Obama-Speak: Homeland Security Secretary Replaces 'Terrorism' With the Term 'Man-Caused Disaster'

By Tim Graham (Bio | Archive)
Thu, 03/19/2009 - 16:19 ET

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Even as President Obama compares bankers to suicide bombers, his Homeland Security Secretary is suggesting the T-word, terrorism, is too inflammatory and representative of old-fashioned "politics of fear." She's announced a new term: "man-caused disaster." From an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel:  

SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

NAPOLITANO: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

But what if the suicide bomber is a female? Isn't it sexist to use "man-caused disaster"?

Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary wipes out terrorism. It’s now a “man-caused disaster.”

March 25, 2009 · 10 comments

Two months in office and President Obama has already wiped out terrorism. Who knew it would be this easy?

You see, the President’s Homeland Security Secretary thinks the word terrorism isn’t very nice, that it represents those darned old-fashioned “politics of fear.” So she wiped out terrorism with a stroke of her pen…or her tongue.

Don’t get us wrong. Janet Napolitano didn’t do anything that will save any lives or make us any safer or stop any of the bad guys. She just eliminated it from her vocabulary and renamed it a “man-caused disaster.”

Here’s what she told the German magazine Der Spiegel:

Der Spiegel: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the US Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word “terrorism.” Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

Napolitano: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word “terrorism,” I referred to “man-caused” disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

Seriously. So from now on, it’s not terrorism. It’s a man-caused disaster. So we assume they’re not terrorists anymore, either, but man-caused disaster makers…or doers…causers…or whatever.

Somebody out there help us here. Is this more of that change we can believe in?