The GOP rediscovery of Osama bin Laden
For quite a while, it looked as if the Republican Party had just about given up on taking Osama bin Laden seriously. During his presidential campaign, Mitt Romney took a surprisingly passive attitude towards the terrorist responsible for 9/11, saying, “It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.” Fred Thomson dismissed bin Laden’s significance as mere “symbolism.” The president, of course, famously said of bin Laden, “I truly am not that concerned about him.”
But that was then. Now that it’s time for the general election, the GOP has rediscovered OBL. Yesterday, for example, John McCain posted this item on his campaign blog:
Senator Obama is obviously confused about what the United States Supreme Court decided and what he is calling for. After enthusiastically embracing the Supreme Court decision granting habeas in U.S. civilian courts to dangerous terrorist detainees, he is now running away from the consequences of that decision and what it would mean if Osama bin Laden were captured. Senator Obama refuses to clarify whether he believes habeas should be granted to Osama bin Laden….
Yesterday morning, the RNC distributed this Obama quote to reporters, as if it were, prima facie, controversial: “I think what would be important would be for us to deal with him in a way that allows the entire world to understand the murderous acts that he’s engaged in and not to make him into a martyr.” (Why the RNC finds this offensive is unclear.)
Shortly before that, McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann falsely accused Obama of opposing the death penalty for bin Laden. McCain also repeated his promise to either “kill” or “execute” bin Laden (McCain is relying on a secret get-bin-Laden plan that he chooses not to share with the White House or the military.)
The bad news is, the demagoguery here is shameless and pathetic. The good news is, it doesn’t make any sense and is easy to push back against.
Of course - NOW he's important.
Fuckers.
I wish these idiots would "rediscover" some of this:
[ Deleted, Spam. Site Monitor]
We might finally make some progress in the War on Terror, and impeach Bush/Cheney to boot.
how convenient!!!
it's too late, the damage is done!!
we are in a nosedive into a burning fascist hell!!
wait til gas is 10 bucks a gallon and what that's going to do to everything and everyone!!
Don't Tread on Me used to mean something, not anymore!
IF bin Laden is captured it will be interesting to see the PROOF that he and his pals executed the events of sept 11 2001 -
.
But, but, but I want to see OBL defend himself!
If OBL is guilty, I want to see that sucker at least lie about it.
I want to see why he's guilty...
.
McCain's "secret get bin Laden plan" sounds like Nixon's "secret plan to end the Vietnam War" that he wouldn't reveal until after he was elected.
More crap from neocons. It boggles the mind how so many people buy this BS.
“It’s not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.”
No, it's worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars to remove a dictator who had nothing to do 9/11 and kill thousands of innocents in process.
Stupid fuck
.
But, but ,but...
Benazir Bhutto said OBL was dead.
.
Wellllll, we did expect this one didn't we?
So exactly what is wrong if bin Laden gets habeas corpus? What am I missing here. Plus if they find the cocksucker they will just shoot him anyway.
During a recent own hall meeting in New Jersey, Republican presidential nominee John McCain reiterated his pledge to "get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice." Amazingly, McCain was able to make his promise without his signature line about following Bin Laden to "the gates of hell." Even more amazing, McCain cited swimming as the skill American intelligence operatives will need to help him do it.
For the details, see:
"McCain to Swim to the Gates of Hell to Catch Bin Laden."
Embittered & Anti-Republicrat - Max-Hussein-1 @ 8:
I believe he is dead. bin Laden is a boogey man used to scare the "kiddies".
This deserves a topic on its own!!
Is impeachment imminent??
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rep._Wexler_questions_McClellan_about_CIA_...
Slappy @ 4:
Didn't Bin Laden himself take responsibility? I'm pretty sure he released some video of his jubilant minions right after 9/11. I didn't get the impression at the time he was just another crazy person taking responsibility for something he didn't do just to add drama to his life.
If he's captured then he should receive a fair trial.
On the other hand, if he tries to resist capture then it's ok with me if he gets shot in the process.
Wait, don't tell me, I never forget a name.
of course the GOP remembers Osama again, he's the convenient boogeyman they can invoke now that we're in an election year. He's just like the monster costume under the floorboards in "The Village" (Trust me, if i've spoiled that Shyamalan film for you, i have saved you two hours of your life you would not otherwise have gotten back)
Why shouldn't habeas be granted to Osama bin Laden? It's not like it's a "get out of jail free" card like the bush administration and Congress like handing out. It's a basic human right that ALL civilized peoples extend to all humanity! And when handed over to a US civilian court Osama bin Laden would be tried, convicted, and then either executed or sent to prison for life. mccain is doing the mcinsane thing again.
ysbaddaden @ 15:
yeah,yeah, whats his name . The guy with a beard , right?
mudshark @ 18:
does he wear a hat too?
