September 20, 2012

"The Obama administration is weighing the release of blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman — the spiritual adviser to the 1993 World Trade Center bombers...

"... in a stunning goodwill gesture toward Egypt that has touched off a political firestorm, officials said yesterday."

Considering in the sense of giving the appearance of receiving the request with politeness, right? Nothing more. It's impossible. Certainly, not before the election. After the election...

... Obama will have more flexibility.

168 comments:

Anonymous said...

Huge mistake, they will still hate us and try to kill us.

Lyle said...

Progressives are about this stupid.

Shouting Thomas said...

Huge mistake, they will still hate us and try to kill us.

Congratulations, Allie!

Now, you want to apply this as well to the attempt to force the U.S. to impose anti-blasphemy laws to protect the feelings of Muslims?

In other words, that awful video produced by that rapscallion probation offender.

Anonymous said...

OK, read the article, glad this it's ust another rumor, at least I sure hope it is.

Patrick said...

Certainly, not before the election. After the election...

...when he has more flexibility.

cubanbob said...

One would hope right after the guy dies.

Seriously not even the democrats could be that openly and transparently stupid. If they are capable of that then they must have a wish to lose all fifty states and congress. Maybe realizing how badly the have screwed up the country and how hard the double dip is going to be next year, they may want to be out of office when the economy craters and the mid east goes up in flames. Just so they can Blame Bush/Romney in the 2014 mid terms.

wef said...

Parse this

“Let me say as clearly as I can, there is no plan to release the Blind Sheikh – there is no plan,” Nuland said. “To my knowledge we have not been approached about it recently by any senior Egyptians.”

note the words

is

plan

release

recently

senior

Egyptians

ha, ha

Anonymous said...

Rep. Peter King (R-LI) confirmed the request is being considered.

Based on what?

I'm Full of Soup said...

Jeez- even my NY liberal cousins would probably think twice about voting for Obama if this is true.

purplepenquin said...

It'll be interesting to see how many people read just the headline and how many people read the actual story...'cause the headline and the story say two VERY different things.

garage mahal said...

The Egyptian government “asked for his release,” an administration source told The Post — and Rep. Peter King (R-LI) confirmed the request is being considered.

Well there you have it. An anonymous "source", and the always reliable terrorism expert Peter King.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Cubanbob- it ain't stupidity. This is more evidence of the supreme arrogance of Obama.

traditionalguy said...

This is similar to Obama announcing the surrender in Afganistan next summer.

The message is that we lose and you win, but please wait until my re-election.

The affect is to cause a mega incraese in attacks, riots and threats of violence by Muslims all taken to get bragging rights as the victors over the Americans when the pull out date and turn over date arrives on schedule.

Known Unknown said...

Cue Shiloh ...

"Red meat!"

I don't think this will happen, but who knows.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Even if it is not true, it is about time the Repubs use the same tactics as the Dems.

TosaGuy said...

"Huge mistake, they will still hate us and try to kill us."

Allie is 100 percent correct.

"It'll be interesting to see how many people read just the headline and how many people read the actual story...'cause the headline and the story say two VERY different things."

You are just figuring that aspect of journalism out now?

The Drill SGT said...

Shades of the Lockerby bomber transfer of custody to Libya because he had 3 months to live. Died after what, 18 months after being feted on his return and living in a villa?

What their eyes. They want you to focus on "no plans", e.g.

The White House, State Department and Justice Department each issued statements denying any deal is in the works...

“Suggestions that the US government is planning to transfer or release the blind sheik to Egypt are totally false and absolutely baseless"


The Press should ask about requests from Egypt, and discussions, there wont be a plan, till after the deal is done, then it will be too late.



Matt Sablan said...

"Well there you have it. An anonymous "source", and the always reliable terrorism expert Peter King."

-- Err... by definition, since we know King's name and input to the story, he is not anonymous.

The Drill SGT said...

Remonder, this guy was the planner of the 1993 truck bomb under the WTC. If he had succeeded, the death toll might have been 100,000 as both towers collapsed

Sofa King said...

The Egyptian government “asked for his release,” an administration source told The Post — and Rep. Peter King (R-LI) confirmed the request is being considered.

Well there you have it. An anonymous "source", and the always reliable terrorism expert Peter King.


I don't recall you having any reservations about anonymous sources on any other subjects - like, say, John Doe inquiries.

Chip S. said...

garage mahal said...
the always reliable terrorism expert Peter King.

Yeah, Peter King is only a member of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Analysis, and Counterintelligence. What the hell would he know about this?

The beclowning is off to an excellent start.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

GAH

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

GAH

Mary Beth said...

The protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo was announced Aug. 30 by Jamaa Islamiya, a State Department-designated terrorist group, to protest the ongoing imprisonment of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Omar abdel Rahman. He is serving a life sentence in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

And we're considering it?

Matt Sablan said...

The point being: If we have someone confirming what an anonymous source says, that source doesn't matter any more. They are not the source for the information. The other person is. So, for all intents and purposes, King is the source.

SteveR said...

The White House, State Department and Justice Department each issued statements denying any deal is in the works...

Three entities with a stellar record for honesty in the recent past

Tyrone Slothrop said...

purplepenquin said...

It'll be interesting to see how many people read just the headline and how many people read the actual story...'cause the headline and the story say two VERY different things.



Yes. True. The headline is deceptive given the flat denials by Justice and NSC. Of course there is a very good chance that either or both are lying. We will have to see.

Nathan Alexander said...

Masterful bit of bureaucratic-speak to minimize chances of future jail-time:

“Let me say as clearly as I can, there is no plan to release the Blind Sheikh – there is no plan,” Nuland said. “To my knowledge we have not been approached about it recently by any senior Egyptians.”

