The Iranian Plot - I Sense The Outrage From The Left

The FBI press release includes an interesting detail about the arrest of one of the suspects in the alleged Iranian assassination plot:

On Sept. 29, 2011, Arbabsiar was arrested by federal agents during a flight layover at JFK International Airport in New York. Several hours after his arrest, Arbabsiar was advised of his Miranda rights and he agreed to waive those rights and speak with law enforcement agents. During a series of Mirandized interviews, Arbabsiar allegedly confessed to his participation in the murder plot.

"Several hours"?  Hard to believe they were just standing by the luggage carousel waiting for his bags.

Back when the Underwear Bomber was arrested Holder took a lot of flack for Mirandizing the suspect too quickly.  Evidently, that lesson has been learned.

Comments

[DGS]

Haven't posted in a while, but since people are talking about math stories, here is mine.

In college, at a well known science oriented school, I was required to take Freshman Calculus. I had good High School math grades, particularly in geometry. So I figured I'd do ok in the class.

For the first class the professor walked in late. He did not introduce himself but instead spent 25 minutes writing equations on the board. He then turned to the class and said in a very thick Chinese accent, "See is true." He then left the room. After a few more classes like this, I dropped the course.

I needed the course for my major, so took it with a different professor the next year. He was slightly better.

[Jane]

I'm scrambling to get ready for the radio but this piece about Holder is spectacular.

Holly,

I don't know about copyright, but I'd love to see the question and watch the brilliant minds around here tackle it.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Jeb Bush: “I continue to be impressed with Mitt Romney’s performance in these debates. He’s cool, calm, collected. He’s quick, he’s agile,"

I have not followed Jeb Bush's career that closely. Is this a surprise to anyone? It sounds very close to a pre-endorsement statement to me.

[Jane]

He doesn't like Perry Sara.

[fdcol63]

We're so focused on what the US's response to Iran will be.

But I wonder what the Saudis will do?

[Porchlight]

Elliott!

Holly, I can't help you with law, but thanks for your earlier comments. Aggies are awesome. Even though I'm technically a T-sipper, I've always been impressed with Aggie alum networking and support. The little Porches might fit in well there.

Sara, thinking of you and your son. Keep us posted.

[Janet]

Thanks Scott @11:14 for the Zuccotti park letter. The crimes aren't getting much mention in the MFM.
Here is a short video guide on the appropriate hand signals for an Occupier.
On FB I can now list another language - English & Occupier Hand Signals

[rse]

What an interesting conversation last night.

Porch-I am a big fan of practical experience. My dad never cared about the academic honors so much. He kept telling me book sense wasn't helpful without horse sense. Plus I had a law school study partner I knew in college who went on to clerk on SCOTUS and trust me, he did not show any interest much in schoolwork until after college. His life and people skills served him well later because he had a nice balance.

Plus let me try to fumigate higher ed first so we can all get a better portion of what we need and are paying for. Bad stuff overtly going on there right now.

That was excellent JMH.

Sara-Good luck with your son.

Kim-don't you just love it when you recognize the current vendors of bad ideas as being the same purveyors of different nefarious theories in previous decades? It feels like you should just grin, say "hello there", and chalk it up as the most up to date scheme to same end.

[Janet]

A comment at the hand signal link -
"The police need to move in, make the “wrap it up” symbol and then start carting them off." Hah!

[narciso]

Morning Joke was touting that very 'cooked poll' where 63% support the President's job plan, and he has 44% support,

[DebinNC]

He’s cool, calm, collected. He’s quick, he’s agile,"

True, but I somehow resent him and the praise he garners for it since his immense wealth and lack of a "day job" has allowed him to hone his rhetorical skills nonstop for over six years. When not practicing how to explain away his former positions and policies, he's been traveling throughout the country supporting politicos, many of whom are now dutifully repaying their debts. It seems unfair for me to blame Romney for being rich and "idle" enough to develop his formidable debate and smoozing skills when his rivals haven't had that luxury, but the resentment is there every time I hear him speak or see him praised for how well he does in "live" situations like debates and townhalls. The praise is warranted, because he does do very well, but that talent is rarely called for in a president. It's character and true convictions that count, and I don't trust that the smooth, "agile", Romney we're seeing necessarily has either.

