Releasing him [KSM] on the court house steps in Manahattan might be a sight to behold.

There is no possibility under any circumstances that that would happen.

Just think - elements of the NYPD could be schlepping around on mountains on NYC's dime looking for OBL - quite a savings.

Equally as dishonest as your quote above that one.

It's just one dishonest, trumped up, straw man scenario after another with you, Old Joe.

Boehner's GOP position which Glenn inappropriately made analagous to the position of the Right (I am not a fan of the GOP or Boehner but I am a conservative - thanks for the labeling Glenn)

— Old Joe

Then why are you wasting your time arguing with Glenn Greenwald and "progressives"? Boner is the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives. And he calls himself a "Conservative Republican". Wouldn't your time and energy be better spent exposing the shitstorms that Boner makes up out of whole-cloth, rather than picking Knits with Glenn Greenwald? I mean, Boner is a complete jerkwad, and whether you like it or not, when he speaks he's speaking supposedly for your voice. That's why we spend so much time calling Obama out on his reversals, lies and cowardice. That's what fills the pages of this comment board probably more than any other subject. See this very thread for Exhibit A.

I meant to delete 'Mike NYWI' at the end of my comment. Just clearing that up for the sake of trying not to confuse who said what.

That's why I brought of the "political fallout" of such a move. Not that it is normatively relevant, but that it denies reality to think it doesn't in fact play into leaders' decisions about how far to go toward that policy.

Being appalled that Obama or any politician takes "political fallout" of the teabagger and John Boner type into consideration is not "denying reality". It's more than obvious that a politician will consider all of that. What is not obvious is that a politician worth his or her salt would not welcome the challenge of allowing mouth breathers such as Boner to make asses of themselves while said politician does the right thing.

You pretty much said the same thing your self in your post preceding this post.

Anyone who expects that not to affect Obama's and Holder's decisionmaking (especially given the type of reaction we see just to this limited announcement) is just being silly.

See above.

That doesn't make it right of course, and of course no one has to be politically realistic in how they address these actions. But i prefer to be.

See above again. You're confusing "realistic" with cowardly and also with "see above". I know that there are "political considerations". Why not take them on instead of being a fucking coward? Besides that, Holder and Obama aren't doing what they are doing because they are dancing around Boner and Cheney and whomever, Obama and Holder are doing what they are doing because they have the power. Calls 'em likes you sees 'em, these men are being power mongers as well as cowards.

As for being concerned with "the short term," what exactly is the problem with that?

Well, in this instance, as with in many instances, people are suffering in 'Real time'. "Short term" in this instance is their entire lives being spent behind bars for no reason. You see how cowardly it is to fluff that off as "short term" when it isn't your life or a loved one's life that is being taken away? Also, these "short term" decisions have a tendency to set precedent for long term or accepted outcomes.

As a side note: See Pow Wow's post for numero uno reason why those such as LondonLad clogging up the board with comment post after comment post, day after day, going on about the same gawddamed 'special obsessions issue' is troublesome for those who might want to learn something here.

— Mike NYWI

You know how people tell obnoxious kids to go play on the freeway? Well, the intertoobs are full of traffic, so please, I beg you, go play on the intertoobs and tell your stories to some people who haven't heard it a million times. Please, go a way.

I would, however, enjoy seeing the ugliness of this swampland of the worst of the eccentric corners of the "left" be drained. For it does the real left, and this country, no good.

You and your Israel hating conspiracy theorists should all jet down to Brazil and rant away about Dual Loyalty, and how the secret Jews control Washington to funnel money to Israel and kill Muslims, while the rest of us fight the real enemy -- the very above-the-board movement called the "Republican Party."

— WinSmith

Who's "the rest of us"? Every one who goes around saying, "I am a PHD"? Is that the sort of language they are teaching these days in "I am a PHD" class? My goodness but your riled up.

Secondly, the fact Obama is cleaning up Bush's mess means that, yes, a two tiered system will be set up to make sure terrorists who were tortured illegally by the Bush thugs don't go free as a result.

— WinSmith

How does that wonderful "cleaning up" that Obama is in the process of explain the following?

Omar Khadr -- the Canadian "child soldier" imprisoned at Guantanamo for the last seven years, since he was 15 years old, for allegedly throwing a grenade at an American soldier in Afghanistan (that's apparently "terrorism") and the subject of a difficult-to-watch video of him weeping like the child he is while being interrogated -- will reportedly be one of those denied a trial and instead allowed only a military commission, according to Canada's Canwest News Service (h/t sysprog):

Do you think that kid is a terrorist that Obama is trying to make certain will not go free? Is that what you're telling us Winsmith? Or I should ask, is that what you're screaming at Glenn Greenwald about?