Bin Laden carried out 9/11, and pro wrestling is real.
If we're a nation of laws, then even Osama bin Laden needs habeas corpus.
mudshark @ 18:
Santa Claus is responsible for 9/11?????
I refuse to leave any milk and cookies this year!!
Oh, daddy (Goopers), protect me! I'm so scared! Only you can protect me from ___(fill in the blank)___.
OBL, turrurists, icky brown Muslims, hell, any icky brown people. Hell, watch that black shadow of yours, it's black you know.
Fear, scare, 9/11, death and destruction of America. As Biden said, Guilliani said a noun, verb and 9/11 in every sentence. Welcome to Gooper Communication 101. They have nothing to offer any American. The only way they can win is to scare us.
I fully expect a false flag operation (bombing, whatever) before the elections to reinforce that we should indeed be very, very afraid, I don't even want to think of the disaster which will ensure once we bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.
And gotta love Thompson. He was on Fox the other night saying that the SCOTUS decision gives those turrurists more rights than we have. Amazing the lies they get away with. Oh right, Fox sued to be able to lie to the public.
Can anyone wonder why we're as fucked up (and fucked) as we are?
Matt in Texas @ 22:
You might want to think about building a bigger fire next year.
Gee, what a lovely country. You realize how ridiculous this sounds to be bending over backwards to clarify that Obama has not objected to the death penalty for Bin Laden...
What if he did object? So what? Most of the world does not believe in the death penalty. Pathetic.
At the end of the siege of Tora Bora,
OBL, Al Q and the core of the Taliban escaped to Pakistan due to corrupt allies of the US forces.
They didnt want him captured and telling all.
Theater and farce.
I had an individual approach me at work with this story all wrong as far as what Obama had said. He had heard his version on Fox of course and he believed it. I am not sure that he did not still believe it even after I had tried to set him straight on the story.
the GOP resurrection of OSAMA may have more to do with linking OSAMA and OBAMA and there are regular occurrences of GOP media operatives "accidentally" switching the names. recently limbaugh called on OBAMA to be killed.
the Albuquerque gun show earlier in June featured a radio ad on the giant limbaugh station KKOB 770 that featured a call to get armed to be ready for OSAMA. is this radio ad running for other gun shows (hundreds) all over the country? has it been running since bush went after OSAMA or just since OBAMA got the nomination. who produced the ad and if other gun shows are running it as generic, are they paying more than usual for advertising?
how many of those questions can be answered yes before the secret service needs to get involved?
Just keep reminding everyone that Bushie couldn't get Osama in 7 freaking years.
Way to go Bush you freaking incompetent BARBARIAN.
Osama still has not been charged for 911.
It's been what 7 or 8 years. Americans have an attention span of 5 minutes. Nobody really cares about Osama any more. It's sad but true. I bet if you did a poll; half of all Americans would think that Osama was the dictator of Iraq.
I like pie @ 31:
probably more like 27%
But I get it.
(I know...it's a dream, but still...)
Some enterprising reporter needs to ask McCain if, as a POW he had been put on trial, whether or not he would have wanted the same rights that would have been granted him had he been in an American court.
Of course, he would go on about how terrorists want to blow us up and take away our freedoms, but just the chance to get this question asked and possibly get it on the news would be priceless.
Have they tried looking in the Pentagon? Just a theory...
The repubs still do not understand the "enemy" in this "war". Al Quaeda followers *want* to die for their cause. Killing Bin Laden on site (while I would be happy to pull the trigger myself) just excites and justifies (in their minds) his minions, creating hundreds more to take his place. Dragging him through a fair trial and exposing his acts and hypocrisy, making him seem a weak, powerless *mortal* instead of an immortal martyr, would be far more effective in truly combating terrorism.
trankhussein @ 28:
Hillarys Indianan mailer with the German sniper rifle and Obama's face on it !!!
ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 36:
Do you actually believe that the Clinton campaign put that out?