[Janet]

That Holder article at Jane's 6:38 link is great.

[Appalled]

JMH:

Returning to Hiroshima, Wikileaks, and whether the President was going to apologize...

Last night, you left this comment: --

I actually thought it was pretty much common "knowledge" that Obama intended to make "our" apologies to Japan at the time. I suppose it might have been just speculation, but that's not how I seem to recall it. It certainly sounds like someone in the admininistration floated the idea, because I can't possibly imagine anyone on the Japanese side ever bringing it up unilaterally...

Perhaps MayBee can weigh in, but I also think that considering Japanese emblematic politesse, that explicit "non-starter" would be remarkably strong language.

After having looked at the wikileaks site for the memo (and having my eyes burned by a Julian Assange webad decrying his martyrdom), we discover that the memo in question is the summary of remarks made by a Japanese official. The US ambassadors comments are not recorded, so it is not possible to tell how the subject came up, or whether the US official said something.

However, I do recall there was chit chat about Obama going to Hiroshima to give a speech. You assume the only possible reason he would do that wouldbe to apologize. I think the Japanese official figured the Japanese people would think the same thing. His recorded remarks, however, suggest that he thought Obama might well stop short of that, and that would cause a problem.

Seriously, there is no way to know Obama's mind here, and using a wikileaked document to try to force an investigation has the effect of justifying the treasonous conduct of Pvt Bradley. And, finally, I think you over estimate Obama in this instance. The Japan trip was launched in the days Obama was thinking himself some sort of International Man of Mystery, who could swoop down on some iconic spot, dispense some words of eloquent uplift, and then watch 1,000 flowers bloom, while, in effect, having said very little.

In other words, this memo does not support that Obama was going to offer an apology, or even that the Japanese official thought he was going to offer an apology. Instead, it is more likely the official thought Obama was going to hog Hiroshima for a day and get the local anti-nuke people upset by dashing their hopes with standard issue pablum.

[narciso]

Could you be, more naive, Reverend Wright's teachings, his own belief that the 'nuclear
freeze didn't go far enough' the muddled statement about Hirohito, it all fits Obama's mindset, In 'Inside the Kingdom' Robert Lacey, relates that early in the administrations, the Saudis thought similar
sentiments, as they believed the Bush administration, because of Gitmo and Iraq,
had been too antagonistic, which was true.

[Appalled]

narciso:

Your argument is "we know he wants to appologize, so he must have been going to apologize."

[Danube of Thought]

Minus 18 at Raz today.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/deepness-your-bow-says-it-all-686605

He apologized, in his own way.

[Threadkiller]

Sara, your son is in my thoughts.

[Captain Hate]

narciso:

Your argument is "we know he wants to appologize, so he must have been going to apologize."

Your argument is "we don't know for sure that the scorpion will sting the frog"

[centralcal]

Re: the apology
Exactly, Threadkiller. The picture says it all.

[NK]

TK-- that is some kind of bow. Any kind of 17th century Edo period Lord would have been thrilled to get a bow that deep from the lowliest peasant attendant.

[fdcol63]

Obamam, the Bootlicker.

[fdcol63]

Obama, the Bootlicker.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of scorpions: http://weaselzippers.us/2011/10/13/mcrino-says-he-sympathizes-with-wall-street-occupiers/

[Sue]

Taekwondo. I should learn to spell it.

Deb,

Sad to say but it is almost like American Idol, choosing a president.

I know it is odd that I can support Romney and Perry, since they are totally opposite in almost every way, but I could support either one of them, if they are tagged. Cain too, for that matter, I just have some doubts about him because of his stance on Perry.

[centralcal]

I am with you, Sue. I just hoped to have more enthusiasm this election cycle. BTW, Axey had mail yesterday afternnon.

[Rick Ballard]

"I'd rather have someone who can't locate China on a map."

Come now, jimmyk, we can all vote for Romney in the sure and certain knowledge that he will find the very best Top Men to distill conventional wisdom to the level where talking points can be emitted in a fashion capable of sustaining the illusion that actual thought was used in their production. As Deb notes, the man has done nothing but hone his jabbering skills for six years in order to generate a fog thick enough to disguise the fact that his decision making when he had executive authority is best reflected in Romneycare - a sterling example of the firm application of Pigovian lack of principles that has driven insurance costs through the roof in Massachusetts while driving employment down.

