That must have been the reaction yesterday of many liberal Boston Globe readers when they read what must have been to them some very painful truths in a Joan Vennochi column about denial of reality by government officials over who was behind the Times Square bomb plot. Vennochi could have also been writing about many in the mainstream media such as MSNBC's Contessa Brewer who were hoping it was a Tea Party member behind the plot:
AMERICANS CAN handle the truth. But when it comes to terrorist acts on American soil, government officials are reluctant to give it to us straight from the start.
Instant analysis of the Times Square bomb scare kicked off with the usual official disclaimers: Don’t presume a Muslim extremist had anything to do with it.
It was likely a “lone wolf’’ operation, suggested Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, or, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg speculated, “somebody with a political agenda who doesn’t like the health care bill or something.’’ Janet Napolitano, secretary of Homeland Security, said it was being treated as a “potential terrorist attack’’ but it could be a “one-off’’ or isolated incident.
At the Daily Kos a poll showed that only 9% of the respondents thought the Time Square bomb plot could have been related to Islamic terrorism while 71% stated that it must have been a tea partier, militia member, or "religious wackjob" who was behind it. Vennochi addresses the absurdity of these denial of reality assumptions which are widely held by liberals, both in and out of government:
Nine years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and the corresponding war on terror that American troops have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the average citizen gets it. Some Muslim extremists want to kill Americans and will keep on trying to accomplish their mission.
It’s the first thought that registers when a bomb is placed in cars, shoes, or underwear by someone described as Muslim. What’s so terrible about acknowledging that link?
Past experience teaches us that this denial of reality as to the source of the terror attacks will be repeated over and over again by both government officials and the MSM.
