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Live-Blogging Obama’s Speech [Updates] »

By Bronwyn's Harbor on January 7, 2010 at 4:41 PM in Current Affairs

A couple thoughts: (1) If I were a terrorist, I’d bag the airline bombings and instead focus on hitting subways, ferries, etc. (2) It’s taken the administration 15 days to come up with a coherent reaction since the Christmas Eve bombing attempt.

UPDATE at 5:23 p.m. ET: Now John Brennan and Janet Napolitano are speaking and will take questions.

UPDATE: “When the system fails, it is my responsibility,” from the speech by Obama. See more via “Obama: I’m responsible for Christmas Day security failures,” USA Today, January 7, 2010 (THE TEXT is below the fold.)

UPDATE: More early articles on Obama’s speech are now coming out. (1) Washington Post: “Obama outlines security gaps in attempted airliner bombing,” (2) New York Times: “Obama: ‘We Are at War’”

President Obama on Thursday ordered a series of steps [Editor's Note: This link takes you to a graphic of the steps] to improve the government’s ability to collect, share, analyze and act on intelligence of terrorist threats, saying the findings of a government review of the attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day revealed significant shortcomings in national security. …

UPDATE: “White House releases text of security review,” USA Today, January 7, 2010. (Or go to Whitehouse.gov blog report, “Release of the Security Review Conducted After the Failed Christmas Terrorist Attack.” OF NOTE: Memeorandum links to blog reactions to this report.)

Watch video via The Washington Post, C-Span, or the NY Times. From C-Span:

PRES. OBAMA: WE DID NOT CONNECT THE DOTS ON THE ATTEMPTED BOMBING

In remarks about the release of the report on the attempted bombing of a Detroit bound airplane, Pres. Obama said that “the U.S. government did not connect the dots” to uncover the plot. He is discussing the report and steps which the administration will take on intelligence.

Obama: “Al Qaeda offers nothing but a bankrupt vision of misery and death.” …

UPDATE: “Obama: I’m responsible for Christmas Day security failures,” USA Today, January 7, 2010:

President Obama accepted responsibility today for the near-bombing of a passenger plane on Christmas Day and pledged “a continued and sustained” effort to improve intelligence gathering and security screenings at airport.

“Ultimately, the buck stops with me,” Obama said as his staff released a report showing that officials missed numerous opportunities to stop Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab before he boarded the Detroit-bound plane”with explosives hidden in his clothing.

“The intelligence community did not aggressively follow up on” information about the suspect,” the president said, nor did it “connect the dots” on the plot.” And he demanded improvements.

Obama said he has ordered officials to act more swiftly in adding terrorist suspects to no-fly lists and on examining evidence that could lead to an attack.

“We must follow the leads that we get,” Obama said, and act “on information that could protect the American people.”

He added, “we must do better in keeping dangerous people off airplanes.”

Obama stressed that the nation is “at war” with violent extremists, and he urged Americans to stay united in the face of them rather than “hunker down” in fear.

  • Anonymous

    Very refreshing that a President accepts responsiblity for failings. When was the last time you saw that! I give Obama full credit for that.

    So far Obama is doing a pretty good job. He has kept most of his promises and broken only a few. 86 promises kept and only 11 broken.

    Check it out:
    http://www.politifact.com/

  • d2i

    Wait a minute. How does one take responsibility and then blame on the intelligence apparatus? How do you do that? What am I missing here?

    That’s like saying, honey I take responsibility for hurting you, but it is her fault we had the affair. Hello!!!

  • Jazzman

    Yeah he took responsibility but completely blew an opportunity and focused on intelligence and data gathering… That is only one of the layers but what about the others? Missed opportunities…. as far as a speech goes. Though I have yet to see the unclassed report…..

  • Bronwyn

    Btw, Fox News has really blown it on coverage of this.  I turned to CNN.

  • elizabethrc

    “We must do better at keeping dangerous people off  airplanes”
    Yeah, but don’t call them terrorists, at all costs!!
    My question is, why did it take all day and 2 cancelled pressers for him to come out with this nothing but words again speech?  Are his dimwit speechwriters so intellectually limited that they can only write effectively if they are filling the air with meaningless, flowery phrases?
    Obama is giving us transparency, but not the kind he intended to.  More and more are seeing how vacuous and immature he is.  It’s something he can no longer hide from us. 
    The one positive is that Obama is destroying the Democrat party big time.  Couldn’t happen to a more deserving group of crooks.