He's a true Top Man among Top Men.

[Captain Hate]

Sad to say but it is almost like American Idol, choosing a president.

The Republicans are getting railroaded by the MFM into these gotcha debates and jerkoff states insisting on being "first" in the primary process. Duke & Duke seems quite content to get co=opted like this but all it does is give a lifeline to El JEFe.

[narciso]

He was Winthorpes's squash partner at the Harvard Club, what could possibly go wrong,
the one that ended up dating Penelope, when
he the 'unpleasantness' arranged by the Dukes
came to light.

[Sue]

Rick,

Put like that, I may re-consider.

[OldTimer]

Finally. Rick Ballard explains what I deduced long ago about Romney but could never explain with such humorous clarity. He's another version of Huntsman but without the skin crawling first impression. A more sophisticated, good hair version of the bafflegab elitist who would never dare question his own motives.

[Threadkiller]

"Highest Respect Bow, Saikeirei 最敬礼, 45 degrees: Say you screw up, big time… perhaps you made some cars that accelerate to 80 mph and crash into things and you need to apologize, or perhaps you’re bowing the the emperor. This is the bow you should use, because it shows the most amount of respect (or regret) possible (at least, until you get on your knees). You won’t need to use this one very often, if you’re lucky."

http://www.tofugu.com/2010/07/12/bowing-in-japan-japanese-etiquette/

They don't list a full 90 degree bow. This guy's grades in his Indonesian school must have sucked also.

[MarkO]

"Minus 18 at Raz today"

Apparently, all of our infighting won't matter. Obama will win on his own. If his poll numbers rise now, what will they look like next October?

But, we've been pure.

[Danube of Thought]

I have become a skeptic about the involvement of Iran in this plot. (So have a number of others.) For one thing, I erroneously thought that the $100K had originated in Iran.

[Janet]

Interesting post at Flares Into Darkness - Know Your Enemy.

Some of the underlying points of some that show up to the OWS protests are valid...cronyism, expensive educations, unemployment,....
Like the Arab Spring beginnings...it was valid to want to end the dictator tyrannies...

"Why didn't the Tea Party message of governmental fiscal responsibility resonate with the kids who are carrying tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt or the people with mortgages underwater, especially since so much of their problems stem from crony capitalism?"

...but with the idea that 'revolution is cool' the kids get co-opted & become useful idiots for just the next group of elites. They are mad at this king, so they work to install a new king....instead of believing in individual freedom - "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

[Danube of Thought]

Ron Paul wears eyebrow toupees.

[Rick Ballard]

Sue,

You have the correct formulation. The top three are all acceptable and all are capable of airing out the Oval Office. Job #1 for the next President is restoring a bit of confidence in the indifferent and impartial application of law and and many fewer regulations. I don't care for Romney because his "fixes" are much more likely to be Rube Goldberg iterations based upon "solid advice" from the inbred oligarchy which is so sorely in need of being moved to the back pasture.

I'll vote for him but I'll save my support for Tea Party candidates to Congress. The legislature will have the whip hand going forward and a decent Tea Party coalition in the House will serve as a brake on the failed oligarchy's "brilliant solutions' to problems they don't even understand.

[Sue]

Rick,

I was only speaking half tongue-in-cheek. I will support the candidate, unless it is the fool pictured above by DoT, Huntsman or Huckabee. Since they are not likely to be the nominee, I'm pretty safe.

[centralcal]

Did you all know there is such a thing as false eyebrows? (And, I don't mean like the sharpie drawn ones Michelle sports).

Watching the debate I was extremely distracted by the horrible lighting, but also by Ron Paul's double brows - one grey, one brown.

Now I read he was wearing eyebrow toupees which slid down under the heat of the lights.

Who knew?

[Sue]

C-cal,

No. And most men have more eyebrow than they need. Not sure why he needed them. I guess I'll go read to make sure it isn't a medical condition, and then I'll make fun of him.

