Fri, 22 May 2009 01:48:32 +0000 – By Lis WiehlFOX News Legal Analyst/Former Federal Prosecutor
On Thursday morning, Republicans and Democrats fought the battle of Gitmo vs. Supermax. They wrestled over what to do with detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay once that facility is closed. The fear is that once the prison is closed, detainees who are released will show up on your front doorstep, sinisterly asking to be let inside to "use the phone because the car broke down," like those menacing man-sized termites in the Orkin Man commercials.
Also on Thursday morning, news junkies fought the battle of the Obama speech vs. the Cheney speech. The fear is that Obama doesn't really know what the heckto do with those detainees; and that Cheney simply won't stop injecting himself into policy decisions he no longer has the authority to make.
Also on Thursday morning, we learned that four men were arrested last night because they were planning to "commit jihad" in New York City.
Anybody else feeling some Alanis Morrissette coming on? Isn't it ironic? A little too ironic? That Thursday brought all manner of carrying-on about safety -- at the same time that four men, including three who are American-born, were planning such treats for New Yorkers as exploding synagogues and missiles shooting military planes out of the already-scarred Manhattan skyline.
Mayor Bloomberg told us that we must remain vigilant. Senator Schumer told us it's nice that this particular group of jihadists didn't really have its act together. And Senator McCain took the apparently narrowly-avoided tragedy as an opportunity to tell us about that all-important-to-the-politicians point -- credit -- suggesting that perhaps Bush deserves some credit for preventing another attack. For a New Yorker, it is a perfect storm for creating fear factor fatigue.
Plenty of New Yorkers still fight the urge to check the skyline for fighter jets flying air cover every time a 747 passes over (remember what happened when the White House wanted beauty shots of Air Force One with Lady Liberty in the background?), still wrangle with themselves over whether to take the subway because of the latest report of plans for an attack on the commuter system, still feel pangs of sadness every time an "old" movie comes on TV that features some romantic scene with the Twin Towers as the backdrop.
New Yorkers don't much need to be reminded to be vigilant and are not comforted to know that this particular band of would-be terrorists apparently hadn't read "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," nor are they interested in hearing already-ancient campaign echoes of who should get credit for what in terms of "keeping us safe." Enough of the platitudes, enough of the bickering. Here's hoping our fearless leaders leave behind the fighting and discern a workable solution to this mess already -- because New Yorkers would simply like to enjoy Fleet Week without feeling slightly unnerved by the proximity of those ships in the event some evildoers manage to take the helm of one of them.
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