We don't deserve this. Why are we being punished again?
Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to ship Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay prisoners to Manhattan for federal trials is beyond bad judgment.
It is a radical call that puts his leftist legal theories over public safety and common sense. The war on terror is being relabeled as a crime problem, in the very shadow of Ground Zero.
They'll use our liberties to turn the trial into propaganda for their warped cause. Their images and words will fly around the world as fodder for a new generation of jihadists. The federal courthouse and detention center will become a fortress. The judge, prosecutors, witnesses, federal agents and jury will need protection, some for years. It's madness.
New York already took a big hit for the team. The 9/11 attacks were aimed at America, and it is sacrilege to the dead and the living to bring these defendants back and invite another attack.
Here's an idea: Put the trial in Chicago.
The timing reveals Holder's tin ear, with some of the 13 soldiers massacred by a comrade-turned-terrorist at Fort Hood not yet buried. It's hard to escape the thought he chose the day because Obama was in Asia and could duck blame.
Mayor Bloomberg's instant support is also suspect. Given his cozy relationship with Obama, it's likely Bloomberg's nod was obtained in advance and Holder held the announcement until after last week's election. That way Bloomberg wouldn't have to face voters while backing this outlandish attack on his city.
And where is our congressional team, especially Senators Chuck Schumer and his amanuensis, Kirsten Gillibrand? Oh, I forgot, out fighting for banking rules that will hamstring Wall Street and for a health-care plan that will wreck city and state budgets, hospitals and insurance companies.
Whose team are they on, Obama's or New York's?
We already know about Holder's fishy sense of justice. He OK'd the pardon of fugitive Marc Rich, is now investigating CIA agents who played hardball with terrorists, and wants to give those bloodthirsty maniacs rights they don't deserve.
The worst-case outcome is frightening. The beasts who helped kill nearly 3,000 Americans could walk free, while the brave agents who protected the country get locked up.
And contrary to press reports, Holder didn't commit to seeking the death penalty, saying only he expects to. He also didn't say what the charges would be.
Do you trust him? Neither do I.
There are two better alternatives. Either try the detainees in military courts on secure bases or, best of all, give them death now. Mohammed and some others already acknowledged guilt and said they were ready to die.
And contrary to press reports, Holder didn't commit to seeking the death penalty, saying only he expects to. He also didn't say what the charges would be.
Do you trust him? Neither do I.
There are two better alternatives. Either try the detainees in military courts on secure bases or, best of all, give them death now. Mohammed and some others already acknowledged guilt and said they were ready to die.
I say we take yes for an answer.
Dobbs more correct than 'right'
Years ago I overheard two editors talking about a reporter. "He's a pain in the ass," the first said, to which the second gave an unforgettable response: "He is, but he's worth it. A lot of them aren't."
Lou Dobbs was worth it, and CNN is diminished for losing him.
In the cliché of the day, he was "controversial." He was a lightning rod who wore out his welcome after 30 years.
But before we bury him for his flaws, let's remember Dobbs was right on many issues facing America, and was often first. Even Jon Klein, his former boss at CNN, conceded Dobbs defined the terms of key debates.
"Lou is an original thinker who didn't defer to the herd," Klein told me. "The herd often looked to him."
Take illegal immigration. When more than 600,000 people marched in LA in 2006, shutting schools and stopping commerce, news reports caught the crowds' fever and found nothing objectionable in Democrats urging them on.
Not Dobbs. Why, he wondered, were so many waving Mexican flags? He found demands for "our rights" curious, given many marchers were in the US illegally. Why were politicians supporting them and encouraging students to skip school?
The result was that, along with mostly Republicans, he helped defeat an amnesty bill. At the same time, he championed the status of legal immigrants, a distinction his critics ignored as they accused him of "hate" speech.
I saw his passion firsthand as a proud contributor to his show for two years.
But Klein is right that Dobbs' populist advocacy made him an odd fit at CNN, which calls itself neutral but in truth fits comfortably into media soft-shoe liberalism. Whatever its virtues, audiences are abandoning CNN for its rivals.
