Video: Chris Wallace Flummoxes White House Nat'l Security Adviser

This just doesn't get old. While on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon is asked by Wallace to explain the disparity between it being ok to shoot an un-armed Osama Bin Laden in the head but it's not ok to water-board Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The response from Donilon was that water-boarding is 'against our values.' The look on Donilon's face after Wallace then asks him to explain how shooting a terrorist in the head isn't against our values while water-boarding a terrorist is, communicates that the an incoherent answer is forthcoming. On that, Donilon certainly delivered.

Classic. Via MediaIte:

VIDEO: PELOSI IGNORES QUESTION OF MIRANDA RIGHTS FOR OSAMA

To set this one up, consider the flawed logic Nancy "Speech" Polici uses to arrive at the conclusion that she shouldn't answer the question. The question is whether or not Polici thinks OBL should be read his rights when he is captured. Her reason for not answering is that OBL has been loose for eight years and the question is inconsequential.

Next question.



h/t to GP

ASHCROFT: OBAMA HAD TO HAVE MADE THE CALL ON KSM

While the title of this post is not a quote, it is clearly the implication former Attorney General John Ashcroft is making about the notion that trying Khalid Sheikh Muhammad as a civilian in NYC was Eric Holder's call. Ashcroft makes it pretty clear that the current Attorney General doesn't have that power. It would mean that the AG has the authority to demand that the Secretary of Defense hand over POW's to the civilian court.

THE HILL has the story:

Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who held his position during the Bush administration from 2001-2005, said that Holder lacked the legal standing to decide to move alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other terror detainees to federal courts in New York City to stand trial.

"The attorney general doesn't have the authority to mandate that the secretary of Defense turn somebody over to him and yield jurisdiction so that something that would have been done in a military setting is done in a civilian setting," Ashcroft told the Christ Stigall show on KCMO radio this morning.

As if it wasn't already known how Obama got as far as he did. He's done so by voting "present" and keeping his fingerprints off of his own boneheaded and destructive decisions.

However, this is exactly what those in the know cautioned about. As a legislator, it's much easier to pass the buck but as a president, there are times when it's simply impossible to do so. The decision to try the mastermind of 9/11 in a civilian court appears to be one of them.

"I believe that this is a decision that comes as a result of the president making the decision, or if not making the decision, allowing an attorney general to do what he normally doesn't have the authority to do, and could only do at the acquiescence of the president," the former AG and former Missouri senator argued.

Anyway you slice this one, this appears to have been Obama's call.

h/t to FR

VIDEO: CHUCK SCHUMER A LIAR

Quite the juxtaposition here. In 2001, New York Senator Chuck Schumer couldn't have been more adamantly opposed to trying Islamic jihadists who killed American civilians in civilian courts. In fact, the 2001 Chuck Schumer and the 2009 are polar opposites. It never ceases to amaze me how these dirtbags live with themselves. They know they're liars and they never seem to come clean.

Check out this quote from the WASHINGTON TIMES from an article printed yesterday that quotes the 2001 Schumer from a transcript of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

First, the Government must have the power to use even the most sensitive classified evidence against these suspects without compromising national security in any way, shape, or form. In addition, those who commit acts of war against the United States, particularly those who have no color of citizenship, don’t deserve the same panoply of due process rights that American citizens receive. Should Osama bin Laden be captured alive—and I imagine most Americans hope he won’t be captured alive. But if he is, it is ludicrous to suggest he should be tried in a Federal court on Center Street in Lower Manhattan.

Yes, that was Chuck Schumer in 2001.

Fast forward to November 18th, 2009. After opening his facial orifice in front of a microphone that captured his dreck and amplified it, Schumer was approached and questioned about his support of KSM being tried in NYC in a civilian court. His response was to walk away and attempt to avoid the obvious and glaring contradiction. The fact that real journalists don't seem to be interested in engaging in such tactics aside, check out the guy who comes to Schumer's rescue at the end. He reminded me of Danny Noonan in Caddyshack after Ted Knight threw the golf club. Chucky probably will repay him somehow.



h/t to HA

VIDEO: HOLDER GRILLED BY RINO LINDSEY GRAHAM

If Lindsey Graham's actions matched his rhetorical skills, I'd definitely feel more passionate about supporting him in this exchange. I have a problem getting behind a Senator who is justifiably grilling a guy like Holder when that Senator is in support of Cap & Trade legislation while also being known as Senator Lindsey Grahamnesty.

That said, looking strictly at this exchange, Graham has Holder in a pickle. If Khalid Sheikh Mohammad is going to be tried in Federal court, he is entitled to Miranda rights - rights he wasn't awarded. The logical follow-up for Graham is whether or not bin Laden should be mirandized if he were captured tomorrow. The fact that Holder can't answer that question sufficiently boxes him in.

Holder is building quite the resume for himself.

1.) Marc Rich pardon
2.) Pardoning of FALN terrorists
3.) Pardoning 2 members of Weather Underground
4.) Partner at Covington Burling, a firm that represented Gitmo detainees
5.) Opening the door for CIA prosecutions
6.) Charges dropped against Black Panthers for voter intimidation in Philadelphia
7.) Trying KSM in NYC

If you need help identifying the most absurd positions Holder is taking, check out the guy sitting behind Graham. His facial expressions will tell you.



h/t to JAWA