Day: January 27, 2009

Some EU countries might take Gitmo prisoners because they don’t want to lose face with Obama

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Oh boy!  And, I thought the only motivation for European countries to give asylum to Gitmo detainees was because they had some sense of honor—you know they had been yapping to Bush about closing it and now maybe felt some duty to take some terrorists off our hands.

However, here is an article in the Washington Post suggesting there is another motive—although they didn’t want to help Bush, they want Obama to succeed (too big to fail?) and they want him to like them.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, warned his counterparts in Brussels on Monday that they risked losing face with Obama — who is vastly more popular in Europe than Bush — if they didn’t help out.

No churlishness either:

But even lawmakers in those countries said they should try to find other ways to help, given Europe’s loud opposition to the existence of Guantanamo. “We should not be in the least bit churlish, or just let the Americans stew in their own juice,” said Andrew Tyrie, a member of the British Parliament from the Conservative Party. “We’ve got to help Obama and not get on our high horse and sound very pompous.”

Nevermind that they didn’t want to help Bush or that their own people might not want Gitmo former prisoners turned lose in their countries, it is all about being popular with Obama!

By the way, when you go to the Washington Post link, check out the photo of the two Europeans discussing the issue.  I looked at that photo and thought I hope to God we don’t have to save Europe again.

Fighting Tolerance Fascists

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

That’s what we do here every day!

Here are a few choice bits from a good column today at Town Hall by blogger and columnist John Hawkins. 

No rational discussion allowed:

Tolerance taken to an extreme has actually impeded our ability to rationally discuss vitally important issues that will determine whether our country continues to be successful and prosperous over the long haul.

You hate immigrants don’t you:

Then there’s immigration. The whole point of allowing people to immigrate to this country is to benefit the people who are already here. Yet, if you try to have any sort of substantive conversation about how many people we are allowing into the country each year, where they should be coming from, or how we should choose them, the screaming starts again. “Why do you hate immigrants?”

Hang tough and stand up to political correctness:

Unfortunately, since the people benefiting from continually playing the tolerance card are unlikely to give it up any time soon, those of us who put our country first are going to have to be bolder about confronting them, drawing attention to the real issues, and sticking up for people who have the courage not to be cowed by political correctness. Whether our country remains a shining city on a hill or becomes just another unremarkable slum basking in its faded glory will depend on how successful we are at that task.

Yup, fighting tolerance fascists here everyday.

Somali man thought to be involved with inauguration threat arrested

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

The plot thickens!    Remember we told you about the fear Homeland Security had that the Somali terrorist group al-Shabab (sometimes Shabaab) was planning to disrupt The One’s inauguration.   And remember we told you that missing Somali ‘youths’  (former refugees!) are thought to have left the US to attend terrorist training camps in the Horn of Africa.   This morning comes news that a Minneapolis Somali was arrested trying to leave the US for Canada and may be linked to both stories.   Hat tip:  a Tennessee friend.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – With the inauguration of President Barack Obama in the past, U.S. officials are reporting information about possible threats on the day of the ceremony by a Minnesota Somali man.

Video

: Inauguration Threat

U.S. intelligence was reportedly investigating a potential inauguration threat involving a Somali insurgent group. They believed one man to be connected with the missing Somali men from Minnesota.

48 hours before the inauguration, U.S. customs agents arrested the 32-year-old Bile Abdullahi, a resident alien from Minnesota, at the Canadian border near Detroit.

According to federal charges, Abdullahi was trying to sneak into Canada using his brother’s U.S. passport. Both Bile Abdullahi and his brother are from Minneapolis, and until recently lived in the Cedar Riverside apartment complex.

Abdullahi told officials he was going to Canada for a vacation, but intelligence officials fear it could’ve been some kind of dress rehearsal for leaving the country in a hurry.

It is not clear from this report whether it was Abdullahi who tipped officials off to a possible plot against the President or the American people—-a very implausible notion (the plot that is) since we know that Obama’s election has signaled to the Muslim world that we are a nice country now that we got rid of that meany George Bush.

This last line from the Fox News 9 report was interesting:

U.S. intelligence officials are investigating whether financial support for Al Shabab is coming from Minnesota and other cities with a large Somali population.

I just saw an article the other day (and paid it no attention) about how much money Somalis are still sending “home” to Somalia.  Guess I will have to pay more attention to those reports in the future.