This is the perfect example of why holding "suspects" in secret prisons, denying them due process and unfettered access to counsel and then sitting them down before a military court has been and always will be the wrong strategy.

The so-called "law enforcement approach" pooh-poohed by the right is exactly the kind of methodology sought by people who actually understand how to combat exiting terrorists and dissuade future terrorists. You know, counter-terrorism experts, like the ones that Bush, Cheney and Rice froze-out in early 2001.

Sitting these clowns, these murderous charlatans down in front of a jury (and, consequently, the world), showing just how well we treat those who would, we allege, murder thousands of innocents without batting an eye; exposing their petty grievances, their poor justifications and twisted, psychotic rationales and then, throwing them in jail for the rest of their lives, for them to wither and gray, denied the martyrdom they so brazenly claim to seek (but secretly fear). And, in so doing, showing the strength of will, ethic and character to stick to our principles in the face of murderous madmen.

That, is how you combat terrorism.

Most people don't realize that a great many of Reagan's defense programs were started under "militarily weak" Carter:

• F-117 Stealth Fighter - Carter
• B-2 Bomber- Carter
• V-22 Osprey- Carter
• Ending the disastrous B-1A program - Carter
• Negotiating with Iranian Supreme Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to hold U.S. hostages until after his Jan 20, 1981 inauguration speech - Reagan

soingobob wrote:

Actually, Senator, Barack Obama is running for Robert Kennedy's FIRST term.

I was thinking along similar lines.

But, to give John McCain the benefit of the doubt, let's look at the history's most disastrously inexperienced Presidents:

• 10 years in the Senate, 3 months as Vice President - Harry S. Truman - who oversaw the disastrous post-War boom, the horrific Berlin airlift, the foudering Marshall Plan, the creation of the UN, and racial integration of the U.S. military.
• One term in the U.S. House of Representatives, followed by 10 years as a slimy corporate lawyer - Abraham Lincoln - who, you know, caused that whole Civil War thing, gave a lame speech on some battlefield about some fantasyland where the will of the people has an impact on the government, actually thought black people to be worth 1/1th of a white person and had the gall to get shot and die, while watching a musical comedy (latent homosexual?) in a desperate bid to improve his legacy.
• Three terms in the U.S. House, one full term in the U.S. Senate - John F. Kennedy - who had the gall to try to prevent a nuclear holocaust through appeasement by actually talking to those commie bastards, had some loony fantasy that we could land on the moon, started the Peace Corps (he must have been a hippie commie), enforced Supreme Court decisions that allowed black folks to invade white schools and had the gall to get shot and die (while joyriding in a convertible) in a desperate bid to improve his legacy.

Besides, as John McLaughlin pointed out -- Warren G. Harding was our first secret negro President, so Obama's not that big a deal, anyway: http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=172954

@pseudonymouslawyer:

I assume you're referring to the odd phrasing on 8 USC 1403, concerning persons born in the Canal Zone after 1904.

It's a moot point, as McCain is a natural-born citizen -- both of his parents were U.S. citizens, according to 8 USC 1401:

c. a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person.

You should hear what McCain's flight lead from October 26, 1967 has told me about McCain -- that if he were a better pilot (and a better officer), he wouldn't have been shot down. He was out of position, out of formation and ignoring his radio.

According to him, it was typical of McCain, whom he feels was given significant slack by the chain of command due to his family name; were it any other pilot, he told me, he would have been drummed out of the aviation community (and perhaps the Navy) long before his 23rd mission.

Mind you, this isn't the opinion of just some line officer, but a retired Admiral, who attained a very senior position in the Navy before retiring (to say more would identify him -- if he wants to publicly criticize McCain, I'll let him do it himself).

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Besides, I think it says enough about McCain that he managed to get a jet slot (something only the top 1% of graduates receive), after just barely avoiding being the anchor for his USNA class, he crashed 3 aircraft prior to his shootdown, and crashed one more after returning from Vietnam, despite his doctors and flight instructors recommending that he not fly again.

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Sure, McCain survived torture and coercion whilst in the POW camp, and I have no wishi to denigrate that experience, but the fact that he followed standing orders regarding U.S. POWs, and the orders of the SRO in his camp by refusing to be released absent the release of his fellow POWs isn't that remarkable (hundreds of other POWs suffered similarly and faced similar dilemmas -- i.e., sign the confession and go home...). And I'm not sure how being tortured for years provides presidential experience.