Michael Scheuer: Obama Doesn’t Care ‘About Protecting This Country’
Michael Scheuer: Obama Doesn’t Care ‘About Protecting This Country’
Earlier this week, former CIA operative and torture apologist Michael Scheuer appeared on Fox News, where he told Glenn Beck (who nodded in agreement), “The only chance we have” to repair our national security apparatus “is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.” Yesterday, on Alan Colmes’ radio show, Scheuer made similar comments about the national security stance of the U.S., saying that he doesn’t believe that President Obama wants to protect the country “if it costs him votes”:
COLMES: You don’t think the President of the United States, Barack Obama, cares about protecting this country.
SCHEUER: No, I don’t. Because I don’t think he realizes what the world is like outside the United States. [...]
COLMES: You don’t think he wants to protect the country?
SCHEUER: I don’t think he can, sir. [...]
COLMES: He doesn’t want to protect the country?
SCHEUER: Not if it costs votes.
Listen here:
A number of progressive bloggers castigated Scheuer for his remarks on Beck’s show. The Washington Independent’s Spencer Ackerman, however, expressed disappointment in Scheuer’s comments and hoped that he was “being taken out of context,” citing his respect for Scheuer’s previous national security work. Unfortunately, it appears that Scheuer meant what he said.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
What happened to the post about the right wing smear of Kevin Jennings?
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:39 pmKevin Jennings just disappeared! Are you planning on bringing him back?
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:39 pmWasn’t it just the other day that this motherphucker was hoping for another big terrorist attack on the USA?
The AEI ought to be declared a criminal organization and bombed off the face of the earth along with their adherents.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 pmAnd the other day he was on with Glen Beck saying the same thing and the righties are saying he was taken out of context then. There’s a link at TheZoo with Jon Stewart’s comment on this moron.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 pmAt this point, I’m surprised he doesn’t claim that Obama is in league with the terrorists. Whatever credibility he might have once had, has been sacrificed, for idolatry of Bush.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm.
Zoinkies…
… The only way to protect the “HOMELAND” is to burn it?
.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pmZooey and misscoleopteramolly — We just took it down temporarily. It’ll be back up later!
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pmI was trying to comment on Kevin Jennings and he disappeared. He seems like a cause ALL PROGRESSIVES can and should rally behind. We failed to do anything about Prop. 8 but this is a national issue we need to stand behind this man.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:42 pmHere’s Michael Scheuer on the Glenn Beck show, calling for Osama bin Laden to attack the US again.
Calling for OBL to bomb America.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:42 pmThanks, Amanda!
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:42 pmIt could just be me but I can’t hear the audio.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 pmOT, but have you guys heard about this? Cynthia McKinney being held illegally by Israel: http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2009/07/02/petition-for-the-release-of-cynthia-mckinney-others-posted-online/
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 pmThe Doodlebug is quick today! :)
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 pm.
Oh, I get it…
… The only way one can tell that the “HOMELAND” is safe is if it is attacked… A G A I N!
Sorta like Newt Gingrich’s screed…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5lmje_newt-gingrich-bush-should-allow-rem_news
.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 pmCan anybody here imagine the weeping and wailing from the right if a couple of progressives had this conversation during the Bushco administration (substituting the name “George Bush” for “Barack Obama”, naturally)?
Even though most of us believed Bush’s ideas about national security didn’t really make us more secure, I don’t remember anybody suggesting we needed another major terrorist attack to illustrate the flaws in the system. That would have been an awful thought (of course, that didn’t stop a few neocons musing on the possibility — not to demonstrate a lack of security, but to ramp up the fear level).
Beck and Scheuer are just sick.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm.
… Because 9/11 wasn’t enough?
.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:45 pm666cicadas,
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 pmCynthia from her jail cell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkPvzSZRuDo
I am surprised (well, not really) that somebody can have a career as an analyst after uttering something as inane as these comments by Scheuer. The goal of protecting the nation is so we don’t suffer an attack not so the war profiteers can get fat off government contracts.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 pmThis is beyond snark. This guy is a traitor.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 pmScary this guy was with the CIA — Unhinged — should be placed in a padded cell.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:49 pmTerrorist attacks are the only hope left for the GOoPers. That’s why they are training, arming, and motivating terrorists in every town in our country. Every hour of FAUX pushes more nuts closer to the edge.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pmSCHEUER: No, I don’t. Because I don’t think he realizes what the world is like outside the United States. [...]
