Anyone who thinks they have all the Answers before they've even heard the Question - is Dangerously Deluded! Real Truth Requires Vigilance, Perseverance and Courage, regardless of Party and who wields Power. Left, Right, Center, Corporations, Government, Unions, Criminals or the Indifferent.
After his inserted his foot up to his back molar on Good Morning America by claiming "Bush had No Domestic Attacks" - Rudy Gui-9/11-iani decided to do some damaged control on CNN, and managed to steer right into the high weeds.
Rudy Giuliani came on The Situation Room to attempt to clarify his remarks on Good Morning America and still has his facts wrong. John's right. The media needs to give this liar a time out. Rudy now wants us to believe that he meant to say we weren't attacked since Sept. 11th on George Bush's watch. When asked about the anthrax attacks, Giuliani claims that wasn't a terrorist attack because the FBI didn't ever figure out who did it, and it "was not done in the name of Islamic terrorism".
Of course Blitzer didn't point out how utterly ridiculous that statement is, or some of the other domestic terrorist attacks that happened on Bush's watch as well, so he didn't do much better than George Stephanopoulos' bit of stenography on Good Morning America.
WASHINGTON -- In a series of court documents that were at turns chilling and bizarre, federal investigators said U.S. Army microbiologist Bruce E. Ivins misled government agents investigating the 2001 anthrax mailings, sent emails with language closely matching the handwritten letters sent to victims and had access to the strain of anthrax used in the crime.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the evidence, including hundreds of pages of unsealed documents, proves that Dr. Ivins was the sole person responsible for the 2001 anthrax mailings. Many of the documents contain previously unknown details and shed fresh light on the seven-year investigation, one of the most complex and controversial undertaken by federal law enforcement.
The only reason this suspect hasn't been brought to Justice is because he committed suicide as soon as it was announced that he was the chief suspect.
Guiliani's arguement is that we didn't have another Islamic Terrorist Attack since since 9-11, except for Fort Hood - and his evidence that Maj Hasan was a "islamic terrorist" is simply the fact he (allegedly) spoke in arabic during the attack - an allegation which has been disputed.
Guiliani also goes on to say that Obama is making a mistake by calling it a "War on Al Qaeada" becasue there are other terrorist organizations out there such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and there are individuals who may be inspired by Islamic extremism besides those specifically allied with al Qeada.
If your going to include people "inspired" by al Qeada (which is clearly an attempt to pull Maj Hasan into the mix) you would then have to include things like the DC Sniper, the SUV attack on campus of UNC, the attack at LAX, the shooting of Army Recruiters in Little Rock and the planned attack on Ft. Dix - all of which occurred on Bush's watch as pointed out here by Lawrence O'Donnell on Countdown.
If that doesn't work for you here's a chart showing the number of terrorist attacks during the last three Presidents via Bob Cesca.
So much for "Bush Kept us Safe" - either before or after 9-11.
And if you really look into the numbers it seems we have a lot more to worry about from Domestic Terrorists affiliated with groups like the Army of God such as Scott Reoder or wack-jobs like the Holocaust Museum Shooter than al Qeada.
The other argument the Guiliani makes which is equally ridiculous and frankly for more dangerous, is the idea that U.S. Intelligence Offices can't talk to abdulMuttalab because he's been arranged in Federal Court. The fact is they absolutely CAN talk to him all they want to, especially if what their asking him about has nothing to do with presenting any evidence against him in court.
Yes, it might be necessary to have his attorney in the room during questioning if he requests it - but the FBI or CIA can talk to him all they want - they simply can't use what he says against him in his own case. What he says about other people is all fair game.
Giuliani is arguing that Miranda and the Fourth and Fifth Amendments shouldn't apply to this guy and that he should be treated as a Military Prisoner of War - but if he were a P.O.W. the only things that you could ask him, "Under the Laws Of War" (as Joe Lieberman recently claimed we should be using) - would NAME, RANK and SERIAL NUMBER.
