Posted on 01/30/2010 6:39:33 AM PST by kristinn
Maine Senator Susan Collins totally destroys Barack Obama over his administration's conduct of the war on terror in the Republican weekly radio address.
No need to elaborate. Read the text for a masterful take down of Obama.
“Less than one hour. That’s right, less than one hour.
“In fact, just fifty minutes.
“That’s the amount of time that the FBI spent questioning Abdulmutallab, the foreign terrorist who tried to blow up a plane on Christmas Day.
“Then, he was given a Miranda warning and a lawyer, and, not surprisingly, he stopped talking.
“How did we get to this point? How did the Obama administration decide to treat a foreign terrorist, who had tried to murder hundreds of people, as if he were a common criminal?
“On Christmas Day, the skies above Detroit became a battleground in the War on Terrorism.
“That day the bomb being carried by Abdulmutallab failed to detonate. Thanks to the courageous action of the passengers and crew, nearly 300 lives were saved on the plane and more lives were spared on the ground.
“The government’s security system, a front line in the war against terrorists, failed long before Abdulmutallab boarded his flight to the United States.
“It failed when his visa wasn’t revoked, even though his father had warned our embassy in Nigeria about his son’s ties to Islamic extremists.
“It failed when the intelligence community was unable to connect the dots that would have placed Abdulmutallab on the terrorist watchlist.
“It failed when this terrorist stepped on to the plane in Amsterdam with the same explosive used by the ‘Shoe Bomber,’ Richard Reid, more than 8 years ago.
“But, today, I want to discuss another failure – a failure that occurred after Abdulmutallab had already been detained by authorities in Detroit – an error that undoubtedly prevented the collection of valuable intelligence about future terrorist threats to our country.
“This failure occurred when the Obama Justice Department unilaterally decided to treat this foreign terrorist as an ordinary criminal.
Abdulmutallab was questioned for less than one hour before the Justice Department advised him that he could remain silent and offered him an attorney at our expense.
“Once afforded the protection our Constitution guarantees American citizens, this foreign terrorist ‘lawyered up’ and stopped talking.
“When the Obama administration decided to treat Abdulmutallab as an ordinary criminal, it did so without the input of our nation’s top intelligence officials.
“The Director of National Intelligence was not consulted.
“The Secretary of Defense was not consulted.
“The Secretary of Homeland Security was not consulted.
“The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center was not consulted.
“They would have explained the importance of gathering all possible intelligence about Yemen, where there is a serious threat from terrorists whose sights are trained on this nation. They would have explained the critical nature of learning all we could from Abdulmutallab. But they were never asked.
“President Obama recently used the phrase that ‘we are at war’ with terrorists. But unfortunately his rhetoric does not match the actions of his administration.
“The Obama administration appears to have a blind spot when it comes to the War on Terrorism.
“And, because of that blindness, this administration cannot see a foreign terrorist even when he stands right in front of them, fresh from an attempt to blow a plane out of the sky on Christmas Day.
“There’s no other way to explain the irresponsible, indeed dangerous, decision on Abdulmutallab’s interrogation. There’s no other way to explain the inconceivable treatment of him as if he were a common criminal.
“This charade must stop. Foreign terrorists are enemy combatants and they must be treated as such. The safety of the American people depends on it.
“I’m Senator Susan Collins from Maine. Thank you for listening.”
Bump worthy... broken clock bump worthy too!
“I don’t see Collin’s conversion as political, but instead as a belated awakening”
Sure, credit where credit’s due. But I suspect she’ll be aiming the dagger at our back another day.
I agree with you Paul. The far right does not realize in MA or ME social conservatives don't have much of a chance. I think had Brown, Collins, or Snowe taken a hard position on abortion, or come across as a Southern Baptist, that would mean three more votes would be in place for Obama agendas.
Kudos to Collins.
Good job and about time.
Well it’s pretty darned cold here in WI this morning, but apparently it’s even colder in a more unlikely place.....
Well, a broken clock is correct twice a day.......
I'm not sure of that. The republican apparatus here is run by the money of McKernan, Cohen and the like. As was the case in NY-23, "conservatives" are swamped by the money of the state and national party apparatus.
IMO, the republican party takes votes for these weak sisters as a sign of support for the positions and politics they espouse. I typically no-vote this spot on the ballot. They haven't earned my support.
The average American does not like the idea of being attacked. If the Dems seem weak on national security, that will hurt them at the polls.
Here's another fine mess Janet has gotten them in to.
Democrat Congressman on No-Show Cabinet Official: ‘Where the Hell is Secretary Napolitano?’
We spend a LOT of time here beating up the Maine twins, but we also know that Health Care, Cap and Trade, and Amnesty would already be Obama trophies...had those seats been held by Democrats.
Anyway, that’s not my point - Olympia Snowe should have responded to Obama’s State of the Union speech. And she should have said something to the effect that you can go to ANY conservative in the Republican Party and ask if she (Olympia) is a Fire-Breathing Extremist...and they would say HELL NO, she’s a moderate at best (along with her twin, McCain, and a few others in the Senate).
YET - she voted against cloture on health care (along with the other moderates in the Senate)...the bill was THAT BAD. And then just take one aspect - the time bomb - which is that you cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. No different than letting you wait until your house burns down before buying insurance to cover the fire (or hurricane). It was designed to EXPLODE the existing system of health care in this country, and SHE could say it with credibility, whereas Jim Inhofe would have a tougher time (not that I have a problem with Jim...it’s just that he’s a proven conservative). In other words, if she’s lining up with us, we need to get her out in public beating the daylights out of Obama and the rest of the Dems.
She’s probably our best weapon (for as long as she stays with us).
She hasn't undergone any conversion or awakening. This speech is consistent with the positions she's expressed as chair and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Wow, go Collins.
It’s amazing how prodding from the growing conservative Tea party movement has suddenly caused the most socialist leaning OP(formerly the GOP) members to grow a spine.
Finally Collins has a backbone. Massachusetts has woken up some of the RINOs that were actually RINdino, republicans that are from democratic controlled states that vote generally stupidly, with the democratic (progressive) side. Brown has stated though he will vote with the democrats on issues. One thing if Harry Reid is a true Mormon, he would not vote for the abortion issue. It is odd a 70 year old Mormon raised that blacks are inferior and cursed by Cain and are Hamite is in fact a rascist, is deemed as making a poor choice for words. Obama stated just words and words do matter. So in fact Obama is a Bolshevik, Reid is Rascist and Collins is antiterrorist muslim hater
WOW! Sounds like she got some Scott Brown religion from neighboring Mass.
I believe Reid wasn’t raised a Mormon — he converted as a young adult (dating a Mormon girl played a role, I think).
Nor mine, but, being a realist about it, conservatives have a hard time getting a fair shake, especially in the media. Conservatives need to build in Maine from the local level up, and won't win state-wide or nationally until this is done.
In the mean time, I'll take Sen. Collins over the warmed over socialists green candidates who pop up everywhere.
As I said earlier, do you want her first Senate vote to be for Harry Reid? I think not.
Bambi's got no blind spot when it comes to his War on Prosperity. He attacks those who would dare to make profits and create jobs like it's second nature.
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