I've heard former CIA man Michael Scheuer before on the Michael Smerconish Show and elsewhere, and I recall that he seemed at first to hail from the Sensible Party in our national security community. But like a lot of folks these days he's now swimming in the deep end of the pool:
Yesterday, Glenn Beck guest and former CIA official Michael Scheuer openly hoped for a terrorist attack on the United States, saying, "the only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States...It's an absurd situation again, only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them effectively, consistently, and with as much violence as necessary." Beck nodded solemnly.
This is the same Michael Scheuer who, a few months ago, played patriotism police arguing that anyone who didn't support the United States using torture to interrogate terrorist suspects was anti-American...now he's begging for a terrorist attack on the United States. This is a pretty awesome example of how the right conflates their political interests with the interests of the country as a whole. If there's no terrorist attack, then Americans are safe. But Scheuer can't be right if there's no terrorist attack. And Scheuer being right is actually more important than Americans staying alive.
Exactly. There are so many off-base assumptions here -- that things that people don't like about our government right now are worse than the slaughter of 3,000 innocent Americans, that only "as much violence as necessary" prevents more terrorism (see how this is being re-thought in Afghanistan). That Glenn Beck didn't jump up and object to Scheuer's remarks is telling, yet also not surprising. Sadly, this kind of thinking found its way into my own newspaper a couple of years ago. It was horribly wrong then, and it's horrible wrong now.
The GOP, the party of "Hate America First".— Some Boca Dude
Comment removed.- Who reads this drivel? Buchy's just mad because Glenn Beck has his own TV show, a highly rated radio show, and a couple of best selling books. Much unlike his anti-Reagan book that no sane person has read..jealous much?— RowingMan
- "Naturally the common people don't want war... That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." ----Hermann Goering, Nazi, President of the Reichstag, Hitler's designated successor, the second man in the Third Reich— hayward giablommi
- Who reads this drivel?....obviously you!— chasing history
Isn't Scheuer being ironic here? Scheuer knows we dropped the ball after 9/11 by invading Iraq rather than putting all our muscle into catching bin Laden. Iraq drained the American spirit for justice as much as it drained manpower and treasure. Would we be willing now to draft a half million soldiers and send them to Afghanistan/Pakistan to do the job right, unless we were attacked again?
What will it take for fruitcakes like Bunch and those Media Matters colostomies to advocate taking Islamic extremism seriously? Sadly, it will take another attack on US soil. This is the absurdity of which Sheuer speaks.— Mr. Smith- Comment removed.
Think for myself: I seem to remember the left keeping a running total of the dead in Iraq up until the surge, when the death tally slowed dramatically, and it no longer benefited the libs politically. As far as our safety goes, as long as Obama keeps the anti-terror policies of the Bush administration in place (which he has, for the most part), we should be protected just fine.— jmc- Scheuer is an extremist; I don't agree with his statement. My question for Will and the board is this: what office has he ever been elected to? I mean, everyone here is jumping on this as if his statement somehow represents that of an entire political party (heck, even Cheney demanded an apology when accused of this sort of view) when this guy is in actuality a career CIA guy who was put in charge of the Bin Laden group during the Clinton administration in 1996. Boca and Think both slammed the GOP in their posts despite the FACT that his statements are not supported by the party. Seriously, how is that objective on your part? He is NOT a Republican officeholder espousing any formal part of a platform; he is a gentleman speaking for himself.— Vandy
- Comment removed.
- Only the morons on the right would think they only way to take radical extremism seriously is an attack by AQ. Seems to me Obama is taking it seriously be winding down Iraq and redeploying troops to combat AQ in Afghanistan. It only took the neocons 6 years and trillions of dollars later to finally get it.— chasing history
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- The real point is Glenn Beck's nod. He had the ability to say he understands the thought process but this type of extreme thinking weakens their position. Glenn Beck needs to be "crazy" otherwise he'd be Sean Hannity. Sadly, many many Americans see Glenn as quite credible. Getting a national audience on Fox TV has pulled him so far to the right you can see him out your left eye.— pagoda
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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