1) "is no plan"; if they are working on a plan not yet finalized, this statement is still true, sort of.

2) "To my knowledge"; very nice plausible deniability: even if he did know the US had been approached, no one can prove he knew it, so including this phrase means this statement is still true, sort of. The only reason to include this phrase is if you believe we have been approached but have been told to lie about it.

3) "recently". What is recently? On the scale of minutes, 3 hours ago is not recently. On a scale of hours, 3 days ago is not recently. "Recently" is not objective, but subjective, thus an approach could have been made in what most people would consider recently, but if it isn't "recently" in the opinion of the speaker, this statement is still true, sort of.

4) "senior"; so if a lower-level individual carried the message, this statement is still true, sort of.

5) Egyptians; So if the approach was made by a Libyan or Saudi, this statement is still true, sort of.

When looking for liars, pay attention the inclusion of unnecessary words that are either subjective qualifiers, or peculiarly specific.

"I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky" sounds like he used an appositive. But it is identical to the two sentences: "I did not have sex with that woman. Monica Lewinsky" by which he refers to another woman without mentioning her name (Hilary Clinton, perhaps?) and than says an additional name with no topical connection with the previous sentence. Voila! He had sex with Monica Lewinsky but was not lying with the two-sentence statement formulation.

Chip S. said...

@Tyrone--Those are non-denial "denials."

Statements like "there are no discussions" and "he remains in prison" are conspicuous in their use of the present tense.

Chip Ahoy said...

The Egyptian government has made the request and is presently considering the White House response. They're stuck on the part about the 'bell end' and wondering what that has to do with suck. It WH response appears incomprehensible.

Indigo Red said...

The the Department of Justice responded to the story - making the story true, not a rumor - that it is not a "release."
It's merely a "transfer" of an Islamic terrorist hero to an Islamic country controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood, once classified as a terrorist organization by the State Dept before they won the Egyptian election to hold positions of authority and still encourages its people to attack the US Embassy shouting "Death to America."

Qumu, the guy who is believed to have led the Benghazi attack, was also a "transfer" to a Libyan prison on condition he would be kept in prison. He wasn't.

Shouting Thomas said...

I don't think the Obama admin dares to do this.

They are floating the idea to see how much kickback they get from the public.

shiloh said...

"Cue Shiloh ..."

Again, Althouse cons like me, they really like me!

DADvocate said...

Allie's wrong. If we release him, they will all love us forever and never do anything bad again.

garage mahal said...

What the hell would he know about this?

Peter King would know a thing or two about supporting terrorists, I'll give him that.

“We must pledge ourselves to support those brave men and women who this very moment are carrying forth the struggle against British imperialism in the streets of Belfast and Derry,” Mr. King told a pro-I.R.A. rally on Long Island, where he was serving as Nassau County comptroller, in 1982. Three years later he declared, “If civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable, but I will not morally blame the I.R.A. for it.” Link

paul a'barge said...

Jonathan Pollard

breath taking.

jungatheart said...

The blind sheik did us a favor by warning us to harden defences. Did we? No. One of the big deals at the time of 9/11 was that for years the fire department and police(?) were begging Giuliani to update the emergency radio system, and he never did, which resulted in extra personnel deaths.

Cedarford said...

Shouting Thomas said...
Huge mistake, they will still hate us and try to kill us.

Congratulations, Allie!

Now, you want to apply this as well to the attempt to force the U.S. to impose anti-blasphemy laws to protect the feelings of Muslims?

In other words, that awful video produced by that rapscallion probation offender.

====================
How do you feel about 1st Amendment Heroes at CBS releasing a new documented Abu Ghraib like scandal to give aid and comfort to the enemy?
Those 1st Amendment Heroes at CBS caused a major recruitment of jihadis in the Ummah that went to Iraq and killed and maimed hundreds of Americans. As well as emboldening both Shia and Sunni Muslims within Iraq to risk their lives to kill the infidel invader trying to make a new Iraq where women in US uniforms humiliated naked Muslim men on dog leashes.

And Shouting Thomas - what about that 1st Amendment Hero Julian Assage and his cabal??

Chip S. said...

Good one, garage.

Drone attacks are also attacks on military targets that inflict civilian casualties. So I guess Obama is a terrorist.

B said...

I see that it's already noted but it bears repeating. Peter King is in a position to know that the request was made and at least initially, not discarded out of hand (or he would have noted that also).

Smells like a State Department initiative. Float the idea in Egypt, let the request rebound back to State and present it to the House and WH as casting oil on troubled waters.

Obama needs to simmer the mideast down until after the election. If the maneuver/bluff is called by the Muslim Brotherhood - release him NOW then - Obama is in a cleft stick. if it can go to and stay in quiet negotiations on our end while the Muslim Brotherhood urges restraint on their end for the duration of negotiations, Obama wins.

if he wins the election, Obama could very well release him if he it will quell mideast anti-Americanism for even a short term. Any remaining political capital he has he needs to spent on easing through executive ordering of his domestic agenda since getting back the house looks impossible at this point. His foreign policy will be strictly appeasement.

B said...

'if he thinks it will quell'

TWM said...

"Again, Althouse cons like me, they really like me!"

Now, see, Shiloh, THAT is hyperbole.

:)

Scott said...

I hope they return the sheik in a pine box.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Dane-Geld
A.D. 980-1016

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
To call upon a neighbour and to say: --
"We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away."

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
And the people who ask it explain
That you've only to pay 'em the Dane-geld
And then you'll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
To puff and look important and to say: --
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away."