– - Umm, Michael, that was the former president.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pmThe neocons are war junkies. They have to have their power fix and they don’t care who gets hurt along the way.
Unless it is them.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm.
And yet none dare ask him why he thinks an attack upon his fellow Countrymen is a good thing.
Doesn’t anyone remember John Walker Lindh?
He thought attacking America was a good idea, too.
But did FOXPRAVDA give Lindh air time to make his case…?
.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:55 pmThese crazy freaks said that Osama bin Laden is the “only person who can save America”…
I was absolutely HORRIFIED. WTF is wrong with these people????
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:56 pmAfter Bush declared ObL wanted, dead or alive, our ADHD former President forgot all about it.
…or was it the fact the Bush family is so close to the bin Laden family?
…or was it the fact that if ObL had been killed or captured, Bush’s wet dream on GWOT would have ended?
…or was it the fact Bush was too phucking dumb to find ObL?
wingnuts?…
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pmOK. This guy is a neo-con Talipublican. but he doesn’t deserve a voice on an opinion show.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm.
I don’t remember Americans lamenting that the Japanese ONLY attacked Perl Harbor and should have hit California, T O O !!!
And why is this?
Because we knew then, that’s the talk of TREASON!
My, how up has become down!
.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:06 pm“The only chance we have” to repair our national security apparatus “is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.
– - Ok, then WE might as well detonate a nuclear device in the US and put out the cover story that Osama did it. According to Scheuer, there really is no difference from a propoganda viewpoint.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:06 pmIf anyone on the left (or not GOP) suggested something even remotely like this, the right-wing nut jobs would be screaming for his head.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:06 pmPlease refresh my memory. Was McVeigh a Sunni or Shiite? WHAT? He as neither? Imagine that? So what was the big backlash about keeping tabs on right wing terrorists? Or is it OK if a a right wing terrorist bombs Americans in a federal building or shoots Americans in a church or shoots Americans at a school? What’s next?
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:12 pmWhat would these idiots say if there was an attack in, say, Oklahoma, or Utah, or even better, Texas? Would they be as supportive of the attack then? Or do they just support attacks in New York City or in California?
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:14 pmSo this guy gets asked the same scripted question three times in a row and he gives three different answers, all negative.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pmfox is a real gem.
Why do conservatives like this hyena hate America? I wonder if wishing that the country was attacked again isn’t some form of treason? Its certainly a form of having your head up your Cheney…but is it treasonous to make that wish?
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pmscheuer was just imitating ed schultz and colin powell when both of them remarked that dick cheeeney sounds like he wants another attack…
or maybe, rather, he wants to join the cheeeney club…
yea, that sounds more like it…
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pmThat’s just bizarre. There’s no way this can be the same guy who wrote Imperial Hubris.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pmobama hates america
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pmEarlier this week, former CIA operative and torture apologist Michael Scheuer appeared on Fox News, where he told Glenn Beck…
And that, my friends, is when I stopped reading!
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:18 pmHe’s just updating the PNAC of 1998 when they said a “Pearl Harbor”-like attack would rally the public to the president and help him with his plans to “Secure the Realm” in the middle east..
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:21 pm9/11/01 was that “Pearl Harbor”
Scheuer wants another one.
Oh, Hi Twajie.
Still haven’t learned the art of proper capitalization?
May I suggest 24 hour summer schooling for the grammatically challenged?
Then we wouldn’t be “blessed” with your presence, and your mom gets her computer AND basement back.
See?
It’s a win/win!
:-)
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:21 pmScheuer is sounding more than a little PNAC-y here.
Michael Scheuer was head of the CIA’s ‘Alec Station’ (which was shut down in July 2006), the purpose of which was to hunt for Osama bin Laden. Scheuer didn’t get the job done after a decade (for whatever reason), he should shut up…Osama is where Mr. Scheuer?
Can someone explain how it’s ok for this man to make these statements and get away with it?
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:24 pmWas this a signal for another Mossad black op on America?
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:25 pmFrom the comments of Spencer Ackerman’s story:
If that’s what he means, then I can back what Scheuer is saying. I don’t believe he actually wants the U.S. to be attacked again. He’s just saying that we need to have the same vigor of motivation that we did after 9/11, but focus it not on wars of revenge but on shifting our foreign policy paradigm.
