Al Qaeda bombs the embassy in Kenya, 1998
Oh, My, GOD, sometimes I want to slap the shit out of the people in the left blogosphere who let their ideology do their thinking and can’t help posting idiotic drivel. Thank goodness the left is so good at expressing its total lack of self-preservation in hyperbolic parody or the right would have to do it for them. We spare them the extra effort and they file it away for future use. The latest nonsense comes from madamab, who never lets an opportunity pass to jump on the bandwagon and express her self-righteous comaraderie with the soft and squishy. I don’t mean to single her out because she is not the only hand-wringer who is feeling profound sadness and despair over the death of Osama bin Laden but she is exquisitely good at setting my teeth on edge:
Sorry folks, there is no activism today (oh, drat, and I was on the edge of my seat, eagerly anticipating more activism). I’m still processing my feelings about the shocking developments of last Sunday evening.
What I’ve ultimately settled upon, after my initial excitement has faded, is a feeling of despair (FEEElings, nothing more than FEEElings).
What has happened to my country? Didn’t we used to be proud of our Constitution? Didn’t we used to think we were exceptional not because we killed more people than anyone else (our troops are the best in the world! USA! USA!), but because we didn’t treat terrorists and criminals with the lawlessness they had shown to us? Wasn’t the Unabomber, Ted Kaczyinski, tried and convicted? Wasn’t the blind sheik, Omar Abdel-Rahman, tried and convictedafter he attempted to destroy the World Trade Center? Didn’t this due process make us all feel good after the murder and mayhem they perpetrated upon us? Didn’t our consciences tell us we had, indeed, obeyed our laws and lived in accordance with our own preference for justice over brutal Bronze Age morality?
No more. The Feelings Police have spoken. No “decent” person could possibly do anything but celebrate Osama bin Laden’s death. Bullying, swearing and shouting will be doled out to anyone who dares say otherwise. As usual on the Internets, the loudest, least reasonable voices prevail. And so, mindless expressions of unadulterated joy are the plat du jour. It’s revolting to me.
It’s a tragedy alright. I suppose the next time someone flies two jets into the workplace of thousands of people, we should send them a sternly worded letter and make them sit in time out.
Once again, our brothers and sisters on the left have opened their minds so far that their brains have fallen out. For the record, there are more than two possible responses to the death of bin Laden. Yes, you don’t have to be either offensively euphoric or fashionably maudlin. The left used to believe that the Republicans’ tendency towards black/white thinking was stupid and laughable. Now, it seems to have adopted that mindset. Fortunately, it is possible to be unmoved in either direction while at the same time acknowledging that a bastard like bin Laden set himself up for a brutal ending at the hands of some country’s military and intelligence apparatus. It didn’t have to be ours. Bin Laden was an equal opportunity murderer. Kenya and Tanzania in the 90’s? London? Madrid? Check out this list of Al Qaeda attacks. bin Laden and his droogs have been very busy. If WE didn’t eventually get him, someone else would have.
Anger and the desire for revenge are perfectly normal feelings responses to outrages as serious as the ones committed by Al Qaeda. We can argue whether it would have been more *effective* to the demoralization of Al Qaeda to try bin Laden and then erase him from history by burying him alive in a mountain cell in Nevada but killing him became a legitimate option when he was more than happy to take the credit for planning and executing the death of thousands of other people.
Bin Laden was a nasty piece of work, madamab. Dispatching him had almost nothing to do with our loss of liberties since 9/11. We can attribute THAT to the authoritarian impulses of Bush, Cheney and the Republicans and the cowardice of the Democrats who allowed themselves to be bullied into acting rashly when they should have been using their heads. I suspect they were watching too much TV.
If you want a balanced response to the death of bin Laden, read the response of someone who doesn’t have a TV and was able to process the information without someone telling her what position to take.
Now, can we stop wailing about the unfairness of it all to the poor, poor mass murderer and get back to what is important?? Like finding jobs for the unemployed?
Here’s a much more interesting and relevant post from Corrente on the ways in which women are getting stiffed in the job market. Take it from me, this is the real tragedy.
In other news:
Democrats pick Senator from one of the most sparsely populated and conservative states in the nation to work on the budget with Republicans and are shocked, SHOCKED, when his proposals are more conservative than the White House’s. From the HuffingtonPost (not exactly a progressive *media* outlet):
“The problem is the Republicans wouldn’t agree to anything. They just keep dragging it out,” the Democratic aide said referring to the Gang of Six talks.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said that Conrad gave no clear indication that the talks would result in a deal.
