The Obama Report

In an essay written in November of 2007, Joseph C. Phillips praised former President Bill Clinton for confronting a couple of hecklers who [during a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton] accused the US government of orchestrating the 9/11 attacks.

Inside job?" Clinton replied, "How dare you!"

"It was perhaps his finest hour," writes Phillips.

Phillips, however, criticized the way the Democratic Presidential Candidates' responded to such accusations.

John Edwards', in reply to a question about the collapse of the third tower, told the questioner to leave his contact information so he could discuss the matter with him further.

When a 9/11 conspiracy theorist sent a correspondence to Barack Obama accusing the US government of being directly involved in the attacks, Obama responded via e mail as follows:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your belief that the U.S. government was complicit in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. I appreciate hearing your passionate views on this matter.

While I do not believe the U.S. government was complicit in the attacks, I do think it should be held accountable for the unacceptable mistakes it made in the run-up to that terrible day. The blunders that occurred prior to the 2001 attacks were inexcusable and often outrageous. The series of clear warnings about the potential use of hijacked planes as weapons is just one example of why the "surprise" of 9/11 should have been anticipated.

In my view, proof of government complicity is not necessary when making the argument that the U.S. should accept some responsibility for what happened on 9/11.

"Hey," Phillips remarks, "if that's not battling cynicism I don't know what is!"

"Ironically," Phillips continues, ..."all three candidates were hailed for their courage when they called for the firing of a rusty old radio DJ for making a lame racial joke. Of course, they blatantly ignored talk show host Rosie O'Donnell (who had a much larger audience than Imus) while she claimed the government conspired to blow up the world trade center..."

"Bill Clinton should be applauded for spanking those conspiracy theorists on their backsides and sending them packing," writes Phillips.

But of course, as Kimberley Strassel notes in a recent column in the Wall Street Journal - entitled, "Farewell, New Democrats" - Bill Clinton and the party centrists are no longer in charge. "The intellectual soul of the Democratic Party is now firmly left."

And with the Democratic Party now "firmly left", 9/11 conspiracy theorists are no longer "sent packing". Instead, they're more than welcome to discuss their conspiracy theories with Barack Obama.

My, how the Democratic Party has changed!