Of course, any student of history should know that the U.S. never does that. We don’t react to being attacked with reasoned introspection, we react with guns a-blazing, cause that’s what Americans do. Surely Scheuer is aware of this. Or perhaps he just caught some secondhand crazy from Glenn Beck.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:26 pmchiroptera toasterhead Says:
That’s just bizarre. There’s no way this can be the same guy who wrote Imperial Hubris.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
From your link, toasterhead:
I think Scheuer must have lost his nerve/mind that day.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:30 pmWhiny sucking fissies.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 pm“We are completely undefended”…
So which administration cut funding to examine more cargo at our ports???
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:31 pmAnd this jackass is the same guy who repeatedly stated:
There were no links between Iraq and Al-Qaeda
US foreign policy empowered Islamist militants
Iraq was a quagmire
Iran is no threat to America unless provoked
…What the hell happened? On top of all this, he has some past admiration for Bin Laden.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:33 pmIf only Obama would stop listening to the substantial, America-hating majority in our country who support his policies.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:33 pmtoasterhead,
Are we just looking at this from the wrong angle? Scheuer actually said this:
“The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them.”
That’s pretty damned crazy.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pmIn this interview Scheuer sort of tries to explain himself, but still sounds like a loon.
http://antiwar.com/radio/2009/07/02/michael-scheuer-10/
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:38 pmI read the exchanges between Scheurer and bloggers on the WT web site, and Scheurer thinks that the prez and congress are not aggressive enough on national security issues which he thinks will invite terrorists to attack America again. He is now just like Bolton, Gingrich, Cheney, Steele, and all the others. Standing on the outside looking in. These folks are not at the security meetings. They don’t read the daily briefings. I think what bothers them most is their inability to ram their ideas on foreign policy and national security down Obama’s throat like they did with GWB. They don’t like having a president in the WH who has chosen a different path on these issues. They do not like having a president who will not ask for their permission before making foreign policy & national security decisions. They have been shutdown, and they don’t like it one bit. If McCain was in the WH, they’d have complete access to him and the ability to influence his decisions, and there would be no calls for further terrorist attacks. We can expect this to continue as long as Obama is in the WH because the nuts have been released from the Bush/Cheney Insane Asylum.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:40 pmZooey Says:
“The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. Only Osama can execute an attack which will force Americans to demand that their government protect them.”
That’s pretty damned crazy.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
______________
Right. It is a bit. Especially because he’s thinking our reaction to the crisitunity of another 9/11 would be to go isolationist – pull our deployed troops out of all the bases in the world, stop coddling Israel, stop propping up dictators, stop free trade agreements and foreign aid, and just keep to ourselves for a while.
It’s sorta the anti-PNAC, if you think about it.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:44 pmA snippet I read this morning from Nance Greggs Journal over at DU.
NanceGreggs’s Journal: Nance Rants
You Would Think …
Posted by NanceGreggs in General Discussion: Presidential
Wed Jul 01st 2009, 06:55 PM
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/NanceGreggs/510
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:46 pmZooey Says:
From your link, toasterhead:
In a videotape released around September 7, 2007 apparently by Osama bin Laden, he personally recommended that anyone who wants to understand why the United States is losing the war against him should read Imperial Hubris.
I think Scheuer must have lost his nerve/mind that day.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
______________
That’s why his comments on Glenn Beck were so weird. Here’s a guy who understands why Bin Laden attacked the United States, who in the past has urged our foreign policy apparatus that the best way to stop these attacks is to understand why Bin Laden attacked the United States, who Bin Laden himself has said “yeah, Michael Scheuer understands why I attacked the United States – you should listen to him.”
Scheuer gets the way international terrorism works. I don’t doubt his credentials. He just apparently fundamentally misunderstands the way the U.S. government works.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:50 pmthis is getting a lot of coverage on the blogs and jon stewart picked up on it too. what about the corporate media…?
http://blahgblog.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/sadly-no-reports-on-more-rightwing-patriots-hoping-for-attacks-on-america/
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:55 pmOh, I saw what he did there.
Notice how Scheuer stepped away from the question regarding Obama’s desire to protect the country and fiddled with his answer to question Obama’s ability to protect America.
I have a feeling that Limbaugh and Hannity will sink their teeth in here and run with the “Obama doesn’t want to protect the US” joke here. Just wait.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:04 pmThis pathetic loser failure, nice job getting bin Laden, needs to to have his America-hating ass renditioned to some Arab country he hates. I would make an exception to torture for this unpatriotic scum.
