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First Read is an analysis of the day's political news, from the NBC News political unit. First Read is updated throughout the day, so check back often.

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Mark Murray, NBC Deputy Political Director

Domenico Montanaro, NBC News Political Reporter



Obama delays Ft. Hood cmte briefing

Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 1:20 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: ,

From NBC's Rich Gardella
A closed briefing about the Fort Hood shooting incident for staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, originally scheduled for later this afternoon, has been postponed, according to the Committee's Democratic majority staff.

A representative of Chairman Levin's office confirmed that the Committee postponed the briefing at the request of the Obama administration.

According to previous reports, U.S. Army Secretary John McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey would have briefed staffers about the details of the Fort Hood incident.

The briefing would have been the third for Senate Armed Services Committee staff.

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COVERUP...COVERUP.....COVERUP
Protect terrorist at all cost
Everything is delayed with Obama and the Democrats. It's a takes a lot of work to cover up a terrorist attack, and one way to do it is to stop anyone from asking questions.
We knew the military had a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, but we didn't know it was for Islamic terrorists.
"I don't object to the change to the Pledge because it is just words..."

Jody, Iowa (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 12:14 PM)
----------------------------------------------------

THAT!  Is the problem, Jody!  To you the pledge is "just words".  To REAL Americans it's a pledge of love and devotion to country and state!

It's time for the conspiracy theories to begin: How about a military cover-up.  How about Obama trying to cover-up the shootings.

How about, This is important enough to do it right. After the military completes its investigation and reports the facts, then Congress can wade through the weeds and fulfill their oversight responsibilities.  

My guess is a crazy psychiatrist acted alone.  In my book, that is not a terrorist, but a man with serious mental health problmes. Back to my earlier comments. Lets not politicize a tragedy.
Why? What POSSIBLE reason could the WH have to cancel such an important briefing?? Of course the Senate Armed Services Committee should be kept updated!! This investigation needs to move along as quickly, and carefully, as possible; however, and yes, quickly and carefully can be accomplished simultaneously!!

I've read so much hate rhetoric already from people attacking all Muslims; delays like this will only fuel the fire from the ignorant base of this country!!

I wonder if that little s*it Rahm Emanuel had anything to do with this!! He really needs to go!!  
Houston (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 11:40 AM): “How about this one: You could use the same standards of “terrorism” you’re so eager to apply to the Fort Hood tragedy to the Christian terrorist attacks on a Unitarian Church last year and the killing of abortion providers. It’s a fact that there is no difference other than the particular brand of religious extremism. Since you can’t refute that fact, you just ignored it. Or you could reply with another obscenity like the one you wrote last Tuesday and hope it gets by the censors.”

Jeez, all this time and that’s all you could come up with? I’ve not taken a position one way or the other on this board regarding the issue of abortion violence or other religious violence as it relates to terrorism.  That’s quite different from your charge that ‘Since you can’t refute that fact, you just ignored it.’

Whether I ignored it or chose not to state a position because it was not particularly relevant to the points I was making is a motivation that cannot be gleaned from what I actually said in my post.  But that didn’t stop you from inappropriately imputing my motivations in your response to my challenge to refute my arguments.  Lame, very lame indeed.

So I reiterate my challenge: refute me on something I actually said. But next time bring your A game or I’ll not waste my time in responding.

As for the obscenity remark you reference, are you referring to ‘asshole’ or ‘GFU’?  Both still apply.  By leftists standards on this board (see Anita) those are rather benign characterizations, so your feigned indignation doesn’t exactly capture the moral high ground.
I don't presume to know why the briefing is delayed but it is possible there is additional information coming from the investigation to be evaluated before briefing the committees, and it is possible that McHugh and Casey had something critical take priority.

Reading so much back and forth about whether or not Hasan is a terrorist makes me realize the impact that 8 years of fear has had on people.  It's as if we must find something to cling to, something we think we can understand (terrorist) to explain Hasan's decision to shoot, injure and kill so many.  We don't have all the facts, we have tidbits of information, we have conjecture, and journalist reports, we have former FBI analysts providing opinion, we have pundits fueling a debate.  In the end, it doesn't matter if he's a terrorist or not; what does matter is that it happened and 13 innocent soldiers are gone.  The investigation continues and we will learn all the facts, what happened to this man and why; then we can label him.  
"But a Senate aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the panel's inner workings, said lawmakers had wanted to bring in additional US intelligence officials who were not available for the Monday briefing."
My guess is a crazy psychiatrist acted alone.  In my book, that is not a terrorist, but a man with serious mental health problmes. Back to my earlier comments. Lets not politicize a tragedy.
Ron Indiana


Right there, you're wrong. The shouting of “Allahu Akbar” before he began shooting echo those of other jihadists. And email records confirm that he was in touch with a radical Muslim cleric.