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN (via Instapundit) for more evidence that it is very difficult to satirize leftist Congresscritters, because they typically do a great job of unintentional self-satirization. Here is an excerpt from the LUNed article:

" Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that congressional opposition to the American Jobs Act is akin to the Confederate “states in rebellion.”

Jackson called for full government employment of the 15 million unemployed and said that Obama should “declare a national emergency” and take “extra-constitutional” action “administratively” — without the approval of Congress — to tackle unemployment."

So, according to noted Constitution scholar Jesse Jr., if Congress doesn't give Obama what he wants, it is in rebellion against America.

I realize, by the way, that Jesse Jr. isn't that stupid. By raising a Civil War reference, Jesse Jr. is playing not the race card or race deck, but the race casino.

[Danube of Thought]

Bill introduced to strip American citizenship from those supporting terrorism. Gotta check to see if it's within their power.

[Danube of Thought]

Time:

Despite sweeping pessimism about the nation’s fortunes and his own sliding approval ratings, President Obama leads potential Republican rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Perry in hypothetical general-election match-ups, according to a new TIME poll.Obama leads Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who sits atop the GOP presidential field, 46% to 43% among likely voters. The President has opened a double-digit lead over Perry, 50% to 38%, highlighting concerns percolating through the GOP that the Texas governor would face a steep uphill climb should he capture the nomination.

Doom.

[jimmyk]

He’s cool, calm, collected. He’s quick, he’s agile,

Hmm, reminds me of what they were saying about Obama. Haven't we learned that being polished and well-spoken doesn't count for much? I'll take W with his "misunderestimations" over a slick Pigovian any day.

I'm sure I'll vote for Romney if he's the nominee, but I'll be very disappointed that we couldn't do better. There is huge momentum toward ever larger and more intrusive government, and only someone who is absolutely committed and passionate about turning it back will have any success in doing so. I think Romney just wants to have his turn at the wheel because he thinks he'd be a really good driver.

[jimmyk]

Doom.

Meaningless. The only polling data that mean anything now are the ones on Obama's popularity. Putting him against some hypothetical nominee before they actually square off against each other in the general election doesn't generate any useful information. No predictive power whatsoever. And I'd say the same thing if a Republican were president.

[Janet]

Totally agree jimmyk.

[Cecil Turner]

I used to tutor calculus in college for beer money (at $5 an hour). Found quite a few people who's never had it explained simply . . . and usually only had one or two hours with 'em before they were on track (and mad at their profs). Of the people who didn't "get" it, without exception it was a preexisting weakness in algebra that did 'em in. Comparing their (usually correct) answers to the simplified versions in the back of the book was so frustrating they'd eventually quit. Never met anyone for whom calculus was impossible (though I'm sure they exist).

The problem with Romney IMNSHO is that he isn't conservative. He'll go along with the same ol' entitlement-driven budget (his going-in position is 20% of GDP, which is 2% more than we take in on average) until it well and truly breaks the bank. (And Romneycare isn't the real problem, but it's a very revealing symptom.) Either he doesn't get the biggest issue facing the nation, or he's too much of a coward to fix it. Either way, I can't support him (and am still debating staying home if he's the nominee).

[GMAX]

So how 'bout them Rangers? Is Nellie Cruz a playoff machine or what? How about Napoli. He holds onto the tag in the collision with the massive Cabrerra, he throws out Austin at second base, and he has the game winning RBI. Not bad for a guy who the Anaheim Angels thought was a mediocre defensive catcher and could not start for them! Californians do indeed make problematic choices in life!!!

Go Rangers.

[sbw]

Holly, fair use is a legitimate defense for excerpting copyrighted material for journalistic or academic purposes. JOM is both.

[DebinNC]

Amen, jimmyk. To me Team Romney, this huge, well-funded organizational monolith, is selling a product..Romney-In-A-Can. Mitt is playing the Ron Popeil role of frenetic frontman in a psychological campaign rivalling Obama '08 and the Normandy Landing. Instead of "Yes we can!", the daily Romney message from multiple sources is "Resistance is futile!" Romney seems to be successfully buying the nomination. I wish Perry had been the candidate we were expecting him to be.

[jimmyk]

I think the main difference between the Tigers and Rangers is bullpen depth. The Tigers pitching runs out of gas by the 11th inning. They need JV to go the distance today so Benoit and the other JV can get a couple days rest. I'd rest Delmon Young and Victor Martinez too and hope they can get healthy by Saturday.