The "Laws of War" are the Geneva Conventions.
It's really disappointing that Giuliani, who is a former Federal Prosecutor, seems to have lost all faith in the American Justice System - for a Partisan Jack Bauer Wet-Dream.
Maddow: The most interesting thing about the first year of Obama's Presidency is how craxy the opposition has been to him.
You can say that again.
Wanna talk about really serious the cave called and wants it's BATSHIT BACK Crazy? How about treating a cartonnist exactly like the Taliban does with Death Threats simply beause you don't like his Cartoon?
Cartoonist like Mark Fiore:
"The death threats keep coming this fine morning. I guess the Tea Party crew is determined to have "death panels" one way or another. The dustup started because of this cartoon:"
To all of you who have written emails and comments, I really wish I could respond to every one of you. I truly appreciate your taking the time to write, even if we may be on different sides of the political fence. If there is one thing that my politically mixed San Francisco/Idaho background has taught me, it is benefit of continuing a discussion even if you don’t agree. Too often these days, the Left and the Right immediately shut down if you are deemed to be from the opposing camp. Here’s to good discussion even if we don’t agree.
Now please don’t kill me :-)
People that react to this kind of thing literally with Death Threats are not functioning rationally. You have no argument to whine when you hold up giant signs depicting holocaust victims and linking them to attempts to provide health care to 30 Million people.
There are legitimate arguments to be had about how the problems of health care,the economy, terrorism, climate-change and the future shape of America - but people like this, and increasingly their Republican representatives such as John Boehner, Michelle Bachmann, James Inhofe, Michael Steele and Sarah Palin are not even seriously taking part of the conversation - their off in some crazed La-La Land of paranoid delusion and fantasy.
Obama: Now it's not the time for partisanship, it is a time for citizenship.
In response to this call for Citizenship - we have Rush Limbaugh saying that we should be at War With Our President.
Treason Much?
More from Maddow and David Corn.
MADDOW: Is there a cost ultimately to that? Or does everybody just lie all the time in politics and even the flagrant ones don‘t count for us?
CORN: You know, people get away with these lies all the time. I think the cost is to the—you know, to the national discourse overall. I mean, these are serious issues and they‘re real issues, national security versus civil liberties. There‘s actually a case to be made about trying people as enemy combatants as oppose to keeping them in civil criminal trials.
I understand these are tough arguments. But we can‘t have them in a serious fashion and get to the best outcomes if you are throwing in weird lies like this. It shows that they‘re not really serious.
If they want to engage, there‘s plenty to engage on. You know, there are questions about, you know, what to do with Guantanamo and so on, that are very hard to wrestle with issues. But they‘re not serious.
MADDOW: I have—I have to tell you, David, I—without being snarky, I despair over this. I despair over this because there are real fights to have over the response to terrorism. You know, there are real fights to have over health reform.
But what did we do? We followed the Republicans‘ lead and spent all that time talking about death panels—which is made up.
CORN: Government takeover. Yes.
MADDOW: Yes. And on climate change. There are a lot of interesting ways to talk about the right way respond to that, but instead, it‘s climate-gate, it‘s all made up. Following the Republican framing into nonsense land and we‘ve ended up talking about stuff that is not real instead of talking about policy.
I want to have policy fights. I don‘t want to be fighting with people who refuse to acknowledge reality.
I agree, but the problem is that you can't have a battle of wits with the unarmed.
In recent days, Dick Cheney and his Republican buddies have been claiming that President Obama not only refuses to say we are at war with terrorist networks like Al Qaeda, but won’t even talk about terrorism at all. Their claim, however, has no basis in reality. In fact, as this brief compilation of video clips from 27 different Presidential speeches shows, the exact opposite is true.
Keep in mind that while this video features snippets from over two dozen different speeches (including at least one from each month of Obama’s presidency), it represents only a small fraction of what the President has said about terrorism and national security. In other words, Dick Cheney’s claim that President Obama poses a threat to American security is every bit as accurate as his claim that Iraqi WMD posed a threat to the entire world.
