The Elephant In the Room

"Yes, Kerry is rightly pointing out in his stump speech that the war in Iraq is a deadly distraction from the very real fight to prevent Al Qaeda and like-minded groups from committing more atrocities. But it seems the veteran senator is too much of a gentleman to point out the elephant in the room, the obvious flaw in the Republican Party's claim that it is the only party that knows how to keep us safe: After all, it was Cheney and George W. Bush who were on watch when 19 poorly trained hijackers were easily able to breach the nation's security apparatus and commit mass murder despite frantic, prescient warnings from the CIA. Yet, not only has this administration not held anybody accountable for this mind-boggling dereliction of duty, it shamelessly milks the tragedy for political gain... [T]hey are the ones who gave us Abu Ghraib but not Bin Laden; 1,000 American dead but no peace in Iraq; fiery speeches at the Republican convention in New York but no on-the-record testimony to the 9/11 commission."
-Robert Scheer, Los Angeles Times