Dem's Did Not Criticize Vacationing Bush Over "Shoe Bomber"

The contrast between Democrats and Republicans could not be greater:

...the similarities between last Friday’s incident and the attempted shoe bombing in 2001 are striking.

This year’s came attack came on Christmas. The attempt eight years ago took place on December 22. Obama was on vacation in Hawaii when the suspect, Omar Abdulmutallab, allegedly used plastic explosives in his try to blow up the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight. Bush was at Camp David when Reid used similar plastic explosives to try to blow up his Paris-to-Miami flight, which diverted to Boston after the incident.

Like the Obama White House, the Bush White House told reporters the president had been briefed on the incident and was following it closely. While the Obama White House issued a background statement through a senior administration official calling the incident an “attempted terrorist attack” on the same day it took place, the early official statements from Bush aides did not make the same explicit statement.

Bush did not address reporters about the Reid episode until December 28, after he had traveled from Camp David to his ranch in Texas.

Democrats do not appear to have criticized Bush over the delay. Many were wary of publicly clashing with the commander-in-chief, who was getting lofty approval ratings after what appeared to be a successful military campaign in Afghanistan. The media also seemed to have little interest in pressing Bush about the bombing, or the fact that the incident had revealed a previously unknown vulnerability in airplane security – that shoes could be used to hide chemicals or explosive devices.

As usual, Republicans are willing to say anything in order to try and score political points. In this case, Republicans are bashing Barack Obama, despite the fact that this attempted terrorist attack was a systemic problem of the type that occurred during the Bush Administration as well, and despite the fact that one of their own has played a major role in blocking confirmation of a new Transportation Security Administration head. Meanwhile, guess which administration released two of the Al Qaeda leaders behind the Christmas Day "underwear bomber" plot:

Two of the four leaders allegedly behind the al Qaeda plot to blow up a Northwest Airlines passenger jet over Detroit were released by the U.S. from the Guantanamo prison in November, 2007, according to American officials and Department of Defense documents. Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the Northwest bombing in a Monday statement that vowed more attacks on Americans.

American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an “art therapy rehabilitation program” and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials.

That's right, the Bush Administration released the Al Qaeda leaders into Saudi "art therapy," and Republicans have blocked a new head of the TSA, yet those same Republicans are now criticizing Obama for the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack. I swear, if Barack Obama cured cancer and heart disease, Republicans would bash him for not curing the common cold as well (or for not having cured cancer and heart disease sooner, leading to the deaths of millions of Americans). It's pathetic and wildly irresponsible, but that's Republicans for ya.

P.S. Also, what's with the Republicans talking down our national security? Of course, these are the same people who have just spent the past year talking down our economy, which is now well on the way to recovery, so what else would you expect?