[Sue]

GMax,

I was driving on the Tollway, listening to the game, when Nellie made the throw to home plate. I damn near wrecked when the announcers on 103.3 said "he's out at home, the throw was perfect and he's out at home". Luckily, it was nighttime and the other drivers around me couldn't see me dancing in my car.

[Jane]

I have become a skeptic about the involvement of Iran in this plot. (So have a number of others.) For one thing, I erroneously thought that the $100K had originated in Iran.

Greta had some guy on last night who used to work with the guy. He was a used car salesmen and as disorganized as you could be. He certainly didn't pain to picture of a terrorist and said he didn't think the guy was organized enough to be that. I also don't buy the cartel involvement.

plus Obama knew in June. If he thought Iran was trying to go to war with us, why didn't he arrest Ahmadinejhad when he was here last month?

I hate to say it, but I think this just might be a smoke screen, and if so, Obama is really playing with fire. I would not screw with the Iranians (or the Saudi's for that matter.)

[Sue]

I think the main difference between the Tigers and Rangers is bullpen depth.

Can you believe you just typed that? About the Texas Rangers? I can't. ::grin::

I hope there is another rain delay today. I won't be able to watch the game unless it starts late.

[Ranger]

Which is why we'll probably encourage our kids to do trade school.

Posted by: Pofarmer | October 12, 2011 at 11:14 PM

Well, I have a BA, an terminal MA, and a PhD, and at this point in my life I can honestly say I wish I'd become a bricklayer or a plumber. From everything I have seen at this point, the work is just as challenging in its own way, much more rewarding, and skilled craftsmen are actually in demand these days.

[Porchlight]

I loved high school calculus, but my test scores weren't great. I could always figure out how to solve the problem, but then I would screw up the algebra in the solution. Pretty typical of my performance elsewhere in life - intuitive but sloppy. ;)

[Neo]

Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. told The Daily Caller on Wednesday that congressional opposition to the American Jobs Act is akin to the Confederate “states in rebellion.”

Jackson called for full government employment of the 15 million unemployed and said that Obama should “declare a national emergency” and take “extra-constitutional” action “administratively” — without the approval of Congress — to tackle unemployment.

“I hope the president continues to exercise extraordinary constitutional means, based on the history of Congresses that have been in rebellion in the past,” Jackson said. “He’s looking administratively for ways to advance the causes of the American people, because this Congress is completely dysfunctional.”

JJ Jr needs to be introduced to the "wood shed"

[Jane]

I feel the same way Ranger, altho I wish I had become a radio person.

[GMAX]

This long suffering ( until quite recently i.e. two years ) Ranger fan, is certainly amazed that the worlds pitching depth and Rangers are used in the same paragraph!

While this lineup is especially lethal, the Rangers have a long history of putting wood on the baseball with regularity. The addition of a guys who can keep it in the ballpark while standing on the mound and throw strikes is a novelty that I fully credit equally Nolan Ryan and John Daniels for getting it right after a decade or more of futility.

[centralcal]

Daniel Henninger (WSJ) has a very good piece on Romney: The Unsinkable Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has undoubted gifts. He could be president. But in the current Obama morass, so could 100 other people. What voters, including Republican voters, want for the United States now is the best president possible. Mr. Romney isn't there yet. Only more competition or criticism will get him there.

[fdcol63]

I can't remember who exactly (maybe Ranger?) reminded us that the delay in Holder's announcement of the Iranian plot could probably be due to the fact that they still had those 2 American hikers in prison, and perhaps the Administration knew that efforts to get them released soon were coming to fruition.

[Threadkiller]

This happened in August, in San Diego County:

http://m.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/18/60-arrested-el-cajon-chaldean-organized-crime-case/

Middle easterners, Mexican drug lords, IEDs, guns. For the largest bust of it's kind, in San Diego, it received very little coverage. The majority of used car lots, here, are owned by people from the middle east. FWIW

[Rick Ballard]

Ranger,

Plumber is fine but most bricklayers over 50 will be suffering due to wear on joints. Electricians and plumbers have the best opportunities for extra money on the side. I've got several grandkids who won't be spending much adult time in indoctrination centers and I encourage them to consider the physical wear and tear along with the money and degree of satisfaction to be obtained.

