Fools and Self-Deceivers
Obushma’s Third Term
The Emperor is Wearing Bush’s Clothes
A very long post today. I intend to leave it up with no immediate subsequent posts in hopes of collecting some comments and having a conversation on any of the items contained.
First, today, President Obama will be honored at my alma mater with an honorary law degree as he gives the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. The Obama apologists, the liberal extremists who control the media in other words, have been allowed to suggest the protesters are intolerant of debate. That is, of course, a lie. The student protests are against the honorary degree. As anyone who’s listened to the argument of the students, they’ve made their position very clear.
Second, the ZACKlyRight Style Book announces the following changes:
1. Where appropriate, the “Obama administration” will now be recognized as the “Obushma-Biden Administration”; “President Obama” as “President Obushma”.
2. When appropriate, The Obushma-Biden Administrations military tribunals in Guantanamo will be referred to as “kangaroo courts”.
3. When appropriate, “sleep deprivation” will be added to the list of interrogation techniques that the pro-terrorist lobby in Congress thinks constitutes all the “torture” techniques; teething 3 month-old babies now susceptible to federal torture charges.
4. Where appropriate, “pelosi” will be substituted for “liar” as a noun and “to lie” as a verb, in the correct tense. For example, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is a pelosi and she pelosied again.
Third, for those who have been reading ZACKlyRight since at least February 9, 2009, you know that I’ve been comparing the staggering number of Obushma reassertions/reaffirmations of Bush since that time. At the end of this post I will re-produce the latest version of that letter to the editor of my “news”paper, the Boston Globe, but for now, I highlight significant participants on the national scene who are just now catching up to my prescience:
a. “It is disturbing. It's not just one episode, it's a clear trend that is emerging." - Tom Andrews of Win Without War, a coalition of groups opposed to the US troop presence in Iraq responding to the Obushma-Biden administration re-starting "kangaroo courts" at Guantanamo (Obushma keeps tribunals, draws ire, Boston Globe, May 16, 2009, A1). A few days ago the Boston Globe editorial board, notable for its lack of diversity compared to any Bush 43 Cabinet, referred to the military tribunals as "kangaroo courts".
b. "The Obushma(-Biden) administration is morphing into the Bush administration on these important issues." - Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University (Ibid).
c. I intend to give as little credit as possible as the Wall Street Journal is literally cutting and pasting my prior posts into their editorial, this was the Wall Street Journal’s editorial from Saturday, May 16, I bold where my prior thoughts were plagiarized:
Obama’s Military Tribunals
Another Friday, another bow to Bush's antiterror legacy.
President Obama's endorsements of Bush-Cheney antiterror policies are by now routine: for example, opposing the release of prisoner abuse photographs and support for indefinite detention for some detainees, and that's just this week. More remarkable is White House creativity in portraying these U-turns as epic change. Witness yesterday's announcement endorsing military commissions.
White House officials insist that their tribunals will be kinder and gentler, stressing additional due-process safeguards for terrorists on trial for war crimes. But the debate that has convulsed the political system since 9/11 isn't about procedural nuances. It has been over core principles, with Democrats decrying a "shadow justice system" and claiming that "Our Constitution and our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists."
The latter quote is from a speech by Senator Obama in 2007 denouncing "a legal framework that does not work." He also referred to the civilian criminal justice system and courts martial that Democrats then claimed, and many still claim, are the right venues for antiterror prosecutions. After the Supreme Court's Boumediene decision gave terrorists habeas rights, Mr. Obama again laid into the Bush Administration's "legal black hole" and "dangerously flawed legal approach," which "undermines the very values we are fighting to defend."
At least some people in the White House must now be embarrassed by their boss's switcheroo, though you can't tell from Friday's declaration. Part of the tribunal face-lift is that "the accused will have greater latitude in selecting their counsel." Say what? Enemy combatants already have better access to attorneys -- white shoe and pro bono, no less -- than nearly every criminal defendant in America. Perhaps this means Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 90 Yemenis and the rest will now be able to choose lawyers from both Shearman & Sterling and Covington & Burling, instead of one or the other.