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
You will find it better policy to say: --

"We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
And the nation that pays it is lost!"

Shouting Thomas said...

OK, so what will the MSM trot out next week as proof positive that the election is over and Romney is toast?

Anonymous said...

We should release him only if we consider him an ally.

Nonapod said...

At this point the Obama administration must be pretty desperate to even consider such a possibility.

I'd be shocked if this actually happened though. It would probably sink Obama's reelection chances, and that's all Obama really cares about.

MadisonMan said...

Unless by release they mean to release him into a rowboat with one working oar in the middle of Lake Superior, this is a horrible idea.

MadisonMan said...

Wait a minute. Is he dying of cancer?

Then release him! Worked for the Lockerbie guy!

Cedarford said...

The Drill SGT said...
"Remember, this guy was the planner of the 1993 truck bomb under the WTC. If he had succeeded, the death toll might have been 100,000 as both towers collapsed."

Abdel-Rahman was deeply anti-American and spoke out against it, safe in the knowledge that he and his followers had requested political asylum here for Egypt trammelling their 1st Amendment rights in calling for violent Jihad. He had lawyers from the leftist Lawyers Guild and ACLU championing his refugee status on 1st Amendment grounds. Speaking Arabic and unmonitored by any law enforcement agency due to language fluency shortcomings, he said things as he travelled around America that attracted Muslims interested in his message of Jihad. He issued a fatwa in America that declared lawful the robbing of banks and killing of Jews in America. His sermons condemned Americans as the "descendants of apes and pigs who have been feeding from the dining tables of the Zionists, Communists, and colonialists". He called on Muslims to assail the West, "cut the transportation of their countries, tear it apart, destroy their economy, burn their companies, eliminate their interests, sink their ships, shoot down their planes, kill them on the sea, air, or land". His inspired followers did the 1993 WTC bombing, the assassination of a far-right Rabbi, but he was not tied to those enemy attacks by 1st Amendment refugees. He was tied to the "tunnel plot" and bridge attack plots and imprisoned for that.

Imprisoned after the tunnel plot, a judge said public safety outweighed Rahman's 1st Amendment Rights to continue to advocate killing infidels wherever they may be found. A lawyer, Lynn Stewart, disagreed and passed messages that resulted in the killing of 40 Westerners in Luxor.

Her own 1st Amendment defense at trial didn't fly, because she had signed consent to court orders not to pass Rahman's speeches along.

Many consider Lynn Stewart a 1st Amendment martyr.

Brian Brown said...

"I was a constitutional law professor, which means, unlike the current president, I actually respect the Constitution."

- BHO March 30, 2007

Anonymous said...

The White House, State Department and Justice Department each issued statements denying any deal is in the works, but, "There’s no way to believe anything they say," said Andrew McCarthy, the former assistant US attorney who prosecuted Abdel-Rahman. "I believe there may already be a nod-and-wink agreement in place."

I'll go with Andrew McCarthy on this one.

Clyde said...

I'm sure that would go over as well as the Scots releasing the Pan Am bomber back to Libya did. Or as releasing the Al Qaeda guy from Gitmo who took part in the killing of our ambassador in Benghazi. Sure, they're just poor misunderstood innocents, victims of the mean Americans.

How about telling Muslims who ask for one of their terrorists back to go screw themselves?!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

Cedarford bellowed: How do you feel about 1st Amendment Heroes at CBS releasing a new documented Abu Ghraib like scandal to give aid and comfort to the enemy?
Those 1st Amendment Heroes at CBS caused a major recruitment of jihadis in the Ummah that went to Iraq and killed and maimed hundreds of Americans. As well as emboldening both Shia and Sunni Muslims within Iraq to risk their lives to kill the infidel invader trying to make a new Iraq where women in US uniforms humiliated naked Muslim men on dog leashes.


===============
The Jhdhadi scum are emboldened by our very resistance--no need to single out "1st Amendment Heroes" when all who resist are complicit.

And Shouting Thomas - what about that 1st Amendment Hero Julian Assage and his cabal??

Aussie Julian Assage is not protected by the 1st Amendment. In any case, treason trumps free speech.

gerry said...

Hell, appeasement worked for Chamberlain and the world with the German fascists, right? Why not try it again with Islamofascists?

X said...

AllieOop said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
9/20/12 1:03 PM

good call.

Anonymous said...

Cedarford, yet they continue to advocate irresponsible free speech for the sake of thumbing their noses at murderers, who have access to our countrymen.

I'm glad this Judge had the good sense to curtail Rahman's free speech rights, but so tragic and criminal that Lynn Stewart thought his free speech rights were so precious, it resulted in the death of 40 Westerners in Luxor.

Anonymous said...

Just corrected some spelling errors X.

Anonymous said...

X wants to take away my free speech.

garage mahal said...

I just wonder how many tinfoil stories like this one we're going to see and hear in the next six weeks.

kentuckyliz said...

Just think about it: after the election, Obama can agree to the transfer whether or not Obama is re-elected.

It could be the way he gives us all the bird as he leaves office.

Shouting Thomas said...

I just wonder how many tinfoil stories like this one we're going to see and hear in the next six weeks.

You might want to wait before pronouncing your certainty on this one, garage.

Remember how long it took for Obama to throw in the towel on civilian trial in NYC?

Obama really does believe that negotiations (i.e., appeasement) will work.

He's testing the waters. The backlash is likely to dissuade him, but you never know.

Meanwhile, we can be certain that the MSM will pounce upon whatever Romney says next week and announce that it's over, kaput, he might as well pack up his bags and go home.

DADvocate said...

