"Counterterrorism and the Obama Administration":
Looks like a very interesting conference, put together by the Federalist Society's International & National Security Law Practice Group, this coming Thursday at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.
The panels will include Detention and Trial of Terrorist Suspects, Preventing Attacks through Interrogation and Transfer of Terrorist Suspects, and Preventing Attacks through Surveillance and Intelligence. As is usual for Federalist Society events, the panels have people from both left and right (and other places); the ACLU and Human Rights First, for instance, are prominently featured.
Oh come on, then it would actually need to have some relation to what is going on. This way all the participants can act as if their private reality had already been ground truthed.
Well sure. A comprehensive discussion of the issues would also merit input from cops, clergy, economists and school teachers, but conference organizers generally prefer the audience to outnumber the participants.
PRESS RELEASE: President Obama declares war on bicycles.
The following is a transcript of the Presidents address to the Nation.
“My fellow Americans. It has come to my attention that our great land has been infiltrated by seditious and hateful agents of horror. During the last year at least one thousand of our citizens were cut down in their prime by velocipedes – these so-called bicycles! This was one thousand times more than were killed by terrorists!
This sort of death toll is not acceptable! Especially as the majority of these innocent victims were young Americans who had every right to look forward to a long and fruitful life.
So in response to this unacceptable risk, posed by these two wheeled agents of terror, my government has launched a series of initiatives so as to protect and preserve the peace. From this day forward every agency of the United States Government will be placed on “Velocipede Alert”. We will launch a War on Bicycles!
Firstly – I intend to rid the Continental United States of bicycles. I don’t care what they might say or do in other countries – it is my responsibility to protect the lives and liberties of American citizens.
Secondly - Any individual seen to be associated with these hateful and evil devices will be committing an offence and will, henceforth, be incarcerated indefinitely. Maybe tortured. Whilst this might seem a harsh measure it is necessary so that we might derive further information relating to their evil velocipedic contacts and plans.
Thirdly - Anyone seen or heard to be supporting the use of velocipedes shall be committing an offence and will become liable to be shot on sight. This measure is aimed at easing the terror that such two wheeled propagandizing is currently inflicting on our community.
Fourthly – As the majority of these evil and heinous deaths seem to result from the dastardly designs of foreign nationals I have instructed our Intelligence agencies to draw up plans counter this threat. I say now, in plain and simple terms – to anyone, anywhere in the world - if you are planning new and devilish velocipedes – you will be caught and killed.
Finally - I would like to take this opportunity to assure all Americans that this dire threat is being addressed by every agency in the Government. We shall leave no stone unturned in our efforts to root out this evil. We shall track down and kill all those with evil velocipedic intent. Wherever they might hide.
North American Mainland deaths from terrorism
1995 - 196
1996 - 0
1997 - 2
1998 - 1
1999 - 3
2000 - 3
2001 - 2987
2002 - 3
2003 - 3
2004 - 0
2005 - 0
2006 - 0
average for ten years (excluding last three years) = 319.8
Accidental Deaths per year on North American Mainland
(1981 to 1994)
100 on commercial flight
850 by electrical current
1000 on a bicycle
1452 by accidental gunfire
3000 by complications to medical procedures
3600 by inhaling or ingesting objects
5000 by fire
5000 by drowning
5300 by accidental poisoning
8000 as pedestrians
11,000 at work
12,000 by falls
22,500 at home
46,000 in auto accidents
YOUR ODDS of dying from:
Cardiovascular disease: 1 in 2
Smoking (by/before age 35): 1 in 600
Car trip, coast-to-coast: 1 in 14,000
Bicycle accident: 1 in 88,000
Tornado: 1 in 450,000
Train, coast-to-coast: 1 in 1,000,000
Lightning: 1 in 1.9 million
Bee sting: 1 in 5.5 million
U.S. commercial jet airline: 1 in 7 million
Terrorism: 1 in 8 609 815 (my figure)
(ten year average including 9/11 and The Okie bombing)
I'd take you up on that wager. Love making money from total suckers.
No, no need for clergy, economists or school teachers to be involved, but there might be a need for domestic law enforcement to be involved.
And definitely, the military.
'I'd wager Jon Stewart has a far better standing of the seriousness of the issue than Dick Cheney.'
I'd take you up on that wager. Love making money from total suckers."
The fact that Cheney is shopping for a book deal couldn't have something to do with his recent appearances, would it? One might as well note that no Americans died on Stewart's watch.
Re the topic at hand, will the attendees include anyone with some actual experience in the counterterrorism arena, i.e. SA Soufan, as it would seem that those persons would offer a useful perspective at odds with what one would expect from the Federalist Society.