[GMAX]

Obama only raised $42 MM this quarter. Compare that with the $50 MM Bush raised in the same quarter. He aint gonna get anywhere near a Billion dollars. Too bad the media is so numerically illiterate that they cant do a simple projection and see it for themselves. Perhaps its so much the better when they finally report it as "unexpectedly"!!!

[narciso]

Like the Russian spy ring, that was revealed right after the meeting with Putin, last summer.

[MarkO]

"Mr. Romney isn't there yet. Only more competition or criticism will get him there."

Whatever you think about Romney, competition and criticism won't change his spots. This is just silly, unless it means more of the c & c will teach Romney to phrase things differently.

The best President possible is an odd formulation and decidedly impossible. That person wouldn't begin to think to run for the office, so foul is that playing field.

Romney would be good, but so would others. The one thing we know for certain is that Obama, with four more year (hear Nixon in that?) will mangle this country in such a way that it will never recover.

That's doom.

[fdcol63]

I think the timing of Holder's Iranian plot annoucement is suspect, too, since it comes at a very convenient time to divert attention away from the F&F scandal, but I was pretty convinced by an interview that I saw on Fox with Congresssman Mike Rogers (R-MI), the chairman of the House intelligence committee, who said he'd seen the evidence and that this was the real deal, not just something bogus to save Holder.

[OldTimer]

Jane, your Holder article posted at 6:38 AM was excellent but didn't mention what I think is another of the most egregious examples of Holder's judicial odium's.
Declaring the DOMA law to be "unconstitutional" and "indefensible" rises to the top of the stinking pile.

[Danube of Thought]

Yeah, Jimmyk, I'm well aware there's no predictive value in any poll at this point.

[Ranger]

Rick,

Well, given that I spent a few years in the Infantry before going back to school... I have basically the same issues a career bricklayer would have at this point. But it is a point well taken for those who don't spend some time jumping out of airplanes and carrying lots of weight on their backs over long distances.

[DebinNC]

For some reason, IL Dems redrew JJjr's district, making it much harder for him to win. They must want him and his Blago taint gone.

Re Henninger's claim that "more competition or criticism" of Romney will quell conservatives' doubts about him, I don't understand given the perception that he'll say whatever's necessary to win the nomination.

[fdcol63]

Here's the Fox interview with Rogers (you have to patiently sit through an ad first):

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1213308477001/rep-mike-rogers-on-foiled-terror-plot/

[Cecil Turner]

. . . the chairman of the House intelligence committee, who said he'd seen the evidence and that this was the real deal . . .

This is part of the problem of treating enemy combatants like criminals. If you have the intel evidence he's a combatant, try him at a tribunal and let SCOTUS review the case for appropriateness (a la Quirin). Airing intel in open court isn't feasible, so a "fair trial" either gives your enemies a good look at the system that caught 'em or looks like a railroad job if the evidence is presented in camera. Another big part is the very real possibility of letting an enemy combatant go free for lack of evidence.

[DebinNC]

Shop Class as Soulcraft is a wonderful book that made quite a splash several years ago.

[centralcal]

Oh, goody (eyeroll) another debate, so soon (next Tuesday)! Moderated by Anderson Cooper of CNN and sponsored by the Western Republican Leadership Conference:

The debate, which will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (ET), will broadcast from The Venetian Resort in Vegas. Voters from the 16 states and territories that make up the Western region of the U.S. will be in audience to pose questions directly to the candidates.

Looks like Newt may have another media bitch-slap opportunity. (lol)

[fdcol63]

Cecil, I agree with you. However, I'd like to correct something I said, when I said Rogers had said he'd "seen the evidence." I said that based on my memory of the interview, but in the actual video he just says the timing was scheduled around the case, "I can clearly tell you that". Which implied to me that he'd seen the evidence. Sorry.

[Cecil Turner]

And that's another part of the problem: you have to trust a bunch of guys who can't talk directly to the subject. And if those guys happen to be politicals . . .

All this is better left to the military who can be overseen by the political branches, and decision reviewed by SCOTUS. Don't see how we're ever getting back to that now, though.