Cedarford, yet they continue to advocate irresponsible free speech for the sake of thumbing their noses at murderers, who have access to our countrymen.

I'm glad this Judge had the good sense to curtail Rahman's free speech rights, but so tragic and criminal that Lynn Stewart thought his free speech rights were so precious, it resulted in the death of 40 Westerners in Luxor.


"Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, It seems to me most strange that men should fear; Seeing that death, a necessary end, Will come when it will come" - William Shakespeare Julius Caesar",

Seems today is the day for quoting old poetry.

Aridog said...

Scott said...

I hope they return the sheik in a pine box...

... with a pig hide in it wrapped around him, and dropped from about 12,500 feet over Cairo, if it were up to me.

DADvocate said...

It could be the way he gives us all the bird as he leaves office.

Better than than giving us the bird by staying in office.

Smilin' Jack said...

""The Obama administration is weighing the release of blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman — the spiritual adviser to the 1993 World Trade Center bombers...in a stunning goodwill gesture toward Egypt that has touched off a political firestorm, officials said yesterday."

That can only be regarded as a gesture of "goodwill" by people who support the bombing of the WTC. Is Obama finally admitting that most Egyptians fall into that category?

Chip S. said...

tinfoil stories like this one

Having failed to indict the source, garage now simply closes his eyes.

Cognitive dissonance is a bitch.

chickelit said...

Obama must be trying to get back into the good graces of Rev. Wright as well as the Egyptians.

No sympathy gestures at this juncture, please.

chickelit said...

AllieOop said...
X wants to take away my free speech.

I, for one, don't. I enjoy the little pixel trail you're leaving.

Anonymous said...

The amazing case of Lynne Stewart and her free speech

wef said...

Sorry, Allie, but to try to connect advocates for “irresponsible” free speech to Lynn Stewart and the massacre at Luxor is coming close to an intellectually lazy smear.

David R. Graham said...

"I don't think the Obama admin dares to do this.

They are floating the idea to see how much kickback they get from the public."

If they are floating the plan they are daring to do it.

I think they will do it - or have done it. Before election day, probably just before, to hold attention and to stick another finger in Americans' eyes. They love attention and they love to hurt.

Probably they've already done it. "News" is by definition ex post facto.

bagoh20 said...

Gentlemen, I can't promise anything, but I know one thing for certain; A President Romney will definitely not give you what you want, so the first thing is making sure I Obama gets reelected, and the best way to assure that is a nice big donation, but it will have to go through back channels of course.

Does anyone doubt such a discussion has taken place at some level? When you are asking for peoples' wedding presents, and raffling off the chance to breath the same air as him, this kind of request is a sure thing.

Remember, we are not just picking a policy, we are choosing a man, and character matters most.

Chip S. said...

Allie, we've already conceded the point that you don't understand the 1st amendment. You don't have to keep posting reminders.

edutcher said...

This time, when he bows to the Egyptians, he do it with his back turned and pants down.

shiloh said...

Cue Shiloh ...

Again, Althouse cons like me, they really like me!


Not you, just kicking your ass about every 10 minutes.

Cedarford said...

Smilin' Jack said...
""The Obama administration is weighing the release of blind Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman — the spiritual adviser to the 1993 World Trade Center bombers...in a stunning goodwill gesture toward Egypt that has touched off a political firestorm, officials said yesterday."

That can only be regarded as a gesture of "goodwill" by people who support the bombing of the WTC. Is Obama finally admitting that most Egyptians fall into that category?

===================
The good news is Rahman will in all likelihood drop his free speech refugee claims in America and not oppose deportation. If Obama decides to release him after the election.

The despotic Egyptian regime that opposed his 1st Amendment rights to preach Jihad and for followers to kill infidels has been replaced by a regime friendlier to the Blind Sheiks's free speech privileges.

chickelit said...

AllieOop said...
The amazing case of Lynne Stewart and her free speech

I don't see what's so amazing about that. She was convicted of smuggling messages. She was not a silenced citizen. If she were the latter, no one would know her "amazing" story.

Try again.

X said...

Allie, were you born in America? You seem to have a foreigner's view of free speech.

Cedarford said...

wef said...
Sorry, Allie, but to try to connect advocates for “irresponsible” free speech to Lynn Stewart and the massacre at Luxor is coming close to an intellectually lazy smear.

=============
Au contraire. Lynn Stewart saw the stifling of the Blind Sheihk's jihad sermons as a direct assault on the 1st Amendment.
And her defense was the Sacred Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as applied to her client..outweighed a judges order to the lawyers in the case to not pass on his speeches .

It didn't fly. She was nailed.

chickelit said...

X said...
Allie, were you born in America? You seem to have a foreigner's view of free speech.

Allie was born in Europe.

garage mahal said...

Having failed to indict the source, garage now simply closes his eyes.

Peter King is a credible "source" in the same sense as Michelle Bachman is a credible source.

chickelit said...

It didn't fly. She was nailed.

She was petty smuggler. She could have smuggled in a weapon.

Chip S. said...

That's exactly how cognitive dissonance gets resolved, garage. Information that disturbs your preconceptions is rejected as unreliable.

That's also how you manage to remain uninformed.

Pettifogger said...

CubanBob says:

"Seriously not even the democrats could be that openly and transparently stupid."

Oh, yes, they are. In a heartbeat. because the U.S. oppresses others and all who experience U.S. oppression live on a higher moral plane than the rest of us.

"If they are capable of that then they must have a wish to lose all fifty states and congress."

If only, but I am skeptical. The percentage of the electorate that Romney controversially spoke about don't care about such things. All they care about is the next installment of government cheese. Too many of the rest still don't pay attention.