Maybe someone should teach them what Habeas Corpus actually is. They act as though granting this right to people will cause huge problems, but if there were crimes that they could charge these people with, they have nothing to worry about. If they don't have a crime to charge inmates with, then I think that it shouldn't matter where they are from...
who needs to get obama, when weve gotten his number 2 guy, what....about 100 times???
al quiada has more vps than general motors
and did anyone notice that right before the fisa vote, terrorists started showing up in canada and the threat level got elevated
why should we worry anyway....superbush is our prez
Ahhh boosh, it just another feeble last minute attempt to save his lunacy...I mean, legacy.
Paul @ 38:
But they are banking on it to get McCain elected. Scare America into voting for someone who will protect us. Bush likes to tell us how much safer we are since 9/11 and how we are winning the "war" on terror and how we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here, but when it's election time, suddenly all of this gets thrown out the window. Kerry wins the election in '04? Oh, we'll be attacked again. Democrats win back Congress in '06? Oh, we'll be attacked again. A Democrat wins the WH in '08? Oh, we'll be attacked again. But...Bush told us how he's protecting us and how safe we are. But we'll be attacked again. But there hasn't been another attack on American soil since 9/11, thanks to Bush's wonderful leadership.
Geez...talk about making one's head spin.
Sometime before the end of October... McCain will probably make a non-political fact-finding trip to Afghanistan. He'll visit a market in Kabul to show how safe it is, then buy some locally woven rugs. On the way back to his suite at the US Army headquarters... he'll stumble onto a tall bearded man in the street, grab him, make a citizen's arrest, and it will be Osama B. It will be on camera... and we will be watching the arrest on cable news shows in-ad-nauseum right up until election day.
marko @ 3:
yep. what he said.
stock up now, get a good sight, and get a night scope.
If Big Brother captured that evil terrorist thoughtcriminal Emmanuel Goldstein, the whole system would fall apart.
CafeenMan @ 14:
The video could of just as easily been part of the Pentagon's manipulation of the media. It's not too terribly hard to find an actor that looks a little like Osama.
Ron @ 30:
even after his so-called "confession" video tape.
after all, the US doesn't fake evidence. WMD's aside.
mudshark @ 37:
Politico
DKos
ferrofluid (Obama 08) @ 47:
you're kidding me right? How do you decipher a threat from that add. Me. I don't see it. I am aware that some people made an issue out of this. But to me, it was all hyperbole.
Look for the GOP....I mean OBL...to release a slew of OBL tapes in the coming months as they do every election year.
CafeenMan @ 14:
Yeah, he was talking about how he thought just a few floors of the towers would be destroyed and the entire buildings.
Charles @ 50:
And NOT the entire buildings.
UBL *must* have a fair trial because there are hundreds of millions of moderate Muslims who think he was a tiny bit justified in his actions. We have to show to them that it was a crime against all of civilization and all of humanity.
Of course Osama bin Laden should be granted habeus corpus, assuming he's captured alive and is brought back to the US. You see, we're better than he is. Our enemies have a chance to defend their actions before facing justice. When you are captured by Americans, you should be relieved, no matter who you are, because you know you'll be treated well and you'll have a chance to state your side. That's more that most of the countries in the world will give you. That's why this country should be standing for what is right.
Instead, we are allowing our leaders to tarnish this reputation. These same leaders are doing everything in their power to take away our ability to control them. What will we do about this, we the people?
I don't see why granting him habeus is such a problem. We KNOW he's guilty, he's ADMITTED he's guilty. It would be simplicity itself to convict him through perfectly legal means, but Republicans want to run him through a Saddam-style kangaroo court so they can act out their revenge fantasy.
'Obama doesn't understand the Supreme Court ruling.'
Let's make one thing clear - or two things.
1. Barack Obama is an attorney and has taught Constitutional law
2. McSame has [probably] learned to fly fighter planes - having destroyed 5 before ever seeing conflict, and when he did, he got himself shot down and then didn't waste much time singing to the VietCong tunes other than 'Name, Rank and Serial Number' as required by the UCMJ.
He gets "unquestioned" credit for foreign policy experience and running the war on terror. Just when did he get that experience I ask. He doesnt seem to know much about the economy [he said] but he doesn't know much about foreign policy either, nor does he know anything about the function of the SCOTUS.
FLMAO! IF her were captured, HOW ABOUT CAPTURING HIM YOU NEANDERTHALS! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO SMOKE HIM OUT, DEAD OR ALIVE! blah balh blah
This is why the Republicans are going to have their ass handed to them in a paper bag on election day, people remember all the lies this time.
okay..........time to pull bin laden out of the closet i'm almost done with my term...quack quack
Matt in Texas @ 6:
82% think the country is seriously off track. 41-45% support McCain in every poll! We truly are a nation of morons.
