Who is responsible for the attack on NW Flight 253?

A new attack on an airliner in the United States has brought forth the predictable attacks on President Obama from the Revisionist Right. The congressman from Holland, Michigan, Peter Hoekstra, who also happens to be the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, sent out a fund-raising letter that is typical:

In the midst of enjoying Christmas with my family, we were quickly reminded that there is still a war against the American way of life; on Christmas morning, it came right here to Detroit.

If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign.

The Grand Rapids Press also reports that Hoekstra further criticized the administration for plans to close Guantanamo Bay and re-examine interrogation techniques.

Florida Republican Rep. John Mica said in a statement that the TSA had grown lost and bloated in bureaucracy and called for a review. It would be nice if TSA had an administrator, but Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. has held up President Barack Obama's nominee because of his opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.

The President has nominated Erroll Southers, a former FBI special agent, who is the Los Angeles World Airports Police Department assistant chief for homeland security and intelligence. He also is the associate director of the University of Southern California's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events, and he served as a deputy director of homeland security for California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.Two Senate committees have given Southers their bipartisan blessing.

DeMint made the totally incomprehensible assertion that the attempted attack “is a perfect example of why the Obama administration should not unionize the TSA.” He wants Southers to clarify his stand on unionizing the TSA. Perhaps DeMint should clarify his position that the failure of non-unionized TSA workers, argues against hiring union professionals for this important job. DeMint and his Republican co-conspirators cast votes against the key TSA funding measure, the 2010 appropriation bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which included funding for the TSA, including for explosives detection systems and other aviation security measures.

The Revisionistas can also be seen on CNN. Over on MSNBC, Ed Shultz identified what he called “psychotalk,” viz. the assertion by GOP strategist’s Mary Matalin that the September 11th attacks didn't happen on President Bush's watch.

Arguing that President Obama was complaining too much about the problems he inherited from his predecessor, Matalin (who worked for former Vice President Dick Cheney) said her White House was saddled with problems, too. "We inherited a recession from President Clinton and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation's history," she told host John King on "State of the Union."

In real life, the recession started two months after Bush took office, and from some time before Bush took office, until the very day of 9-11 Richard Clarke and others were trying to get W's attention to let him know that “Osama Bin Laden was determined to strike within the U.S.” Condeleeza Rice testified that nobody could have forseen the attack, but Richard Clarke did.

So far, Rudy Giuliani’s only public pronouncement has been to advise Tiger Woods to “Hang in there,” so we will just have to wait a little longer until he announces that Obama doesn’t appreciate the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism.

Perhaps this is a good time to ask, “Who is responsible for the failures of security that led to the Christmas day attack?”

Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks would be forthcoming. Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents.

Given the fact that they were released from Guantanamo, one can assume that they were not the “worst of the worst” for which Guantanamo was supposedly reserved. Whether or not they were radicalized after they arrived at George Bush’s Gitmo, is a question that remains unanswered.

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an “art therapy rehabilitation program” and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials. Space does not permit a complete dossier on the unholy alliance between the Bush Administration and the Kingdom of Saud, so here is a picture worth the proverbial thousand words. More can be found here.

However, for the sake of Mary Maitlin and Dana Perino, I will simply point out that the President of the United States in November, 2007 was none other than George W. Bush.

... and tell 'em Big Mitch sent ya!