Pettifogger said...

Oops. "doesn't care about."

Anonymous said...

X, I was a three year old when my family came to this country. I was born in Austria, what does it matter where I was born? I was raised and educated in this country, I belong here as much as you do.

Anonymous said...

Strange X , how you direct all your comments toward me, are you afraid of tangling with Cedarford? Sorry Cedarford, I don't mean to sic him on you, but he strikes me as a coward.

garage mahal said...

That's exactly how cognitive dissonance gets resolved, garage. Information that disturbs your preconceptions is rejected as unreliable.

HPV vaccinations make people retarded!

Anonymous said...

Garage, LMAO!

Firehand said...

Talk about 'Giving aid and comfort to the enemy'...

Bryan C said...

"Peter King is a credible "source" in the same sense as Michelle Bachman is a credible source."

Which would still make him more reliable than, say, Debbie Wasserman-Shultz.

But King only said the request was being considered. Which appears to be true. Rejected after consideration, one hopes, but who knows?

Nathan's analysis seems accurate to me. Too many weasel-words in there from people who should have no reason to be weasely.

Methadras said...

Doesn't matter whether this is being considered or not. If the blind terrorist is released then all hell should break loose in this country. Leftards have infiltrated every aspect of government like termites. They don't care about this country, simply 'forward'(ing) their own leftard agenda of basically undermining with this country is and what it stands for. The fact that people like Obama and his stooge sycophants, that have a disdain for what this country stands for, to me is tentamount to treason. They anti- and unAmerican filth. Every single one. Oh they may bleat a good game, but deep down their perpetual mewlings of America as the great oppressor gives them away.

edutcher said...

AllieOop said...

X, I was a three year old when my family came to this country. I was born in Austria, what does it matter where I was born?

It certainly explains a lot.

Known Unknown said...

Nathan's analysis seems accurate to me. Too many weasel-words in there from people who should have no reason to be weasely.

Other than this guy.

It would be refreshing to hear something more along the lines of "Nah. Not happening."

Known Unknown said...

yet they continue to advocate irresponsible free speech

Please, answer this question Allie:

WHO decides what is responsible and what is irresponsible?

Therein lies the problem with your position.

X said...

Please, answer this question Allie:

WHO decides what is responsible and what is irresponsible?


that depends on what year you are talking about and what year allie was born.

Anonymous said...

Aussie Julian Assage is not protected by the 1st Amendment. In any case, treason trumps free speech.

It is pretty hard to commit treason against a country you are not a citizen of.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The administration has released an updated statement: "There is zero chance Abdul Rahman will see the light of day and we categorically deny the rumor."

Chip S. said...

HPV vaccinations make people retarded!

In your case, I'm guessing it's caused by inbreeding.

Anonymous said...

I was born in 1952 and my parents were Republicans, evangelical fundamentalist, LOL.

Matt Sablan said...

On Lynn Stewart: Sounds like she sassed off to a judge and learned you don't sass off to judges.

sakredkow said...

Conservative fundies can't stand the lying lame stream media...until it reports some bogus story that gives them hope that Romney hasn't totally sunk his own ship.

Matt Sablan said...

Also, lucky for her she did this in 2006; American citizens running secret messages for terrorists get their names on secret kill lists starting sometime in about 2009.

Matt Sablan said...

"Conservative fundies can't stand the lying lame stream media...until it reports some bogus story that gives them hope that Romney hasn't totally sunk his own ship. "

-- This is significantly more news worthy than an edited video of Romney talking. Yet, I'm willing to bet, the other thing? It got more news coverage.

bagoh20 said...

" "There is zero chance Abdul Rahman will see the light of day..."

Well, no shit - he's blind.

They opened the door to release him, but he doesn't know it. Plausible deniability.

Sofa King said...

WHO decides what is responsible and what is irresponsible?

What does the World Health Organization have to do with it?

Anonymous said...

Matthew, she did far more than sass a judge, she passed messages to Rahman. After a judge curtailed his ability to keep in touch with his contacts, because of his continuing terrorist activities.

Cedarford said...

Donations to the defense of the Blind Sheikh, like the Copt Nakoula, here as a refugee from Egyptian persecution under the 1st Amendment Itself!! - can be made to www.aclu.org.

While Althouse readers may make donoations to 1st Amendment champion Lynne Stewart, jailed for defying a judge unconstitutionally suppressing release of Sheikh Rahman's sermons to kill infidels wherever they are..can be made to: http://lynnestewart.org/donation.html

The lawsuit against the Obama Administration started by his father through the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to remove Anwar al-Awlaki from the targeted killing list because Anwar was a US citizen protected by the 1st Amendment continues after his "murder" by drone. It is now a wrongful death suit and a suit claiming al-Awlakis civil rights were violated.
(The people at Ft Hood shot by an al-Awlaki disciple and the survivors of those killed oppose the lawsuit)
Althouse readers championing the Copt crook may also want to help support the al-Awlaki 1st Amendment lawsuit.

And of course, Julian Assange would welcome 1st Amendment lovers donations. As would The Bradley Manning Support Network....which has info on fundraisrs where Althouse readers can support that heroic 1st Amendment Champion, protected Whistleblower, and gay rights advocate/victim.
http://www.bradleymanning.org/

sakredkow said...

This is significantly more news worthy than an edited video of Romney talking. Yet, I'm willing to bet, the other thing? It got more news coverage.

Romney secretly being conservative macho, comin' down hard on the 47% who feel they are victims and want the govt. to take care of them...now newsworthy? But this bogus story is significantly more so??

Dream weaver.

sakredkow said...

As I recall Romney senior saying he was brainwashed wasn't significantly newsworthy either.