“He said that it was up and down, up and down, up and down. But I don’t know whether it was up or down the last time he talked to us,” said Cardin after being briefed by Conrad, who is retiring at the end of this session.
“I ask all the time,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) of the halting progress of the Gang of Six. “Every day is a different story. One day I hear, ‘It’s great, we’re going to get a deal.’ The next day, they’re not. So I don’t know. The answer is, I honestly don’t know.”
Democrats, yur doin’ it rong. Here’s what’s supposed to happen: The Republicans propose some cruel and unusual punishment for the masses and cushy breaks for their friends and the *Democrats* say they won’t agree to it. This is what Clinton did in 1996. Gingrich took the government hostage and became very unpopular and whiny. What is wrong with this current batch of Democrats? Is it really the 2012 elections they are worried about where lots of Democratic Senators are in danger of losing their jobs? Well, it’s a recession guys. You can’t go wrong making the Republicans look bad. Try harder.
In NJ, round trip to Manhattan from nearest station to my house- $28.50. I love rail. I’m a big supporter of public transportation in part because my grandfather was a bus driver. But with the recent increase in NJTransit fares since Governor Christie took office (check out how he balanced the transit budget by $300bn, by reducing staff and shorting their 401K contributions. Nice!), a trip to Manhattan and to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for Brook and me is out of the question. If the cost were less, the inconvenience of taking the train, plus the transfer, plus buying a Metro Card for the subway might be an option. But at more than $50 bucks, I might as well drive to Manhattan and park the car. It’s funny how Christie couldn’t come up with the money to subsidize NJTransit but he can come up with a plan to salvage the plans of the developers of a white elephant mall called Xanadu. I believe the amount we are handing over to developers is about the same amount we cut from the transit budget.
Well, we must have priorities.
And this from The Onion is just too funny: Pfizer Breaks Psychological Need to Always Seek FDA’s Approval. Or it would be funny if the FDA weren’t always so effing negative all the time…
Filed under: General | Tagged: Al Qaeda, bin Laden, civil liberties, jobs, Kenya. London subway bombings, madamab, Madrid train bombings, Pakistan, unemployment, unemployment of women |
The Confluence 
Quiche recipe:
2 pie crusts
Pie one:
6-8 slices bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 cups swiss cheese
Pie two:
broccolli
1-2 cups cheddar cheese
Custard:
4 eggs
2 cups half and half
1-2 cups swiss cheese
nutmeg
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Bake pie crusts according to package directions. Set aside. In a large frying pan, sautee bacon until firm but not crisp. (Bacon gives me a lardon) Drain bacon on paper towels and reserve some bacon fat in pan. Sautee onions in bacon fat. Divide onion between the two pie crusts. In the microwave, steam brocolli for about 2.5 minutes.
In blender, add eggs, half and half, pinch of nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and foamy.
Assembling quiches:
Add lardons and swiss cheese to one pie crust, brocolli and cheddar to the other. Divide the custard between the two pies. Bake in oven at 425 for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 350 and bake for an additional 45 minutes. Quiches should be firm in the center when finished. Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes before cutting.
Serve with green salad with mustardy dressing and french bread.
What is wrong with this current batch of Democrats?
They ain’t Democrats…or rather they are the new Democrats….like the 2006-08 model , but this version wet their pants and cave in even faster . There’s not even a 24 hour news cycle where we get to hope/dream they will fight back .
However they will tell their base they need its support in the current cave in order to fight the ” next time”…which never, ever , gets here.
But , if we don’t allow their cave de jour in to pass without a peep…then WE are tying their hands keeping them from fighting! It will be our fault!
But you know all this
Well, we can follow the example of our Canadian neighbors and throw them all out.
I’ve got time on my hands to organize a third party, er, if I were any good at organizing…
I’ve been thinking that it wasn’t justice, it was revenge. And what’s wrong with that? I’m not getting a heck of a lot of pleasure out of it but, I’m not going to spend any time regretting it either.
I agree with that. Not overjoyed about not taking him alive and hopefully getting valuable insight and intel from him about his operations. But I am pretty darned glad that he no longer is walking this Earth planning to murder other people. The man is a mass murderer. That is not debatable. Mass murderer’s don’t deserve pity, sympathy or anything other than what he got.
Hopefully, with the wave of freedom and democracy sweeping through the Middle East they’ll continue to move in a different direction and Bin Laden’s cronies will be further marginalized. Now that he is dead they don’t have a front man and maybe their organization will cease to exist due to lack of exposure and funds.
