by Eric Martin
I am certain, dear reader, that you will find the following bolded excerpts to be as alarming as I did:
Abdulmutallab was released from a hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Sunday after being treated for burns, according to Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit, Michigan. The 23-year-old is charged with attempting to set off an explosive device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from the Netherlands shortly before its landing in Detroit on Christmas Day, and was being held in an undisclosed location, Balaya told CNN.
Not only was Abdulmutallab not kept exclusively in Gitmo, but he was actually in a hospital in Michigan! Which, I am pretty certain, is in the actual United States!
What's worse, it is entirely possible that the "undisclosed location" referenced in the article could very well be a prison in the United States. Which means Abdulmutallab is likely in some American's backyard at this very moment, or attending PTA meetings or plotting to kill us all at the neighborhood block party and the like.
Our leaders just don't get it.
...the horror....the horror...
Posted by: Porcupine_Pal | December 28, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Cute, but not all that funny. But then the terrorists learned all they needed to, it doesnt work very well. Oh and who says it isn't GITMO?
Posted by: Marty | December 28, 2009 at 01:04 PM
But then the terrorists learned all they needed to, it doesnt work very well.
Not sure what that sentence means. Please extrapolate.
Oh and who says it isn't GITMO
I didn't say it, if you read the post. Though I'm hearing chatter that's its a domestic prison, and that he will have access to an attorney, Miranda, etc.
Posted by: Eric Martin | December 28, 2009 at 01:11 PM
The sad thing is people like Andy McCarthy demanding torture just because: "Here, no thanks to the government, the plane was not destoyed, and we won't get to the bottom of the larger conspiracy (enabling the likes of Napolitano to say there's no indication of a larger plot — much less one launched by an international jihadist enterprise) because the guy got to lawyer up rather than be treated like a combatant and subjected to lengthy interrogation."
I guess he wasn't paying attention to the stories that had come out the day before about how this guy got his weapon, what his exact plan was, where he came from, etc. You'd almost think we actually had interrogated him or something.
This leads to a bit of a catch 22: McCarthy thinks DHS is in denial about a larger plot and demands torture; attacker claims to be part of a larger plot without torture; McCarthy thinks torture is required to get to the truth. Something's got to give.
Posted by: Zach | December 28, 2009 at 01:51 PM
Marty: stock up on Depends and you'll be fine. Just ignore all the big ol' meanies pointing and laughing at the coward.
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 28, 2009 at 02:33 PM
Spiny Norman, thank you so freaking much for that wonderful link!
Posted by: Sapient | December 28, 2009 at 02:46 PM
My pleasure, Sapient.
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 28, 2009 at 02:51 PM
Wow, that was a thing of beauty.
Posted by: Eric Martin | December 28, 2009 at 02:55 PM
I may be the least afaid commenter here, I just noted it wasn't funny. The subject isn't funny, the tone was holier than thou and maybe I missed the cure for all of those people still suffering from PTSD after 9/11.
Posted by: Marty | December 28, 2009 at 03:17 PM
The subject isn't funny, the tone was holier than thou and maybe I missed the cure for all of those people still suffering from PTSD after 9/11.
Holier than thou? The subject matter was whether or not the US can hold terror suspects on US soil without it being a national security breach.
The Republican party doesn't seem to think so. I find that funny.
And Marty, my apartment was a few blocks from the WTC. On 9/11, my apartment shook from the impact of the planes. 5 friends from high school died, as well as a close friend's father. Me and my brother (who went to school a few blocks from the WTC) were separated all day, and I wasn't sure if he was alive or dead.
The many funerals I attended that month were complicated by the fact that I couldn't get into my apartment and get a decent suit to wear.
So don't tell me about 9/11 PTSD and what that has to do with keeping terrorists in prisons on US soil (which we were doing before 9/11, and after anyway!).
Talk about holier than thou, look in the mirror man.
Posted by: Eric Martin | December 28, 2009 at 03:27 PM
Yes. Certain things should never be laughed at because then the terrorists would, you know, lose.
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 28, 2009 at 03:30 PM
I am not going to play one up on 9/11 stories, suffice to say when you write it and I read it, I get to decide what I think of, and this wasn't funny. And, based on your response, I am amazed you can be amused by this subject.
Posted by: Marty | December 28, 2009 at 03:35 PM
Read and learn, Marty.
Posted by: Spiny Norman | December 28, 2009 at 03:40 PM
I am not going to play one up on 9/11 stories, suffice to say when you write it and I read it, I get to decide what I think of, and this wasn't funny. And, based on your response, I am amazed you can be amused by this subject
Funny thing (excuse the pun), I didn't actually write about 9/11.
But regarding what I actually wrote about, yes, I find it amusing that the GOP is supposedly frightened silly at the thought of holding terror suspects on US soil and trying them in US prisons.
One of the reasons this is funny to me is the fact that we've already been doing that with AQ suspects for years.
But the purveyors of this rhetoric aren't really scared are they? It's just an attempt to use fear for electoral gain. And I will do my best to be a small axe, and cut down that irrational, cynical manipulation. With humor if I must.
Besides, I believe humor is a great medicine.
Posted by: Eric Martin | December 28, 2009 at 03:52 PM
Trust me, there's no way Ann Arbor counts as the real America.
:)
Posted by: Anthony Damiani | December 30, 2009 at 09:26 PM