The Mueller indictments are giving WaPo columnist and national security writer Max Boot a major case of déjà vu. It all feels so familiar, you know? Just like 9/11.
Wait … what?
Just as Sept. 11 made clear that private security could not safeguard the aviation system, so the 2016 Russian attack made clear that social media companies cannot safeguard the electoral system. A greater federal role is needed, yet Trump refuses to act. https://t.co/MatJYF1pxQ
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 20, 2018
Boot writes:
Imagine if, after 9/11, the president had said that the World Trade Center and Pentagon could have been attacked by “China” or “lots of other people.” Imagine if he had dismissed claims of al-Qaeda’s responsibility as a “hoax” and said that he “really” believed Osama bin Laden’s denials. Imagine if he saw the attack primarily as a political embarrassment to be minimized rather than as a national security threat to be combated. Imagine if he threatened to fire the investigators trying to find out what happened.
Imagine, moreover, if the president refused to appoint a commission to study how to safeguard America. Imagine if, as a result, we did not harden cockpit doors. If we did not create a Transportation Security Administration and a Department of Homeland Security. If we did not lower barriers between law enforcement and intelligence. If we did not pass a USA Patriot Act to enhance surveillance. And if we did not take myriad other steps to prevent another 9/11.
That’s roughly where we stand after the second-worst foreign attack on America in the past two decades. The Russian subversion of the 2016 election did not, to be sure, kill nearly 3,000 people. But its longer-term impact may be even more corrosive by undermining faith in our democracy.
Never mind that Russian cyberattacks were so pervasive because the Obama administration was asleep at the wheel. The notion that Russia’s attempts to sow discord during the 2016 election season are remotely comparable to the 9/11 terrorist attack is not only absurd; it’s insulting to the memories of those who lost their lives.
Naturally, Laurence Tribe is a big fan:
This @MaxBoot op-ed is a MUST READ. He nails it with his unnerving comparison of Russia’s war on our democracy with the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers. Imagine if Bush 43 had done NOTHING to punish al Qaeda but had embraced Osama bin Laden. . . https://t.co/kKiFOLNrg6
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) February 20, 2018
Nails it? Really?
What a ridiculous thing to say.
— Colonel Potter (@colonel_potter) February 20, 2018
Professor Tribe, sir, lol come on man
— Connor Wroe Southard (@ConnorSouthard) February 20, 2018
Unnerving because of its idiocy?
— Edward (@EdN618) February 20, 2018
TDS. Infinity. https://t.co/sE6tUu09Zg
— Just Brad (@bradcundiff) February 20, 2018
Trump Derangement Syndrome isn’t a good look on anybody.
Dank memes = 9/11 https://t.co/zq8M2mbSjM
— Jim Treacher is a dumb pseudonym (@jtLOL) February 20, 2018
How can you possibly compare the two??? How??
— Steve S. (@stevedoc22) February 20, 2018
Sure…3000 dead versus some Russian memers is exactly the same. pic.twitter.com/IkJRFDAeRO
— Guy Faux (@Faux_Guy_) February 20, 2018
In this counterfactual did Al Qaeda still kill 3000 people or just shitpost on MySpace and Geocities? https://t.co/DaG6NVCRg1
— Rogue Works Progress Administration (@GabrielRossman) February 20, 2018
pretty bad analogy
— Benny very carefully (@Benny_Carefully) February 20, 2018
Pretty bad? We’d say it’s worse than pretty bad.
How does he “nail” it? This is a terrible comparison.
— Brendan Hall (@BrendanHall113) February 20, 2018
That’s a disgusting analogy. https://t.co/kogzAe8sWc
— EducatédHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) February 20, 2018
We can’t help but wonder:
How are you employed instead of forcibly committed?
— Happy Gorilla (@revs_west) February 20, 2018