Yeah, like he hasn't mentioned it - RIGHT! Are Republicans just Stupid or Deluded?
And old axiom states: All The is Required for Evil to Spread is for Good Men to do Nothing.
In that vein I don't think that the open and virulent racists are the greatest danger or threat this country we face, it's those who would ignore, excuse, minimize, justify and stand shoulder to shoulder with them without comment or complaint.
The New Documentary "White Power USA" analyses that direct links between the Tea Party movement to a resurging White Power Movement which is able to find common cause with the Birthers, the Successionists and the Health Care Ragers.
"I want MY Country Back!"
Max Blumenthal at the 9-12 Protests:
Even those who would like just pretend these are merely ordinary citizens with honest concerns about the future of the country and their own financial security in the wake of the Bailouts and Handouts to Big Business and the insurance industry as well as out of control illegal immigration there is still this...
The number of crimes against black people and members of religious groups increased in 2008, making up a growing share of incidents motivated by bias, the FBI reported Monday.
FAITH & REASON: Attacks up against Jews, Catholics
Those categories accounted for 56% of the 7,783 hate crimes reported in 2008. Overall, hate crimes increased 2% from 2007.
The election of the first black president and hot-button issues such as abortion and gay marriage contributed to the spikes, anti-bias groups say.
"There is this kind of extremism going on," says Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington bureau. He says Obama's election and the recession led to a backlash against blacks as some people look for someone to blame for hard economic times.
And it's not just the Tea Baggers, it's also been bogus fear heightened by mainstream reporters such as Lou Dobbs. Via the WaPO
U.S. civil rights leaders said yesterday that an increase in hate crimes committed in recent years against Hispanics and people perceived to be immigrants "correlates closely" to the nation's increasingly contentious debate over immigration.
Hate crimes targeting Hispanic Americans rose 40 percent from 2003 to 2007, the most recent year for which FBI statistics are available, from 426 to 595 incidents, marking the fourth consecutive year of increases.
Then you have those whose tactic is to constantly play the "Victim Card" when there own apparent racial bias is exposed - they immediate turn and accuse their accuser further muddying the waters and giving even greater cover to those with genuine animus - and thereby increasing the danger to us all.
The biggest danger isn't just the Supremacists, it's those who would stand directly in the way of responding, dealing and addressing the threat they represent... people like Beck and yes, the Tea Baggers who in all may not may not have a problem with the average non-white person or be Card-Carrying Nazis - but they're just standing next to one.
Tonight Keith Olbermann Reported that the Warnings about Christmas Bomber Umar AdbulMuttalab actually were noticed and were transmitted to the proper agency - but were simply Six Hours Late, as the flight to Detroit had already left the ground and U.S. Agents were actually waiting to question him on arrival.
The new information shows that border enforcement officials came close to uncovering the plot despite previous intelligence failures that were criticized by President Obama this week.
If the intelligence had been discovered sooner, it could have resulted in the interrogation and search of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab before he boarded the Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight, senior law enforcement officials said.
"The people in Detroit were prepared to look at him in secondary inspection," said a senior law enforcement official who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. "The decision had been made. The . . . database had picked up the State Department concern about this guy, that this guy may have been involved with extremist elements in Yemen. . . . They could have made a decision on whether to stop him from getting on the plane."
It appears that the Intelligence Agencies under President Obama really aren't as hopelessly clueless as they had been under President Bush, and now the goal will be make them even better not tear our hair out in panic or frustration.
Another interesting factor in the L.A Times report is apparently that AdbulMutallab has been providing quite a bit of information, and that he has admitted communications to the same former Radical U.S. Cleric that had been linked to Maj Hasan and the Ft. Hood Shootings.