  • Bronwyn

    Example:  Following Obama’s speech Neil Cavuto had Gov. Hailey Barber on to comment.  Huh?  That was it.  Then he asked Barber about rumors he might be running for president.  Why wasn’t Bret Baier on live with his team of experts?

  • Jackie S.

    All Obama did was try to look important and as though he can be tough.

    He is trying to be a “big boy”.  He doesn’t understand that he can’t inspire everyone with is rhetoric.  It has no effect on other nations or ISLAMIC TERRORISTS who have decided that GOD has directed them.

    One cannot reason with persons who believe they are on a mission from God.

    The problem is ISLAM and the community that will not police its own.

    There are rational and reasonable methods to air ones concerns.  Blowing up planes and murdering cartoonists are not among them.

    Until this community is willing to participate with the world community in a civil manner it is critical that we contain and sanction them.

  • Obamastolemycountry

    “When the system fails, it is my responsibility”

    Wow!  I never thought I’d ever hear POTUS say anything like that, but then what followed proved it to be just for show anyway!

    O/T- ever wondered what it’s like to be a liberal blogger?  Now you can see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwhPi5FoIEo&feature=player_embedded

  • The Jackal

    You have to read between the lines. Your Obama is a crafty one.

    “NCTC is the primary organization that provides situational awareness to the CT community of ongoing terroris threats and evernts, including through several daily written products that summarize current threat reporting for a broad audience…”

    It looks like your CIC is blaming the NCTC. If something like this happens again, Micheal Leiter will get blamed and replaced.

  • Doc99

    So the President accepts that we’re at war but then insists on treating terrorists in criminal court. And this man is “smart?”

  • Chicago Joe

    Go away, Gibbs.

  • jbjd

    Silly goose.  Again, BO is not accepting responsibility.  That would look something like,’I am ultimately responsible for these national security lapses not only because the buck stops at the Oval Office; but also because I failed to order the security agencies and departments that report directly to me, to conceive and implement a comprehensive system that would ensure the safety …’  See the difference?

  • Steve1

    Much ado about nothing!  That sums up President BARRY SOETORO’S little TV drama!  His head wabbles so much as he switches from one Teleprompter to another, President Wabblehead!  The swinging head talks, where’s the beef??  Hillary Clinton, 2012!  The iron maiden with the B@@ls! Remember her warming to Iran during the Dem. debates!

  • Steve1

    I was getting dizzy, watching that head swing back and fore, back and fore! Wow!

  • Bronwyn

    But John Brennan, in the Q&A, just said that he ordered Leiter to take a break and continue his time with his son, and accepts responsibility for Leiter’s absence.  Just not satisfactory.

  • Bronwyn

    I think you meant to type “her warning to Iran”

  • Jazzman

    Hailey Barber! Talk about someone who is screwing up a State as Governor…. Mississippi…..

  • candymarl

    I call great! Obama’s on Tv again. Oh and about promiseskept? FISA, Patriot act, ending the wars while going into Pakistan. Accepting the Nobel Peace Prize and bombing Yemen. Then there’s that Wall Street and Banker bailouts. Even the Union folks are not happy. Not getting rid of “Don’t ask Don’t tell”. Barring lobbyists from the WH. Didn’t happen. Not to mention bribes to Senators in exchange for votes. Remember Obama paid delegates to switch their votes. Oh yeah,  Obama supporters threatening elderly black women. Obama never called the dogs off. What a great guy.

  • Portia Elizabeth

    I tried – really I did – to listen to BO’s BS. But when he kept stumbling over the words to “his” speech, pretty soon it all began to sound like all adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon: waa waa waa.

    I’m thinking he only took responsibility because he didn’t read the speech ahead of time and got punked.

  • Portia Elizabeth

    OT — does anybody know what happened to our avatars? I miss my ninja fighter.

  • Anonymous

    Everyone’s trying to cover everyone’s collective asses. Meanwhile… Let’s have a meeting in a couple of weeks to see how things are going and, if the sheeple aren’t complaining too loudly, we can go back to figuring out how to screw over the Constitution … AGAIn!

  • Patience

    Since the Undie Bomber expressed the jihadist desire for world-wide Islamic domination over Christians, Jews and other infidels, will his legal counsel attempt to, during voir dire, eliminate as many people of those faiths as possible from the jury pool?  

