24 Disturbing Hours In American History
I get paid to think strategically and forward-thinking for my company. After the events of the past 24 hours, I can’t help but feel in my gut that we cannot underestimate the extreme significance of cumulative effect of these three major news items:
Boumediene v Bush - A Supreme Error - Fred Thompson, Townhall.com
Militants Attack Afghan Prison With Car Bombs, Free Inmates - FOX News
Tim Russert dead at 58 - MSNBC.com
UPDATE: Will June 13 never end? Let me add yet another important news item within the past 24 hours.
UNICEF LINKED TO AL QAEDA AND TALIBAN CHARITY FRONT GROUP - FOX News
The combination of these three four events in 24 hours may well result in us viewing the world in pre-June 13 and post-June 13 terms.
I truly hope I am wrong.
Tim Russert, Rest In Peace.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
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OK, I’ll bite. I don’t watch much TV, and even less do I watch news TV. What was great about Russert? Was he, say, the only thing keeping MSNBC remotely honest?
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — June 13, 2008 @ 5:48 pm - June 13, 2008
ILC — Yes, keeping MSNBC/NBC from becoming a complete laughingstock is part of it. But Russert was a GOOD JOURNALIST — such a rarity these days. He didn’t care who was in front of him and what parties he might NOT be invited to — he asked TOUGH questions.
Also, he really revitalized the Sunday morning talk show as a benchmark event each week for the DC political set.
It is hard to exaggerate the loss to the Presidential Campaign that Russert’s death brings. Which is suggested in my post.
Comment by GayPatriot — June 13, 2008 @ 5:51 pm - June 13, 2008
Russert at least made an effort to be tough on both sides. I give him props for that.
I get paid to think strategically and forward-thinking for my company.
I used to have that job. Damn, I miss it.
Comment by V the K — June 13, 2008 @ 6:06 pm - June 13, 2008
Admittedly, I’m not that familiar with Russert. I know who he was, could recognize him when I saw him (even on that episode of Homicide). Never watched Meet the Depressed, save a few clips here and there and read a transcript or two.
Damn shame he had a heart attack at 58. Even worse, in my mind, that it was at work. But, I suppose if he was doing what he loved at the time, it’s all good.
Also, SHAME on the SCOTUS for ignoriing legal precedent, the U.S. Constitution and swiping the power of CIC from Bush. I wish Bush had the nads to tell them to piss off.
On a lighter note,
Yeah, but can you make it out the door with matching socks on?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — June 13, 2008 @ 7:21 pm - June 13, 2008
Yeah, but can you make it out the door with matching socks on?
Barely.
Comment by GayPatriot — June 13, 2008 @ 7:27 pm - June 13, 2008
Bad news: 400 Taliban escape from jail.
Good news: Now we can systematically hunt down and exterminate these 7th Century throwbacks…and not even the “Gang of Five” on the Supreme Court will be able to do anything about it.
In every crisis there is also an opportunity….
Comment by MarkJ — June 13, 2008 @ 7:58 pm - June 13, 2008
I’ve got a question about high value prisoners. Why doesn’t the CIA or whoever implant a device in them? So when escaping they can track them back down and maybe even arrest or kill their fellow terrorists?
As to Tim Russert, everytime someone 50 or 58 passes away it strikes me to the quick. Life seems so fragile. Just this week it was reported life expectancy in the USA has reached 78 years. You never know when your time is gonna be up. So call your MOM and Dad more often. See your best friends more often.
The thing that made Russert so different and special was his objectiviity and fair mindedness apparently. Now isn’t that a remardable slam at 99% of journalists. To see Olbermann tonight talk about Russerts fairness and professionalism made me wanna puck.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — June 13, 2008 @ 11:43 pm - June 13, 2008
Gene, ***I’ve got a question about high value prisoners. Why doesn’t the CIA or whoever implant a device in them? So when escaping they can track them back down and maybe even arrest or kill their fellow terrorists?***
Great idea, but could it make it past the traitors in the ACLU, who would consider this a violation of prisoners’ “rights”? There’s the rub…..
Comment by LesbianNeoCon — June 13, 2008 @ 11:50 pm - June 13, 2008
Yeah, ILC, he worked hard to be balanced. Didn’t always succeed, but he worked harder at it than any other liberal in TV news that I can think of, by far.
Comment by American Elephant — June 14, 2008 @ 1:26 am - June 14, 2008
#7
On the plus side, I’ve seen an Allstate (I think) ad that says something like 100,000 “Happy 100th Birthday” cards or something to that effect. Saw it on the back of the 19 May National Review magazine.
