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Accentuate the Negative

Reading Frank Rich’s Times column today, I was again struck by the absurdity of anyone associated with the events of 9/11 citing them at all, let alone in any context intended to convey a positive impression of the speaker. Imagine of the soldiers in charge of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 went around in the years thereafter trying to advise subsequent commanders on how best to stave off surprise attacks. We investigated and demoted those men (Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and General Walter Short), but those that dropped the ball on 9/11 are somehow qualified to tell others what to do on the basis of having presided over one of the biggest disasters in U.S. history.

Update: By coincidence, I just read Richard Clarke, national coordinator for security and counterterrorism, who had a hard time getting anyone to listen to him prior to 9/11, in today’s Washington Post. He has said this before, but it bears repeating:

[T]he Sept. 11 attacks, though horrifying, should not have surprised senior officials. Cheney’s admission that 9/11 caused him to reassess the threats to the nation only underscores how, for months, top officials had ignored warnings from the CIA and the NSC staff that urgent action was needed to preempt a major al-Qaeda attack… Yes, Dick Cheney and Condoleezza Rice may have been surprised by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — but it was because they had not listened.

Why, why would anyone take them seriously on matters of national security?

Clarke via Daily Kos.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 at 3:27 pm and is filed under The Political Mindscape. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Accentuate the Negative”

Jeff Berardi Says:
May 31st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Why would we take them seriously about anything, ever? How many lies have to be told before we call a scam a scam in our public discourse? Apparently, there is no limit.
Ian Says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 9:17 pm
I’m not sure I follow the logic, though. Should we not listen to anyone from FDR’s administration because they blew Pearl Harbor? Was the Japanese attack any less predictable than 9/11? Okay, the Clinton and Bush administrations were asleep at the switch in the years prior to 9/11, but it is a bit extreme to dismiss any and all lessons that any and all individuals associated with these two administrations have on national security out of hand. I get it, Steve, you disagree vehemently with conservatives on just about everything. But I expect something more thoughtful from you given how scrupulously you research and write your baseball columns.
Michael Says:
June 10th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
But Ian, that’s precisely the point.

The people who blew Pearl Harbor were sanctioned. The people that blew 9/11 were given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The people who blew Pearl Harbor attacked the people who committed Pearl Harbor. The people who blew 9/11 attacked Iraq.

If you blow 9/11, you don’t get to go around telling everyone how smart you are at preventing terrorist attacks.
Ian Says:
June 11th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Frank Rich and Steve blame Cheney and Rice for failing to stop 9/11, fine. But by the same reasoning you have to blame FDR et al for failing to stop Pearl Harbor. And Steve extends the point, asking why anyone would listen to them on “national security, ever.” If you condemn Cheney, you have to condemn FDR by the same reasoning. But Steve and Frank Rich won’t do that obviously. I like not being partisan, I get to despise everybody.

Accentuate the Negative

4 Responses to “Accentuate the Negative”

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