Well, that was pretty well reasoned. Kudos to Katiebird and Gregoryp.
No gloating. Forward looking. I guess there really were more than two ways to look at the problem.
I think you’re being unfair to Madamab. She in no way suggests that the proper handling of OBL after 911 would have been a sternly worded letter; She seems to infer that capture followed by trial would have been more in keeping with American values. Whatever. She’s entitled to her opinion and I’m sure there are others on the left and the right who agree with her.
Her main point, I think, is that the “celebrations” were unseemly, out-of -character, boorish and unnecessary; those are my words, but if they were hers, I would agree.
I thought her post was a bit too long. For me, the whole thing is a suppressed yawn. I saw somewhere on the internets where OBL was referred to as Osama Bin Forgotten. That’s how I (haven’t) thought of him in recent years.
I don’ t know what to say about the Democrats;nothing that hasn’t already been said, except, they suck! Maybe somebody already said that too.
Yes, the celebrations might be unseemly. But the death of bin Laden has absolutely NOTHING to do with the insanity that lead to the loss of our civil liberties after 9/11. Nor is his death by our hands any confirmation that we have exported our rescission of due process rights to out special forces or the CIA. that is what she is bemoaning and she has it completely wrong when it comes to bin Laden.
As I said before, i don’t mean to single her out. She is just one of many lefties who can’t seem to discriminate and treat all violent actions as unjustifiable.
Nature doesn’t work that way. We can be smarter and more effective about how we reset the balance but we can not rule out death by killing as one of our options to eliminate aggressive mass murderers. This country has nothing to apologize for on that score.
When Osama took credit for the bombings and the WTC, he pled guilty in a world court and he received his punishment.
I’m not gloating. I’m ready to move on. Lefties need to get over their squeamishness and put the economy first or they will get trampled by the very triumphalists they whine about.
Agree. BHO is coming to NYC tomorrow to meet with 911 families for what exactly? So they can thank him personally? I heard he invited Bush 44 to come along and he declined. I think by this time tomorrow, we’ll hear how BHO is using the families as a photo
For me the issue now, as before, is when do these wars end? and when do we get the jobs, jobs, jobs we were promised. I haven’t had a permanent full time job with benefits since 2008. To me everything else is just so much noise.
When Osama took credit for the bombings and the WTC, he pled guilty in a world court and he received his punishment.
Exactly!
Imo a trial with a foregone conclusion would look like rail-roading — much worse than the raid.
It’s too bad they couldn’t take him alive for questioning. They did plan for this if he surrendered. (Sorry, lost the cite; maybe Sweet at Sun Times.)
My only conclusion is that this mission from beginning to end didn’t seem all that difficult or long. So, why did we have to start wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? He was in Pakistan.
I thought he was dead years ago.
Yep. Why did we go to Iraq?
I wasn’t sure he was dead but the fact that he was found in Pakistan doesn’t surprise me a bit. Hillary has said previously that it was the most dangerous country on earth. Remember her first trip there as SOS? She was pissed with the pakistanis, for good reason as it turns out.
Exactly what evidence do you have RD, that Bin Laden was responsible for 911?
The dubious “confession” transcribed by the Bush WH? I’ve read from several Arabic speaking journalists that much of the tape was inaudible and the translations done by White House was inaccurate at best and probably deceitful at worst.
You have admonished your readers to get off the cable news information bandwagon, yet you believe what the Bush WH put forth?
For America to celebrate a murder, where a bullet was shot into the head of a person, never tried or convicted is the worst of us.
He may be a bad man, but shouldn’t we first get real proof and evidence?
He should have been captured and put on trial.
Rule of Law.. how quaint.
Evidence?
???
Ok, you have to be pretty cynical and conspiratorial if you don’t believe that bin Laden had nothing to do with 9/11. BTW, bin Laden didn’t just pop up out of nowhere on 9/11. He’d been making mischief for years before that. He was a well known commodity.
His act of aggression was tantamount to an act of war. Since when do we treat foreign mass murderers with kid gloves when we try to apprehend them?
I think you and a lot of lefties have lost touch with the way we and other countries on a manhunt do things. Don’t expect me to waste any tears on Osama bin Laden’s due process. This is a completely different kind of event. The only reason to try him in a court of law would be to satisfy our desire to humiliate him and his followers. He’s gone. Focus on jobs. That is far more important.
