Obama Administration Tone Deaf to Terrorism?

Liberal columinist Richard Cohen writing in today’s Washington Post (Obama administration is tone-deaf to concerns about terrorism) stated…

There is almost nothing the Obama administration does regarding terrorism that makes me feel safer. Whether it is guaranteeing captured terrorists that they will not be waterboarded, reciting terrorists their rights, or the legally meandering and confusing rule that some terrorists will be tried in military tribunals and some in civilian courts, what is missing is a firm recognition that what comes first is not the message sent to America's critics but the message sent to Americans themselves. When, oh when, will this administration wake up?

As I stated at the outset, Mr. Cohen is a liberal and included in his piece is the perfunctory jab at  George W. Bush but Mr. Cohen ends this one paragraph with a sort of back-handed compliment to the Bush Administration. (see boldface/underlined)…

No doubt George Bush soiled America's image abroad with what looked liked vigilante justice and Dick Cheney's hearty endorsement of ugly interrogation measures. But more is at stake here than America's image abroad -- namely the security and peace of mind of Americans in America. Bush stands condemned by the facts for Sept. 11 -- his watch, his responsibility -- and in all likelihood he bent over backward to ensure that nothing like those attacks would happen again.

Having gotten his shot at the Bush administration out of the way, Mr. Cohen closes his column with the following statement regarding our President.

The Obama administration, on the other hand, seems to have bent over backward to prove to the world it is not the Bush administration and will, almost no matter what, ensure that everyone gets the benefit of American civil liberties. But the paramount civil liberty is a sense of security and this, sad to say, has eroded under Barack Obama. Repeatedly, the administration has shown poor judgment. Abdulmutallab's silence is a scream that something is wrong.

Here’s a hint for the President…as you have proven time and time again, we all know that you have a deaf ear for the majority of the common folk of this nation but when your good friends on the left join those common folk in slamming your policy on terrorism, maybe it’s time to wake up and start acting like a real Commander in Chief!