The president, while ramping up the measures that make unthinking Americans feel safer flying, actually said all the right words today. Too fucking bad only a handful of people actually heard them.

John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who blamed the failed Christmas Day terror attack on Obama’s “preoccupation” with health care, didn’t hear them. He was too busy worrying about the “glaring failures” of the Obama administration that allowed “an al Qaeda terrorist to come eerily close to blowing up a plane.” That and pointing out that this was the second terrorist attack on Obama’s watch (Fort Hood, remember?) and that it would be good if there isn’t a third strike.

Pete Hoekstra, the Michigan Republican who exaggerates everything way out of proportion if he thinks it will benefit him, didn’t hear them. He was too busy comparing the Fort Hood shootings with the failed attack, because we all know that a Nigerian guy boarding an airplane in Lagos, changing planes in Amsterdam and then trying to blow up the plane over Detroit and an Army major who walked into an Army post facility and started shooting posit exactly the same security concerns.

Sue Collins, the Maine Republican who fancies herself a moderate, didn’t hear ‘em either. She was too busy thinking about suspending the visas of everyone in the “broadest terrorist database.” I’m not sure what she means by that, but I think a few of my colleagues who ended up on the no-fly list for no apparent reason may have even more trouble getting into the United States under her plan.

Yeah, the Republican response is pretty much “I appreciate the president coming out and saying a few words, but he’s still wrong,” which has kinda been the Republican mantra since, oh, about November 5, 2008. Barack Obama is wrong. Doesn’t matter what it is, he’s wrong. Even if he does something Republicans like, they’ll still find some way to criticize.

At least it’s an easy-to-remember strategy. Say no to every thing the Democrats want, and find something to bitch about for everything they say.

Dick Cheney is real good at it. He came out after the failed terrorist attack and complained that Obama never says we’re at war. Unfortunately for Cheney, that’s not true. In fact, Obama said that when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, of all things. He said it again today too, so I sorta expect Cheney to come out and say something along the lines of, “Well, he didn’t mean it.” And then sneer.

But it’s not just Republicans who have apparently replaced their brains with one of those recording devices they use in Hallmark cards where you record something and then the receiver can play it over and over again. My colleagues, too, are really good at it.

My colleagues worry me, in fact. We’ve forgotten how to be journalists, it seems. I’ve traced it back to Watergate, which seems to be about the time that the Republicans launched a completely unveiled campaign to discredit “the media” by painting us all as “liberal elites.” And as with all Republican plans presented to the unreflecting herd, it worked. It even worked on us.

Anyway, a few days after the Christmas Day bombing, CNN’s Ed Henry was on the air stirring up the “controversy” about the president taking from Friday to Monday to stop his vacation long enough to say something about the failed attack. Here’s what he said:

I think Peter King raises a fair point about the fact that in a crisis, and here we had a situation where over 200 people could have been and came close to being killed on Christmas Day, that is normally something where you expect the president of the United States to step forward and reassure the public.

I know from covering George W. Bush, he certainly would have been out there. This White House pushes back on that pretty hard, saying, they have a much different style from the past administration. That was certainly fought out in the campaign. It is a different approach.

“He certainly would have been out there.” Do you mean like how Bush, after Richard Reid tried to blow up an airplane on December 22, 2001 – with the same type of explosives but a different method of detonating – GW stayed at Camp David and then went to his Texas ranch before he talked about that failed terrorist attack?

Statements from the White House said the president “had been briefed” on the situation. Nothing more. Three months after 9/11, and GW gets “briefed.”

It was six days before Bush said anything, and he did so during a news conference at which not one single reporter, not even Ed Henry, asked him about the now notorious “shoe bomber.” This was part of his response to a question about security:

The shoe bomber was a case in point, where the country has been on alert. A stewardess on an American Airlines flight — or a flight attendant on an American Airlines flight — was vigilant, saw something amiss and responded. It’s an indication that the culture of America has shifted to one of alertness. And I’m grateful for the flight attendant’s response, as I’m sure the passengers on that airplane. But we’ve got to be aware that there are still enemies to the country. And our government is responding accordingly.

That was it. No follow-up, nothing. But his bud Karl Rove took a look at how the incident was handled and found the entire administration wanting.

Well, it tells me that we got the gang that’s not got its act together. First of all, I think it was a mistake for the president to have the incident happen on Christmas and for him not to be heard from for four days. The White House sent out its people to spin the press in that they were trying to reassure the American people. Well, I don’t understand why keeping the president off the stage and then not having him explain it for four days is supposed to reassure us.

Never mind that Friday to Monday is four days only in New Testament stories of the resurrection.

Republicans have also used the failed terror attack to whine about Gitmo, how it shouldn’t be closed, and they’re really sore about how Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, like the 9/11 plotters, is gonna be tried in a civilian court. But know what then-DefSec Donald Rumsfeld said about Richard Reid at a news conference five days after the incident?