Rather then the truth, you're basing your view point on hope.
Wanna bet Obama does not live in the US after his term(s) is up? Watching him go through the bowing routine again, his endless apology speeches I believe he is the least american president in history, hands down. I can imagine FDR,Truman, Eisenhower, Johnson and even Nixon throwing up as they watched Obama diss his country to gain points with dictators and tyrannts. FDR might have gone around the bend on the social programs but his love for the US was enormous. Truman, Eisenhower were also great patriots. Johnson and Nixon despite eh... some problems were unquestionably strongly supportive of the country. However i like many americans get a very uneasy feeling when listening to Obama as if we were listening to someone from another country, another culture. Now 40 years of propaganda from the public schools have enabled a person such as Obama to actually be elected president but you would think a majority of us would reject his obsequios behavior and drop him post haste. Next year will be the predictor of the 2012 election. If the "foreigner" in office continues to screw up he will be a one termer. I read a column recently that made the statement that Obama is starting to exhibit the traits that many (not enough) of us saw in the 2008 campaign. Those traits are lack of experience, lack of character and lack of judgement.
Right there, you're wrong. The shouting of “Allahu Akbar” before he began shooting echo those of other jihadists. And email records confirm that he was in touch with a radical Muslim cleric.
Rather then the truth, you're basing your view point on hope.
CW - Missouri (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 2:28 PM)

Another member of the Ignorant Base of this country; you choose to believe what you want to believe; there has been NO formal report that he shouted these words!!

How about waiting until ALL the evidence is out there, a final report is released and shared with this country before you make your decision!!

After the Oklahoma City bombing, an Arab man landed in Italy, and was immediately flown back to the United States as a suspect!! The evidence?  None, he was an Arab!! Timothy McVeigh, a white American, was the monster who carried out that act of domestic terrorism!! I thought after that horrific incident, and the poor man's photo plastered on every news station, people would be more careful as to make assumptions!! Yes, Hasan is Arab and a Muslim; however, you, me and not one American knows why he did what he did!!

Let's wait for the final findings, please!!
CW - Missouri (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 2:28 PM)

So when gang bangers shout "Die you M*$%er F*$$%ers", we should fear the incestuous?

You guys are sure 'reaching' today.  Why don't you do a full 180 so at least someone is satisfied?

To carry this pretzel logic even further, is our military no longer #1 since we couldn't see this Hasan for what he was?  I mean, surely, the entire intelligence of the US Military didn't figure him out; but Obama should have had his number in 10 months?  You people are so pathetic it would be amusing if I didn't sense you are trying to be serious.
Frist Read:  It you are going to put out a headline like this then please give a reason.  Surely, there is a reason.  There have been two other briefings so I find it hard to believe it was postponed for no good reason.  You are giving a half-assed and incomplete accounting of the situation.  If you are not going to give the whole story then do not give one at all.
"You people are so pathetic it would be amusing if I didn't sense you are trying to be serious."

Clara Kansas City, MO (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 2:46 PM)



This about sums up both sides of the "debate" on this blog...
"How about waiting until ALL the evidence is out there, a final report is released and shared with this country before you make your decision!!"

'Cause that'll settle things once and for all, just like the Warren Report, and the 9/11 commission report...
Paul: Please take off your tin hat and stop listening to Glenn Beck. You are sounding like an absolute idiot.

To carry this pretzel logic even further, is our military no longer #1 since we couldn't see this Hasan for what he was?  I mean, surely, the entire intelligence of the US Military didn't figure him out; but Obama should have had his number in 10 months?  You people are so pathetic it would be amusing if I didn't sense you are trying to be serious.
Clara Kansas City, MO


The military had Hasan figured out. Because of our PC world though, no one wanted to do anything about it, less they be busted for being "insensitive" to the minority.

I notice you didn't respond about the e-mails. I wonder why?
Yeah! lets not hurt the mass killers feelings by calling him a terrorist.  Next thing you know some of the idiots that post here, like FRR, Anita, Pam, Jody, and Msierra will be trying to set up a legal defense fund for poor mr hasan or a fund for his medical expenses (or write them into the health bill).  

Also I must have missed where this came from ...can someone post where i can find it in these blogs.  Sounds like a conversation i'd like to slam on Jody too! for all I know they are trying to add under Obama!

I don't object to the change to the Pledge because it is just words..."

Jody, Iowa (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 12:14 PM)
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THAT!  Is the problem, Jody!  To you the pledge is "just words".  To REAL Americans it's a pledge of love and devotion to country and state!


Selfish Children Think Like YOU! (Sent Monday, November 16, 2009 1:29 PM)

It does seem that issues relating to the military and our national defense are on the President's pay no mind list.  In the past the left has been quick to call US service people war criminals without cause, and without apology.  They have called for the imprisonment of Republicans without and specific charges.  The President himself took the side of a friend in a legal dispute saying that the Cambridge MA police department "acted stupidly", though when it comes to a mass murderer we're instructed not to jump to conclusions.

When another nut case shot and killed a man at the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. he was labeled a white supremacist lunatic, and rightly so, before the body had even been removed from the scene.  When Major Nidal went on his rampage they wouldn't even release his name right away.  The information about his behavior leading up to the attack leaves us wondering why no action had been taken against him to prevent these senseless deaths.  How often do you hear about someone being fired for saying or doing something objectionable on the job?  This is the United States Army, where they can discipline you for not having your uniform just so.  In WWII we had no problem saying that we were fighting German Nazis, in the War On Terror, we're fighting Islamic Terrorists.
It doesn't sound like Obama was telling the committee not to investigate (cover up) he's just telling them to wait a minute and give the on the ground investigators a chance to collect and organize the available information to present something coherent to the committee.  Jeez, could you try any harder to find something to criticize?
Who really knows why 19 Arabs flew planes into the twin towers and killed 3,000 Americans?  Gee, we can't read their minds.  Maybe they just came to get a hug from the ACLU or a bunch of tree hugging liberals.  Maybe they came for burgers.  

I guess we'll have to wait for a nuke to go off before you idiots wake up.  I only hope it's in San Francisco and takes your stupid a88e8 and Pelosi's with it.  So you just go on and keep hugging terrorists, but I would don a knife proof turtle kneck, just in case.


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