Let me just pretend this is another thread, and not a duplicate of DrewM's post.

Some good p-shops at Free Republic, including a long-overdue return of The Tourist Guy.

This is a good one:

Posted by: Ace at 05:18 PM | Comments (159)
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The shameful Al-Marri case is nearly played out; he pleaded guilty to a single charge of providing material support for terrorism. Ali Saleh Kahlah Al-Marri was arrested in December 2001 on suspicion of being a sleeper agent. He was then held as an enemy combatant starting in 2003.

He is the poster-child for the failures of the criminal justice system to cope with the War on Terrorism.

In 2002, Al-Marri was charged in Illinois with making false statements to the FBI and to financial institutions, identity fraud, and credit card fraud. Those charges were dropped when President Bush designated him an enemy combatant in 2003. He was moved to the Naval Brig in Charleston.

He then challenged his detention in court. The Fourth Circuit was happy to oblige and ordered that he be released or transfered back to civilian control and charged with a crime. The en banc court realized that was pure, unfiltered insanity--death pact style--and decided to take another crack at it. The result was perhaps the most fractured, incoherent, and embarrassing decision ever issued by a circuit court of appeals. Here's what I wrote at the time. A taste:

An en banc panel of the Fourth Circuit announced its decision in a Guantanamo detainee case, Al-Marri v. Pucciarelli (PDF) today and it is a mindnumbing 216 pages long. The decision itself is per curiam which means the court came to a conclusion without assigning a specific judge to present it. Why? There are nine judges and seven different opinions, including two different 5-4 decisions and four additional decisions "concurring in part and dissenting in part." This is what the War on Terror looks like in the federal courts. It is an unholy mess.

This was the result of the Supreme Court's abandonment in Boumediene v. Bush of over 200 years of constitutional law. Terrifyingly, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Al-Marri's case this term. Before that could happen, the Justice Department (first under Bush and then under Obama) decided that maybe civilian control would be a better idea after all.

On February 27, 2009, he was indicted for providing material support to al-Qaeda and conspiring with others to provide material support to al-Qaeda. He was transferred out of the Naval Brig and back to Illinois, where the whole thing started seven years ago. He initially pleaded not guilty and the case was set for trial.

Today, he pleaded guilty to the material support charge. The other charge was dismissed. The details are chilling:

Papers filed in connection with Al-MarriÂ’s guilty plea paint an unusually detailed portrait of his dealings with Al Qaeda and, in particular, with one of the groupÂ’s leaders, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, known as KSM. Al-Marri admitted to attending terrorist training camps run by Al Qaida and that he traveled to the United States at the direction of KSM, who told him to enter the U.S. no later than September 10, 2001, one day before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The plea agreement says Al-Marri, using the code name “Abdo,” was to keep in touch with Mohammed, whose code name was “Muk,” by sending e-mails to him at a hotmail account, HOR70@hotmail.com. Details of the arrangements and the codes were found at an Al Qaeda safehouse in Pakistan, the plea deal says.

Court papers also say Mohammed arranged for Al-Marri to meet in Dubai with a financier of the September 11 attacks, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, who gave Al-Marri $10,000 to fund his travels to the U.S. Al-Marri entered the U.S. on September 10, 2001 and enrolled at Bradley University in Illinois. After the 9/11 attacks, he made repeated but unsuccessful efforts to contact KSM and al-Hawsawi by phone and e-mail, the documents say.

The plea agreement also says that Al-Marri conducted research on the effect of cyanide gas and on waterways, dams and tunnels where a terrorist attack could have been mounted.

Under the plea deal, the government agreed not to seek to detain al-Marri again, either through criminal charges or military detention, based on his involvement with al- Qaida prior to his arrest in December 2001. Court papers say he has agreed to be deported to Saudi Arabia or Qatar when his sentence is complete—or possibly sooner.

He faces a possible sentence of 15 years, but may receive credit for time served.

AG Holder is crowing that this is a victory for justice and the War on Terror:

“Without a doubt, this case is a grim reminder of the seriousness of the threat we as a nation still face,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a written statement. “But it also reflects what we can achieve when we have faith in our criminal justice system and are unwavering in our commitment to the values upon which the nation was founded and the rule of law.”

Holder is a deluded fool. The American government walks away from this case with its tail between its legs. It was thwarted at every turn by our own legal system. Read back over the details of what Al-Marri was up to and tell me with a straight face that justice was served. The criminal justice system failed us.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:13 PM | Comments (58)
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It's that time of year again and now NBC says they have information that one of the worst mistakes a Republican President has ever made will be retiring.

NPR has it as well.

Waiting for a Democrat to win the Presidency is the perfect way for this unimpressive guy to go out.

And once again, a big shout out to George H. W. Bush, Warren Rudman and John Sununu for foisting this guy on us. At least Bush made up for it with Clarence Thomas.

