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And bumbles is being kind!
In his ABC interview last Monday, for example, Obama attacked the Bush approach on fighting terror. He claimed that, in the case of “the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsible, put them on trial. They are currently in US prisons, incapacitated.”
As an assistant US attorney, Andrew McCarthy prosecuted the perpetrators of the 1993 WTC attack. He calls Obama’s statement “a remarkably ignorant account of the American experience with jihadism.”
Writing for National Review Online, McCarthy notes: “While the government managed to prosecute many people responsible for the 1993 WTC bombing, many also escaped prosecution because of the limits on civilian criminal prosecution.
“Some who contributed to the attack, like Khalid Sheik Mohammed, continued to operate freely because they were beyond the system’s capacity to apprehend. Abdul Rahman Yasin was released prematurely because there was not sufficient evidence to hold him - he fled to Iraq, where he was harbored for a decade (and has never been apprehended).”
Pointing to the later terrorist attacks on Americans and US assets, culminating in 9/11, McCarthy concludes that the law-enforcement approach to combating terrorism was futile.
But Obama’s comments fall short on other grounds, too.
The convicted spiritual mentor of the 1993 WTC bombers is Omar Abdel-Rahman (”the blind sheik”). By Obama’s logic, the blind sheik was “incapacitated” and therefore rendered harmless by his conviction and imprisonment. In fact, Abdel-Rahman continued to wage jihad from behind bars, issuing instructions to his followers in Egypt.
Attorney Lynne Stewart was convicted in February 2005 of conspiracy and providing and concealing material support of terrorism for her actions in smuggling messages from Abdel-Rahman to his followers in the terrorist group Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group).
The jihadist activities of Abdel-Rahman from behind bars, plus the collaboration of his attorney, illustrate the challenges President Bush sought to confront fairly with the arrangements for the detention and isolation of captured enemy combatants in Guantanamo.
Of course, the Supreme Court just upended those arrangements with its controversial ruling in the Boumediene case, which gave Gitmo detainees the right to challenge their confinement through habeas corpus proceedings in federal court.
Obama approves: He recently asserted that the “principle of habeas corpus, that a state can’t just hold you for any reason without charging you and without giving you any kind of due process - that’s the essence of who we are.”
He explained: “I mean, you remember during the Nuremberg trials, part of what made us different was even after these Nazis had performed atrocities that no one had ever seen before, we still gave them a day in court and that taught the entire world about who we are, but also the basic principles of rule of law. Now the Supreme Court upheld that principle.”
Oops. At Nuremberg, an international military commission composed of representatives of the victorious Allies put the top surviving Nazi leaders on trial starting in late 1945.
Yet, in Boumediene, the Supreme Court disapproved of the system of military commissions that Congress had adopted for Gitmo (at the high court’s previous urging). Thus, the Nuremberg defendants’ “day in court” came before a kind of tribunal found constitutionally inadequate in the decision Obama was praising.
The Nazi war criminals had no access to US courts. The fair-trial provision of the charter governing the trial was relatively skimpy - and the provision on appeal rights was even shorter and sweeter: The defendants had no right to appeal. The procedures the court found deficient in Boumediene, by contrast, provided for appeal rights to the DC Circuit, the most prominent US bench below the Supreme Court.
In short, the procedural protections for Gitmo detainees under the statute before the Supreme Court in Boumediene exceed those accorded the Nuremberg defendants.
Obama’s unfavorable comparison of the legal treatment at Gitmo with that at Nuremberg suggests either that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about - or that he feels free to exploit the ignorance of audiences that don’t know the truth of the matter.
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson’s Website, Rosemary’s Thoughts, The Random Yak, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, , Phastidio.net, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, third world county, DragonLady’s World, The World According to Carl, The Pink Flamingo, Gulf Coast Hurricane Tracker, Dumb Ox Daily News, A Newt One, and Stageleft, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
June 23, 2008 - 07:28 AM on June 23rd, 2008
Without A Script, Obama Bumbles Legal Questions ‘
.. with the term “bumbles” being an understatement …….
June 23, 2008 - 07:54 AM on June 23rd, 2008
Obama makes Dan Qayle look brilliant, and GW Bush a gifted orator by comparison.
