On September 12, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said of his Democratic colleagues, “Sometimes, based on the votes that get cast, you wonder whether they're more interested in the rights of the terrorists than in protecting the American people.” During the following 48 hours, media figures far and wide repeated and replayed Boehner's attack on television news outlets and in print. On September 14, Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and John Ensign (R-NV) took to the Senate floor and made similar comments. They were followed by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), however, who lashed back with an indictment of the Republicans' counterterrorism policies. Landrieu said, “America is not tired of fighting terrorism; America is tired of the wrongheaded and boneheaded leadership of the Republican Party that has sent six-and-a-half billion dollars a month to Iraq while the front line was Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. ... Americans are tired of boneheaded Republican leadership that alienates our allies when we need them the most.” She added, “I most certainly am not going to sit here as a Democrat and let the Republican leadership come to the floor and talk about 'Democrats are not making us safe.' They're the ones in charge, and Osama bin Laden is still at loose.” But will the media highlight Landrieu's comments as they did Boehner's?

Boehner's September 12 attack on Democrats pervaded the media during the two days that followed. A September 13 New York Times article mentioned his criticism, as did two articles in the September 13 edition of The Washington Post and two September 12 Associated Press articles (here and here). Further, numerous television outlets reported and replayed his comments:

• NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams: 9/12
• CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, 9/12
• ABC's World News with Charles Gibson, 9/12
• CNN's The Situation Room, 9/12
• CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, 9/12
• CNN's Paula Zahn Now, 9/12
• MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, 9/12
• MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, 9/12
• Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, 9/12
• NBC's Today, 9/13
• CBS Early Show, 9/13
• ABC's Good Morning America, 9/13
• CNN's American Morning, 9/13
• MSNBC's Hardball, 9/13
• MSNBC's Countdown, 9/13
• CNN's The Situation Room, 9/13
• Fox News' Special Report, 9/13
• Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, 9/13

On September 14, Ensign and DeMint echoed Boehner's remarks in consecutive Senate floor statements. Ensign said, “Al Qaeda reads our newspapers and watches our television stations. They see the lack of resolve in some of our leaders, and they seek to exploit it.” Meanwhile, DeMint offered more specific criticism of Democrats, claiming that they do not “seem to understand the true threat that we face with Islamic extremists” and instead “continue to prove that they are dangerously naïve about the grave danger of global terrorism.” DeMint went on to say that Democrats “have signaled to the terrorists that America is tired, discouraged, and ready to quit, encouraging the terrorists to expand their attacks around the world.” He later concluded, “If Democrats spent half as much time fighting terrorists as they do this administration, America would win this war a lot faster. Democrats claim to be the ones listening to the American people, but unfortunately they're just posturing to win an election.”

Immediately following these remarks, Landrieu delivered the following statement:

LANDRIEU: Mr. President, thank you. I came to the floor to speak briefly about one of our outstanding superintendents in Louisiana and to pay tribute to an accomplishment that's been made on education. But in light of the rantings that went on for the last 30 minutes by two colleagues from the other side, I'd like to state for the record that America is not tired of fighting terrorism; America is tired of the wrongheaded and boneheaded leadership of the Republican Party that has sent six-and-a-half billion dollars a month to Iraq when the front line was Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. That led this country to attack Saddam Hussein, when we were attacked by Osama bin Laden. Who captured a man that did not attack the country and left loose a man that did. Americans are tired of boneheaded Republican leadership that alienates our allies when we need them the most. And Americans are most certainly tired of leadership that -- despite documented mistakes after mistake after mistake, even of their own party admitting mistakes -- never admit that they ever do anything wrong. That's the kind of leadership Americans are tired of. I didn't come to the Senate to have partisan rantings on the floor, but I most certainly am not going to sit here as a Democrat and let the Republican leadership come to the floor and talk about “Democrats are not making us safe.” They're the ones in charge and Osama bin Laden is still at loose. Now I'll speak about what I came to the floor to speak about.