Sometimes Dobbs enjoyed fights too much. Calling people "idiots" and "scumbags" undermined his towering talent and embarrassed his colleagues.
Yet his commitment to facts trumped his stridency, as it did in his crusade against a Bush White House plan to let a Dubai firm operate U.S. ports. This time it was Dems jumping on his bandwagon to scuttle the deal.
His books expounded on his themes, their titles reflecting Dobbs' aversion to nuance: "Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed is Shipping American Jobs Oversees."
The second was "War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back."
Last year, it was "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit."
For certain, his spirit is awake and independent and, if we are lucky, we have not seen the end of Lou Dobbs.
Grade-A moron
A North Carolina school gets a gold star for the dopiest idea of the month. As the Raleigh News & Observer reported, selling candy didn't raise much money, so the principal decided to sell grades. Before higher-ups slammed on the brakes, test points were a dollar each -- a $20 contribution would yield 10 extra points on two tests of a student's choice. And for $50, the principal gets a brain.
Times that try men's souls
Did you catch the latest exposé in The New York Times? Starting with a front-page box, the Thurs day paper spent nearly two pages proving people like to look out windows. Coming next week, birds like to fly.
Dobbs more correct than 'right'
Years ago I overheard two editors talking about a reporter. "He's a pain in the ass," the first said, to which the second gave an unforgettable response: "He is, but he's worth it. A lot of them aren't."
Lou Dobbs was worth it, and CNN is diminished for losing him.
In the cliché of the day, he was "controversial." He was a lightning rod who wore out his welcome after 30 years.
But before we bury him for his flaws, let's remember Dobbs was right on many issues facing America, and was often first. Even Jon Klein, his former boss at CNN, conceded Dobbs defined the terms of key debates.
"Lou is an original thinker who didn't defer to the herd," Klein told me. "The herd often looked to him."
Take illegal immigration. When more than 600,000 people marched in LA in 2006, shutting schools and stopping commerce, news reports caught the crowds' fever and found nothing objectionable in Democrats urging them on.
Not Dobbs. Why, he wondered, were so many waving Mexican flags? He found demands for "our rights" curious, given many marchers were in the US illegally. Why were politicians supporting them and encouraging students to skip school?
The result was that, along with mostly Republicans, he helped defeat an amnesty bill. At the same time, he championed the status of legal immigrants, a distinction his critics ignored as they accused him of "hate" speech.
I saw his passion firsthand as a proud contributor to his show for two years.
But Klein is right that Dobbs' populist advocacy made him an odd fit at CNN, which calls itself neutral but in truth fits comfortably into media soft-shoe liberalism. Whatever its virtues, audiences are abandoning CNN for its rivals.
Sometimes Dobbs enjoyed fights too much. Calling people "idiots" and "scumbags" undermined his towering talent and embarrassed his colleagues.
Yet his commitment to facts trumped his stridency, as it did in his crusade against a Bush White House plan to let a Dubai firm operate U.S. ports. This time it was Dems jumping on his bandwagon to scuttle the deal.
His books expounded on his themes, their titles reflecting Dobbs' aversion to nuance: "Exporting America: Why Corporate Greed is Shipping American Jobs Oversees."
The second was "War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups Are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back."
Last year, it was "Independents Day: Awakening the American Spirit."
For certain, his spirit is awake and independent and, if we are lucky, we have not seen the end of Lou Dobbs.
Grade-A moron
A North Carolina school gets a gold star for the dopiest idea of the month. As the Raleigh News & Observer reported, selling candy didn't raise much money, so the principal decided to sell grades. Before higher-ups slammed on the brakes, test points were a dollar each -- a $20 contribution would yield 10 extra points on two tests of a student's choice. And for $50, the principal gets a brain.
Times that try men's souls
Did you catch the latest exposé in The New York Times? Starting with a front-page box, the Thurs day paper spent nearly two pages proving people like to look out windows. Coming next week, birds like to fly.
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