Like father...

Known Unknown said...

And Allie ignores my direct question ...

B said...

bagoh20 said...
" "There is zero chance Abdul Rahman will see the light of day..."

Well, no shit - he's blind.


Thread winner.

Geoff Matthews said...

I'd return him.
In pieces.
I'm of the opinion that, in the Middle East, you play the role of the strong horse. And if you can't make them love you, you certainly can make them fear you.

Matt Sablan said...

"Romney secretly being conservative macho, comin' down hard on the 47% who feel they are victims and want the govt. to take care of them...now newsworthy? But this bogus story is significantly more so??"

-- Actually, we don't know what he said. The video is missing one or two minutes of explanation (possibly more.) We were lied to about this, so there is every reason to think what is missing would be beneficial to Romney.

So, yes. Confirmed reports that the U.S. was approached and considered releasing a terrorist master mind is significantly more important than a partisan hit job that required video editing to make it sound damning.

chickelit said...

Freder Frederson said...

It is pretty hard to commit treason against a country you are not a citizen of.

Espionage then.

Anonymous said...

EMD, yes, I am. But I will answer by saying the individual should censor themselves, so as no other Mother's son or daughter becomes the sacrificial lamb of free speech purist's who like to kick the hornets nest, just because they Can.

I know this won't be an acceptable answer to you, besides frankly I'm sick of debating with those as blind as Rahman.

Cedarford said...

Pat Buchanan, who has been around the block, writes:

Is it not long past time to do a cost-benefit analysis of our involvement in the Middle and Near East?

In this brief century alone, we have fought the two longest wars in our history there, put our full moral authority behind an “Arab Spring” that brought down allies in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, and provided the air power that saved Benghazi and brought down Moammar Gadhafi.

Yet this week U.S. embassies were under siege in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, and U.S. diplomats were massacred in Benghazi.

The cost of our two wars is 6,500 dead, 40,000 wounded and $2 trillion piled onto a national debt that is $16 trillion, larger than the entire U.S. economy. And what in heaven’s name do we have to show for it?

We face pandemic hatred of our country from Morocco to Indonesia. The sight of American flags being ripped to shreds and burned by mobs has become so common over there we seem almost to have gotten used to it.


sakredkow said...

WHO decides what is responsible and what is irresponsible?

Cultural relativism is so sexy with virtually all political stripes these days.

bagoh20 said...

Phx, The last week was one of the most significant for the country in Obama's entire first term, and the media gave equal, and some outlets more, attention to a suspiciously edited video from months ago that contained nothing that surprised anyone. It was pure politicking. Frankly, Romney should have gotten very little attention whatsoever, even if he wanted it - he's not responsible for anything that's happening to this country or it's foreign policy...yet. The press is purposefully distracting the people from what's important just out of political bias. It's disgusting.

Rliyen said...

This just proves that Obama has no experience when it comes to foreign matters. Look how the Lockerbie bomber release went over. And he wants to go down THAT road.

They'll view the release as a sign of weakness and still come after us.

sakredkow said...

We were lied to about this, so there is every reason to think what is missing would be beneficial to Romney.

I missed that story. What were you lied to about, and by who?

Cedarford said...

Buchanan goes on:

devout Muslims regard (what is to them) our immoral and decadent culture, which they see as a threat to their societies and their young.

(opposed) are the Islam haters and baiters in America and the West who deliberately provoke them with insulting and blasphemous portrayals of the Prophet and their faith.

While the U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia have by now largely been closed, and the United States is largely withdrawn from Iraq and the sanctions there have all been lifted, America is not going to change herself to accommodate their world.

Support of Israel is the declared position of both parties. And, though Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rightly called the crude amateur film “Innocence of Muslims,” which caused the latest anti-American rioting, both disgusting and reprehensible, we are not going to repeal the First Amendment, which protects provocateurs and pornographers.

Yet, worldwide, there are hundreds of millions of Muslims for whom their faith is their most priceless possession. They live it. They will die for it. And not a few will kill for it. Others will seize upon real or imagined insults to that faith to excite the crowds to expel us from their world.

And some Americans will accommodate them by using books, films and videos to manifest their contempt of Islam.

So we have here an irreconcilable conflict.

The Islamic word, especially across the Arab region, is undergoing a transformation, a Great Awakening. Muslims from Nigeria to Mali to Ethiopia to Sudan to the Maghreb and Middle and Near East are growing more militant and more hostile toward Christianity and other faiths.

And as we are not going to change our position on Israel, or our culture, such as it is, or our First Amendment, clashes between us are inevitable.

Perhaps the best course of action for America is to lower our profile in that region, bring most of our diplomats and troops home, and let these people work out their destiny themselves.

Second, given the costs and consequences of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and intervention in Libya, let the Syrians settle their war themselves. There is no guarantee the fall of Bashar Assad, given the jihadist and al-Qaida presence in the forces seeking his overthrow, will be an improvement for the United States.

Third, the United States should tell the Egyptian government that its failure to provide security for our embassy was an outrage, that if we cannot see them as a friendly government with common interests, we will not hesitate to cut off aid and warn U.S. citizens not to travel to Egypt.

Without U.S. aid and Western loans and tourists, Egypt’s economy would sink with President Morsi in the wheelhouse....denied the respect our nation deserves, we are willing to pull the plug on his regime.

The Middle East appears to be undergoing a sectarian and tribal conflict not unlike our Thirty Years’ War from 1618 to 1648. As they stayed out of our Thirty Years’ War, let us get out of theirs.


George W Bush, who popularized the terms "Noble Muslim Freedom Lovers", "Nation-building", and "The Religion of Peace" - was not available for comment.