June 23, 2008 - 12:56 PM on June 23rd, 2008
Some foreign pig owns that little rat Obama, and I still say he is one evildoer and he is a muslim; see what his brother said about Obama?
I think the guy who owns him is some well-known Muslim, Robert is right.
June 23, 2008 - 04:13 PM on June 23rd, 2008
‘We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times… and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK’…
— Barack Obama, May 18, 2008
YES!!! Forget the Constitution, forget tradition, forget Freedom! What you do, what you spend, how you live your life should be determined from International consensus, not you!
And to think there are people who would vote for him…
June 23, 2008 - 05:05 PM on June 23rd, 2008
Couldn’t have said it better myself Robert.
The scariest part of your whole post though is that there are alot of sheeple in this country who will vote for him.
June 24, 2008 - 07:36 AM on June 24th, 2008
Obama keeps showing his ignorance, extreme hubris and naiveté. Unfortunately there are many Democrats who blindly follow their Obamessiah without question and with full and complete loyalty although he is leading them like lemmings off a cliff. At this point, some polls are showing him ahead of McCain by double-digit figures however in comparison, Dukakis was ahead by double-digit figures when he ran for President but self-destructed along the way. With Obama’s hubris unchecked and his lack of experience on constant display it would not surprise me if he self-destructs along the way like Dukakis. One constant of the national Democrat party in the last couple of decades: they do not learn from their past errors. Unfortunately on the conservative side, neither have the Republicans of late.
June 24, 2008 - 08:26 AM on June 24th, 2008
Satire of a Hoax
Last month I wrote a satire called Superior Carbon Neutral Humans Discovered. It was based on a BBC article that claimed that an undiscovered tribe was threatened by illegal logging. The joke was that a fictional scientist admires a the tribe’s tiny c…
June 24, 2008 - 09:51 AM on June 24th, 2008
PATIENT EVIL - An R.J. Godlewski / Right Truth Blog Exclusive - Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
June 24, 2008 - 10:01 AM on June 24th, 2008
Blogs For Borders Video BlogBurst!
I got this via email on Sunday night and just completely forgot to get it up…so without further ado here’s this weeks Blogs for Borders video blogburst. Our weekly vlog — podcast on illegal immigration and border security issues. In…
June 24, 2008 - 10:02 AM on June 24th, 2008
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June 24, 2008 - 11:59 AM on June 24th, 2008
“*heh*” of the day
Why Settle for a Lesser Evil?
…
June 24, 2008 - 12:36 PM on June 24th, 2008
Lucky Cat’s Printout Delivery Service
Every cat has a favorite napping place. Lucky’s is on top of the laser printer. Now, the thing about laser printers is that they periodically make loud noises and spit out paper. An ordinary cat would conclude from this sort…
June 24, 2008 - 12:45 PM on June 24th, 2008
Obama, Tom Daschle & the Ethanol Lobby
IT’S A GAS! It is a good thing Barack Obama is not in bed, snuggling up to lobbyists, or he could be accused of selling out to the corn/ethanol lobby for votes in the mid-west. Evidently Obama used his ties to the ethanol lobby as a …
June 24, 2008 - 02:37 PM on June 24th, 2008
Yes We Can drill our way out!!!
Message to Obama: Just like your non-available future fuels, you are running your campaign on pixie-dust and sleight-of-hand. As more and more Americans wake up from their Obama change fantasies into hard reality, you just may be gassed out of this…
June 24, 2008 - 03:39 PM on June 24th, 2008
He can’t talk without a script or without an ear-piece, with his puppet-master whispering in his ear. The really sad thing is that America will pay the price if he gets elected
June 24, 2008 - 03:44 PM on June 24th, 2008
McCain calls for solving our energy crisis, recognizes that energy security is as important as any other security, and calls for bipartisan cooperation.
In response, Obama the “uniter” criticizes McCain, then repeats the Obama mantra that we need to change to alternate fuels (that do not exist in any practical measure).
McCain gets it, Obama doesn’t.
But it’s CHANGE! Change we can BELIEVE in!!! No, it isn’t isn’t. It’s ignorance mixed with bullshit.
