No photographs, just memories
With apologies to Upper Darby's own Jim Croce
No photographs, just memories
Those who forget history are destined to repeat it
I'm recognizing a theme here (one which I'll take up again on Friday)
President Obama was dead to rights on Osama Bin Laden, and he deserves a debt of gratitude (after we subtract the 90% we owe to the Navy Seals and our Intelligence apparatus...and with a big nod to GWB and Alberto Gonzalez)
But as I was saying, Michelle's husband hit several home runs this week, including his most recent decision not to release the photos of O'Sodden Bin Laden's lifeless shell.
And that's because we want to avoid the dog and pony show occasioned by our improvident and highly political release of the Abu Ghraib photos, which were obviously disseminated by people who cared more about their ACLU cards than about the safety of our military and citizens living abroad.
So bravo, Mr. President. Keep this up and I'm going to have very little to write about in the upcoming weeks. Darn.
Comments (21)
Not to worry, Christine, there still is the economy and a nation cascading into bankruptcy. Too bad you do not drive. The price of a tankful is through the roof and still climbing. Maybe the cost of food will suffice as a reminder. And the lack of new jobs and the several Middle East conflicts to be resolved and the potential appointments to the Supreme Court, etc. Please don't get me started. Well, goodbye and Geronimo. I think I'll walk over to the nearest windmill and cool down a bit.— PlumberJoe- P.S. In case you did not see it, I recanted. Geronimo was a fitting and proper code word. A tribute to all heroes.
— PlumberJoe - Christine, thanks for acknowledging this important accomplishment by President Obama. I await your Friday column with pleasure. Not sure how much contribution GWB made to this effort since he basically sidelined the search for OBL while he invaded Iraq.
There is also controversy about how much the "enhanced interrogation" had to do with gaining information. In the end, it was a lot of good old fashioned investigative work by our intelligence apparatus that narrowed down the location of the enemy so the Seals could take him out.
Totally agree about the heroism of the Seals. Also agree about the wisdom of holding on to those photos.
Don't worry. You will always have something to write about. The campaign season is just beginning. The economy is indeed clinging by its fingernails and this is really not the time for partisanship as they wrestle with solutions.
Again, brava, for giving credit where credit is due.8-)— Magistra - Sorry Magistra, you and I part ways on the efficacy of enhanced interrogation. If any portion of the information that led to Bin Laden's capture was obtained through water boarding or sleep deprivation (the worst of the practices used) then I think it was a very small price to pay for the result. As far as GWB, had he not overseen the Patriot Act, those wire intercepts and phone calls that led to the couriers would not have been permitted. And those Seals trained under his watch. So if we credit Obama with a job well done (and I do) we are derelict in ignoring the great contributions of his predecessor.— Christine
- Christine, here is the other side of the story. If Geronimo, a natural born American, were president he would not have hesitated to scalp OBL and televise the process for our enemies to witness. And then send OBL too any place but the happy hunting ground.
Obama did nothing, but sit on the obvious decision to get OBL, for 16 hours.
— PlumberJoe - Sorry PJ, I disagree with you, too. Obama did the right thing in not exposing innocent people to harm, simply out of a John Wayne desire to show how 'tough' we are. I love the Duke, but in this instance, discretion and quiet strength a la Gary Cooper were called for.— Christine
- I knew you would say that, Christine. Just pulling your chain. But don't overlook the Quiet Man.— PlumberJoe
- Great movie, PJ. "Impetuous! Homeric!"— phillycc74
- phillycc74, at first I was puzzled by your descriptions of the Quiet Man. In fact I was thinking maybe your were describing either Obama or me (LOL). But then I looked up the movie overview and remembered why I liked it so much. You were accurate in your description; succinct, to the point. I just ordered it from Netflix. I could use another feel good event.— PlumberJoe
- Ha! No, not my description, but one of the film's great, memorable quotes... and one that interestingly didn't pass through the censors when the film was initially screened.
- Movie censors. Where have they gone? Not that I mind. — PlumberJoe
- "Impetuous! Homeric!" he declares to himself, in a scene which some censors had cut from the film for its racy suggestivity.
Said by Micheleen after observing the broken bed.
It appears the quiet man also had a temper.— PlumberJoe - I will countenance giving BHO credit for allowing this operation to go forward, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took some effort to get him to give the okay. And enhanced interrogation does work, just not all the time. But what percentage of the time does it have to provide useful information to justify its use? It has been widely used throughout history precisely because it does work. It is not nice, but neither is terrorism.— HowardRay
- Here is some real perfidy by the NY Slimes - in one day its news department contradicts its editorial department:
"The raid was the culmination of years of painstaking intelligence work, including the interrogation of C.I.A. detainees in secret prisons in Eastern Europe, where sometimes what was not said was as useful as what was."--news story, New York Times, May 3
"There is no evidence that good intelligence like this was the result of secret detentions or abuse and torture. Everything suggests the opposite."--editorial, New York Times, May 3
— Thoughtful&concernedvoter - Christine, I love your post at 5:43 pm, but I believe it is not too much to ask to have one photo published of a man who was evil incarnate, and responsible for the deaths of over 3,000 Americans and for changing American society so drastically. And what does it say of a President who was hell bent on publishing photographs of alleged abuses at US prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush Presidency, yet won't accomodate the desires of millions of Americans to see the fruits of justice. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2011/05/04/re-spiking-the-football-mr-president/— Thoughtful&concernedvoter
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See Christine Flowers on Channel 6's "Inside Story" Sunday at 11:30 a.m.
Christine M. Flowers
Daily News Columnist
Email Christine M. at cflowers1961@yahoo.com Reach Christine M. at cflowers1961@yahoo.com.
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