Via David Schorr, former Bill Clinton- and George W. Bush-era counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke accuses the GOP of positioning themselves in order to take advantage of a terrorist attack. Noting that the Obama administration's approach to handling the failed underwear bomber was consistent with that of prior administrations, Clarke writes:
It has been hard to escape the conclusion that the goal of these critics is to discredit the President's handling of terrorism for political advantage, whether or not the administration is actually doing a good job. Indeed, they seem to be posturing themselves simply so that if there is a successful terrorist attack on America, they can say "I told you Obama doesn't know how to fight Al Qaeda."
[...]
There may well be another successful terrorist attack in the U.S. someday soon. No system can stop all of the attempts all of the time; ask Israel. When and if that attack does come, let us hope the American people will reject any attempt to make it a partisan issue. It is not conduct worthy of real patriots.
Naked political interest would certainly explain the irrational discrepancy between the rather sudden Republican opposition to Bush-era policies now that the Obama administration is implementing them.
At any rate, remember when criticizing the president on national security was giving "aid and comfort to the enemy," the definition of treason as described in the U.S. Constitution? Now apparently it's giving aid and comfort to the enemy for the president to respond. Perhaps if the GOP retakes Congress, they can rewrite the statutory definition of treason to mean "disagreeing with Republicans."
-- A. Serwer