Also heard it mentioned on the Joey Reynolds Show, to which he quipped that they were all given to two people.
#8
Damn you, LNC! You beat me to it.
HAHAHA!!! Rub!!
Comment by ThatGayConservative — June 14, 2008 @ 2:05 am - June 14, 2008
I had a lot of respect for Tim Russert.
Speaking of big news days, don’t forget R. Kelly’s acquittal. Not sure that that plays any political significance though.
Comment by James — June 14, 2008 @ 4:44 am - June 14, 2008
hysterical - even with a solid conservative majority on the Supreme Court ya’ just can’t stop whining when they make a decision that doesn’t fit with our administration du jour. Quite pesky isn’t it, having that 3rd branch of government to make sure that we actually follow the law? Then of course, Republicans spent 6 years trying to pass laws that were free from judicial review.
Comment by Kevin — June 14, 2008 @ 10:39 am - June 14, 2008
Please enumerate the “conservative majority” of the Supreme Court.
Not sure why i’m asking you. you never respond to questions about the nonsense you say.
You’re a dumbass. The court admited it’s ruling is brand new law.. that there is no precendant for it.
The Bush admin was following the law , the law Congress passed a year or two ago at the demand of the Supreme Court.
Examples?
Comment by Vince P — June 14, 2008 @ 10:43 am - June 14, 2008
For a moment, consider all of the news people you can and make a list of those whom you would consider in Russert’s league. If you happen to come up with a name for the list, where does he/she rank on a scale where Russert was a 10?
Comment by heliotrope — June 14, 2008 @ 11:05 am - June 14, 2008
Tim Russert, RIP.
One less Democrat disguised as a journalist
Comment by ShermanStreet — June 14, 2008 @ 11:25 am - June 14, 2008
Kevin for Joint Chiefs of Staff!
Certainly, the rules of war should include full Miranda rights. If our soldier shoots his weapon, he should report to the rear while a shooting review board determines if he made the correct choice. If our soldier kills someone, the area should be sealed off as a potential crime scene and a full investigation should ensue.
If we capture a somebody who is trying to do our troops harm, we should immediately place him in the custody of the courts and give him full habeas corpus, Miranda and due process rights even though he is not a citizen and subject to the full scope of our Constitution.
We should have a heavily armored battle wagon that carries a D.C. trained magistrate and is available 24/7 wherever our soldiers are in combat. The enemy must always be afforded the presumption of innocence, no matter what.
And, Kevin, there should be a Human Rights Commission that includes members of the enemy forces, the ACLU and Vegans For Peace to make sure that all sides are heard.
I would love to see one of these Gitmo choirboys given his civil court hearing. Then, I would like to see it appealed through the system and tossed right into the laps of the Supreme Court.
If the five Supreme Court justices see a Constitutional road map in this mess, let them lay it out.
Meanwhile, Kevin, your five heros have just waked up a lot of people to the importance of what type of fiddler you put in the Supreme Court nonet.
And, Kevin, were you equally as smug over the 5-4 decision that “selected” Bush as President?
Comment by heliotrope — June 14, 2008 @ 11:33 am - June 14, 2008
What your clearly meant to say is:
Kevin, Congress sets up the courts, defines Supreme Court jurisdiction and has total power over the military courts. Let’s see what your Reid/Pelosi led Congress will come up with. Shall we have a military or an extension of the U.N. “Peace Keepers” who wear powder blue and are trained to duck and cover and run away?
Comment by heliotrope — June 14, 2008 @ 11:46 am - June 14, 2008
Kevin is gloating because brutal foreign terrorists now have the same rights as innocent Americans. Yeah, that sounds about right.
Why do I have the feeling when the escape of those prisoners in Afghanistan is investigated, we’re gonna find some politically correct Rules of Engagement were a contributing factor.
Comment by V the K — June 14, 2008 @ 1:02 pm - June 14, 2008
16: ….we’re not talking about soldiers on the field of battle against an enemy. We’re talking about people who are in the custody of the US government. What about people like Murat Kurnaz? Held by the US in Afghanistan and Gitmo for 5 years, tortured in several ways (is beating someone’s head while it’s being held underwater simply aggressive questioning?). It wasn’t until the Chancellor of German requested to Bush directly that he be released. Even though fully innocent of any terrorist or terrorist related activities, on the day of his release, US officials at Gitmo attempted to get him to sign a statement saying that he was guilty before they would release him.
