report Exploits Tragedy For Political Purposes
Among the chief critics of a recent Department of Homeland Security report on right wing extremism was House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), who, after the report was released said, "The report that came out of DHS was offensive, and unfortunately, Secretary Napolitano still has a lot of explaining to do."
After it became clear that the suspect in today's deadly shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum is the sort of right wing extremist that report warned about, I put in a call to Boehner's office to ask whether the tragedy had made him reconsider his earlier criticisms.
Here's the Republican Leader's response: "Trying to exploit this awful tragedy to score political points - from the right or the left - is simply grotesque. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families."
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OK, everyone close their eyes, drift back to 2004, call up in your mind's eye Bush's images of 9/11 in campaign ads, and all say it together:
"Trying to exploit this awful tragedy to score political points - from the right or the left - is simply grotesque. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families."
June 10, 2009 6:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Funny, if I didn't know better I would have thought that Boehner was trying to score political points by dismissing a very serious threat brought to light by DHS.
June 10, 2009 6:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, these bozo's politicizing what is the duty of the U.S. Govn't they so dearly cherish, defending the U.S. by releasing a threat assessment is what is tragic.
June 10, 2009 8:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or, another way to look at it, Boner, is this: Republicans who count violent right-wing extremists among their supporters preferred to score political points by accusing Napolitano of discrimination over heeding an appropriate and prescient warning about the very things that have just occurred in Kansas and Washington D.C.
It wouldn't be surprising if Republicans honestly didn't see this coming, because one of the things that defines them as Republicans is their complete lack of foresight. That and their inability to recognize and understand causal relationships.
But, it's worse than that. Whether or not they could see it coming, they don't care. They don't think they'll be held responsible for attacking Napolitano over her report. They think it's too complicated for the general public to see their hand in it.
The evidence is stacking up and the Republicans are about to encounter an image problem that may finally be their undoing. If they think that the American public is sympathetic towards clinic bombers, assassins, or White supremacist terrorists, I say they should go with that hunch. Bet the house on it. Show us what you're really made of, righties.
June 10, 2009 9:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Did bin Laden activate his GOP sleeper cell?
June 10, 2009 11:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
The two go hand in hand. The DHS warned about this and the right wing nuts went balistic and attacked the report, wich was commissioned by BUSH!
June 10, 2009 11:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, it is, John. That's why you should STFU and admit that the report was right after all.
June 10, 2009 11:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's see...
Exploiting situations for political gains by Republican politicians...
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Exploiting situations for political gains by Democrat politicians...
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Looks like their pretty much tied... for this week, at least.
June 11, 2009 2:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Never mind Boehner's "I was wrong so let's change the subject" answer. What is Bachmann's response?
June 11, 2009 7:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's now time for Janet Napolitano to schedule a press conference and retract her apology for the DHS report. Its conclusions are clearly supported by evidence.
Maybe now it's also time to commission a study on the links between a rise in violent, anti-social hate behaviors and the rantings of bobbleheads on Faux News and right-wing radio.
June 11, 2009 9:49 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sooooooo ..... Rep. Boehner. For almost eight years, Republicans exploited the September 11th attacks for political purposes. How is that different?
And you criticized the DHS report and pilloried Sec. Napolitano for what reason?
June 11, 2009 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink