Following up on MattC.’s post… this little piece of news went unnoticed last week
Apparently, from last week forward, terrorism does not exist in our nation’s vocabulary. From now on, acts like those of September 11 will be referred to as “man-caused disasters,” at least according to the Obama Administration’s Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano.
From Bret Baier at Fox News:
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has an explanation about why she never mentioned the word “terrorism” during her first testimony on Capitol Hill.
Napolitano tells the German news site Spiegel Online that while she presumes there is always a threat from terrorism: “I referred to “man-caused” disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.”
James Carafano, senior research fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation says: “By deliberately trying not to use the T word they run a serious political risk. If something does happen, they’ll be accused of taking their eye off the ball and no amount of explanation after the fact will suffice.”
I don’t like to play the 9/11 card that often, as it should not be used lightly, but I guess this was not an act of terrorism, but a “man-caused disaster”:
March 25th, 2009 at 11:16 am
“Politics of fear”?
God forbid we concede that there may be something worth being afraid of.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:38 am
The politics of Alex Knepper is something to be very afraid of.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:39 am
These guys are naive, naive, naive.
They talk about terrorists as if they are some sort of bad hurricane, popping up here and there to annoy us for no apparent reason.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Well said MPC, too bad it is not just a hurricane or a very bad snow storm, but the reality is worse.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Combined with “overseas contingency operation” it would appear that they are operating under the assumption that changing the words they use to describe reality changes reality.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Hovic got it. This president and his comrades truly believe that if they speak it, it is so. Weird. But so far, the American people apparently think that’s right. The rest of the world is cathcing on though.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Over 3,000 people died on that terrible day in September 2001. Let there should be no doubt that this was caused not by “a man-made disaster” but by the acts of men committing pure evil. That is something we should never forget.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
This president and his comrades truly believe that if they speak it, it is so. Weird. But so far, the American people apparently think that’s right.
That’s what the Bush administration taught us. If you state something enough times, it becomes a fact.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Can’t we all agree that leaders that don’t use the politics of fear is a good thing? Consider Herman Goering:
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/goering.asp
This works for domestic or foreign policy.
March 25th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Thanks for that link, SteveS
March 25th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
‘War on Terror’ not officially abolished
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0309/War_on_Terror_not_officially_abolished.html
March 25th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Why is everyone so surprised? Obama’s own spiritual mentor and “father figure” believed we deserved 9/11 and our chickens were coming home to roost that morning.
After all, Obama’s wife was never proud of her country in her adult lifetime until Obama won a primary/caucus…
March 25th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
So “man caused disasters” will now refer to terrorism. I would expect the Obama administration and environmentalists to refer to global warming (and all those weather disasters that they, in their disturbed minds, link to global warming) as “man caused disasters”. It is a small leap, then, to call sheep, pigs, cows, and anyone who consumes meat as a terrorist. I guess that anyone driving a pickup or suv is now a terrorist too.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
[...] I also want a tough customer who can stare into the face of those who want to mastermind “man-caused disasters” on American soil, and chase them across the globe until they are scared to walk out of their [...]