[Ignatz]

--Well, I have a BA, an terminal MA, and a PhD, and at this point in my life I can honestly say I wish I'd become a bricklayer or a plumber. From everything I have seen at this point, the work is just as challenging in its own way, much more rewarding, and skilled craftsmen are actually in demand these days.--

Yeah, I went to college to be a mechanical engineer and one day it struck me that I had no inclination to spend the rest of my life sitting inside on a hard drafting chair with graphite smudges on my hands [not realizing the nascent computer revolution would soon have had me sitting on a hard PC chair staring at a CRT instead. Talk about DOOM!].
There is something so much more satisfying to my mind to be able to see at the end of the day actual physical progress, be it a well done logging job or making a custom gunstock or something similar that I could never get through the more abstract processes of the mind. I can understand why many feel the opposite but am kind of glad I don't. Maybe because my mind is sub par?.
Horses for courses presumably.

[Danube of Thought]

If I had to make my living with my hands I'd be broke. I can't replace a window pane.

[Jane]

he delay in Holder's announcement of the Iranian plot could probably be due to the fact that they still had those 2 American hikers in prison, and perhaps the Administration knew that efforts to get them released soon were coming to fruition.

That actually makes sense.

Remember those people were briefed on what they wanted to hear.

Something smells about this.

[Threadkiller]

When I was eighteen I was offered a scholarship to a automotive technical school. I laughed at the guy. "I do this for fun! I would never dream of doing it for a living! Thanks but no thanks."

I have not worked on a car, for fun, since I turned twenty.

[Jane]

On second thought, why wouldn't the Iranians keep the hikers as hostages, if they truly intended to start a war?

[Clarice]

After hearing what the hikers had to say, I'd have not considered their welfare at all in deciding what was best for this country.
Elliott's right about the "informant" carparino,too.

[Jane]

I agree with that Clarice, I'm still disgusted by the embarrassment they are.

[JM Hanes]

Appalled:

"You assume the only possible reason he would do that would be to apologize."

No, I was just describing my own recollection of things at the time, based, in part, on the fact that the whole apology issue didn't strike me as news at all. I thought the big surprise was was the fact that the Japanese were so adamantly opposed to it (for whatever reason), but I haven't really been following the current brouhaha myself. Somebody obviously brought up the idea somewhere, and it was sufficiently significant for the U.S. Ambassador to address it specifically with the Secretary of State.

While I found the President's generally apologetic posture at the time offensive, there's nothing here which merits any sort of "investigation," IMO. There's as much sausage making in diplomacy as there is in legislation -- or should be.

I was amused at the White House response to this though, per NPR:

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor says that while the administration does not comment on leaked cables, "there was never any plan for the president to apologize. The President's visit speaks for itself."

Sounds a lot like Eric Holder, who doesn't talk about F&F, in deference to his IG's review, but…..

[JM Hanes]

DebinNC:

That Henninger piece is the most depressing thing I've read since campaign season got underway, because he's absolutely right, and he writes with a clarity that few can match. Despite my defense of Romney's environmental record and my (now disillusioned) take on his foreign policy chops, the only thing he really has going for him, is that I've always thought he could beat Obama, and I'm not yet persuaded that anybody else can.

I've been so disappointed in Perry's performance, to date, and what is looking like a tin ear for national politics. He can't just run on Texas, for multiple reasons, and on plans he promises to unveil sometime or other, but there's still time for him to get his act together [See: VIMH :-] and I'm desperately hoping that he will.

[Porchlight]

In light of the direction this thread has taken, I couldn't resist:

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Who knew?

I have never heard of eyebrow toupees. My eyebrows used to be several shades darker than my natural hair color. As I've aged, they've become lighter and lighter and now I'm trying to learn to use makeup to fill them in, something I've never had to do before. I'm thinking eyebrow toupees might be a much easier solution, but how embarrassing to have one or both slip. I'd be a nervous wreck worrying that might happen. It is funny though.

[Sandy Daze]

Porchlight, I like this one too:

[Porchlight]

Sandy Daze,

Love it - I almost posted that one too!

She looks a lot younger in that one, though it was only 3 years ago. A hell of a three years I'm sure.

[Sandy Daze]

and this one: