Chris Matthews: Republicans would have blamed Obama for 9/11

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

On his show Tuesday night, MSBNC host Chris Matthews said Republicans would have blamed the September 11 terror attacks on President Barack Obama if he were in office at the time.

The liberal TV host began by calling on Republicans to stop blaming Obama for failing to clean up the mess they created during the Bush administration. He also accused Republicans of stoking so-called birther conspiracies about Obama.

“Imagine if Democrats played this rough,” Matthews said. “Imagine if they blamed the Republican Party for a failure of national security on the eve of 9/11? Does anyone doubt they’d have done it to the Democrats had the horrible attacks occurred on Obama’s watch? Really. Can’t you hear the birthers and tea partiers gyrating with righteous indignation over that one?”

He said Republicans were “dying” for voters to “reward them for the single virtue of having lost the last election so they didn’t have to be here cleaning up the mess they left behind.”

Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC, below:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

9/11 Coloring Book Influences Kids With Islamophobia

By Tanya Somanader/Think Progress

Believing that the upcoming 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 is best memorialized in crayon, Really Big Coloring Books, Inc. is publishing a new coloring book entitled “We Shall Never Forget 9/11: The Kids’ Book of Freedom.” In offering kids the option of coloring the Twin Towers burning, mourning survivors, or the Navy SEALs shooting Osama Bin Laden, publisher Wayne Bell insists that “the doodles represent patriotism,” a “simplistic, honest tool” to “help educate children on events on 9/11.” But many Muslims describe it as, in a word, “disgusting.”

Pointing out that Muslims are already dealing with an environment of increasing Islamophobia, Michigan Council on American Islamic Relations representative Dawud Walid noted that “nearly all of the mentions of Muslims in the book are accompanied by the words ‘terrorist’ or ‘extremist.’” Indeed, the page depicting a Navy SEAL aiming at bin Laden cowering behind is veiled wife reads “Children, the truth is, these terrorist acts were done by freedom-hating Islamic Muslim extremists. These crazy people hate the American way of life because we are FREE and our society is FREE.” Bell’s response? “The truth is the truth“:

“Little kids who pick up this book can have their perceptions colored by those images … it instills bias in young minds,” said Walid. He says that some of the narrative and photos aren’t even correct, noting that Bin Laden wasn’t hiding behind a wife when he was shot.

Bell stood by the book as an “honest depiction”.

“The truth is the truth,” Bell said, adding, “It’s unfortunate that they were all Muslim and that’s the part people want to erase … I don’t know what else you can call them.”

Noting that one page depicts a woman mourning with a cross chain dangling from her neck, Walid says “Muslims mothers lost sons too.” He also noted that he’s not an advocate of showing children violent images — a sentiment that many military families share. Shariah Gibbs, a military spouse in Germany, said “This should not be a coloring book.” Another said, “I would not buy a coloring book [about 9/11]…To me, coloring books should be fun….this is not!”

It is important to note that Bell has published other coloring books on topics “from dinosaurs and zoo animals to African-American leaders, President Obama, superheroes of the Bible and even the Tea Party.” He even said that, if asked to print a book reflecting positive images of Muslim Americans, “I’d print it tomorrow.” To which Walid said, “Well, I’m asking him to do it right now.”

The ‘Woodstock’ of Tea Parties planned for 9/11 anniversary.

By Amanda Terkel Last year, the Tea Party movement gathered in Washington, DC for a widely publicized rally on Sept. 12. Fox News host Glenn Beck, the brains behind the march, implored people to attend by saying that they “may be the only thing that stands between freedom and slavery.” Instead of recreating the patriotic unity that characterized the country following the 9/11 attacks, protesters carried signs reading “Bury Obamacare with Kennedy.” This year, Tea Partiers have decided to just have a rally on Sept. 11:

An event described as the “Woodstock” of tea parties is planned for Sept. 11 at the Monona County Fairgrounds in Onawa in western Iowa.

Craig Halverson of Griswold, who is helping to organize the event, said supporters hope to attract at least 1,000 people from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and other states. He said they are inviting prominent conservative speakers and plan to have bands perform patriotic music.

The event will have a “Take back our country” theme, Halverson said.

Halverson added that “organizers don’t plan to spend the day reflecting” on the 9/11 attacks.