Oh, yes, I know OBL was a tool of our CIA against Russians in Afghanistan.
However,
If OBL was such a high value and murderous terrorist, then wouldn’t some of the old fashioned enhanced Interrogation have given us some very excellent Intel from him?
Taking him alive could have been important to keeping Americans safer and isn’t that what’s important?
And, sorry, I can’t recall any evidence that OBL pulled off 911. I did hear GWB say it but he also said Iraq had WMD and we know how that went.
I believe that our President failed us by ignoring the work Clinton had done on terrorism.
in 2000-01 GWB was focused on China and was ignoring Clinton’s pointing out terrorism as the main threat.
And the whole name the bad guy was a perfect way to deflect conversation away from blaming the inept GWB..
What proof was there, actually?
Only the word of GWB and his lying war criminal administration.
BTW, we have a war criminal and mass murderer living right there in Dallas. Our President even invited him to come to NYC to wave the flag and make some political hay.
It all just discusts me that we cheer our government openly assassinating someone and gloating.
That’s the moral low road.
No thanks.
I am surprised that you , RD, accept the given word of our government so easily. I would need to see evidence presented in a court of law to accept the death penalty for OBL.
I am skeptical of all information given me by our government.
We all know of lies the gov’t told us. Gulf of Tonkin,
the Maine, so I always doubt the thruthiness of government facts.
I don’t believe everything the government tells me but OBL predated 9/11. He was responsible for the embassy bombings in Africa. And Khobar towers. If OBL and Al Qaeda wasn’t responsible, because they said they were, who do you think did those things? Did the kenyans do it to themselves? I could see why the bushies might lie about it. After all, they were perfectly happy to paint saddam Hussein as OBL’s right hand man. But why would the Big Dawg lie about it in 1998? Why was he so concerned about OBL that he nearly took him out back then?
I’m afraid you are insane if you believe there has been a conspiracy by our government that has been propagated for the span of three presidents of both parties. The reason why we would do that defies logic.
We know who did the deed like we know that William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066 and Hitler incinerated 6 million Jews. Or are you going to tell ms the Holocaust never happened too?
The only conspiracy I’ll consider is the one where we said we shot him. It’s just as likely that he did the Nazi thing and offed himself.
One other thing: who here is gloating? Gloating and triumphalism just makes Obama look like a hero and distracts us. He’s dead and i’m still unemployed. I don’t have time to gloat.
I suppose you’re going to tell me that the Holocaust didn’t happen too.
Please spare me.
Insanely-
Thank you for your absolutely sane comment.
Have it your way. But don’t expect the rest of us to agree with you. You don’t have to be an obnoxious gloater to see that the world is better off without Osama bin Laden. There is evil in the world. I would hate to be one of the people sympathizing with a known mass murderer and generally evil man. Rational people will not take you seriously. I certainly don’t.
There is a time and place for taking an unpopular stand. This is not one of them.
those people just love to blow things up.
some folks get their kicks in the darnedest ways 🙂
I haven’t read MadamaB’s post, but will make it a point to read. However, I must agree that seeing people drinking, dancing and partying, makes me think of the appalled reactions Americans had when the contractors were hung and set ablaze. Most Americans saw the images and were sickened by them. Now I see the same images of people waving flags at the White House, because OBL was killed. Is this any different than the images of Iraqis shooting off their weapons in front of the bodies of American contractos? I believe that he deserved death and was an evil man. But I do not want other countries to see us as barbarians, who want and actually demand to see photographs of his dead body.
Hi Kim!!
Kim, that is why I suggest that you do not watch network or cable news. Just turn the TV off and get your news from text sources. You are less likely to be manipulated or provoked and you will be much more informed.
I haven’t watched the celebrations. I wouldn’t be one of the celebrants. I don’t miss the news.
I’ve been torn about this too. My first choice would be a trial. I’m not sad that he is gone but the “party time” reaction doesn’t make me proud. Also, the obama is the greatest evah for approving the execution of a bad guy – Mr. Nobel Peace Prize himself!
I would guess getting him out of Pakistan would be inconvenient if not impossible without some conflict with Pakistan – and then what? Where would he be held and who would do the trial?
No, I don’t think getting him out of Pakistan would have been impossible.
My gut feeling is that the administration has known where he was for awhile now but was trying to save his capture or death for a more convenient political moment. Too bad they’ve shot their wad and the election is still 18 months away.
The celebratory crap is being whipped by political operatives to make Obama look like a hero. It’s disgusting but that doesn’t make killing Osama bin Laden the evilest act on earth nor does it put our already compromised civil liberties more at risk.