Abdulmutallab has provided valuable information to the FBI and federal prosecutors about his dealings with extremists in Yemen, where he was allegedly trained and outfitted with the explosive device that he concealed in his underwear during the trip that began in Ghana, according to U.S. law enforcement officials. Abdulmutallab has told interrogators that the plot involved meetings in Yemen with Anwar al Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni cleric suspected of involvement with Al Qaeda. In addition, communications intercepts detected discussions about Awlaki's role in a suspected plot involving a Nigerian, U.S. officials have said.
The investigation has also uncovered communications between Abdulmutallab and Awlaki, a U.S. anti-terrorism official said today.
"He was definitely in communication with Awlaki," said the official. "That's been documented."
The FBI had investigated Hasan's links to Awlaki, but hadn't found their communication suspicious. The only known link between Awlaki and al Qeada had been that some of the 9-11 Hijackers went to his mosque in Virginia, but not that they'd communicated with him while there. Yet another link to Awlaki may indicate that he had stronger links to al Qeada then the FBI had previously thought.
Ok, ok - I admit to a bit of hyperbole in the title - technically it wasn't a "Duel" it's a Debate, but then when you're dealing with a deluded Wingnut he says Potah-to while probably meaning Squash.
Here's what got under Boortzy's Skin.
OLBERMANN: Each day it seems the lunatic fringe finds a new way to permit its adherents to view the rest of us as a little less than human – we don’t count as much as they do, ordinary Americans don’t matter.
Newest example, hate-radio-host Neal Boortz yesterday: ‘Obamacare will do more damage’ he said, ‘ than a successful terrorist bombing of an airliner and kill more people as well.’ So, rather than count how many things are wrong with that statement, or how many times Neal Boortz must have been abused for him to wind up so dehumanized for him to say such a thing, let us answer it on his terms. What would you do, sir, if terrorists were killing 45,000 people each year in this country?
[At first I thought Keith was reading a TYPO when he said 45,000 - because had thought it was only 4,500 - but then I checked and HE'S RIGHT!]
45,000 people a year IS MORE THAN TEN TIMES THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED AT 9-11 OR DURING THE ENTIRE IRAQ WAR - and it happens Each and Every Year.
"We're losing more Americans every day because of inaction ... than drunk driving and homicide combined," Dr. David Himmelstein, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard, said in an interview with Reuters.
Overall, researchers said American adults age 64 and younger who lack health insurance have a 40 percent higher risk of death than those who have coverage.
...
"For any doctor ... it's completely a no-brainer that people who can't get health care are going to die more from the kinds of things that health care is supposed to prevent," said Woolhandler, a professor of medicine at Harvard and a primary care physician in Cambridge, Massachusett
There is not likely to be another terrorist attack as deadly as was the attack on New York's Twin Towers not unless Chemical, Biological or Nuclear elements are used. And at this point the that odds of that, when terrorists have to resort to packing a bomb under their nutsack, are practically NIL.
Just under 4,000 people died on 9/11 and just over 4000 Americans in the Iraq War.
There is NO WAY we could have a Terrorist Attack TEN TIMES THE SIZE OF 9/11 each and every year -- and the primary result of Health Reform by providing access to care to at least 35 Million additional American is likely to Lower that figure not increase it.
To which Boortz responded via Twitter.
Boortz is a guy who said the residents of New Orleans who survived Katrina and needed assistance afterward were "Parasites", he's called welfare recipients "Human Parasitic Garbage" and that low income Americans shouldn't be allowed to vote.
At the very least he's a class bigot, and potentially a full-on racist.
Here's the thing though, Boortz argument is that Obama's Plan (which at this point is really Harry Reid's Plan) is like to KILL Americans - but the problem is that AMERICANS ARE ALREADY DYING, and every indicator - each and every single one - is that increasing access to care Will Save Lives.
Most of the Health Care Debate so far has been over the issue of costs controls and cost containment. That's where the debate of the Public Option vs Individual Mandates exists. How Will Costs Be Decreased? Even in the one alleged "Lie" that Obama has uttered during this entire process, it's been about whether providing access to preventative care rather than emergency/critical care will Save Money - and the CBO has said it won't, but that it would SAVE LIVES.
