Rep. Peter Hoekstra, Capitalizing on Terrorism and Fear

There is something that is just stomach-churning when politicians politicize terrorism-related events for their own personal financial gain. Take Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI). Just days after the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt on a flight to Detroit, Hoekstra sent out this letter to his constituents:

Dear Friend:

We don't have much time, so I will get right to the point.

In the midst of enjoying Christmas with my family, we were quickly reminded that there is still a war against the American way of life; on Christmas morning, it came right here to Detroit.

We know the story. A cowardly terrorist was allowed to board a flight bound for our state, and armed with explosives, attempted to murder countless passengers and potential victims on the ground.

Unnamed heroes aboard the plane likely averted disaster.

Shockingly, yesterday morning, Barack Obama's Homeland Security Secretary went on TV and said "the system worked"!

They just don't get it. The system didn't "work" here. Far from it! It is insulting that The Obama administration would make such a claim, but then again, these are the same weak-kneed liberals who have recently tried to bring Guantanamo Bay terrorists right here to Michigan!

My promise to you, as your governor, my first duty and most solemn responsibility is to keep Michigan safe!

For almost a decade I have been a leader on National Security and at the forefront of the war on terror. I understand the real and continuing threat radical jihadists pose to our great state of Michigan and our great Nation.

I have pledged that I will do "everything possible" to prevent these terrorists from coming to Michigan.

But I need your help.

If you agree that we need a Governor who will stand up the Obama/Pelosi efforts to weaken our security please make a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250 to my campaign.

When I first ran for Congress after 15 years in the private sector, I believed that while we may have serious policy differences with those on the left, protecting America was neither a Democrat nor Republican issue.

In fact, in the days following September 11, 2001, I spent hours in meetings with my Democrat colleagues, making sure that we were doing everything we could to prevent another terrorist attack.

There should be no partisan rancor when it comes to keeping our citizens safe.

Unfortunately, as the Democrat party drifts further and further to the left, their leaders are making decisions that should frighten us all.

Since President Obama took office, he and his left-wing cronies have taken steps to undermine the work of our brave men and women who work tirelessly to keep us safe.

First came his brazen and naive pledge to close Guantanamo Bay without any idea where to put the Jihadists who will never stop trying to do us harm.

Next, his Justice Department announced plans to reinvestigate intelligence officers involved in interrogating known terrorists in a program that undoubtedly saved American lives. According to seven former CIA directors, this investigation will have a "devastating impact on CIA morale, America's counter terrorism efforts and our foreign intelligence partnerships."

As if this wasn't enough, now comes word that they are prosecuting Navy SEALs on the word of wanted terrorist and his lawyer; while at the same time the President is sending Gitmo prisoners home to Yemen. I can only imagine what will happen when they link up with their fellow Al Qaida jihadists to make more plans to attack our great country.

Not on my watch!

Barack Obama's policies may impress the "Blame America First" crowd at home and his thousands of fans overseas, but they sure don't do anything to protect our families in Michigan or the rest of America.

And while the Obama/Pelosi agenda may be popular in the mainstream media, we should not be governed by the editorial pages of the New York Times.

I will be a governor who fights, every day, to keep Michigan safe.

Won't you join me?

As you know, I have spoken out as loudly as I can against the dangerous policies of the Obama administration.

And while we face many challenges here in Michigan, I know that as Governor, my most solemn obligation will be to work every day to make sure that Michigan families are safe. And I will stop at nothing to make sure that I fulfill this obligation, no matter what the administration in Washington tries to do.

Together, let's stand up for America, and stand up for Michigan. Please, help me fight by making a most generous contribution of $25, $50, $100 or even $250, so that we can fight together to protect our families, our state, and our freedom!

Yours Truly,

Pete Hoekstra

P.S. I am running for Governor to bring conservative leadership to Lansing. I will fight every day to lower taxes, create jobs and stand up for our shared values. Please make a secure, online donation to my campaign of $25, $50, $100 or even $250. Thank you.

Yeah! You tell 'em Pete! Obama is dangerous and you will protect Michigan from these terrorists...but can't do it without a small donation of course.