Another red herring is supposedly tightening the admissibility of hearsay evidence. Tribunal judges already have discretion to limit such evidence, and the current rules are nearly indistinguishable from those of the International Criminal Court. The sensible exceptions involve evidence obtained under combat conditions or from foreign intelligence services, which are left untouched by Mr. Obama's nips and tucks.
In any event, Mr. Obama deserves credit for accepting that the civilian courts are largely unsuited for the realities of the war on terror. He has now decided to preserve a tribunal process that will be identical in every material way to the one favored by Dick Cheney -- and which, contrary to the narrative that Democrats promulgated for years, will be the fairest and most open war-crimes trials in U.S. history. Meanwhile, friends should keep certain newspaper editors away from sharp objects. Their champion has repudiated them once again. (End of WSJ editorial lifted from ZACKlyRight.)
As promised, this was my last letter to the Boston Globe on President Obushma; if anyone has the joyous opportunity to encounter a delusional, hate-filled liberal on a discussion on just about anything except confiscatory taxes and slaughtering unborn human life, you can just say, “I agree with President Obushma and President Bush”; for the readers convenience, the most recent updates are bolded and italicized:
Editor,
It must render those who voted for President Obushma apoplectic.
After asking four US Senators and one US Representative who voted for the Iraq war to serve in his administration,
after retaining Bush's Secretary of Defense,
after retaining Generals David Petraeus and Ray Odierno,
after retaining Bush's Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence,
after announcing he will keep combat troops in Iraq until December 31, 2011,
after announcing he will continue operations at Guantanamo for up to a year under the Bush rules,
after announcing he will continue President Bush's faith-based initiatives program under Bush's rules,
after announcing he will leave Bush's No Child Left Behind Act intact,
after reasserting Bush on state-secrets,
after reasserting Bush’s detention policy at Bagram AB,
after reaffirming Bush’s 6-Nation strategy with North Korea,
after promoting Bush’s chief North Korean negotiator to Ambassador for Iraq,
after reasserting Bush’s drone-use policy in Pakistan,
after affirming Bush’s decision to walk out on Durban I by boycotting Durban II,
after stating that there are no US policy changes toward Hamas or Venezuela,
after reasserting Bush on removing the gray wolf from the Federal endangered species list,
after condoning the continuation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in search of illegal immigrants,
after upholding the media ban on covering the return of fallen US troops for family members who desire privacy,
after announcing an open-ended NATO war in Afghanistan to be fought solely by American "mercenaries",
after reaffirming Bush by repeating that the United States is not at war with Islam,
after reasserting Bush's belief that Iraq needs a "stalwart partner" in the United States,
after requesting supplemental funding of $83 billion dollars for his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan subsequent to promising he would not use supplementals to fund the wars as Bush did,
after announcing he'd honor NAFTA exactly as Bush honored NAFTA,
after realizing, as Bush did, the strategic importance of Turkey and relenting on accusing Turkey of Armenian genocide,
after reasserting Bush and reiterating America's commitment to a "two-state solution" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
after embracing President Bush's sub-Saharan Africa relief efforts by announcing continuation of Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's Malaria Initiative,
after reasserting Bush on polar bear protections (Bush polar bear rule stands, May 9, A4),
after embracing Bush's use of military tribunals to try terrorists currently being held by the Obushma-Biden Administration at Guantanamo (Obushma to restart military tribunals, with more rights, May 15),
President Obushma, on the counsel of no fewer than five military advisers appointed by or promoted by President Bush and retained by President Obushma, now adopts Bush's position that Department of Defense photographs of prisoners of war should not be selectively released (Obushma reverses prisoner photo stance, May 14, A12).
The Emperor is indeed wearing Bush's clothes. (End of most updated Obushma’s Third Term letter.)
Fools and self-deceivers can explain differences on these 29 distinct reassertions.
