We have a serious problem, Sirius.

Learning From Abdul Mutallab
VDH

5) After the embarrassing debate about Hasan (e.g., “Was he a terrorist?”; second-hand post-traumatic stress syndrome, etc.), I don’t think the public will put up with similar contextualization about Mutallab.

6) The politics of anti-terrorism in this administration will insidiously begin to change, given that there was no repeat of 9/11 between 2001 and 2009 — and that thereafter, signs began to emerge that radical Muslims were reenergized and eager to trump their feat of eight years ago. In such a climate, one must worry more about the passengers on Flight 253 and less about whether self-confessed mass murderer and beheader KSM is given a public venue to explain his hatred of the United States, and is granted rights usually not accorded to such out-of-uniform and self-proclaimed terrorist enemies.
So a little more
“Beware of radical Muslim terrorists who want to murder us — and won’t!”
and a little less chest-thumping about dropping the supposedly retrograde “War on Terror.”
—
Sorry, Victor, but I’m not holding my breath.

This Guy’s Been on Every Channel, Every Day for a Year. Now He’s Shy?

At some point, a strategy insisting that unsuccessful attacks are not worth presidential comment starts looking like whistling past the graveyard, or pretending that the incidents aren’t a big deal when they are.