Pres. Obama so badly wanted to claim credit for stopping the Times Square attack, that he led himself up a rhetorical box canyon in remarks this morning. Check it out:
BARACK OBAMA: This incident is another sobering reminder of the times in which we live. Around the world and here at home, there are those who would attack our citizens and who would slaughter innocent men, women and children in pursuit of their murderous agenda. They will stop at nothing to kill and disrupt our way of life, but once again an attempted attack has been [awkward pause] failed.
You just know PBO wanted to say that the attempted attacked had been "stopped" or "thwarted." There was just one little problem . . .
As former anti-terrorism czar Richard Clarke, no conservative ideologue, has observed, the authorities:
would not have been able to have stopped the bomb if it had been wired properly. Someone was able to drive into New York with what looks like bomb parts, drive right into the heart of Times Square, pull up on the sidewalk, jump up and run away and not get caught.
The feds and local law enforcement apparently did a very good job of apprehending the suspect after the attempted attack. But they did nothing to "fail" it. That of course didn't stop PBO from claiming, a bit later in his remarks, that the authorities "may have saved hundreds of lives."
Note that the MSM is echoing this inappropriate awarding of credit. On Morning Joe today, Mike Barnicle spoke of the attack as having been "thwarted" by the authorities.
Will the MSM report on PBO's awkward pause and his grab for glory?