Matt Sablan said...

"I missed that story. What were you lied to about, and by who?"

-- We were told the tape was complete and unedited by the guy who put it up/produced it. It was not.

The point of being in such a mood about it is that, well, quite frankly? Unlike the O'Keefe and Breitbart tapes, which complete, unedited versions were provided, here we have someone lying to us about providing a complete, unedited tape.

And the liars tape? His is the one that is uncritically accepted by the media and promoted without a word. It's not even a clever edit; the video literally stops at one point then picks up again in the next video with Romney talking about something else entirely. The edit is clearly there, anyone who watched it all saw it.

But, hey. Anything not to talk about dead ambassadors and Americans protected by locked doors in a terrorist hot zone, locked doors that had been targeted by IEDs earlier this year.

sakredkow said...

Bagho20 I disagree with your assessment. I don't think "the press" is purposely distracting people, I feel Romney's comments are a legitimate and important story in themselves; I didn't see the press ignoring the ME (I presume that's what you are referring to about the most significant story in 6 mos).

Just the fact that a number of conservative reacted negatively to Romney's taped remarks shows that it did deserve the attention it got.

That's MO bagho20.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Never thought I would SO agree with Buchanen.

sakredkow said...

Breitbart's tapes weren't all unedited. At least one was very edited - until they called him on it.

chickelit said...

Two words, Cedarford.

Are you listening Cedarford?

Fischer-Tropsch

chickelit said...

AllieOop said...
Wow. Never thought I would SO agree with Buchanen

You'll just love his social views...all warm and fuzzy.

sakredkow said...

And the liars tape? His is the one that is uncritically accepted by the media and promoted without a word. It's not even a clever edit; the video literally stops at one point then picks up again in the next video with Romney talking about something else entirely. The edit is clearly there, anyone who watched it all saw it.

Romney never disputed the tape! Unless I'm missing a news cycle.

Matt Sablan said...

"Breitbart's tapes weren't all unedited. At least one was very edited - until they called him on it."

-- The Sherrod one? That he publicly acknowledged was edited and asked for the complete tape of when he released it?

Surely you see a difference with that and lying about it.

Unknown said...

allie doesn't know what motivates C4 and Buchanan

B said...

Obama is buying time here, folks. He needs things to calm down in the Muslim world ASAP. He sees the idea of releasing the blind Sheik as a path to that.

However, the people pulling the strings for terrorism and street riots in the Muslim world, and Egypt is who matters here, can read newspapers, understand trends, and form more cogent opinions on whose word to trust and how much than our own media. They won't trust Obama's word on any future release. So it'll be release now or forget any calming words to the Muslim street.

This won't work for Obama and even floating it is a mark of desperation and an admission of lost diplomatic clout in the ME.

Matt Sablan said...

"Romney never disputed the tape! Unless I'm missing a news cycle."

-- It was from months ago, and he says he does not remember the full context of the remarks.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Matt Sablan said...

I can't watch the video but... apparently, I was wrong, and some media WILL ask questions of the president.

Fun times.

Anonymous said...

One does not need to be such an ideologist that you cannot listen or read something by someone you normally would wholeheartedly disagree with, to see truth when it's spoken. I know full well that Buchanen and Cedarford are considered anti Semites.

I may not agree with everything Cedarford says, but when he says something that resonates with me, I'm not going to dismiss it out of hand, because I may disagree with other issues he comments on, that would be very closed minded.



bagoh20 said...

" I feel Romney's comments are a legitimate and important story in themselves"

That can not be anything other than political crap. The video is edited, and the provider lied about. You would not consider it important if it was Obama saying something the Republicans could use, and you know it. Besides that, the video tells nothing new. Romney's message all along has been that if you want free stuff then Obama is your man. Nobody learned anything new from it. Obama supporters like you simply want to use it to score points (which isn't working). That raw politicking is not news, and you saying it's important in a week like this is hackery. The nation comes first, for us outside the cult. The media just wasted a very important week where Americans needed real journalism, not free campaign ads.

Cedarford said...

chickelit said...
Two words, Cedarford.

Are you listening Cedarford?

Fischer-Tropsch

=============
I'm listening, and want anything economic and practical that gets us off Muslim oil..
Solar and wind are not practical or economical. Already investors are freaking on reports that financially strapped governments will be cutting subsidies for those two Green favs.

And to me, not only are the ethanol subsidies in the same category as needing to go away..but it is obscene to use food for fuel..it is a regressive tax on consumers that has jacked up prices and cost us even more in taxes than the subsidy itself for the extra premium we pay to buy and export food to needy nations.

Right now, I believe it is time to relook at Fischer-Tropsch for not only liquid fuel from coal, but the process of combining natural gas and coal in reactors to get more hydrogen in the nat gas combined with the surplus carbon in the coal. I do think getting off Arab oil is a greater priority than Global Warming.
And as such, I'd be willing to see the military take on the product even if it costs slightly more than market...as it is far cheaper than 38 bucks a gallon "green biofuel" in any case and would be a stable, uninterruptable supply for the military and critical US infrastructure and agriculture use in a crisis. With a guaranteed military market, you could get the R&D and the facilities going - which, BTW, would stimulate huge numbers of jobs here and cut down on the treasure we give the Arabs.

If Obama is defeated and we seek real energy independence, vs. Solyndras...it could happen.

Cedarford said...

Paul Risenhoover said...
allie doesn't know what motivates C4 and Buchanan

===================
Putting America 1st.
Try it sometime, Paul.

TosaGuy said...

More than 47 percent of voting Americans would think this is a very bad idea.

sakredkow said...