Obama…FLUSH…
June 24, 2008 - 04:27 PM on June 24th, 2008
Robert, I added a visual for your entertainment
June 24, 2008 - 05:22 PM on June 24th, 2008
Alert: MAF Web-o-thon for the Troops!
This Tuesday there is going to be a wonderful 8 hours web-o-thon which will be streamlined live so that we may all participate in it. Move America Forward is doing a marvelous job of gathering everyone together, and I look forward to having each
June 24, 2008 - 07:56 PM on June 24th, 2008
The message is we are all supposed to ride bicycles? Except I’m sure Obama and his Limousine Liberal cronies will be in their Limos.
June 24, 2008 - 09:01 PM on June 24th, 2008
Planned Parenthood, and the Hypocricy of the Anti-Immigration Right
JOHN TANTON & PLANNED PARENTHOODJust when I a feeling just a little down in the dumps because I’ve run out of things to rant and rave about, Jonah Goldberg and NRO just throw this beautiful hanging curve right in my strike zone. There’s nothing l…
June 24, 2008 - 09:15 PM on June 24th, 2008
No Robert, but that’s a good one..keep trying
June 24, 2008 - 09:57 PM on June 24th, 2008
Interview: Karen Holgate, Author of from Crayons to Condoms
Podcast Show Notes
I interviewed Karen Holgate, Author of From Crayons to Condoms and we discuss the problems in America’s public schools: Teachers as Amateur Psychologists messing with the minds of America’s youth, Self-esteem trumping…
June 24, 2008 - 09:57 PM on June 24th, 2008
Interview: Karen Holgate, Author of from Crayons to Condoms
Podcast Show Notes
I interviewed Karen Holgate, Author of From Crayons to Condoms and we discuss the problems in America’s public schools: Teachers as Amateur Psychologists messing with the minds of America’s youth, Self-esteem trumping…
June 24, 2008 - 09:57 PM on June 24th, 2008
Interview: Karen Holgate, Author of from Crayons to Condoms
Podcast Show Notes
I interviewed Karen Holgate, Author of From Crayons to Condoms and we discuss the problems in America’s public schools: Teachers as Amateur Psychologists messing with the minds of America’s youth, Self-esteem trumping…
June 24, 2008 - 10:22 PM on June 24th, 2008
I have to admit that McCain’s speech today was quite substantial. At least it had specifics, which is what’s been lacking all along. I’m not a fan of nuclear because of the waste issue, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be at least part of the equation.
NYD
June 25, 2008 - 12:52 AM on June 25th, 2008
NY-David: There is NO nuclear waste issue. That’s a red herring argument. Spent fuel rods can be reprocessed to recover most of the Uranium, which then goes into new rods. The very small mass of fission by products can be stored on site for about 50 years after which it is no problem.
We had that technology until Al Gore/Hazel O’Leary dismantled it in the 90s. But it exists and is being used elsewhere.
June 25, 2008 - 08:05 AM on June 25th, 2008
[...] The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, , Conservative Cat, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven [...]
June 25, 2008 - 08:06 AM on June 25th, 2008
[...] The Pink Flamingo, The Amboy Times, Cao’s Blog, Democrat=Socialist, , Conservative Cat, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven [...]
June 26, 2008 - 07:19 AM on June 26th, 2008
They’re Both Right
It seems that both the Barack Obama and the John McCain campaigns have got themselves into a wee spot of bother - oddly enough, for speaking the truth.
…
July 6, 2008 - 04:41 PM on July 6th, 2008
[...] case of ???the first attack against the World Trade Center, we were able to arrest those responsiblhttp://rightvoices.com/2008/06/23/without-notes-telling-him-what-to-say-barack-bumbles-legal-qs/HurricaneTrack.com- Member Supported Hurricane News, Tracking and …Commentary & Updates by: [...]
July 7, 2008 - 07:04 AM on July 7th, 2008
[...] the 1993 WTC attack. He calls Obama??s statement ???a remarkably ignorant account of the American exhttp://rightvoices.com/2008/06/23/without-notes-telling-him-what-to-say-barack-bumbles-legal-qs/Democrats see chance for gains in the Senate The Providence JournalAmong Republicans considered [...]