Ridge Confirms That Terror Alerts Were Politicized

A sad revelation in the autobiography of Tom Ridge, the inaugural Homeland Security Chief:

Tom Ridge confirms a long-held suspicion among Bush critics, writing in his new autobiography that he "was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over."

While it is good on Mr. Ridge, someone long respected for his political honesty, to have resigned, as well as to follow one of the unwritten rules of politics by not revealing this until after the Bush administration ended, it is a sad day for Republicans that we find ourselves seeing that some liberal conspiracies were true.

It is also unfortunate, because this blog now finds itself complimenting President Obama for keeping the Terror Alert level out of the news and downplaying it (while not taking away the transparency.)

Source: http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0809/Politicizing_the_terror_alerts.html?showall

Military Experts in Senate Write Obama On Trials For Terrorists

Jim Webb (D-VA), John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-D - CT) have penned a letter to the President in an attempt to dissuade him from trying Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11, in the United States. Hopefully, this won't be necessary, as commons sense dictates that what he did was an act of war and should be handled by the military as such, but just in case the ACLU and the like try to strong-arm the left wing of the White House:

“We write to you today to express our concern over reports that your Administration may prosecute Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and other alleged war criminals in civilian courts in Virginia, New York, and the District of Columbia. Such trials would treat the war on terrorism as a law enforcement operation, rather than a war, and would treat its alleged perpetrators as common criminals, instead of violators of the law of war."

Source: http://lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=f0af834e-802a-23ad-47dc-13a1c834e1e6

Obama Considers NYPD Too Good To Get Federal Funds

This is the backwards logic applied by Democrats in Washington. If there is a problem, throw money at it. If you are doing something right, ignore it. Over the last 15 years, the NYPD has turned New York City from one of the most dangerous to one of the safest cities in the world, while also creating its own counter-terrorism force that the Department of Homeland Security would be wise to study. They've been forced to keep taxes higher than fiscal conservatives Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg would like in order to keep their budget under control. Rather than rewarding their good work by giving them COPS funds, letting them free up budget space for use elsewhere and/or tax cuts, the Obama administration said no because of "insufficient crime and budgetary problems." Here is Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Ray Kelly:

"The decision to deny New York City funding from the COPS grant program is disappointing, to put it mildly. To punish our police department because they have driven down crime with fewer resources shows the backwards incentive system that is sometimes at work in Washington. Denying that funding because New Yorkers have already dug into their pockets to maintain our City’s sound fiscal stewardship and pay for our exceptional policing doesn’t make sense. Lastly, the attacks on New York City were attacks on the nation and we should be receiving strong federal support for the NYPD to fight terrorism in the nation’s largest city."

"After two successful terrorist attacks at the heart of the nation’s financial center, there should be substantial and continuing federal support for the NYPD in its counterterrorism and conventional crime fighting missions. We shouldn’t be penalized for succeeding on both counts, and mainly on our own dime, over the last seven and a half years."

Source: http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0709/more_cop_problems_2227b9cc-106a-46e3-a6cc-45a39f965d6d.html