Liz Cheney's criticism of President Obama's innocuous comments about terrorism shows what's wrong with the political debate in this country.

Instead of substantively criticizing Obama's policy on terrorism, Cheney, chair of a group called Keep America Safe, takes a small statement Obama made and completely misconstrues it.

In Washington Post writer Bob Woodward's forthcoming book, Obama says that the United States "can absorb a terrorist attack."

Here's the full quote:

"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger."

Cheney said that Obama's comments "suggests an alarming fatalism on the part of President Obama and his administration."

Americans expect our President to do everything possible to defend the nation from attack. We expect him to use every tool at his disposal to find, defeat, capture and kill terrorists. We expect him to deter attacks by making clear to our adversaries that an attack on the United States will carry devastating consequences. Instead, President Obama is reported to have said, 'We can absorb a terrorist attack.' This comment suggests an alarming fatalism on the part of President Obama and his administration. Once again the President seems either unwilling or unable to do what it takes to keep this nation safe. The President owes the American people an explanation.

Maybe she should re-read the president's comments.


Obama is speaking the truth. Of course no one wants to see another terrorist attack on American soil. However, 9/11, as devastating as it was, did not destroy this country.

I think Obama was trying to pay tribute to how strong our country is. It is ridiculous to say that there won't ever be another terrorist attack on American soil.

And what's so ironic about Cheney's comments is that her dad was basically running the country when those planes slammed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. What if we continually pointed fingers at the signs that the Bush Administration missed and may have used to stop 9/11? What credibility does Cheney have when she supports the Birthers movement?

It's up to the public to look at the motivations behind the comments some people make. Cheney's comments are clearly political in nature and add nothing to the debate about how this country should deal with the threat of international terrorism.