"Sweeping statements about the cost-saving potential of prevention ... are overreaching," according to the paper. "Studies have concluded that preventing illness can in some cases save money but in other cases can add to health care costs."
And a study conducted by researchers from the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society concluded that, while interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease would prevent many strokes and deaths, "as they are currently delivered, most of the prevention activities will substantially increase costs."
So, the consensus is that, while preventive care will almost certainly save lives, it won't reduce government spending on health care. As a result, we rate Obama's statement False.
So Obama was wrong about saving money with preventive screenings according to the CBO - but he's was RIGHT about it saving lives.
The Claims that Obama care will lead to Euthanasia are False and have been thoroughly debunked by Factcheck.org
On former Sen. Fred Thompson’s radio show, former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaughey said that the House’s proposed health care bill contained a provision that would institute mandatory counseling sessions telling seniors how "to do what’s in society’s best interest ... and cut your life short." House Minority Leader John Boehner made a slightly more measured statement, warning that the same provision "may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law."
In truth, that section of the bill would require Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling sessions helping seniors to plan for end-of-life medical care, including designating a health care proxy, choosing a hospice and making decisions about life-sustaining treatment. It would not require doctors to counsel that their patients refuse medical intervention.
Just to make this personal for a second, me and my wife haven't technically had health care for the last 6 years since all my work as a Software Contractor for the State of California went in the shitter after Enron dry-boned our entire state and completely fracked up the budget.
We've had to use Emergency Room-Based Care ever since - on the Average our wait times have been for about 25 Hours at a stretch. As a result, we don't go unless it's REALLY SERIOUS - like a lot of American's we simply don't do "Preventive Care" - and the last time we waited nearly a week and half before my wife's abdominal pain became too intense we had to grin and bare 20 hours awake in a set of stiff-backed plastic chairs. As usual, it was almost exactly 20 Hours later that we finally saw a Doctor and they diagnosed her with Diverticulitis, which if we had waited much longer could easily have turned fatal.
I still have a stiff shoulder - 3 months later - from trying sleep in that damn chair. In fact I've had a lump on my leg the size of a stack of quarters for about 5 years - I'm not letting those NUMB-NUTS anywhere near it, not until I have real health care again.
We've seen people in that Emergency Room with Severed Limbs (a finger specifically) - openly bleeding on the floor and still had to wait nearly 20 hours without meds while being told only to "Put Pressure on the wound". That would be wound that made him nearly pass out every time he touched it. More Pressure? Yeah, right.
Wanna talk about delayed care and long wait times? Two Years ago my wife fell down a flight of stairs, it took 18 Months... EIGHTEEN MONTHS... to get these people in County services to give her an MRI and see why she was suffering from chronic back pain that entire time. That would be back pain so severe that she goes into sleep-deprivation unless she takes a vicodin every night. Turns out that a bit of bone is impinging on her Spinal Cord - and just yesterday (on the date of our 19th Wedding Anniversary), which is still 2 Months after the MRI itself - they're thinking they might have to get a neuro-surgeon involved to release the pressure before the cord is completely severed.
DON'T TELL ME THAT PEOPLE WITHOUT HEALTH CARE ARE DOING JUST FINE IN AMERICA! That's a Fracking Lie!
Shit like this is why all the people "Kill The Bill and Start Over" from either side of the aisle were not on my Christmas List. For a lot of us, the CLOCK IS ALREADY TICKING, and a "Do-Over" is not acceptable.
Neal you DOLT, care under the Obama plan will not be "Rationed" - instead out of pocket costs will be capped, and Minimum Standards of quality based on better postive results for the patient will be instituted, not ways to exclude patients from care in order to reduce the "Bottom Line".
Any serious reduction to the number of people who are already dying because of lack of care is likely to far outstrip all we lost on 9-11 and all we lost on Iraq and in Afghanistan Combined - EVERY YEAR.
