Turn of Phrase - Senator Feinstein Talks Tough on Fox News

"I am hopeful that we will be able to, candidly, kill this bomb maker and kill some of these other associates, because there is a dangerous process in play at the present time."

- From Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, speaking to Fox News about an operative from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula who has created at least two difficult-to-detect non-metallic explosives.

At a different point in the interview during a discussion of defeating the Taliban in Afghanistan, Feinstein called out the neighboring Pakistani government, noting the Taliban "have a safe harbor in Pakistan and the Pakistanis are doing nothing to abate that safe haven." 

I guess the old "soft" California liberal thing ain't what it used to be.

Turn of Phrase - Obama Says "Ask Bin Laden"

"Ask Osama Bin Laden and the 22 out of 30 top al-Qaida leaders who have been taken off the field whether I engage in appeasement."

- President Obama responding to statements from candidates Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney, who accused the administration of taking a weak and timid approach to threats posed by radical Islamists.

Al Qaeda On the Ropes

Photo: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

President Obama answered an ABC News question about the degree to which we have decimated Al Qaeda leadership by boldly stating...

"... over the next couple of years, if we stay on it, it's going to be very difficult for them to mount the kind of spectacular attacks that we saw on 9/11..."

 Intellectually, I genuinely appreciate that he feels optimistic and is willing to express his outlook so directly (that's a very non-politician thing to do). Having said that, there's also the irrational part of me that feels like it's somehow tempting fate to make such a statement. Regardless, it's good to hear that we've made such significant progress in dismantling (or, killing, as we say in the real world) Al Qaeda senior leadership.