Apparently, this is something that was said by James Inhofe to Barbara Boxer re: Climate Change.
Oh really?
Well President Obama and the Democrats won the 2008 elections, John McPalin and the Republicans lost, so when are THEY going to "get a life"?
TPM points out that the Republicans have determined at least 4 ways President Obama wants to destroy America:
- Surrendering In The War On Terror
- Daring The Terrorists To Attack Us Again
- Allowing Muslims To Walk Around Like "Regular" Americans
- Trading Safety for Good paying Government Jobs
Now all of these things have been pretty much debunked repeatedly by both Democrats and Republicans (oddly enough, all of the Republicans doing the debunking are no longer in office), and yet these lies are still being peddled everyday.
First of all, I don't recall hearing that President Obama is surrendering the war on terror. If anything he's moving things along by finally doing something with the "terrorists" that are being held in Guantanamo instead of allowing it to continue to be something other terrorists can use for recruitment. Indefinite detention without any type of legal proceeding in UnAmerican.
Second, I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that leaving the people in Guantanamo IN Guantanamo will not deter the terrorists who AREN'T in Gitmo from attacking us. They are going to do what they are going to do regardless. Our job is to be prepared in the event of an attack, and use any legal means available to prevent another attack. From what I understand, the fact that we still EXIST "dares" then to attack us again.
Third, there are LOTS of Muslims walking around who are REGULAR Americans. In fact, check out this segment from the Rachel Maddow show:
Transcript here
Racial profiling is not the answer. Indeed, "Muslim" isn't even a race, it's a religion. Are we going to start profiling religions now? What happened to everyone has the right to freedom of religion? Does that only apply to Christians? There are terrorists out there that look like an "average" person, we can't walk around scared of each other constantly. It's not about being politically correct, it's about making sure that everyone is treated equally as required by the Constitution.
Fourth, there are lots of Maximum Security Prisons all over the country right now that are more than capable of handling the prisoners from Guantanamo. In fact, there's on in Illinois where the town WANTS the prisoners to go, so it's not even like the government would have to deal with that. What exactly is so scary about these people that they can't be held in prisons on American soil like other terrorists currently are?
With regard to the trial, there was a very nice op-ed written explaining why the trials aren't a bad thing or even a big deal by a couple of ex-Bush DOJ officials:
(I'm reposting this part from my diary yesterday because I think it's just that good and it's something we need to pass around)
A trial in Manhattan will bring enormous media attention and require unprecedented security. But it is unlikely to make New York a bigger target than it has been since February 1993, when Mohammed's nephew Ramzi Yousef attacked the World Trade Center. If al-Qaeda could carry out another attack in New York, it would -- a fact true a week ago and for a long time. Its inability to do so is a testament to our military, intelligence and law enforcement responses since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
[snip]
One reason commissions have not worked well is that changes in constitutional, international and military laws since they were last used, during World War II, have produced great uncertainty about the commissions' validity. This uncertainty has led to many legal challenges that will continue indefinitely -- hardly an ideal situation for the trial of the century.
By contrast, there is no question about the legitimacy of U.S. federal courts to incapacitate terrorists. Many of Holder's critics appear to have forgotten that the Bush administration used civilian courts to put away dozens of terrorists, including "shoe bomber" Richard Reid; al-Qaeda agent Jose Padilla; "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh; the Lackawanna Six; and Zacarias Moussaoui, who was prosecuted for the same conspiracy for which Mohammed is likely to be charged. Many of these terrorists are locked in a supermax prison in Colorado, never to be seen again.
In terrorist trials over the past 15 years, federal prosecutors and judges have gained extensive experience protecting intelligence sources and methods, limiting a defendant's ability to raise irrelevant issues and tightly controlling the courtroom. Moussaoui's trial was challenging because his request for access to terrorists held at "black" sites had to be litigated. Difficulties also arose because Moussaoui acted as his own lawyer, and the judge labored to control him. But it is difficult to imagine a military commission of rudimentary fairness that would not allow a defendant a similar right to represent himself and speak out in court.
