February 3, 2010

Susan Collins came out and attacked Obama like she was possessed by Lynn Cheney over the handling of the underwear bomber because he was treated by our laws.

"Because of that blindness, this administration cannot see a foreign terrorist even when he stands right in front of them, fresh from an attempt to blow a plane out of the sky on Christmas Day," she said.

"There's no other way to explain the irresponsible, indeed dangerous, decision on Abdulmutallab's interrogation. There's no other way to explain the inconceivable treatment of him as if he were a common criminal."

Most conservatives are taking this point of view and are suddenly saying that even their hero, George W. Bush, made mistakes handling terrorists. Of course they were never heard from when Bush was actually in charge, but the media ignore this fact.

Eric Holder, the AG shot down all republican arguments today about their complaints.

Attorney General Eric Holder today basically accused Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and 10 Republican senators of playing politics with national security by criticizing the administration's decision to try Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in civilian court.

Anyway, Susan Collins looks even more foolish because Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is now talking again, which validates the handling of his arrest even more. Not that we needed this development anyway, because the administration handled it perfectly. Andrea Mitchell actually smacked her around over this information when she came on this morning and the only retort Collins had was that he should have been talking sooner. It's pretty clear, when Mrs. Greenspan can read off a list of reasons why you are being jerk, that Collins didn't handle it well at all. The Baltimore Sun:
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, arrested last Christmas for trying to explode a bomb on a plane arriving in Detroit, has begun talking again to authorities, officials said Tuesday, a development that only ratcheted up the debate over whether he should be tried in federal court or before a military tribunal. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, confirmed that the young Nigerian operative has changed his mind and is speaking to federal agents again. 'My understanding is that he is cooperating," she said, "that they have gotten useful information out of him. My information is that is continuing" since he was given the Miranda warning upon his arrest on Christmas Day.
Glenn Greenwald takes Collins apart over her idiocy:
But this right-wing demagoguery (coming from both Republicans and some Democrats) has nothing to do with those debates. For one thing, the accused Christmas Day bomber was captured and is being held inside the U.S. (right-wing fear-mongerers have long argued that we should not bring GITMO detainees to the U.S. because, once inside the U.S., they would then enjoy full Constitutional protections). But more important, the standard rhetorical formulation being used -- "extending rights to foreign Terrorists which the Constitution reserves for U.S. citizens" -- suggests that Constitutional rights are for American citizens only. That is blatantly false, and anyone making that claim -- as Susan Collins and so many others have -- is either extremely ignorant or extremely dishonest.
Why are Republicans and conservatives alike aiding and abetting terrorists? They are doing exactly what al-Qaeda wants, which is to go out publicly like scared children, forgetting the rule of law and whipping up more fear in America. Hasn't the nation suffered enough? Why can't these elected officials act in a serious manner?

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