Commentary: Time to take politics out of “War on Terror”

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The bottom line should be the national security of our country – United States of America – and the safety of this nation and its people

 

By Juanita Bratcher

There are some things you just don’t politicize. The war on terror is one of them. As Americans, the bottom line should always be focused on the national security of our country – America – and the safety of this nation and its people. And that means every elected official in Washington – regardless of Party affiliation.

Yet, there are some who want to bring politics into the war on terror, and are on the war path – verbally – trying to score political brownie points by pointing the finger of blame wherever they think it will stick – “political barking,” you can say -  even though their statements at times are plastered with misinformation and untruths. Some of the remarks are inflammatory, and the rhetoric is harsh, mean-spirited, incendiary, and in some cases, hateful and poisonous. And they should be called out on it!

President Barack Obama’s policies are getting an undeserved “beat down” by many Republican conservatives. And a lot of it is straight-out politics, plain and simple. All of this from the party of “No” when it comes to acting on various pieces of legislation in Congress, which include their actions on the stimulus package and health care.

Holy mackerel! Conservatives are coming out of the woodwork trying to put fear in the American people, that somehow America is less safe in the hands of President Barack Obama and Democratic leaders. Those are familiar sound bites we as Americans have heard time and time again – that Democrats are weak on national security when it comes to protecting America and its people; which is hogwash. It is the worst undermining politics and political barking imaginable. I’ve always believed that members of both parties, whichever party has the upper hand (President, or party with the most seats in the House or Senate) – Democrat or Republican – will step up to the plate and do what is right for the safety of America and its people.

Partisan politics should never be a part of the picture in America’s efforts to fight al-Qaida, the Taliban or home grown terrorists. When it comes to our national security, the safety of this nation and its people, Democrats and Republicans leaders must work together. It is inconceivably wrong to even think or do otherwise.

Some of those making these “wild misinformed noises” – whether intentionally or not – have  the unmitigated gall to think they can say anything they want to say without being challenged, that some will suck up whatever they say, even when information is flawed. But they cannot block out the images of eight years under President George W. Bush.

Where were these noisy poster children from 2001-2008? Former Vice President Dick Cheney has said more publicly about the Obama Administration since leaving office than he said during the Bush Administration when he was vice president. Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney are staunch critics of the new administration, and have been dropping a lot of negative sound bites about the alleged shortcomings of the Obama administration. Dick Cheney went as far to say that Obama was pretending not at war.

Former New York Mayor and Republican Rudy Giuliani, in an interview with Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos, said that under President George Bush, this nation had “no domestic attacks,” perhaps forgetting or didn’t want to mention the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He later said that he misspoke, that there were no major domestic attacks since September 11.

On Talk Show Host Bill O’Reilly’s show, former Alaska Governor and now author Sarah Palin said: “There is an obvious disconnect between President Obama and the White House, what they are doing to our economy and what they are doing in terms of not allowing Americans to feel as safe as we had felt.”

Mike Parry, a businessman and Republican candidate for a Minnesota Senate seat, a seat being left by Republican State Senator Dick Day who resigned the post, posted on his May Twitter account, that President Obama was a “power-hungry, arrogant Black man.” He later apologized January 6, 2010.

These inflammatory, incendiary voices are an attempt to try and embarrass President Obama by claiming he is lax in doing the job he should be doing; which is absolute hog wash.

There’s an old expression: If you throw enough dirt some of it will stick. Yet there’s an addendum to that expression: Sometimes it comes back to haunt you or slap you in the face.

More power to thinkers who can think for themselves, those who will not devour partisan politics or partisan criticism of the worst kind. There are some who have set out to rewrite history. But history archives have a way of keeping records intact, and keeping the record consistently straight.

The war on terrorists, terrorism, should be a concerted effort by all Americans. We must be united in fighting terrorists – not each other – when it comes to the safety of this country and its people.

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