Former Speaker of the House even went on Hannity last night to say that this botched terror-related incident has helped Rep. Hoekstra in his re-election efforts (h/t ThinkProgress):



What a great campaign he is running right? He is capitalizing on all the right incidents and using fear to stock his campaign coffers! Nothing like pushing the popular GOP meme that Republicans are strong on defense and Democrats are weak.

Nevermind 9/11 of course.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Earlier today I posted an exchange between Spencer Ackerman and Pat Buchanan on MSNBC's "Morning Joe". The point that I wanted to make was that after incidents like the failed terrorist bombing of the Northwest flight on Christmas, we often see the reactionaries come out of the woodwork.

Like Buchanan they argue for torture as well as for racial profiling and preemptive military strikes against whichever country the suspect(s) is/are from. It is a disconcerting pattern that always takes us two steps backward in meaningful discussions on how to handle these threats to the country.

One important point that receives little to no discussion within the corporate media is the cause and effect cycle that has been repeated time and time again in these incidents. Glenn Greenwald highlights this point in this post today. Here is an excerpt:

In the wake of the latest failed terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines, one can smell the excitement in the air -- that all-too-familiar, giddy, bipartisan climate that emerges in American media discourse whenever there's a new country we get to learn about so that we can explain why we're morally and strategically justified in bombing it some more. "Yemen" is suddenly on every Serious Person's lips. We spent the last month centrally involved to some secret degree in waging air attacks on that country -- including some that resulted in numerous civilian deaths -- but everyone now knows that this isn't enough and it's time to Get Really Serious and Do More.

For all the endless, exciting talk about the latest Terrorist attack, one issue is, as usual, conspicuously absent: motive. Why would a young Nigerian from a wealthy, well-connected family want to blow himself up on one of our airplanes along with 300 innocent people, and why would Saudi and Yemeni extremists want to enable him to do so?

[...]

Despite that taboo, evidence always ends up emerging on this question. As numerous reports have indicated, the Al Qaeda group in the Arabian Peninsula has said that this attempted attack is in "retaliation" for the multiple, recent missile attacks on Yemen in which numerous innocent Muslim civilians were killed, as well as for the U.S.'s multi-faceted support for the not-exactly-democratic Yemeni government. That is similar to reports that Nidal Hasan was motivated to attack Fort Hood because "he was upset at the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan."

[...]

As always, the most confounding aspect of the reaction to the latest attempted terrorist episode is the professed confusion and self-righteous innocence that is universally expressed. Whether justified or not, we are constantly delivering death to the Muslim world. We do not see it very much, but they certainly do. Again, independent of justification, what do we think is going to happen if we continuously invade, occupy and bomb Muslim countries and arm and enable others to do so? Isn't it obvious that our five-front actions are going to cause at least some Muslims -- subjected to constant images of American troops in their world and dead Muslim civilians at our hands, even if unintended -- to want to return the violence? Just look at the bloodthirsty sentiments unleashed among Americans even from a failed Terrorist attempt. What sentiments do we think we're unleashing from a decade-long (and continuing and increasing) multi-front "war" in the Muslim war?

In a media world full of pundits who immediately label terror suspects as the epitome of evil, a deeper discussion of causation is often missed. This is the same thing that happened after 9/11 and after countless other attempts at acts of terrorism. Isn't it slightly obvious that the bombing and occupation of Muslim countries could spawn the kind of backlash that would motivate someone to retaliate against the country that is doing the bombing? It would be nice to see these points inserted into the mainstream discussions after incidents like these.

Old Debates Resurface in Lieu of Foiled Terror Attack

After the foiled terrorist attack on a Christmas Day inbound flight to Detroit, familiar conversations are popping up on the news networks and on blogs. There are renewed debates on racial profiling and people like Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) have floated the idea of preemptive action against Yemen.

Spencer Ackerman was on MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning debating Pat Buchanan who advanced many of the same arguments that we see made after an incident like this:



Buchanan's calls for torture and for trading judicial procedure for shadowy, behind-the-scenes tactics really seems crazy when you consider events of the last decade. It sure doesn't take long for figures like Buchanan to forget what we have learned when a situation allows for a reactionary response.