But here's the thing, the people who lives would be saved (and dramatically improved) would be exactly the people that Boortz considers to be Parasites, the Poor and the Uninsured. People like me who saw their career and livelihood completely flushed down the toilet by Bush and his Crony Corporatism. People that Boortz doesn't consider to be "PEOPLE" at all - which if you go back again is Exactly What Keith Said.
OLBERMANN: Each day it seems the lunatic fringe finds a new way to permit its adherents to view the rest of us as a little less than human – we don’t count as much as they do, ordinary Americans don’t matter.
Ordinary Parasitic Americans who have the temerity simply need a little help once in a while.
Ordinary Americans like Nataline Sarkysian who died because her private insurance plan - CIGNA - cancelled her care because had the nerve to get Cancer at 17.
Ordinary Americans like Eric Dela Cruz who couldn't get a heart transplant because he wasn't on a government run health-care program like Medicare.
Ordinary Americans like me and my wife.
There is no "Debate" here.
Olbermann is dealing in Fact, while Boortz is working in absolutely paranoid fantasy. Meeting Boortz "Mano-a-Mano" is a complete waste of time other than to completely humiliate him by pointing out the sad fact that Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Darth Vader and Death Panels Aren't Real!
And the evil lazy poor people aren't going to use their secret ACORN ARMY to take all your Health Care away..hee hee...
It's about time a grown-up finally appeared in the room... This is National Security Counter-Terrorism Chief John Brennan (who now holds Richard Clarke's former post) responding to issues raised by former Vice-President (And Unindited War Criminal) Dick Cheney.
BRENNAN: It’s disappointing to me that either the vice president or others have willfully mischaracterized President Obama’s position and actions or they’re just ignorant of the facts.
He's being gentlemanly here but there are only two choices; Either Cheney is Ignorant (and thereby irresponsible to speak without the facts) or A LIAR (Willful Mischaracterizer!)
Brennan via Thinkprogress.
BRENNAN: It’s disappointing to me that either the vice president or others have willfully mischaracterized President Obama’s position and actions or they’re just ignorant of the facts. I think in either case, it doesn’t speak well to sort of the reasons why they sort of went out and said these things. I came back into government for the express purpose of making sure that we can make this country safer than its ever been in the past. I have worked with the president over the past 12 months now and he is as determined as anybody I’ve worked with. I’m neither Republican nor Democrat. I’ve worked with the previous five administrations and this president is determined. And I think he has demonstrated in his language. He says we’re at war with al Qaeda. Were going to destroy al Qaeda the organization and we’re going to demonstrate through our actions, whether it be in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and other places that al Qaeda might be able to run, but they’re not going to be able to hide.
More Brennan from Meet The Press
MR. GREGORY: Republicans have been very critical of this president and accuse him of returning to a pre-9/11 mentality, of becoming lax in the face of terror, of essentially letting America's guard down. Former Vice President Dick Cheney said this to Politico this past week. Let me put his comment up on the screen. "As I've watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war. He seems to think if he has a low-key response to an attempt to blow up an airliner and kill hundreds of people, we won't be at war. ... He seems to think if we bring the mastermind of September 11 to New York, give him a lawyer and trial in civilian court, we won't be at war. He seems to think if he closes Guantanamo and releases the hard-core al-Qaeda-trained terrorists still there, we won't be at war. He seems to think if he gets rid of the words, `war on terror,' we won't be at war. But we are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren't, it makes us less safe." How do you respond to that?
