Secretary Napolitano dissembles, “the system works”. Pure Baloney! Those passengers were saved not by the system working, but by a detonator failing! Why in the hell can we never get truth from this administration??? I for one am sick of the liberal definition of spin! True spin must contain at least a grain of truth! Liberal spin consists of outright lies!
Obama stays low profile after terror attempt
Americans haven’t seen President Barack Obama since a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines plane in Detroit on Christmas Day. But they have gotten a glimpse of their new president’s style in the face of a crisis.
Obama, who is expected to publicly address the incident for the first time early this week, has kept mum over the past few days. That’s his approach in this type of situation, aides say — to seek a fact-based assessment. So for the first few days Obama left the public comments to senior members of his administration.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says, “System Works” Then Backtracks
White House warns foes on terror politics
The White House warned political foes Sunday not to provoke a partisan tug of war over terrorism, with President Barack Obama yet to publicly address the thwarted attack on a US airliner.
GOP Slams Administration for Security Breakdowns Leading to Airliner Attack
Investigators piecing together a brazen attempt to bring down a trans-Atlantic airliner said Sunday the suspect tucked a small bag holding his deadly concoction on his body, using an explosive that would have been easily detected with the right airport equipment.
His success in smuggling and partially igniting the material on Friday’s flight to Detroit prompted the Obama administration to promise a sweeping review of aviation security.
Adding to the airborne jitters, a second Nigerian man was detained Sunday from the same Northwest flight to Detroit after he locked himself in the plane’s bathroom. Officials reported that he was belligerent but genuinely sick, and that, in an abundance of caution, the plane was taken to a remote location for screening before passengers were let off.
Investigators concluded he posed no threat. Despite the government’s decision after the attempted Friday attack to mobilize more air marshals, none was on the Sunday flight from Amsterdam, according to a government report obtained by The Associated Press.
Stiffer boarding measures met passengers at gates as authorities warned travelers to expect extra delays returning home from holidays. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs announced a review of air safety on two broad fronts, saying the government will investigate its systems for placing suspicious travelers on watch lists and for detecting explosives before passengers board flights.
Both lines of defense were breached in an improbable series of events Christmas Day that spanned three continents and culminated in a struggle and fire aboard a Northwest jet shortly before its safe landing in Detroit. Law enforcement officials believed the suspect tried to ignite a two-part concoction of PETN and possibly a glycol-based liquid explosive, setting off popping, smoke and some fire but no deadly detonation.
Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, an Islamic devotee once dubbed “the Pope” as a sign of respect by classmates, was released from a Michigan hospital in the custody of federal marshals Sunday after being treated for burns. He is charged with attempting to destroy an aircraft and placing a destructive device in a plane.
Abdulmutallab’s lawyer said Sunday that he is now in a federal prison in Milan, Mich.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano hastened to assure people that flying is “very, very safe.”
She said the suspect in Friday’s attack “was stopped before any damage could be done. I think the important thing to recognize here is that once this incident occurred, everything happened that should have.”
Obama defenders try to explain president’s absence after failed terrorist attack
Fox News has reported that the terror alert levels for international and domestic flights remain at orange. Rep.Peter King (R-NY) along with Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R – MI) was not only critical of Ms. Napolitano for saying, “the system worked,” but also of the president for not being more present in the situation. Mr. King said,:
“It’s important for the president or the secretary to be more out there and reminding people just how real this threat was and how deadly it is,” Mr. King explained. “For the first three months of this administration, they refused to use the word ‘terrorism’.”
“The secretary or the vice president or the attorney general should be out there reminding the American people that this shows how deadly this enemy is, this shows how real this threat is, and how we have to do whatever we can to protect the American people.”
However, defenders of the president, managed to start spinning out reasons for Mr. Obama’s preference to play golf and work out at the gym over doing a press conference regarding flight 253. How does the left leaning Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder explain it? He says “strategy.”:
In fact, he’s been golfing. He received a counterterrorism briefing early this morning, Hawaii time, and moments later, left for the gym. The president’s vacation activities might have become the subject of a fierce partisan fight — but really, the only carping is coming from the usual suspects on the right. There is a reason why Obama hasn’t given a public statement. It’s strategy.
NBC Defends Obama: ‘Not Enough Dots to Connect’
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