I can't post more because of Fair Use rules, but go read the whole thing, it's really great.
Jon Stewart had a great big on some of the whining that's going on, watch here:
Transcript (I did it myself, so forgive any errors):
Jon@ 2:28: And finally, now that we’ve decided to try KSM in Manhattan, the last thing we don’t need to be thankful for is Thanksgiving Congressional Recess. Because with Congress out of session, these three Congressmen, two from Texas one from Arizona, will no longer be on the floor of the house to warn New Yorkers of the dire threat that Terrorism poses.
Rep. Shadegg: I believe that we are exposing the people of New York, the uh people involved in these courts and in their security all for no reason whatsoever.
Rep. McCaul: It’s only going to heighten the state of alertness in New York City.
Rep. Gohmert: I would rather be killed by a terrorist, than to have them see legislators running in fee because there’s some terrorist threat in the capital. Just take me out. (Eats snacks). We are creating self inflicted wounds.
Jon: (looks around) Did you just have a SNACK in your "kill me now, instead of trying the terrorists" apocalyptic vision? (Grabs bag of Honey Teddy Grahams) (in fake Southern Accent) This trial shall bring only doom and despair upon the people of New York (eats Teddy Graham). (Picks up juice box) Blood will reign down from the heavens abo—(drinks). A Teddy Graham anybody?
I may be off base here, but it sounds like the Congressmen are saying that we must protect the rule of law by not executing it. Or to put it another way "alright, have your trial by jury, but don’t say we didn’t warn ya!"
Shadegg: If I were a terrorist outside the U.S. and KSM was going on trial in NY, I’d say "why don’t I find the judges cousin, why don’t I find the bailiff’s sister, why don’t I find the jailer’s brother? And I’ll capture them and hold them for ransom until KSM is released.
Jon: Why don’t you shut the hell up? What are you doing?! Why are you telling them that. (in fake NY accent) Hey, uh, all I’m saying is you know what I would do if I were a terrorist, I’d get like 4 or 5 Good Humor trucks, you know because everybody loves ice cream. Then I’d drive them down to the court house, but instead of ice cream, I’d pack em full of crocodiles. Alright, here’s what I’d do: When the court takes a break, and the bailiff comes out for some dip’n’dots. It’ll be "sure I’ll get you some—" and BOOM. . . crocodiles! The terrorists win.
I can’t believe that the other Congress people have to sit and listen to this stuff.
Shadegg: I’d like to commend to the attention of the listening audience, the points that were made uh pointed out in today’s media. This is going to be a FIELD DAY for Al Quaeda. (pans out to empty chamber)
Jon: (put head in hand) So the listening audience huh? The listening audience? There’s nobody there, it’s just you and the other guy in a windowless chamber coming up with nightmare scenarios. Oh my God! You’re in a windowless room plotting terrorist acts while America sleeps! YOU’RE WHAT YOU’RE WARNING ABOUT!!
And now we have the GOP "Base" running around questioning whether our President is a citizen or a terrorist:
Today, a new birther billboard went up above Wolf Automotive off I-70 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. The sign has a picture of President Obama wearing a turban, asking, "President or Jihad?" and exhorting, "Wake up America! Remember Fort Hood":
[Obama Billboard]
ThinkProgress spoke with Phil Wolf, the owner of the car dealership. He said that the billboard is his personal project because he believes the American people have a right to know the facts about the president:
I’m probably like a lot of other people that have asked the question, I want to know who our president is. And to date, I don’t think I know, I don’t think a lot of people know, I don’t think it’s ever been asked — answered. [...]
When this Fort Hood massacre occurred, and I saw the response of our Commander in Chief to this unbelievable, politically correct, nonsense — to me it was just enough. And I wanted to bring a little bit more attention to this thing, because to me it just wasn’t getting addressed.
So because President Obama didn't fly off of the handle and speak on what he didn't know about, he may be in league with the shooter? These people are crazy.
Look, you may not like President Obama, or his policies, but he's still the President. No amount of fearmongering you do will change that before 2013 (and maybe not even then).
So in the words of your own: WE won, YOU lost, GET A LIFE!