Rant over, Happy 4th of July.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:08 pmWhen will the media including Think Progress make a big deal about the fact that Obama is now spending more for war than Bush did? He has COMPLETELY FLIPPED on his previous senatorial position against war funding. All this Right Wing Left Wing meme is confusing the fact that Obama is doing Bush better than Bush.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:13 pmWhy do you all swallow the ersatz anti-Obama right wing talking points? You are about to witness the Democratic controlled Congress force HMO MANDATES upon you (what qualifies in the Mussolini definition as fascism). How much you all wanna bet Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck et al have big investments in military contractors and health insurance companies and Obama’s increase in military spending and the imminent HMO mandates are going to be making the aforementioned propagandists very much wealthier?
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:16 pmDear Faux Noise, we are not going to “get hit again,” because the red-carpet-roller-outers, Bush and Cheney, are no longer in power, flying NORAD fighters away from the Northeast and playing footsy with the FAA on nine-nine and nine-ten.
Also, another little problemo, Osama Bin Laden (OBL) passed away of natural causes in early December 2001. He is buried in the mountains of northwestern Afghanistan. See http://www.whatreallyhappened.com for details. All audio and video tapes made since then were Made in USA.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:19 pmThis is proof that insanity is contagious at Fox.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 pmScheuer is at the extreme end of people who worry about national security, especially as it relates to “terrorism.” Some would say at the paranoid end. You have to wonder to what lengths he thinks it is necessary to act in the name of national security or if, at this point, he has a realistic perspective on what national security means. His views seem a bit pathological.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:25 pmThere’s proof Obama’s predecessor didn’t care about protecting America in his first eight months. The proof is in the pudding, and Obama is doing a great job.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:25 pmOval12345678 aka James K. Sayre Says:
Also, another little problemo, Osama Bin Laden (OBL) passed away of natural causes in early December 2001. He is buried in the mountains of northwestern Afghanistan. See http://www.whatreallyhappened.com for details. All audio and video tapes made since then were Made in USA.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:19 pm
____________
Sorry, I don’t buy that tale. Despite what al-Wafd allegedly published in December 2001, the same newspaper published numerous articles about Bin Laden’s activities after his alleged death. Just search the al-Wafd web site for “bin laden.”
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 pmHere: http://www.alwafd.org/
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:29 pmLimbaugh, Beck, and the rest of the clowns that comprise the conservative base not only desperately want Obama (and therefore the nation) to fail, they wish to make it a self-fulfilling prophesy by doing everything in their power to bring their hope-he-fails obsession to fruition.
To publicly broadcast your wish that the United States was attacked by a foreign power or terrorist group, just to make a point, is beyond callous–it’s treasonous.
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:53 pmBenazir Bhutto said that bin Laden was dead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnychOXj9Tg
July 2nd, 2009 at 4:55 pmScheuer is spot on, again.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:04 pmIsn’t this the guy in charge of finding and killing OBL in the first place?
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:04 pmRepublicans Love Facts Says:
Scheuer is spot on, again.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm
___________
In what respect? You think another attack will lead to an outbreak of libertarianism and isolationism?
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:09 pmRepublicans Love Facts Says:
Scheuer is spot on, again.
You little ass-kissing Repub…
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:13 pmWhat makes this whole “attack the country to protect the country” crap so utterly surreal and dangerous is that it keeps happening. Over and over again we are subjected to the ravings from the likes of Michael Scheuer, Karl Rove, Norquist, Cheney and so many other treasonists on our air and cable waves. These are all people who have demonstrated their abject contempt for the rule of law and our military and should be in prison. They have all projected upon the American people the most vile, well orchestrated and hideous agenda and they are willing to stand chin-deep in a cesspool of hypocrisy to accomplish it! The vehicle for 98% of all this? FOX News and Clear Channel.
It has long since stopped being about the individual actions of these anti-Americans about which we scream and yell and pull our hair in disbelief day after day. It is about those who enable them, covet them and champion them.
I say again, people must stop buying, selling and supporting Fox and Clear Channel with their money. Stop looking at just the possible immediate returns of advertising with them and look at the bigger picture. Both corporations are willing to lose millions of dollars a year promoting their agenda. Its not about “market forces”. That is just another hypocrisy and lie. Its about their agenda. See William Randolf Hearst for historical reference.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:24 pmRepublicans Love Facts @ 68 Says:
Scheuer is spot on, again.