That’s a matter that’s in the hands of the law enforcement people and not the Department of Defense. And I don’t have anything I would want to add.

Sure didn’t seem to bother him.

Somewhere in there is what it means to be a hypocrite. But I betcha none of those guys, either – or that war-crazed “independent” Democrat Joe Lieberman – heard what Obama said today. Even though he’s still fighting two wars, even though Gitmo is still running, even though a lot of other things he’s been so very disappointing on – he said some very right things. And here it is:

I am less interested in passing out blame than I am in learning from and correcting these mistakes to make us safer, for ultimately the buck stops with me. As president, I have a solemn responsibility to protect our nation and our people, and when the system fails, it is my responsibility.

OK, that’s not really it. But that was pretty good. Ever remember the Bushites taking much responsibility? Heckuva job, Brownie.

All right, this is the real thing. Read it carefully, because regardless of everything else he’s said, and regardless of all the knee-jerk security “reforms” he’s ordered to satisfy the fearful, this is the crux of the matter.

Over the past two weeks, we’ve been reminded again of the challenge we face in protecting our country against a foe that is bent on our destruction. And while passions and politics can often obscure the hard work before us, let’s be clear about what this moment demands.

We are at war. We are at war against Al Qaida, a far-reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9/11, that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, and that is plotting to strike us again. And we will do whatever it takes to defeat them.

And we’ve made progress. Al Qaida’s leadership is hunkered down. We have worked closely with partners, including Yemen, to inflict major blows against Al Qaida leaders. And we have disrupted plots at home and abroad and saved American lives.

And we know that the vast majority of Muslims reject Al Qaida. But it is clear that Al Qaida increasingly seeks to recruit individuals without known terrorist affiliations, not just in the Middle East but in Africa and other places, to do their bidding.

That’s why I’ve directed my national security team to develop a strategy that addresses the unique challenges posed by lone recruits. And that’s why we must communicate clearly to Muslims around the world that Al Qaida offers nothing except a bankrupt vision of misery and death, including the murder of fellow Muslims, while the United States stands with those who seek justice and progress.

To advance that progress we’ve sought new beginnings with Muslim communities around the world, one in which we engage on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect and work together to fulfill the aspirations that all people share — to get an education, to work with dignity, to live in peace and security.

That’s what America believes in. That’s the vision that is far more powerful than the hatred of these violent extremists.

Here at home, we will strengthen our defenses, but we will not succumb to a siege mentality that sacrifices the open society and liberties and values that we cherish as Americans, because great and proud nations don’t hunker down and hide behind walls of suspicion and mistrust. That is exactly what our adversaries want. And so long as I am president, we will never hand them that victory.

We will define the character of our country, not some band of small men intent on killing innocent men, women and children.

And in this cause, every one of us — every American, every elected official — can do our part. Instead of giving in to cynicism and division, let’s move forward with the confidence and optimism and unity that defines us as a people, for now is not a time for partisanship, it’s a time for citizenship, a time to come together and work together with the seriousness of purpose that our national security demands.

That’s what it means to be strong in the face of violent extremism. That’s how we will prevail in this fight. And that’s how we will protect our country and pass it, safer and stronger, to the next generation.

“That’s what it means to be strong in the face of violent extremism.” Strong, not cowering and fearful, which is where the Republicans – and the extremists – would have us. There’s no need to turn into Pete Hoekstra or Pete King or Dick Cheney. All that’s required is a calm and thoughtful response, a careful consideration of the facts.

Fulfilling aspirations, working together. Won’t “succumb to a siege mentality.” “Great and proud nations don’t hunker down and hide behind walls of suspicion and mistrust.” “Move forward with the confidence and optimism and unity that defines us as a people.” “Not a time for partisanship, it’s a time for citizenship.”

“That’s what it means to be strong in the face of violent extremism.” Of any kind.

Yeah, they’re just words. Actions speak louder, you say. Not always.

Sometimes, it’s the words that set the tone, that plant the seeds of real change that we need to hear. Just gotta hear ‘em. Embrace them. Let them embrace you.

I heard them. Granted, I was listening for them. So many others were listening for other words – the tough on terrorists, we’re number 1 kind of words – and they were there. They had to be, sadly.

But the words the president saved for the end of his remarks are the more useful ones, the ones that describe a vision of how we could be, if we only hear.

Someone’s feeding on your anger
Someone’s been whispering in your ear
You’ve seen his face before
You’ve been played before
These aren’t the words you need to hear

Every man is his own prophet
Every prophet just a man
I say all the women stand up, say yes to themselves
Teach your children best you can

Let every man bow to the best in himself
We’re not killing any more
We’re the wisest ones, everybody listen
‘Cause you can’t fight this feeling any more