CIA Director Leon Panetta made a statement the other day that I must disagree with,
During an interview in the current issue of the New Yorker, Panetta says Cheney's wide range of recent criticisms of Obama — including the decision to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba — show the ex-vice president "smells some blood in the water on the national security issue."
"It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics," said Panetta. "When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point."
While I grant you the idea that what former VP Dick Cheney is saying about President Obama making the country less safe is purely politics, it is not, in my view, Dick Cheney or the GOP "wishing" we'd get hit again to prove a point.
Instead, Dick Cheney and his fellow Republicans are 'setting the stage' for political gain -- IF such an event should ever happen again.
That is also what the GOP did by voting 'no' to the Recovery and Reinvestment package that Obama and the Democrats voted for. They are aware that the economy being the worst since the Great Depression may not being showing many signs of improvements by election day in 2010 -- giving them something to campaign with. They hope to be able to blame Obama and the Democrats for their FAILED stimulus package and deficit spending.
Of course they are ignoring the fact that if not for that stimulus package the economy would have been a great deal worse. They also ignore the fact that over 73% of the deficit was created under the Bush administration.
They are also setting the stage for more deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan by claiming that Obama's rush to leave Iraq will create more danger for the troops. Being fully aware that 'any' withdraw at 'any' time would cause a spike in deaths.
Lastly, some in the GOP Party are now claiming that Obama's foreign policy of "unclenching one's fists" didn't work -- that Ahmadinejad's reported win is proof of that. Ari Fleischer is even claiming the massive reform movement demonstration in Tehran is due to the Bush administrations "tough policies" .
But again, do I think they WISH for another attack on U.S. soil or WISH for the economy to fail or WISH for the deficit to get worse or they WISH for more deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan or WISH for Ahmadinejad to control Iran--- call me naive but; NO I do not.