(no subject)
It's taken a few days for me to coalesce all of my thoughts regarding the bin Laden assassination, and here's where I've ended up.
* Obama taking credit for the entire operation ("I," "Me," "My") was akin to the idea of Nixon taking credit for the moon landing, which, after all, happened on his watch.
* I don't think it was a "gutsy call." I don't think any part of it was gutsy on Obama's part (on the part of the SEAL team is another matter entirely - those guys are MADE of guts). He didn't make an immediate decision - he slept on it. Which is what Clinton did - Obama was luckier than Clinton in that bin Laden was still there when he (metaphorically) pulled the trigger. But Obama, frankly, had no choice in the matter. He HAD to make that call - if he hadn't, and it had gotten out that he hadn't (and it would have, even with the MSM completely in the tank for him), that would have done it for his re-election. Declining to go in would not have helped him in any way - he campaigned on getting bin Laden.
* The operation would not have even gotten off the ground but for policies that Obama condemned. If KSM had not released the name of the courier, bin Laden would not have been found. If KSM had not been waterboarded, he would not have given that name. The operation was started in 2007 - it wasn't Obama's program. And yet, Eric Holder has still not dropped charges against the CIA agents who are responsible for acquiring the intelligence that made it happen. They can no longer claim that waterboarding never resulted in actionable intelligence.
* The only (and I do mean ONLY) foreign policy successes Obama has had are where he continued the policies of the Bush administration. Now that's irony.
* Any bounce he gets from this will disappear within two weeks, and will be LONG gone by the election. He is just as defeatable now as he was last week at this time - that is to say, very.
* Obama taking credit for the entire operation ("I," "Me," "My") was akin to the idea of Nixon taking credit for the moon landing, which, after all, happened on his watch.
* I don't think it was a "gutsy call." I don't think any part of it was gutsy on Obama's part (on the part of the SEAL team is another matter entirely - those guys are MADE of guts). He didn't make an immediate decision - he slept on it. Which is what Clinton did - Obama was luckier than Clinton in that bin Laden was still there when he (metaphorically) pulled the trigger. But Obama, frankly, had no choice in the matter. He HAD to make that call - if he hadn't, and it had gotten out that he hadn't (and it would have, even with the MSM completely in the tank for him), that would have done it for his re-election. Declining to go in would not have helped him in any way - he campaigned on getting bin Laden.
* The operation would not have even gotten off the ground but for policies that Obama condemned. If KSM had not released the name of the courier, bin Laden would not have been found. If KSM had not been waterboarded, he would not have given that name. The operation was started in 2007 - it wasn't Obama's program. And yet, Eric Holder has still not dropped charges against the CIA agents who are responsible for acquiring the intelligence that made it happen. They can no longer claim that waterboarding never resulted in actionable intelligence.
* The only (and I do mean ONLY) foreign policy successes Obama has had are where he continued the policies of the Bush administration. Now that's irony.
* Any bounce he gets from this will disappear within two weeks, and will be LONG gone by the election. He is just as defeatable now as he was last week at this time - that is to say, very.