A Tale of Two Presidents

On December 22, 2001, a man with plastic explosives stuffed in his shoes got on a passenger airliner flying from Paris to Miami and attempted to ignite the bomb and kill all the passengers. He was stopped by the alert crew and passengers. The Republican President was on vacation at the time, and didn't address the issue until six days later, when he mentioned it late into a press conference. The press did not bring it up in any of their questions. No Democratic congressmen or American press were critical of the President's six-day delay, although one foreign newspaper questioned the delay, a French newspaper... where the flight originated. TSA rules regarding shoes were implemented.

On December 25, 2009, a man with an explosive mixture strapped to his balls got on a passenger airliner flying from Amsterdam to Detroit and attempted to ignite the bomb and kill all the passengers. He was stopped by the alert crew and passengers. The President was on vacation at the time, and didn't address the issue until three days later, when he held a press conference specifically about the bombing attempt. Numerous Republican congressmen and American press were critical of the President's delay, blaming his administration's incompetence and seeming disregard for the safety of American lives. Vice President Cheney was quoted as saying, "As I've watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won't be at war." TSA rules regarding full body screening are now being considered.

That is all.