I’m just disappointed (again) that lefties can’t see the difference.
Yeah, I understand the media focus on that whole hero worship, let’s partay thing as part of the re-election campaign.
He will be needing the “war monger” and the “who gives a shit about privacy” demographic to replace the liberals who will vote 3rd party no matter what he does now.
I think it is just bad optics. I am sure there are very good reasons for killing Osama bin Laden outright but I wish the whole show was handled with more integrity. You know, just put on a show like we still care about the rule of law.
I’m not concerned that the manner of his death will affect the “rule of law”. I’m all for nuremburg type trials and south African style truth commissions but the defendants should be the bushies and media giants who got us into the wars.
He’s dead. Let it go.
“He’s dead. Let it go.”
Exactly. No party, just back to business and maybe getting some jobs for the unemployed.
All things considered, it would seem that the military had their ducks lined up, their tanks primed and all systems “GO” so they sold it to the CIC, who had already demonstrated with the Libyan thing that he couldn’t make a decision. THEY made the call and “sold” him on the benefits to his re-election prospects with General Patraeus reassuring him that the landscape was changing anyway. So while the shuffle was underway, showed him the “Ben Franklin Close” gave him a list of Pros which out-numbered the cons and convinced him that it would be over in about a half hour. The KICKER was that he could assemble all his top people and watch the whole thing live on TV. As a big “Use it or Lose it” guy, the President felt it was high time he had a look at all this pricey technology in action. Basketball Season’s over. The SEALS are like Jocks, aren’t they? …like shooting fish in a bucket.
When you’re the Fonz or the Big Dawg, your rep precedes you. This “take-out” showcased some effective operatives of the USA who are just getting irratible with all the pussy-footing and reminded the world of the sound of a stomping giant. Message assimillated.
Can’t wait to see that Asian animation site’s version
[…] he is dead. And some of them even criticize their peers for “squishyness” Oh, My, GOD, sometimes I want to slap the shit out of the people in the left blogosphere who let […]
In case no one else has posted this here yet:
Bin Laden sleeps wit’ da fishes. 😈
Oh, great, let’s make the squishy lefties cry again.
He isn’t sleeping. He’s dead. And this isn’t the Godfather. This is the end of a manhunt for a dangerous criminal.
So let’s all celebrate, right? A country of 300 million people vs one individual, and it only took us 10 years to win. What an accomplishment! USA! USA!
Have you been paying ANY attention at all to this post and thread?
I agree with Riverdaughter.
Somewhat off topic, but on the use of the codeword ‘geronimo’, there has been quite a backlash from native groups, who are angered and offended, and rightly so.
Now, in another episode of “you got to be kidding me”, comes this rationalization from Jay VanOrden, who I am sure, is a well-meaning guy. He tries to give it a positive spin:
http://www.kgun9.com/story/14575371/the-code-name-geronimo-angers-american-indian-groups
I come home from work, turn on the TV, and turn it off 5 minutes later because every day there’s a new story, a new spin, more doubts in my mind as to whether or not we will once again ever know the truth. Two people whose opinions I would like to hear on the government’s handling of all of this? The parents of Pat Tillman.
We can legitimately question whether the information we are being given is spin. That’s why I don’t watch TV news of any kind.
But I don’t doubt that he’s dead nor am I going to cry me a river over his death.
Do yourself a favor and put a block on your news stations. Read your news, decide what your values are and make up your own mind. You will soon come to a couple of conclusions: 1.) Obama was just doing his job, he was no hero 2.) OBL was a bad guy and the world is better off without him and 3.) The country has more pressing issues to deal with right now.
Is RD still defending corporations after hers laid her off? Thought so.
Yes, as a matter of fact I am. It’s not the fault of the researchers who are left.
I doubt that you work in the industry so maybe you should just withhold your uninformed opinion until you get a clue.
The wingnut trolls and the Lefter-than-thou purity trolls are both so thick over on Hullabaloo that I’m almost ready to vote for Obummer in 2012 just to spite both groups. 😈
Don’t worry, though, I’ve got roughly 18 months to get over the idea.
Celebrating is certainly not the first thing that came to mind when I heard of his death. However, his very existence provided so much heartache for so many people for years to come (think of the kids he left without parents), I don’t begrudge anyone for any of their feelings or reactions. I think death was a just end for him – sorry, that’s just my twisted sense of justice these days. The older I get the more inclined I am to simply give out sentences that exactly mimic the crime committed. That must be part of the aging process.