  • getfitnow

    I didn’t listen. I don’t believe anything he says. JUST WORDS! And unfortunately, that’s all there is.

  • trinity

    I watched him make the speech, and I heard him say the words that he was taking responsibity, but those words are pretty empty ones to me.

  • Steve1

    Well, thank-you!  Yes, I guess I was still feeling dizzy! Lol!

  • Rabble Rouser Rev. Amy

    Fortunately for me, I was out all afternoon!  :)   When I saw he was giving yet another televised speech, I admit, I had no intention of watching him.  I have the same reaction to him speaking as I did Bush.  I watch as little as I can.  And, as Steve 1 pointed out above, the constant head swiveling (from teleprompter to teleprompter) makes me want a Dramamine.

    All of that is to say, it does not sound like there was anything new here.  Isn’t the buck SUPPPOSED to stop with the president??  That is hardly news.  What is even more same-o. same-o for Obama is to say he is taking responsibility while blaiming other people.  Typical.

    And why, why can he not use the word TERRORIST???  WHO does he think he is protecting by not calling these people what they are?  I just don’t get that.

    Hats off to those of you who could sit through his tripe.

  • Pingback: Um, no, I'm still not reassured | The Lonely Conservative

  • sybilll

    I think at the last minute, it was decided that what Jones said would *shock us* need not be released.  And, Janet saying she can’t watch 500,000 on the watch list?  AMEX has 25,000,000 clients, and they can tell me within an hour if my card has been compromised.  Sheesh! 

  • Portia Elizabeth

    Never mind. I’m now a Revolutionary War soldier. :)

  • lark

    Yeah, great idea. That’s what he should have. A jury made up of American Muslims. Lets see what they think about this man if he is not exhonerated for stupidity and corrupt religious doctrines. I would let them tell me if he is guilty or not guilty.

  • lark

    You know what I would like to see. I would like to see the American Muslims leaders, American Ayatollahs whatever, Islamic priests whatever take action about these situations.

    I would like these men be tried by their religion – even in absentia if necessary – appoint some kind of representative – and conduct a trial for that type of conduct. And I would like to see C-Span televise it. I want to know if the Muslims religion have any place in their doctrine for those kind of people – for those kinds of beliefs that Al Qaeda says they have.

    I would like to see the American Muslims Ayatollahs whatever their title is to start parading themselves to the prison where these terrorist are being held and condemn him one by one if they know that the Muslim religion disavows their conduct. And if possible ask permission to slap them 40 times in their stupid faces. That’s what I would like to see.

    I would like to see the American Muslim Ayatollahs take responsibility for their faith.

  • lark

    This is what just occur to me. The buck for these terrorist acts does not stop with Obama. The buck stops with the bulk of the American Muslims leaders. They are the ones who need to start condeming these terrorist in public and start moving outside of our country if they can’t condemn it. And if they can condemn it then they should start talking to those Ayatollahs in the Middle East and start doing whatever needs to be done to put an end to this war.

  • FLDemFem

    I think you mean American imams. Ayatollahs don’t exist here. Just imams. Actually, it is very hard to get the Muslim community to act in concert since the Koran teaches that each person is in direct communication with God with no go-betweens. So any extremist would think he is acting for God, even if he was told by an imam and members of Al Queda how to go about murdering the infidels. The problem with Islam is that it says that all people should be Muslim and that faithful Muslims should do whatever they can to make that happen. In my opinion, Islam is basically unconstitutional since it claims that only God can govern, and that governing should be done through Islam. Therefore, Islam says that the religion and the government should be the same structure. This is patently un-constitutional in the US, since the Constitution says that Congress may pass NO LAW regarding religion. That would include a law, or more than one, that says all US citizens must be Muslim. Which is what the radical Muslims are aiming for.

  • TeakWoodKite

    When I heard the top of the hour clip on the radio, BO said the buck stops with me. Two hings happened. I had to yell at the radio;

    “YOU ARE JUST FIGURING THAT OUT BO!?” then I realized that the buck is the only thing that doesn’t stop “with him”. That buck is only doing “touch and go’s” on his desk. Then it’s of to an all expenses paid jaunt to HI.

    Bottomline? Why bust Lieters chops? He is just following BO’s example.

  • FLDemFem

    Actually, Haley Barbour is doing rather well as Gov. of Mississippi. They have had the best recovery of any state from the devastation of Katrina. He is a good administrator and can get things done. And that’s hard to do in Mississippi.

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