Obushma’s Third Term
The Emperor is Wearing Bush’s Clothes
A very long post today. I intend to leave it up with no immediate subsequent posts in hopes of collecting some comments and having a conversation on any of the items contained.
First, today, President Obama will be honored at my alma mater with an honorary law degree as he gives the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame. The Obama apologists, the liberal extremists who control the media in other words, have been allowed to suggest the protesters are intolerant of debate. That is, of course, a lie. The student protests are against the honorary degree. As anyone who’s listened to the argument of the students, they’ve made their position very clear.
Second, the ZACKlyRight Style Book announces the following changes:
1. Where appropriate, the “Obama administration” will now be recognized as the “Obushma-Biden Administration”; “President Obama” as “President Obushma”.
2. When appropriate, The Obushma-Biden Administrations military tribunals in Guantanamo will be referred to as “kangaroo courts”.
3. When appropriate, “sleep deprivation” will be added to the list of interrogation techniques that the pro-terrorist lobby in Congress thinks constitutes all the “torture” techniques; teething 3 month-old babies now susceptible to federal torture charges.
4. Where appropriate, “pelosi” will be substituted for “liar” as a noun and “to lie” as a verb, in the correct tense. For example, the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is a pelosi and she pelosied again.
Third, for those who have been reading ZACKlyRight since at least February 9, 2009, you know that I’ve been comparing the staggering number of Obushma reassertions/reaffirmations of Bush since that time. At the end of this post I will re-produce the latest version of that letter to the editor of my “news”paper, the Boston Globe, but for now, I highlight significant participants on the national scene who are just now catching up to my prescience:
a. “It is disturbing. It's not just one episode, it's a clear trend that is emerging." - Tom Andrews of Win Without War, a coalition of groups opposed to the US troop presence in Iraq responding to the Obushma-Biden administration re-starting "kangaroo courts" at Guantanamo (Obushma keeps tribunals, draws ire, Boston Globe, May 16, 2009, A1). A few days ago the Boston Globe editorial board, notable for its lack of diversity compared to any Bush 43 Cabinet, referred to the military tribunals as "kangaroo courts".
b. "The Obushma(-Biden) administration is morphing into the Bush administration on these important issues." - Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University (Ibid).
c. I intend to give as little credit as possible as the Wall Street Journal is literally cutting and pasting my prior posts into their editorial, this was the Wall Street Journal’s editorial from Saturday, May 16, I bold where my prior thoughts were plagiarized:
Obama’s Military Tribunals
Another Friday, another bow to Bush's antiterror legacy.
President Obama's endorsements of Bush-Cheney antiterror policies are by now routine: for example, opposing the release of prisoner abuse photographs and support for indefinite detention for some detainees, and that's just this week. More remarkable is White House creativity in portraying these U-turns as epic change. Witness yesterday's announcement endorsing military commissions.
White House officials insist that their tribunals will be kinder and gentler, stressing additional due-process safeguards for terrorists on trial for war crimes. But the debate that has convulsed the political system since 9/11 isn't about procedural nuances. It has been over core principles, with Democrats decrying a "shadow justice system" and claiming that "Our Constitution and our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists."
The latter quote is from a speech by Senator Obama in 2007 denouncing "a legal framework that does not work." He also referred to the civilian criminal justice system and courts martial that Democrats then claimed, and many still claim, are the right venues for antiterror prosecutions. After the Supreme Court's Boumediene decision gave terrorists habeas rights, Mr. Obama again laid into the Bush Administration's "legal black hole" and "dangerously flawed legal approach," which "undermines the very values we are fighting to defend."
At least some people in the White House must now be embarrassed by their boss's switcheroo, though you can't tell from Friday's declaration. Part of the tribunal face-lift is that "the accused will have greater latitude in selecting their counsel." Say what? Enemy combatants already have better access to attorneys -- white shoe and pro bono, no less -- than nearly every criminal defendant in America. Perhaps this means Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 90 Yemenis and the rest will now be able to choose lawyers from both Shearman & Sterling and Covington & Burling, instead of one or the other.
