GOP ON THE ATTACK – AT 9:24 A.M. ET:  Related to the story just below, the Republicans aren't wasting any time in branding the Obama administration, correctly, as soft on terrorism.  From The Politico:

Republicans have wasted no time in attacking Democrats on intelligence and screening failures leading up to the failed Christmas Day bombing of Flight 253 — a significant departure from the calibrated, less partisan responses that have followed other recent terrorist activity.

This incident was clear-cut, and the United States had been given warning – by the terrorist's own father – that the kid was a bit off. 

The strategy — coming as the Republican leadership seeks to exploit Democratic weaknesses heading into the 2010 midterms — is in many ways a natural for a party that views protecting the U.S. homeland as its ideological raison d’etre and electoral franchise...

...“In the past six weeks, you’ve had the Fort Hood attack, the D.C. Five and now the attempted attack on the plane in Detroit … and they all underscored the clear philosophical difference between the administration and us,” said Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

Good.  Make those contrasts and don't withdraw the criticism.  The GOP must make clear its differences with this administration.

“I think Secretary Napolitano and the rest of the Obama administration view their role as law enforcement, first responders dealing with the aftermath of an attack,” Hoekstra told POLITICO. “And we believe in a forward-looking approach to stopping these attacks before they happen.”

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) went even further, telling FOX News that the Christmas attack proved President Obama’s talk-to-your-enemies approach might actually be encouraging terrorists.

“[S]oft talk about engagement, closing Gitmo, these things are not going to appease the terrorists,” he said. “They’re going to keep coming after us, and we can’t have politics as usual in Washington, and I’m afraid that’s what we’ve got right now with airport security.”

Now Republicans must counter with a plan of their own.  We hope, of course, that all attempts at terror are defeated.  But the last year – since Obama took the oath – has been distinguished by the sheer number of incidents, Fort Hood being the most deadly.  A strong argument can be made that terror groups feel empowered by Obama's projection of weakness, or even indifference.   Terror is both a military and law-enforcement issue, but the Dems put too much emphasis on the latter.

December 29, 2009