Thanks to the cowardly Arelen Specter, we have no hope of slowing down whatever leftist douche Obama sends up.

Something I never thought I'd say...God I hope Anthony Kennedy doesn't retire anytime soon. At least there's a chance the coin flip will go our way every once and a while.

WaPo early list of possible replacements

Some of the names that have been circulating include recently confirmed Solicitor General Elena Kagan; U.S. Appeals Court Judges Sonya Sotomayor, Kim McLane Wardlaw, Sandra Lea Lynch and Diane Pamela Wood; and Leah Ward Sears, chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

Sotomayor has to be the front runner. A woman and a Hispanic? That's a double whammy.

Posted by: DrewM at 05:12 PM | Comments (143)
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Anyone got any special plans for May Day Eve? I mean besides the annual gathering at the usual anarcho/artistsÂ’ collective studio/abandoned garage to paint mispelled slogans on protest signage (bonus if you use the Mercedes logo in lieu of the peace symbolÂ…itÂ’s ironic you see), construct large, crude yet festive paper mache puppets (ItÂ’s folk art dammit! ItÂ’s supposed to look that way!) followed by the sharing of the communal pot of vegan tofu chili (cold once again because somebody forgot to pick up a full canister of acetylene) and warm conversation amongst friends about how the Jooos and the Zionist Conspiracy have turned this world into a Prison Planet while cherished holiday bootleg remixes by Rage Against the Machine play softly in the background. (If you think that sentence was hard to read, imagine how hard it was to writeÂ…now diagram it. DonÂ’t tell me you canÂ’tÂ…any 7th year graduate student in Comparative Lit could handle that with ease. Or at the very least provide a Deconstructionist analysis on why the question itself is invalid due to itÂ’s hetero-normative construct.)

Well, if you can’t celebrate tonight, at least you have the entire day tomorrow to look forward to. I assume most of you scheduled tomorrow as a day off from your jobs to…uh. I mean would’ve taken the day off from your oppressive capitalist pig masters if if only one would ever offer you a job so you could stick it to the bastards. As it is, you may just simply want to set your alarm clock for shortly before noon so you can truly enjoy the full day’s events. How is that possible, you ask? Apparently clocks have an a.m. setting. I know I know, I didn’t believe it at first until a friend showed me how he’d discovered it by accidentally hitting a button besides the one that says “snooze.” I should’ve taken notes, but didn’t. But it is possible.

(more days of rage below the fold) more...

Posted by: Open Blog at 05:02 PM | Comments (279)
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Several commenters mentioned this one, seen at Drudge.

The relentless "TORTURE!!11!!" attacks notwithstanding (and by that I mean they aren't going to stop until Cheney and Bush are indicted), you have to love the "$1,000 a day" crap.

Yeah. $125 bucks an hour. That's a princely sum.

This post saved 1,252 jobs today, and created another 175.

JOB CREATION UPDATE: from the comments. Anybody remember when outing "nine to five ninja" (lauraw has such a way with words*) was the most egregious national security leak offense eveh? That was a "crime". This is some sort of moral imperative.

yeah, me either.

* ok, "double oh soccer mom" was ace's. I can't remember what anybody does around here anymore. Original material here.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 03:27 PM | Comments (153)
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A huge ruling (even if it was, in fact, substantially prefigured by Heller), and the MSM doesn't even bother reporting on it.

This isn't merely bias. "Bias" doesn't really explain it, exactly, because it's not as if failing to report the ruling somehow makes it go away.

This instead reporters and editors failing to cover it simply because they find this particular news unpleasant, and would rather live in a world in which it were not the law (at least in the states patrolled by the 9th circuit).

And so, simply by refusing to concede the ruling happened, the cocoon their readers -- and themselves -- from the unpleasantness.

Reality-based community or community-based reality? You be the judge.

The Enchanted Media (TM) often knocks the blogosphere as catering to one particular viewpoint, and providing our readers only with stories they like, while avoiding those that might discomfit them.

And that rap is... true, to an extent.

But, as John Bender famously asked, "And what about you, Dad? NO, DAD -- WHAT ABOUT YOU?!!!"

Posted by: Ace at 02:52 PM | Comments (87)
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We're losing jobs at a seriously badwrong clip, but President Crazy-Talk assures us, without citing any support, that his Spendulus has already "saved or created" 150,000 jobs.

In related news, this blog has "saved or created" 600,000 jobs.

I have as much evidence for this "fun fact" as Obama.

I will be "saving or creating' additional jobs every day until the press actually gets around to questioning President Telebluffer about the color of the skies in his world.

These are my demands.

Posted by: Ace at 12:32 PM | Comments (285)
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Allah's having fun with this idea.

Reminder from Joe Biden: You're never more vulnerable than when you're asleep. Stay awake until the swine flu threat is over.

