Turning Al Qaeda Into a Punchline

Via Andrew Sullivan, this post from Plunderbund on the Detroit panty-bomber:

Under George W. Bush, or John McCain, the media narrative would already be settling on whether or not to invade Yemen. Now, the narrative is about soft power – how to reach these wealthy sons of bankers to stop them, how to tighten up our security at airports, how to support reform minded Muslims, how to give alternatives to potential Al Qaeda recruits who are not poor villagers but wealthy intellectuals with an axe to grind.

In other words, Republicans would be doing the terrorists work for them, by spreading more terror. Barack Obama is doing America’s work, by addressing the problem calmly, quietly, confidently. That leadership will translate into confidence in the American public the same way the panicked leadership of the Bush administration translated into fear. . . .

Make no mistake – in the Muslim world to which Al Qaeda attempts to speak, this episode is a total humiliation, seen as such, and will hurt Al Qaeda. I can’t think of a more effective way to scupper Al Qaeda recruitment than to turn one of their attacks into a worldwide joke. Yes it will enrage them. Yes, they will try harder to hit us again.

And yet, of course, the right is frothing at the mouth over the fact that the bomber is being given pain relievers, medical attention, a lawyer, and a trial. You know, those sorts of things that Americans do as a matter of course. (Well, most of us, because most of us are decent people.)

Most of these rightwingers are as laughable as the panty-bomber. The problem is, the rightwingers are ours.

And what you're not going to hear about from the right is the way that the Republicans are hampering efforts to improve the TSA:

As it turns out, DeMint was really trying to deflect attention away from the fact that he voted against TSA funding earlier this year and has put a hold on Obama's nominee to head the department - hampering the agency's ability to put leadership in place.

You have to wonder.