Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

February 13, 2006

Al Gore's Most Recent Rant

It's hard to tell which former presidential figure is a bigger embarrassment to America: Jimmy Carter or Al Gore. Yes, I know Gore was never actually president, but he was vice president. And I know Jimmy Carter was only a cardboard cutout president...but I digress.

Yesterday, Al Gore saw fit to criticize our current government yet again on foreign shores. And not just any foreign shore, but Saudi Arabia.

Former Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment.

"Unfortunately there have been terrible abuses and it's wrong," Gore said. "I do want you to know that it does not represent the desires or wishes or feelings of the majority of the citizens of my country."

In other words, "Please like me and hate George W. Bush."

On paper, Saudi Arabia is a friend to the U.S. However, there have been noticable cracks in that facade. From WaPo in June of last year:

"We entered one of the companies' [offices], and found there an American infidel who looked like a director . . . When he turned to me, I shot him in the head, and his head exploded. We entered another office and found one infidel from South Africa, and our brother Hussein slit his throat. We asked Allah to accept [these acts of devotion] from us, and from him."

That's how Fawwaz bin Muhammad Nashami described one part of an attack last month in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, that killed 22 people. The terrorist commander, who escaped after the attack, was interviewed by Sawt al-Jihad, a journal sympathetic to al Qaeda. As translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, the interview provides both a detailed account of the attack and a vivid glimpse into the minds of the jihadists who seek to overthrow the royal family of Saudi Arabia.

More...

The Saudi government is in a "state of terminal denial and paralysis," according to Mai Yamani, a Saudi analyst based in London, interviewed by the Lebanon-based Daily Star.

The government has few good options: "If they embark on reforms, they are accused of bowing to the Americans... If they don't do anything, even the moderates are going to throw themselves in the arms of the jihadists. If they try to curb the power of the religious police -- the Mutawa -- they will have a backlash."

Indeed, there are Saudi citizens who have answered the call to jihad against America and the West. So are we or aren't we wise to be a little more discriminatory as to who we let over our borders? What's wrong with being vigilant about expired visas and fishy green cards? And I'd like for Gore to be a little more specific when he describes conditions of people being detained as being "unforgivable." What's unforgivable, not having cable television?

Al Gore may seem like a child having a temper tantrum every time he opens his mouth in public these days. He's had a case of diaper rash ever since losing the 2000 election. But that's nothing compared to the damage he does to our current government's attempts at stopping another terrorist attack here at home. If, Heaven forbid, there is another attack perpetrated by a Saudi citizen, I can hear Al Gore now:

"Why wasn't the Bush administration more vigilant in taking precautions against expired visas and green cards that weren't in order?"

Let's hope he never has the occasion to say it. But if the opportunity arises, don't put it past him.

Brainster has more, as do Michelle Malkin and Captain Ed.