For liberals, politics trumps American safety

Anti-Anti-Terrorism aka Man Caused Disasters

By Robert Stacy McCain on 12.28.09 @ 6:08AM

When Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate an explosive aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day, liberals were quick to warn against the clear and present danger.

It wasn't the threat of al Qaeda-trained bombers blowing up Detroit-bound planes that concerned them. Rather, liberals feared that Americans might blame the Obama administration for failing to protect them from terrorists or -- perhaps even worse -- demand action against the violent extremists who want to kill us all.

Liberals believe most of their fellow citizens are benighted troglodytes, so there was also the frightening possibility of a xenophobic hate-crime backlash. Monitoring one reliable barometer of elite sentiment, Andrew Breitbart remarked: "Based upon my NPR listening sessions, I am fearful that reactionary Americans are going to go on a rampage against Nigerians tomorrow."

While the anti-Nigerian rampage failed to develop over the holiday weekend, there were "reactionary Americans" willing to criticize the Obama administration. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) said the president needs to "connect the dots," and accused the administration of trying to "downplay the threat from terrorism."

As if on cue, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNN that there was "no indication that [Abdulmutallab's attack] is part of anything larger," and further declared that "the system worked."

Given that the would-be terrorist got past security with explosives in his underwear, and was foiled only by a faulty detonator and a brave Dutch passenger, Napolitano's claim provoked scoffing by conservatives. Michelle Malkin depicted Napolitano with a red clown nose. "Jasper Schuringa is 'the system,' apparently," Mary Katharine Ham quipped, referring to the young Dutchman who subdued the 23-year-old Nigerian.

Napolitano's assurance that Abdulmutallab's attack was not "part of anything larger" seemed to contradict reports from ABC News that the 23-year-old Nigerian had trained for his attack in Yemen with al Qaeda, which provided him with his bomb. ABC also reported that investigators believe Abdulmutallab had been influenced by radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki, spiritual advisor to Malik Hasan, whose one-man jihad at Fort Hood left 13 dead in November. More>>