Dick Cheney and the al Qaeda Smear

Yesterday in discussing the London terrorist attacks I made reference to the unseemly tendency of American politicians and especially those at the helm of government today to demogogue the issue of terrorism. Today's New York Times has an editorial addressing this exact issue. Apparently in an interview session with reporters, Dick Cheney hinted that by supporting Ned Lamont over Joseph Lieberman Democrats were supporting "al Qaeda types." Yes, by supporting one Democrat over another, one who did not support the war in Iraq (which had almost nothing to do with al Qaeda at the time, this administration's protestations notwithstanding, though of course their there now) over one who did, the Democrats are supporting "al Qaeda types." This sort of rhetoric is beyond contemptible. On the list of almost-always unacceptable comparisons, can we not agree that labelling an American citizen an "al Qaeda type" is just as intellectually and morally bankrupt as the Hitler/Nazi/Fascist/Stalin analogies?

This is precisely what I was trying to address yesterday when I mentioned politicians using terrorism for political gain and not to make us any safer. This administration's callous disregard for truth in its quest not to keep us safe bit to gain political advantage would be merely flabbergasting were the stakes not so very high.