Ah, yes, the old greedy capitalist-roader ad hom. If all else fails, must fall back on that.
After all, it is not possible that someone to the right of Bernie Sanders actually has principles or ethics, therefore anything they do must be out of personal aggrandizement.
Unlike the left, whose motives are as pure as the driven climate change.
Some people are so partisan that they'll swallow anyting.
Nice turn of the phrase... I think... trying to visualize... global freezing... sigh.. back to writing code
:-)
Let's see, Cheney and his wife are worth somewhere between $20 million and $100 million so he's really, really in desperate need of a book deal."
Thanks for taking the bait. He did pretty well in government service, eh? Re Cheney's ethics, no he has none. Re others I make no comments; re him, it's easy because he has a long record.
Unlike your heroes, algore and Billy C, right? And unlike them, most of Cheney's wealth came from running a company in the like, you know, real world. (And yes I'm aware already that it is the most hated organization in leftwing folklore, right after the Vatican, so don't bother.)
Al went from $2 mil of inherited wealth to $100 mil in 8 years, all on the strength of his good looks, dynamic speaking style, vast scientific acumen and his salary as Jenny Craig spokesman. And Billy went from less than zero to similar heights. Not bad for a country bumpkin who also happened to be a serial adulterer and the workplace sexual harassment champeen of the world.
If you didn't have to look on the politicians on your side as High Priests of the Liberal Orthodox religion, you might be able to admit that on both sides of the aisle, they make lots of money off their political success.
Would you care to make a bet right now that Obama leaves office a very wealthy man, and becomes incredibly rich shortly thereafter without ever having to be in the real world for his entire life?
And that really was a nice attempt to deflect MR's comment, like you really meant that as "bait" instead of an ad hom that backfired.
The conference does look interesting. There is some truth to David Brooks' observation that Obama's anti-terrorism policy resembles George Bush's policy in 2008 (after Cheney was ignored), in substance. Bush talked about closing down Gitmo, he had stopped torture and rendition, and was modifying the military commissions. I think Obama would agree with Bush that there are genuinely difficult legal issues involved in this type of war, where the combatants resemble civilians and there is no official end to a war.
Unfortunately, partisan rantings (of the type on this board) seem to be getting in the way of an informed, civil discussion. The rightwing folks, for whom Dick Cheney is a hero, are taken aback by Obama's release of memos that had been publicly disclosed 3 years ago and by Obama's decision to close Gitmo (even though McCain said he would close it too) while the left wing ACLU types think Obama is betraying their cause by not indicting Cheney/Rumsfeld/Addington, etc., immediately.
Indicting is OK, but the most cathartic solution would be to hang Cheney and Bush from a meat hook. That should be the left-wing position. Indicting should be centrist, exile without prosecution should be the center-right position and doing nothing should be extreme-right...
It's win-win.
Well, if we're gonna be extreme like that... and that's damned extreme...
How about we take all the folks who leaked information during the war on terror and hung them from meathooks. Sounds like it should be the center-left position.
No that's reserved for the dictator. But he would have had to die with his mistress, which he didn't have, so forget about it. We'll settle for a less aesthetic legal process.
Other than the War On Drugs, the War On Terror, and the War on Poverty, I mean.
I have no idea where you get your information, but I suggest that if you paid for it you get a refund. Unlike your God Obama, Mr. Cheney spent quite a bit of time out of politics and taxpayer paid jobs. He became wealthy in private industry running a company – Halliburton – that provides services primarily to the oil industry.
Unlike Al Gore he did not achieve wealth by running what is arguably a bigger scam than Bernie Madoff.
And here’s a delicious little tidbit for you. When Cheney ran for VP, the Left had a fit because of his ownership Halliburton stock. So he sold it to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest and gave his stock options to charity. The pressure from the left saved him tens of millions of dollars because Cheney escaped the market declines of 2001 – 2002.
But thanks for exhibiting your ignorance for all to see.
The article you link to deals with an attack ad John Kerry ran against Cheney in 2004. Obviously an ad running in 2004 couldn't have pressured Cheney into doing something in 2001.
The pressure from the left saved him tens of millions of dollars because Cheney escaped the market declines of 2001 – 2002.
How fortunate for him that he, unlike so many of us, managed to escape the consequences of his lax approach to national security in 2001.
That doesn't make him a loathsome person -- not in the way torture does -- and everyone makes mistakes, but let's not get carried away in assessing one of the many corporate executives who damaged companies while hauling out wheelbarrows full of cash for themselves.
He was paid millions, but earned next to nothing -- quite a scam.
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