Dick Cheney is at it again. Yesterday he practically threatened the American people with a
nuclear attack if they dare vote for John Kerry. I'll spare you the Cheney quote, but I do want to quote from the Kerry campaign's response:
"He has the audacity to question whether a decorated combat veteran who has bled on the battlefield is tough and aggressive enough to keep America safe,'' said Mark Kitchens, Kerry campaign national security spokesman. "He wants to scare Americans about a possible nuclear 9/11 while the Bush administration has been on the sidelines while the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran - the word's leading sponsor of terrorism - have increased.''
Is this the best the Kerry campaign can do? They're getting hit with heavy artillery by Cheney and they respond with hand grenades!
There is a very obvious countercharge Kerry could make, but for some reason nobody wants to say it:
September 11th happened under Bush's watch. If something happens under a president's watch, that incumbent bears the brunt of the resposibility. Yet except for a few brave voices on the left, like the
Center for American Progress, no one on our side seems willing to make this charge (I've
suggested this before). It's as if no one wants to blame Bush for his utter failure to even take the most preliminary steps towards preventing 9/11. Given the systemic problems that plague the FBI, CIA, and other agencies, it's unlikely that any administration could've prevented the attacks. Yet it's also clear that there
were warning signs that Bush and his team simply ignored because they weren't interested in counterterrorism. As Kerry likes to say, let me be clear: the Bush team was negligent in its duty to protect America, and thus made it easier for 9/11 to happen.
So when Cheney charges that voting for Kerry makes a terrorist attack on American soil more likely, Kerry should simply say, "We already got attacked under Bush! Do you want to reelect the team that already allowed America to be attacked?" Of course, the senator would probably add a few more words (OK, a lot more words) but that's the gist of it.
Only 12 days to the election. So as Sonny Corleone would say: "Time to go to the mattresses!"
-- Originally posted on Another Liberal Blog