MR. BRENNAN: I'm very disappointed in the vice president's comments. I'm neither Republican nor Democrat. I've worked for the past five administrations. And either the vice president is willfully mischaracterizing this president's position, both in terms of the language he uses and the actions he taken--he's taken, or he's ignorant of the facts. And in either case, it doesn't speak well of what the vice president's doing. The clear evidence is that this president has been very, very strong. In his inaugural address, he said, "We're at war with this international network of terrorists." We continue to say that we're at war with al-Qaeda. We're trying to give it some clarity. And we have taken the fight to them. We've continued, in fact, many of the, of the activities of the previous administration. I would not have come back into this government if I felt that this president was not committed to prosecuting this war against al-Qaeda. And every day I see it in the president's face, I see it in the actions he's taken, and so I'm confident that this country is, in fact, protected by this president's position on al-Qaeda and against terrorist activities. We're going to continue to do this, we're going to do it hard, we're going to do it constantly.
Watching the entire program Brennan slapped back hard at any suggestion that President Obama was in any way unserious about doing the rest thing and the best things to protect this nation from future attacks and to seek justice against those who perpetrate such attacks.
The Yemeni/Al Qeada strongholds which are most likely to have spawned the Christmas Day Attack have already been bombed into dust with many of the leaders of that faction of AQ being killed and rendered "on the run" by Yemeni forces. Brennan spoke extensively about how the Administration has already been focusing heavily on Yemen and making great progress there.
This is how a professional behaves - this is non-partisanship - as contrasted by the horrible performance by the top politicos from the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, who for the record happen to be Joe Lieberman (Senate-Chairman), Susan Collins (Senate-Ranking Members), Jane Harmon (House-Chair) and Pete Hoekstra (House-Ranking Member).
Let's start with Lieberman:
Sen. Joe Lieberman believes that Guantanamo Bay's bad reputation isn't deserved. "You could not find a better, more humane facility for a detention center in the world," Lieberman told ABC's Terry Moran Sunday.
Lieberman thinks it's a mistake to close the detention center. "The president is in charge of what happens there now so some of the abuses of the past are not going to happen [in the future]," said Lieberman.
So Lieberman thinks Gitmo is fine and dandy - and further during this program he stated that Christmas Bomber AdulMuttabu shouldn't be tried in court but instead as a Prisoner of War by a Military Commission so that he can be mined for Intelligence Resources without the protection of Miranda.
One problem with that, he wasn't captured on a "Battlefield" - he was captured on U.S. Soil on an American Airplane by U.S. Air Marshals, not the U.S. Military. He's being handled by the Department of Justice because that's who has custody of him - is Lieberman really suggesting that we should have U.S. Troops patrolling our Airports and Airplans?
Posse Commitatus Much?
Have none of these people ever paid attention to how the U.S. Justice System has been taking down organized crime for decades? They didn't "sweat it out of them" - very often they cut them deal for a lesser or reduced sentence in exchange for valuable verifiable information.
Why is it that the only thing these people seem to be able to conceive is some kind of Jack Bauer/24 Non-Justice - don't they ever watch programs like CSI where it's not the suspect or witnesses statements that count as much as the physical and trace evidence?
All of the Congress-Critters present seemed to think that the warning offered by Muttalab's father was more than credible and sufficient to have his already valid Visa revoked and his named moved to the No-Fly List - Even without anyone checking to see if this Claim was Correct!
A claim and an allegation is not "EVIDENCE*.
This ridiculous suggestion is how people like Cat Stevens (Yusef Islam), former Vice-President Al Gore and Nelson Mandela wound up on the Watch and No-Fly List. A panicked Chicken-Little response is more likely to alienate those who might want to come forward and help us, just as the likelihood that his son would wind up detained indefinitely without charges in a Black Site or GITMO would deter future father's and family members from coming forward with tips about their relatives extremist allegiances.
And then you had Hoekstra the Jokestra attempting to defend his attempts to use an attempted terrorist attacks as an opportunity to raise funds.
Hoeksta didn't back off one iota, and claims to be "fully substantiated" in his Security claims - yet Hoekstra, along with Rick (Man-on-Dog) Santorum - formerly claimed that we really *DID* find WMD's in Iraq!
I am so glad that the person making the decisions on these issues are people like Brennan and not grand-standing ass-clowns like Lieberman and Hoeksta.