5 years of his life lost and not one drop of proof of any connections with terrorists whatsoever. Should terrorists who’ve committed heinous acts be brought to justice? of course they should. However, the US government has tainted itself by going on a witch hunt and simply rounding up people because of their religious/racial affiliations. With lack of real, hard, clear evidence, the Bush administration has brought these problems on itself - their zeal has opened up gaping holes of doubt about these prisoners. If true terrorists get released, then members of the Bush administrators and its supporters at all levels of government have only themselves to blame for muddying these waters with hysteria and lies.
Comment by Kevin — June 14, 2008 @ 1:05 pm - June 14, 2008
One other question. When a tiny click of judges can make law they want without any accountability… how is that different than a dictatorship?
Comment by V the K — June 14, 2008 @ 1:06 pm - June 14, 2008
VK: Kevin pretends no one has asked him a thing. He just goes on with his traitorous spewing.
Comment by Vince P — June 14, 2008 @ 1:22 pm - June 14, 2008
You know what’s odd, is Kevin rants that Republicans or religious Christians want to exterminate him. And yet, when the Islamists who really do, openly and avowedly, want to exterminate him win a major victory… he cheers and gloats.
That’s pretty f—ed up.
Comment by V the K — June 14, 2008 @ 1:32 pm - June 14, 2008
Murat Kurnaz……..
was….
and….
while Murat Kurnaz had….
Oh, Kevin, you really do drink the Kool-Aid. For openers, what tribunal of law found Murat Kurnaz “FULLY INNOCENT of any terrorist or terrorist related activities?
Where is the documentary evidence that Murat Kurnaz was “tortured in several ways” and what definition of “torture” are we using here?
Three examples of Bush administration “hysteria” and three examples of Bush administration “lies” please. Or just one each, if you prefer.
“Not one drop of proof of ANY connections with terrorists WHATSOEVER.” Will you bet your life on that? You should, because you leave no wiggle room in your statement.
Other Gitmo prisoners have been released to England, France, Spain, etc. at the request of their governments. It is part of Diplomatic Courtesy. The Chancellor of Germany had best hope that Murat Kurnaz keeps his nose clean, because Murat Kurnaz is officially the ward of the German state.
Hey, do you think they are watching him? After all, he is “fully innocent of any terrorist of terrorist related activities” and there is “not on drop of proof of any connections with terrorists whatsoever.”
Kevin for Director of CIA!
Comment by heliotrope — June 14, 2008 @ 1:48 pm - June 14, 2008
I’ve got the solution to the “abused” prisoners at Club Gitmo. Since the leftists want them to have American rights. Identify maybe 10 leftists communities around the country. Of course they’d be bright blue areas. And spread the 400 or so terrorists from Gitmo to these communtiy jails. Let Kevin and his brothers have them in their midst and feed and clothe them. Generally make nice. I’m sure these radical terrorists will appreciate all of Kevins efforts and will thank them. I doubt leftists would have to fear the Gitmo guys, they won’t have to worry about a jail break as just happened in Afganistan. Your children and mothers won’t have to worry about terrorists being in the corner jail. If you are nice to them, I’m sure they will be nice to you. Come on Democrats, volunteer to house these Gitmo prisoners in your communities. Raise your hands and poney up. The five supremes who just made law out of whole cloth, ought to be made to put some of the terrorists in half way houses on their blocks.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — June 14, 2008 @ 2:00 pm - June 14, 2008
Heliotrope, you’re over-thinking it. Kevin just thinks Murat Kurnaz is hot.
By the way, if you borrow Kevin’s Illustrated Lord of the Rings, you’ll find all the pages with Gimli on them stick together.
Comment by V the K — June 14, 2008 @ 2:19 pm - June 14, 2008
Well, far be it from me to pile on Kevvie since everyone else is doing such a great job, but I will insert this thought into his pea-sized brain (and I’m being generous about his abilities):
President Abraham Lincoln actually had a couple of Supreme Court justices arrested for high treason and removed from the bench during the Civil War because they basically tried to screw him from preserving the Union by declaring Southerners as “non-enemy-combatants.” Would you have the same problem with that today if it were GWB?
Or better yet, snObama?
(Crickets chirping)
Checkmate.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — June 14, 2008 @ 2:24 pm - June 14, 2008
#19: “Should terrorists who’ve committed heinous acts be brought to justice? of course they should.”