Another red herring is supposedly tightening the admissibility of hearsay evidence. Tribunal judges already have discretion to limit such evidence, and the current rules are nearly indistinguishable from those of the International Criminal Court. The sensible exceptions involve evidence obtained under combat conditions or from foreign intelligence services, which are left untouched by Mr. Obama's nips and tucks.
In any event, Mr. Obama deserves credit for accepting that the civilian courts are largely unsuited for the realities of the war on terror. He has now decided to preserve a tribunal process that will be identical in every material way to the one favored by Dick Cheney -- and which, contrary to the narrative that Democrats promulgated for years, will be the fairest and most open war-crimes trials in U.S. history. Meanwhile, friends should keep certain newspaper editors away from sharp objects. Their champion has repudiated them once again. (End of WSJ editorial lifted from ZACKlyRight.)
As promised, this was my last letter to the Boston Globe on President Obushma; if anyone has the joyous opportunity to encounter a delusional, hate-filled liberal on a discussion on just about anything except confiscatory taxes and slaughtering unborn human life, you can just say, “I agree with President Obushma and President Bush”; for the readers convenience, the most recent updates are bolded and italicized:
Editor,
It must render those who voted for President Obushma apoplectic.
After asking four US Senators and one US Representative who voted for the Iraq war to serve in his administration,
after retaining Bush's Secretary of Defense,
after retaining Generals David Petraeus and Ray Odierno,
after retaining Bush's Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence,
after announcing he will keep combat troops in Iraq until December 31, 2011,
after announcing he will continue operations at Guantanamo for up to a year under the Bush rules,
after announcing he will continue President Bush's faith-based initiatives program under Bush's rules,
after announcing he will leave Bush's No Child Left Behind Act intact,
after reasserting Bush on state-secrets,
after reasserting Bush’s detention policy at Bagram AB,
after reaffirming Bush’s 6-Nation strategy with North Korea,
after promoting Bush’s chief North Korean negotiator to Ambassador for Iraq,
after reasserting Bush’s drone-use policy in Pakistan,
after affirming Bush’s decision to walk out on Durban I by boycotting Durban II,
after stating that there are no US policy changes toward Hamas or Venezuela,
after reasserting Bush on removing the gray wolf from the Federal endangered species list,
after condoning the continuation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in search of illegal immigrants,
after upholding the media ban on covering the return of fallen US troops for family members who desire privacy,
after announcing an open-ended NATO war in Afghanistan to be fought solely by American "mercenaries",
after reaffirming Bush by repeating that the United States is not at war with Islam,
after reasserting Bush's belief that Iraq needs a "stalwart partner" in the United States,
after requesting supplemental funding of $83 billion dollars for his wars in Iraq and Afghanistan subsequent to promising he would not use supplementals to fund the wars as Bush did,
after announcing he'd honor NAFTA exactly as Bush honored NAFTA,
after realizing, as Bush did, the strategic importance of Turkey and relenting on accusing Turkey of Armenian genocide,
after reasserting Bush and reiterating America's commitment to a "two-state solution" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
after embracing President Bush's sub-Saharan Africa relief efforts by announcing continuation of Bush's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the President's Malaria Initiative,
after reasserting Bush on polar bear protections (Bush polar bear rule stands, May 9, A4),
after embracing Bush's use of military tribunals to try terrorists currently being held by the Obushma-Biden Administration at Guantanamo (Obushma to restart military tribunals, with more rights, May 15),
President Obushma, on the counsel of no fewer than five military advisers appointed by or promoted by President Bush and retained by President Obushma, now adopts Bush's position that Department of Defense photographs of prisoners of war should not be selectively released (Obushma reverses prisoner photo stance, May 14, A12).
The Emperor is indeed wearing Bush's clothes. (End of most updated Obushma’s Third Term letter.)
Fools and self-deceivers can explain differences on these 29 distinct reassertions.
posted by Zack at 12:23 PM
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