Jon Stewart asked last night if the detainees were wizards, as they had the uncanny power to scare the shit out of Republicans.

Which reminds me of a creature from the Potterverse, called a Boggart. The Boggart shape-shifts itself into your worst fear when you confront it. The only way to destroy the Boggart is through laughter.

If only Harry Reid hadn't made himself the Biggest Ass in Congressional History with his comments about not "releasing terrorists in the United States," he could have started a campaign of ridicule against the fears of the scaredy-pants Republicans. Because Glenn is right--this is one of the most ludicrous responses to anything we've ever seen.

We have no indication that this is working, and many indications to show that it isn't.

Could you elaborate on this, please? I would be interested to see indications that it doesn't work. In my experience, shit like this works beautifully for the wingnuts.

It is certainly working on the quivering Dems.

Thanks for cutting through the real bullshit.

Picture at sig.

Picture at sig.

Don't know how that happened....

I have a pic of that guy, too. I get around. At sig.

Cartman was inspired by Limbaugh.

Rachel Maddow talked about a meeting Obama had today with civil libertarian and human rights groups. Michael Isikoff was her guest.

So get this. When members of the groups told Obama he was continuing Bush policies, Obama got VERY ANGRY WITH THEM.

Where the fuck does he get off? The guy smiles at anti-abortion people screaming at him, he bends over backwards to please the rightwingers, who not only won't meet him halfway, but dig their heels in against him, he puts up with the apostate blue dogs, and on and on and on.

But he finally gets really pissed after all this time, and its at the civil libertarians? WTF.

Also, Isikoff reported that in the discussions about how to bring the torturers to justice, Obama answered all the questions as if it were all up to him, and Eric Holder sat silently the whole time.

I would have more detailed notes but I was too angry about the whole thing to take them.

and hallelujah.

It was the terrorists.

They are running amok, I tell you.

Constant vigilance!

I checked with Mr. Spock, and can give you a precise answer: 1:5,673,223,495

You have a better chance of winning the Lotto, I believe.

Be very careful. Those Gitmo detainees, after they overcome the powerful spells and enchantments that have kept them locked up these past eight years, are going to swoop into your room at night on their broomsticks and before you can blink, they'll "Petrificus Totalus" you. Aw, that means we'll never hear from you again.

but this "sooth the populace while serving power" shit makes me think of a certain pop culture reference, as it has others here.

Picture at sig.

Stephen needs to do a The Word segment on that.

And the thing is, everyone can be easily associated with one of those groups, given what counts for evidence to paranoid types.

I, for example, could be locked up for being associated with animal rights, for running a homeless animal adoption event, or with environmental groups, for giving money to some of them and attending local talks. And that's just a couple.

People who think nothing of this monumental loss of habeas corpus are going to smarten up when it's too damn late.

I take it you're not expecting me to photoshop that. :)

Don't let the door hit you on your witless sexist ass on the way out, hmmm?

Now all of Obama's supporters can gnash their teeth over the cartoon villain Cheney, while they completely ignore the appalling contradictions both within Obama's speech and between his words and his actions.

He can go on all he wants about this being a nation of laws, but if he treats habeas corpus as disposable, he's as full of shit as Cheney.

And I noted that when he talked about "preventative detention," he said that the wars will go on for eight to ten years. How convenient. And when the next corrupt snake-oil salesman gets into office, then s/he will say the war will continue for another eight or ten years.

But, whatever. All hail Obama.

Some are trying to frame Obama's policies here as a nice, centrist solution that avoids the lunatic fringe of the "far left" and the "far right."

Because you can't have everything, you know. From one AJCalhoun:

I see President Obama, at this moment, as comparable to Odysseus who has had himself tied to the mast by the rule of law so he can hear what's being said without letting the ship of state be drawn off course and into the rocks. It is a heroic and difficult moment for anyone with our best interests in mind, so navigation has to be managed by means which may appear a tad unorthodox. Unorthodox bears no resemblance to rampant hubris-fed lunacy and pure evil. If we are all to make it past the rocks and the sirens we'll need someone like the President now guiding this once nearly lost ship. He's willing to deal with the sirens of the lunatic left and the harpies of the lunatic right. And when we've cleared the present dangers he'll be able to free himself and we'll be able to remove the wax from our own ears perhaps.

Obama! Beloved hero of the gods!

Holy shit, there is some craziness going on in that thread.

As I mentioned, Dick Cheney has done Obama a big favor by allowing Obama's supporters to get all worked up about Cheney's evilness and make Obama, by comparison, look so much more lawful and just than Cheney that it would be a shame to question him.

*snort*

You picked a winner, piece of cake.

*snort*

You picked a winner, piece of cake.

Well, I totally misread that rhetorical situation.