Kevin, you’re filthy liar. You don’t believe terrorists should be brought to justice in the least, and certainly not those that have been released from Gitmo. If you wanted any Muslim terrorist on Earth punished for anything, you wouldn’t be so cavalier about the Bush Administration “having only itself to blame” if, because of the “muddy waters” they “created,” terrorists were actually released. Easy come, easy go, right?
Lord knows, I’ve certainly wasted time trying to educate blithering, treasonous idiots like Kevin on this issue in particular, but it is a TRULY pointless exercise because even if they LOSE on the guilty/innocent argument, they have a backup—even when Gitmo detainees turn out to be guilty, THEY’RE STILL INNOCENT.
I first witnessed this obscene approach to arguing about Gitmo when I read a column on Huffpost (I know, I asked for it) and the ridiculous comments posted below it. It described a truly VILE argument on this issue, one that I have no doubt Kevin would take up without hesitation.
The column was about a terrorist who was released from Gitmo and later, along with two other suicide bombers, murdered 7 members of the Iraqi security forces. Here’s the title of the column:
Identification of Ex-Guantanamo Suicide Bomber Unleashes Pentagon Propaganda
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-worthington/identification-of-ex-guan_b_101190.html
The Pentagon’s “propaganda” was actually having the temerity to suggest that not ALL of the Gitmo detainees were necessarily poor, innocent victims, just looking for a publisher for their works of poetry, as the Left had depicted them.
It gets worse. Read this paragraph:
“The question remains, therefore, whether al-Ajmi was lying in Guantánamo — which is, of course, a possibility — or whether the abuse he suffered for four years in US custody radicalized him and led to his final manifestation as a suicide bomber. The clues provide mixed messages. In Guantánamo, the authorities certainly regarded him as a threat, noting that his behavior had been so ‘aggressive and non-compliant’ that he had ‘resided in the disciplinary blocks throughout his detention,’ but there appears to be no way of knowing if he was ‘aggressive and non-compliant’ because he was a sworn militant or because he was profoundly angered by his experiences in US custody.”
So, was al-Ajmi a violent jihadist all along? Or was he angrily radicalized due to his confinement by U.S. forces—in fact, DRIVEN to his “final manifestation as a suicide bomber” by America?
You guessed it. It’s all our fault. He was a peace-loving poet/shepherd until he went to Gitmo. Then he was suddenly transformed into a violent, suicidal jihadist. Thus, the columnist concluded, the story was not only insufficient justification for U.S. policy and particularly Gitmo, but more evidence of it being a dismal failure that had caused more unnecessary and innocent deaths.
The author (and the band of idiots that commented on his column) chalked it up to embittered retaliation against the evil U.S. (even though Americans weren’t targeted). WORSE, the fact that al-Ajmi’s “retaliation” against America was committed as a SUICIDE ATTACK was just flatly ignored. Of course, outside the MSM, suicide attacks are the quickest way to martyrdom for violent Muslim terrorists which would (DUH!) suggest al-Ajmi held these extremist views ALL ALONG. But the fact that al-Ajmi KILLED HIMSELF while lashing out against “America” (and by “America,” I mean “Iraqi security forces”), was considered completely insignificant in the analysis.
What all of this reveals is that liberals like Kevin are not upset that the Gitmo detainees are (or, were…) denied the presumption of innocence applicable to defendants in American courts. They are upset because they believe an entirely different standard should apply to the detainees: innocent until proven guilty; and innocent AFTER proven guilty.
It’s utterly pointless to argue issues of guilt or innocence at Gitmo with people like Kevin (seriously….I mean, c’mon….it’s KEVIN!) because there are NO CIRCUMSTANCES under which an anti-American, moral relativist like Kevin would ever hold a violent Muslim terrorist singularly accountable for his actions before blaming the U.S. FIRST.
So when you hear people like Kevin say things like, “Should terrorists who’ve committed heinous acts be brought to justice? of course they… blahblahbullshitbullshitbullshitblahblahblah…,” it’s easy to tell that they’re lying, because in the next sentence, they start using one of their favorite expressions: “WITCH HUNT.” See, the whole terrorism thing? They don’t believe in it. “Terrorists” are just a bunch of “witches” that conservatives made up to put that evil plan fueled by “fear-mongering” into action. It’s all “hysteria and lies” as far as Kevin is concerned, so it’s not possible for any terrorists inside or outside of Gitmo to ever be guilty of ANYTHING.