Proof of another turd in the cesspool.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:36 pmThe sad part, wolfsinger, is that not much will change until one of the big names is actually charged in a terrorist act. More innocent people will have to die to shut up the Reichwhiners.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:40 pmFrom an annoyance to a treasonous little b!tch in one sentence. Congratulations on putting more distance between yourself and humanity. Thank you.
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:42 pmIs he NUTS? That is what the Republicans want! To prove that the only ones to protect this country is them, you know those fearmongersl, who could give a person a stroke and heartattack at the same time…
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 pmIs he NUTS? That is what the Republicans want! To prove that the only ones to protect this country is them, you know those fearmongersl, who could give a person a stroke and heartattack at the same time…
July 2nd, 2009 at 5:56 pmpete @ 74 Says:
The sad part, wolfsinger, is that not much will change until one of the big names is actually charged in a terrorist act. More innocent people will have to die to shut up the Reichwhiners.
Then it is time to start with charges. Rove seems the best place to begin. Tip to E. Holder. There has been enough blood shed in the name of the GOP and its vile agenda. Its time for it to stop.
July 2nd, 2009 at 6:53 pmHe served under Ed Meese of the Iran Contra fame. He is a warmongering neo-conservative.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:12 pmI agree, wolfsinger, but Rove is in a separate class as an insider who actually aided in the commission of crimes against the state.
The FAUX/ Reichradio screechers, on the other hand, would need to be directly implicated in a terrorist act. Like, for instance, if a letter from Bill0 was found among the effects of the guy who killed Dr. Tiller telling him to turn up the pressure.
Short of that I’m afraid it would take actually inciting a crowd to riot to bring charges and I’m afraid that’s what it would take to initiate legal action. Though I do wonder when the families of some of the victims will take civil action against one of the talking heads. One would think there are any number of lawyers who would love to argue whether incitement by broadcast is chargeable.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:17 pmBoondoggle: Pelosi and fellow members of congress spend one day in Afghanistan, eight in Italy. Anybody surprised? http://bit.ly/CHBBG
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 pmWould the stupid trolls prefer to pay for their security in a war zone? Not to mention that they are attending meetings around Europe and using Italy as their base of operation. Perhaps they should just fly home between scheduled stops?
Oh. That’s right. Trolls aren’t big on foreign relations. They would just prefer we bomb everybody and do as we please.
Here’s a news flash: It’s that “eff you” attitude that has created much of the World’s turmoil. Rational people are fed up with it.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:07 pmGhost Walker373,
Thank you for that post. I often wonder if the trolls are just like me, but with a different point of view. You make a convincing argument that the likes of you are no better than the puke of a coyote after a day feasting on road kill.
You and the rest of you trolls are sick fcks and not worth the price of a broadhead.
Fck off and die little buddy.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:17 pmGhost Walker373,
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 amYou find it a little unnerving that the country has a President that can think and has the testicular fortitude to be a real President. That may account for Obama’s popularity. 8 years of wimpy, pussy Bush. The guy had no class, no brains and no guts.
Can’t figure you neocons out. One minute you’re patting yourselves on the back for keeping the country safe, the next minute you’re praying for the country to be attacked. I don’t understand the logic but do understand why the last 8 years were so disastrous.
It suck to be a looser, doesn’t it. Get use to it!
.
Dear Toaster,
OBL dead…
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,41576,00.html
Fair and balanced doesn’t lie…
(/snark)
.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:32 am.
Dear trolls,
You got you jollies from the jaunt into imperialism BECAUSE of 9/11…
… But that wasn’t good enough for ya?
Maybe these trolls would care to explain how wishing an attack upon one’s fellow Countrymen is what a Patriot prays for…
… Maybe? But maybe not… such COWARDS they are.
.
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:39 amYou are ignorant GhostWalker. You are also a liar and a fool. Why do punks like you even TRY to post when you are so stupid all you do is make fools out of yourself. A three year old would be embarassed to be as bone ignorant as you. So stick your stupidity up your tarhole you pathetic piece of garbage
July 4th, 2009 at 10:33 pmJeez! Who protected the country on 911? Numbnuts? A big chunk of the population believe he was in on it.
July 5th, 2009 at 8:38 am