How can 25% of the population possibly be that fucking stupid??? I guess the GOPer's figured that out years ago, and must privately be laughing their asses off after every election (scam). "Wow Dick, the stupid fuckers really went for it again! High five! A-hehehe, a-hehehe! They wanna have a beer with me. A-hehehe. Like that's gonna happen. Well, maybe while I'm pissing in their faces. A-hehehe, a-hehehe!"
Yeah, like where is he?
a tape is due within a week. July 4th is coming up.
V @ 53:
The current administration has proven that we are NOT better than the terrorists. And, if you've ever been arrested, even for a little thing, you'll know that the same mindset has infected our society all the way to the core. We are a nation of corrupt, violent thugs. For a glimpse into life in a little corner of the reddest of Red states, see this story. 'Well sure I broke the rules by entering the cell and beating on the kid, but that should be ok since I was just trying to tell him about the joy of letting Jesus into your heart!'
ronhohn @ 55:
...which makes his current opinion on retroactive immunity all the more disturbing.
Grampa McAlzheimer's belongs in a home, not the White House.
Osama is going to be the October Surprise.
I think McSame's "secret plan to get Bin Laden" is like Nixon's "secret plan to end the war in Viet Nam," namely to invade another country. Nixon did it to Cambodia and Laos, McSame will do it to Iran.
And whatever happened to getting him "dead or alive"? I seem to recall hearing that somewhere...
i'm not a lawyer but i'm pretty sure habeas does not simply give guilty people the right to bypass a trial and go about their merry way. i'm also pretty sure the us government and other governments of the world could put together some pretty good evidence that would lead to obl's arrest and incarceration for a long time.
You know, I have Bush's "Truly not concerned" quote is on YouTube, you should link to it in the description:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o
hey, site monitor, i found an answer (sort of) to my question of the other day:
Pointing to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as an example, Obama said that "we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in U.S. prisons, incapacitated."
McCain and his team unleashed an escalating series of charges: that Obama was naïve about terrorism, imprecise in his facts (one of the alleged '93 suspects wasn't apprehended) and insufficiently bloodthirsty when it came to dealing with a captured Osama bin Laden.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/06/mccain_blips_...
"The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him."
- G.W. Bush, 9/13/01
"I want justice...There's an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,'"
- G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI
"...Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county [sic]. Now he's maybe in control of a cave. He's on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we're going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that's what's happening. He's on the run, if he's running at all. So we don't know whether he's in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open -- we just don't know...."
- Bush, in remarks in a Press Availablity with the Press Travel Pool,
The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on
official White House site
"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
- G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
"I am truly not that concerned about him."
- G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts,
3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
katy@67 McCain and his team unleashed an escalating series of charges: that Obama was naïve about terrorism, imprecise in his facts
Naive = "No one could have imagined them using planes as weapons" when multiple plots to do just that by '93 terrorists and others existed and the govt. conducts many training exercises to prepare for such an attack.
Stop and think America.
Keep the 'Fear Factor" on TV.
Yes, habeas corpus rights should be granted to Osama Bin Ladin. Habeas corpus rights are -merely- the right to contest whether the the charges brought against you in a court of law are legal and justified. That's it. End of fucking list. The Republicans are relying on the outright stupidity of the American people not to know that in order to turn this into some big crisis where terrorists will be released into the streets.
Habeas corpus is there to protect innocent people from being wrongly accused by corrupt governments. That's all. Nothing more.
Sen. Lindsey Graham got it backwards by fixating on those at Gitmo who are "being treated better than Nazis."
That's because America was a democracy that respected the Constitution and Intl. law when FDR was President. Vs. Dictator Bush who reverse engineers S.E.R.E. and stoops to become the very totalitarian regimes like Soviet, Vietnamese...by using torture that are soldiers are trained to resist.
Anyone whos ever viewed the so called CIA " confession" tape allegedly made by Usama knows what a crock of shit this all is. Hes worthless to Bush confirmed dead or captured.
BushCo just uses his image to keep the freepers pooping themselves daily. Cant be that many braindead fucks still believing this crap can there ? Oh ya.. USA.. nevermind.
Funny how an ailing, cave-dwelling, aging, limping terrorist with not one but TWO bad kidneys was able to infiltrate all the defenses of our multi-trillion dollar military and strike our country without even a small hurdle being placed in his way.
And all this with a handful of one-way plane tickets and some $4.50 box cutters they probably picked up at Home Depot.
Gary @ 20:
and George Double U Bush doesn't drink anymore
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