Another tip from Joe Biden: Always leave yourself one bullet. If you feel an itching in your nose or throat, put the gun in your mouth and blow the virus out of the back of your head. Like they say, feed a cold, head-shot a fever.

A Joe Biden Home Remedy: If you feel a sore throat coming on, drink a gallon of Dran-o or other highly-caustic drain-cleaner. Don't worry if you feel a burning or tingling sensation -- that's how you know it's working, and all that rich, healthy sodium hydroxide is burning your virus away.

And a repost from the last thread. Joe Biden explaining how he calmly handled a likely swine flu outbreak:

So the other day, some friends of mine and I were sitting around Katie's Diner, having waffles and goofing around. Without warning, this guy at the table sneezed three times. We knew it was swine flu, and we didn't want to cause a panic so we calmly and rationally beat him to death with our chairs.

Posted by: Ace at 11:18 AM | Comments (252)
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Don't close the borders-- that would be an overreaction.

However, you should yank your kids out of school and also avoid public transportation like planes and subways. "Wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now," he says. "That's me." He cites the difference between someone sneezing in an "open field" and someone sneezing in a classroom, plane, or subway.

: I would tell members of my family, and I have, that I wouldnÂ’t go anywhere in confined places now. ItÂ’s not that itÂ’s going to Mexico, in a confined aircraft when one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. ThatÂ’s me. I would not be, if I had another way, another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway.

He stops just short of recommending locking yourself in a stainless steel sensory deprivation pod for the next year, year and a half.

But -- don't close the borders. That would be rash.

I haven't been this reassured by an executive officer since Barack Obama threatened to crash Air Force One into the Statue of Liberty.

But "that's me."

Rahm Emmamuel just emailed me to say "Never waste a pandemic." He thinks he can link swine flu to support for doubling teachers' salaries. "They're operating in a war zone 24/7," he explains. I asked him if that meant soldiers should double their salaries, too, but he pirouetted away, which is sort of hard to do in an email. And yet he pulled it off, with moxie and panache.

Incidentally... I had to visit a friend in the hospital yesterday (everything's cool, don't worry). That's why I disappeared.

Anyway, let me tell you, it was wonderful standing amidst likely illegal aliens who were all wearing the facial masks recommended to anyone exhibiting "flu-like symptoms."

I could almost taste the pathogens. Mwah! They were, how you say, magnifique.

So, in related news, it turns out I'll be dead in 72 hours.

Avenge me.

But Seriously... Political correctness is a clear and present health risk. Yes, diseases often afflict one minority group before they hit the general population. and Mexico is brimming with swine flu, it seems, and yet we are to act as if this isn't the case, because to notice reality would be "insensitive" or something.

Tapper Asks Gibbs to "Clarify:" As Allah says, Gibbs can't spin this, because it's quite clear what Biden said and meant. And yet it tries spinning anyway.

Watch the video. Tapper objects "That's not even remotely close" to what Biden said in Gibbs' first attempt at "re-contextualizing" the remark; when Gibbs then says "I'm telling you what he meant to say," the press room breaks out in laughter.

Joe Biden Clarifies: And does so in the comments section of this blog. Odd. But I'll take a vice presidential quote when it's offered to me.

So the other day, some friends of mine and I were sitting around Katie's Diner, having waffles and goofing around. Without warning, this guy at the table sneezed three times. We knew it was swine flu, and we didn't want to cause a panic so we calmly and rationally beat him to death with our chairs.

God love 'im.

Posted by: Ace at 10:47 AM | Comments (123)
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As Michael Shuerer called him -- a Jacobin, someone whose imaginary reality is so totalitarian as to hedge out uncomfortable facts.

"I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees," said Obama, who's evidently reading Andrew Sullivan. "And Churchill said, 'We don't torture,' when the entire British -- all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat."

But reports (at the link) do suggest the Brits used some enhanced interrogation techniques against SS officers.

More links at Just One Minute.

The whole idea of a premise in argumentation is that it supposedly supports the conclusion urged.

The premise here is that the Brits didn't resort to harsh interrogation techniques in WWII, despite the fact they were fighting the darkest army in the history of the world, which was, incidentally, buzz-bombing England's biggest city, attacking purely civilian targets.

The conclusion urged is, of course, Therefore, we must not, and need not, resort to such techniques in fighting Al Qaeda.

But if the premise relied upon fails -- as it seems to here -- doesn't that weaken the conclusion? It may not destroy it (if a then b does not imply if not a then not b, of course), but if it was relied upon as probative, then surely it is weakened by subtraction of one supporting proof.

That's how it works in the real world, of course. Not so much in the Jacobin fantasias of Barack Obama and Andrew Sullivan. Whose minds are, admirably, wholly immune to the contagions of nuance and doubt.

Thanks to someone.

He Lives in an Enchanted World of Fairy-Tale and Fancy: Barack Obama, starring in Enchanted.

Posted by: Ace at 10:36 AM | Comments (173)
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