BTW, RD – I asked my daughter if she and her friends had any discussion about this and she told me of one of her teachers who had the “oh my, what have we done” kind of reaction to which she promptly defended the killing – even though she qualifies those statements with saying “I’m not a republican warmonger type”. Her opinion was almost identical to yours. I was very moved and proud – number one that a 17 year old actually thinks through something as complex as this and number two that she vocalized it to a teacher in front of her class. Go get ’em, Allie!
Wow, I’m impressed. I hope her teacher gave her a better answer than the one Brook’s teacher gave her when she said students shouldn’t call girls sluts.
Can’t help but be curious about that one…
Health teacher was discussing reputations. Says girls who lose their virginity are in danger of being called sluts. Brook said the word slut is a no-no word because it can only be applied to women and is derogatory and shouldn’t ever be used.
Health teacher told her to deal with it; that’s the way the world is. She protested. The girl sitting behind her said Brook was wrong. Brook was very upset. She asked me to get her out of health class. I told her this was her personal test and she would have to figure out a way to change peoples’ minds.
She hated me too after that. It’s hard to be unpopular.
That’s a tough lesson…but I think coming from her teacher and then her fellow student was particularly upsetting. But learning to speak your mind, even when it’s not popular, is an important asset – most of the time.
I read a story this morning about a teacher in Texas who told a muslim girl student on Monday that she must be grieving since her uncle was killed…he has been put on administrative leave. I’m sure being a teacher is not an easy job, but it’s one that requires you put aside personal biases – what cruel and thoughtless comments from both teachers. We have raised our daughters to be strong, independent minded young adults…the way things are going, they will not have an easy time of it.
RD, I would send a note to the principal about that one.
Having a TEACHER Suggest that “slut” is an appropriate term for non-virgin females doesn’t exactly help with the “bully-free” zone at school. Deal with it, indeed. The world will never change where sexism is built in and girls in school, no less, are told to “deal with it”.
Never mind that slut-shaming is bullshit anyway. It was invented as a way to prevent girls from focusing on the important things in their lives but rather spend their days worrying about what everyone else thinks.
Brook is a great girl and has great things in her future.
Good answer for Brook every time someone tells her “that’s the way the world is.” Tell him/her “I thought the world was what we make of it.”
To answer the question, yes. You?
Sorry, Lambert, but your posters are wildly out of step here. They don’t have to be cheerleaders but their sympathy for the devil borders on the nonsensical.
And, yes, I do have a sense of self-preservation.
And lost in the shuffle. Discussing Digby and other bloggers of her ilk:
This news deserved a week of discussion all its own.
I was sick when I realized that Obama was celebrating the coolness of his administration while that attack was in progress (or very nearly) … when I realized on Sunday night that the OBL attack was so nearly in progress at the same time, I was totally sickened. What kind of man dances on graves like that?
Um, this guy maybe?:
I prefer to not celebrate but I’m not sure there is a connection between Donald Trump and the attacks on Moamar Gadafy. And don’t forget that this is not the first time Gadafy put his family in the line of fire. He’s lost famly members before to airstrikes.
Acts of war are always ugly, Katiebird. If he cared about his family, he’d park them somewhere safe or stop being such a destructive, brutal dictator.
I found this post by Paul Krugman to kinda get to the heart of the matter.
You gotta ask yourself if the cause is a moral one.
I get what you’re saying — and I do think it’s bad that those kids were at risk in the first place. Still:
I have a deep allergy to the White House Correspondence Dinner. Watching the in-crowd gloating at their cool-hipness turns my stomach.
So, I didn’t like it in the first place (whatever President is involved) … and I stand by my belief that Obama should have skipped it this year as he had to know the events that were in progress.
It’s bad mojo.
Oh, totally agree about the WH Correspondents dinner. The best one was where Stephen Colbert ripped them to shreds. Dana Milbank supposedly exposed the belly of the beast this week. The Daily Howler had a recap. It’s as ugly as you would expect. They are totally tools for the wealthy elite.
His act of aggression was tantamount to an act of war.
Yes. And, rightly, so was our response. BL invented a sort of war that jumped borders. Our response jumped borders and jumped a decade. But it was the right response.
(In both cases, 9/11 and 5/2, it was c. 20 highly competent people in a short time doing what an army could not. But both were still war.)
No, I wouldn’t go out and celebrate. But I understand why some people would. Power to their catharsis.