-- It was from months ago, and he says he does not remember the full context

I'm talking about the tape, not the kid whose hair he cut off.

sakredkow said...

Surely you see a difference with that and lying about it.

I don't think you even know when you are asking a complex question.

When did you stop beating our wife?

chickelit said...

@phx: You have to admit that recording having a missing portion taints the "evidence."

Release the full tape!

chickelit said...

@phx: I mean it would be a perfect intact entity if it were whole. It is imperfect and subject to doubt.

Like the 18 1/2 minute gap.

Toad Trend said...

Appeasing the bully. It never works. Never.

A well-placed knuckle sandwich is the only language they understand.

Take it to the bank.

sakredkow said...

chickelit: What do you propose could be missing that would be mitigating or exculpatory to Romney on the tape?

"That's exactly the kind of thing I would say if I wanted to sabotage my campaign for the presidency. So I won't do it!"

AllenS said...

Allie, can you speak Austrian?

Trochilus said...

garage mahal said...

I just wonder how many tinfoil stories like this one we're going to see and hear in the next six weeks.

9/20/12 1:14 PM

I suspect that it will be in direct proportion to the number of times our President is caught whispering secret little "sweet nothings" to the thugs of this world, or to those who will willingly carry the message to those thugs on the President's behalf.

He's become the "thug whisperer."

chickelit said...

phx said...
chickelit: What do you propose could be missing that would be mitigating or exculpatory to Romney on the tape?

That presupposes that there's something to exculpate or to mitigate. That's why I put evidence in scare quotes.


Trochilus said...

Don't Tread 2012 said...

Appeasing the bully. It never works. Never.

A well-placed knuckle sandwich is the only language they understand.

Take it to the bank.

9/20/12 4:26 PM

AND, hold the bread!

PatCA said...

And if a bully gives up his weapons, don't reward him by killing him!

As odious as Kaddafy was, the US, thanks to Sara Power, taught the other tyrants a big lesson: disarm, so we can kill you more easily. Burn our embassies, and we will kowtow to you. In their own mad way, they are behaving perfectly logically.

sakredkow said...

That presupposes that there's something to exculpate or to mitigate. That's why I put evidence in scare quotes.

No, you put scare quotes around evidence [You: You have to admit that recording having a missing portion taints the "evidence."] so that you can peddle away from it.

Dancing Conservatives: "There's nothing wrong with what Romney said!"

Voice of Reason: "Well, it does seem to have hurt him, even with some prominent conservatives."

Dancing Conservatives: "Yes, but there is a gap in there, so you can't trust what you hear."

Voice of Reason: "What do you think is missing that would mitigate this?"

Dancing Conservatives: "There's nothing wrong with what Romney said!"








Anonymous said...

Allen, nein Ich kann Deutsch sprechen.

chickelit said...

Voice of Reason: "Well, it does seem to have hurt him, even with some prominent conservatives."

Like who? Andrew Sullivan?



sakredkow said...

Kristol.

sakredkow said...

Whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. Chickelit and I, who have polar opposite views about politics and probably anything else you name, are having an extended comments argument without calling each other names or being wildly insulting.

Climate change.

AllenS said...

I'll take that as a no.

Revenant said...

Much as I like to think ill of the Obama administration, I want more than 1 Republican politician and 1 anonymous source before I assume there's any truth to the story.

jr565 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

phx said...
Kristol

Sorry I missed this earlier. I only saw your climate change comment. I had to google Kristol. Is he influential?

I was in the 47% years ago (or close to it) with a mortgage, a stay-at-home wife and two kids. This was as recent as the early Bush II years. So I have to cast myself back in time and ask myself whether I would have been offended by Bush pointing out that others were paying my share. I would have countered that as a unit, my family was paying forward by raising a family. I would have been more offended that it was assumed that I was a Democrat based on my level of taxation, but still, I wouldn't go so far to vote Democratic, even though I did for several elections prior to 9/11.

jr565 said...

This can't possibly be true. It would be too stupid a gesture to be believed, even coming from Obama. Though, considering the administration, anything's possible.

9/20/12 9:23 PM

sakredkow said...

I had to google Kristol. Is he influential?

Irving Kristol.

Not very.

Interesting observation. It's true I'm personally not offended by what Romney said. I think he hurt himself. He has a little harder climb. I think a lot of undecideds weren't that offended either, but they may have been thinking, "Why is your campaign having so much trouble, Magne? I'm not real impressed by your competence right now."

Dante said...

"I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky"

It was "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," Because he only had one relationship with that woman. It would have required Hillary to be relations.

chickelit said...

Isn't Irving Kristol dead now a few years?

You must have meant the guy who used to MC the Oscars.

Kirk Parker said...

Allie,

"Never thought I would SO agree with Buchanen."

Why am I not surprised?

Anonymous said...

Note: now that she has been called on it, Allie the Obama Whore is very careful to "disagree" with the party line from time to time to "prove" her credibility.

But only on rumors floated to the press as weather balloons by an administration desperate to see the US government burn. Never on official policy.

The 1st Amendment only applies when Obama says it does. Otherwise, burn the witch!

Note also: Allie is still preparing her "pledge" picture for Mein Obama. She's late because she hired a professional photographer to take multiple shots in a pro studio with a Versace dress. Had to re-mortgage her house to do it, but it's worth it to show her total devotion to Obama, communism, and destroying America.

Seig Heil, Mein Obama!

Anonymous said...

Whore, sieg heil yourself, then drop dead. My husband was Jewish, my four children are half Jewish, which explains why you seem to be fixated with me, your website clearly shows you to be a White Supremicist and weirdo.