for the president's leadership?
It's one thing to use past tragedy for political gain, but quite another to use the president's homeland security director to laud "the president's leadership in the war against terror" when turning up the terrorism alert in the midst of a presidential campaign. (See full quote, below.)
It's been a while since the alert was kicked up to orange, so we surely were due. I don't doubt that the New York Stock Exchange or the World Bank are in the terrorists' sights. And if, indeed, an imminent attack is averted by the vigilence of citizen, official and law enforcement officer, that's a laudable accomplishment.
But to have Ridge, the man entrusted with the nation's safety, using a threat against American lives to tweak the president's poll numbers, well, that's just despicable.
Ridge has been reportedly telling colleagues that he's ready to step down, weary of the work of combining 22 government entities into one. Perhaps he's also weary of being the president's number-one toady.
Campaign Aid from Tom Ridge:
"But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president's leadership in the war against terror (emphasis added), the reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan."
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