Comment by Sean A — June 14, 2008 @ 3:53 pm - June 14, 2008
V the K, I wish I hadn’t clicked on the link. I don’t recall seeing his happy mug before. He should never, ever be profiled by the TSA. Not when there are grandmas with walkers trying to smuggle too much toothpaste aboard.
Kevin for Librarian of Congress and Official Panda Bamboo Shoot Feeder!!!
Comment by heliotrope — June 14, 2008 @ 3:56 pm - June 14, 2008
Kevin loses some friends.
Comment by V the K — June 14, 2008 @ 4:11 pm - June 14, 2008
I like this one better
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=322_1213457415
Comment by Vince P — June 14, 2008 @ 4:42 pm - June 14, 2008
This oen would definately get Kevin upset… listen to the way they are shouting in joy… how mean !
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f0b_1201663566
Comment by Vince P — June 14, 2008 @ 4:45 pm - June 14, 2008
And another one.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=13c_1194146606
This is probably my fav
Comment by Vince P — June 14, 2008 @ 5:13 pm - June 14, 2008
I think you guys will LOVE this one. It’s appropriately titled, “Not the sharpest scimitar in Allah’s scabbard.” Kevin will recognize this from his jihadi-training–for what NOT to do.
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/27/not-the-sharpest-scimitar-in-allahs-scabbard/
Comment by Sean A — June 14, 2008 @ 5:31 pm - June 14, 2008
How dare Michelle be so ethnically insensitive!
Comment by Vince P — June 14, 2008 @ 5:34 pm - June 14, 2008
#27 Sean A:
So I guess inviting Kevin to our church ice cream social might be a waste of time?
Comment by heliotrope — June 14, 2008 @ 6:11 pm - June 14, 2008
This oen would definately get Kevin upset… listen to the way they are shouting in joy… how mean !
Oh, nos! Soldiers shouting in joy over the destruction of the enemy! No. No. No. Our men in uniform are supposed to be anguished or at least conflicted by it so they can come home, get on mental health disability, and join Iraq Veterans Against War! The modern feminized soldier doesn’t shout when Mr. Jihadi meets Mr. JDAM, he’s supposed to strike his best Alan Alda pose and sigh, “This isn’t a war, it’s a murder!”
Not to mention all those horrible greenhouse gases a burning jihadi gives off. Who knows how many friendly, cuddly polar bears would be drowned by burning off Murat Kunaz’s beard! Think of the polar bears! Think of the polar bears!
/lefty twit
Comment by V the K — June 14, 2008 @ 6:56 pm - June 14, 2008
#35: “So I guess inviting Kevin to our church ice cream social might be a waste of time?”
Well, if by “waste of time” you’re thinking of that scene from the Omen where Gregory Peck is taking his son to Sunday services for the first time, and when Damien gets one glimpse of the cross on top of the steeple he starts having spastic convulsions, while screaming and clawing Lee Remick’s face to bloody ribbons, then YES. I would consider that a “waste of time.”
Now, if I ever attend a wiccan-polytheistic-soy-frozen-milk-ANTI-SOCIAL-Ouija-ritual, then I can’t think of a more enchanting companion than Kevin. I’m no FOOL. I wouldn’t DREAM of summoning the dark forces and/or joining their hellish crusade without Kevin being there. Without Kevin and his handcrafted voodoo marionettes and gasoline-soaked effigies, well…the party has no where to go but down. You know I’m right.
Comment by Sean A — June 14, 2008 @ 7:53 pm - June 14, 2008
Are you kidding? They’d be lining up for conjugal visits!
Kevin has no clue what he’s talking about. You know he wouldnt even consider reading the dissents, or read the precedent that the court admitted it trampled. Kevin, like all liberals doesn’t give a rats ass about the constitution, the separation of powers, or even the terrorists. He simply is against whatever Bush is for.
Comment by American Elephant — June 14, 2008 @ 11:40 pm - June 14, 2008
Exactly which law was followed?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — June 15, 2008 @ 4:20 am - June 15, 2008
Tim Russert was Meet the Press!!!!! Yesterday’s tribute to him was so moving. This morning his son, Luke, was on the Today show and what a truly wonderful tribute to his Dad he is.
TIM, RIP
Comment by PatriotMom — June 16, 2008 @ 7:34 am - June 16, 2008
PS
Put a good word in up in Heaven that this election turns out for the GOOD of the United States of America!!!!!
Comment by PatriotMom — June 16, 2008 @ 7:35 am - June 16, 2008