Focus Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 In a new book, former Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge reveals new details on politicization under President Bush, reports US News & World Report's Paul Bedard. Among other things, Ridge admits that he was pressured to raise the terror alert to help Bush win re-election in 2004. Ridge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over. Dave Weigel, writing for the Washington Independent, notes that in the past, Ridge has denied manipulating security information for political reasons. In 2004, for example, he said, "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security." "What Tom Ridge disclosed confirms our worst suspicions," said Sen. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who criticized the color-coded system back in 2003. "Just like they did in Iraq, the Bush Administration manipulated intelligence to cause fear in the public to further its political goals." The Bush administration was forced to admit in the days after the 2004 alert that it was based on intelligence three or four years old. Officials then claimed there was a previously unmentioned "separate stream of intelligence" that justified the warning -- but offered little tangible information to support their new story.. ThinkProgress recalls, the AP reported that "even 'some senior Republicans' privately questioned Ridge's timing of a terror alert that came just three days after the Democratic National Convention." Ridge's book, "The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege...and How We Can Be Safe Again," comes out September 1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/20/t...d_n_264127.html I'm not really saying anything. Just sharing some information I found online. Discuss? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazarin Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 And this is news to... Not like the rest of the Presidents haven't done the same thing, and not like any of them were any more or less right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dcrasta Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 (edited) We didnt have a 'terror' alert before Bush, so this is an original way to screw us over. Way to play on our fears (oh wait.. they still are).. Edited August 21, 2009 by Dcrasta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazarin Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Newspapers, radio, and TV exsisted before him. Scaring the public into doing what you want is nothing new, however it's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patra_is_here Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 yeah remember when kennedy scared everyone into voting for him by staging the cuban missile crisis. =P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrazilBoy Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 (edited) remember when Obama said if we don't pass the stimulus bill unemployment would hit 8%..(playing on our fears)..and after the 1 trillion dollar stimulus its almost 10%...lol...............oh wait a minute.....KRAP... Edited August 22, 2009 by BrazilBoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lusion972 Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Manchurian Company has owned all the presidents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1989TSI Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 We didnt have a 'terror' alert before Bush, so this is an original way to screw us over. Way to play on our fears (oh wait.. they still are).. Guess the "terrorist attacks" were staged by Bush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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