So is this a story of Republicans eating their own because they think president Obama would be negatively affected?
You betcha!
The Daily Beast is reporting that Robert Bergdahl, the father of recently released prisoner of war, Bowe Bergdahl, is a Republican.
In June 2010, Robert Bergdahl, the father of released American POW Bowe Bergdahl, gave a speech at an Idaho Republican Party fundraiser. In one of his first public appearances during his son’s five-year captivity, he asked the conservative audience to show compassion for his son’s captors—and, in a twist that foretold the plot of Homeland—he alleged that the United States had killed one of those captor’s children with a drone strike
The Idaho fundraiser was an election year event, and the day’s other speakers—Idaho Senator Jim Risch, then-national-party-chairman Michael Steele, radio host Dennis Prager, and a belligerent stand-up comic named Eric Golub—took the usual shots at President Obama and rallied partisans to donate money to November’s cause.
Pass the salt.
Fox News and the Republicans have been on a feeding frenzy. They have jumped all over this one, knives and forks on hand, banging on the table, accusing Robert of being a Taliban, a Muslim sympathizer, even accusing the man of looking like a Muslim because he refused to cut his beard in protest of his son’s capture.
These people are devouring their own in an attempt to make the president look bad. Can you say ‘sick losers?’
There was another shooting over the weekend, this time, in Las Vagas. The shooting left two police officers dead, one customer at a Walmart dead and the two suspects dead.
According to reports, a couple brought their lovable, harmless guns to a restaurant in Las Vegas and used those guns to kill two police officers who were doing the unthinkable – having lunch.
After using the guns on the officers, the couple walked over to a Walmart store and killed a woman in the front of the store. The female shooter then pointed the gun at her male partner and pulled the trigger. She then turned the gun her way and took herself out.
Just another day in our gun loving civilized society.
What makes this story unique however, is the unfolding story that this couple and their harmless guns were part of the Cliven Bundy militias that swarmed the ranch a few months ago, prepared to put their women folk on the front lines in their expected shootout with the government.
Neighbors in an apartment complex where the two suspects lived said they “had a reputation for spouting racist, anti-government views” and boasted about their gun collection, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The newspaper reported that residents of the apartment complex who spoke about the suspects also brought up the couple’s relationship with Bundy Ranch, where the two bragged about being present for the standoff between militia members and the Bureau of Land Management.
One neighbor who lived next door to the couple told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the male suspect had said he was kicked off Bundy Ranch at some point during the militia’s protest against the BLM.
Carol Bundy, the Nevada rancher’s wife, told the newspaper she had no reason to suspect that militia members at the ranch harbored violent intentions.
“I have not seen or heard anything from the militia and others who have came to our ranch that would, in any way, make me think they had an intent to kill or harm anyone,” Bundy told the Review-Journal.
Another resident of the apartment complex, Brandon Moore, told the Las Vegas Sun that the couple had also spoken about their plans to commit a mass shooting.
“They were handing out white-power propaganda and were talking about doing the next Columbine,” he said.
He signed up and volunteered to fight a war for this country in Afghanistan. And I can’t say this enough, but regardless of the circumstances surrounding his capture, Bergdahl should be respected for putting on the military uniform and defending this country.
But respect has avoided the Army Sargent since his released from the Taliban and now, Republican nuts are targeting Berghdal’s parents with death threats.
The FBI is investigating threats against the parents of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the latest development in a case that has put the spotlight on the circumstances surrounding his capture in Afghanistan and release by the Taliban.
“We are working jointly with our state and local partners and taking each threat seriously,” FBI Special Agent William Facer told CNN in an e-mail on Saturday.
Facer declined to detail the nature and severity of the threats, and a military spokesperson for the Bergdahls declined to comment.
Bergdahl’s parents have not been seen publicly since the announcement last week that the soldier had been freed from five years in captivity at the hands of the Taliban in exchange for the release of five detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
At this point, the only relevant question I can think of asking in the tale of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl is this: If he was the son of a member of the U.S. Congress, would anybody be questioning his patriotism? Perhaps in this hyper-partisan atmosphere we have the answer might be yes, but I doubt it.
As more details emerge about Sgt. Bergdahl’s captivity, it’s becoming clearer to me that a large swath of our citizenry simply has not learned the lessons of the past and is too ready to jump on anything negative in a person’s background to deny them basic human rights. Yes, he had a habit of wandering when he shouldn’t have and, yes, U.S. soldiers were killed trying to find him. It is a tragedy that those soldiers died and their families have every right to be angry over the circumstances of their deaths. That should never have happened. This kind of thing happens in war. That’s why I hate it.
The worst, unfortunately, is yet to come. Sgt. Bergdahl will come home to a town and country that is deeply divided over whether he should have even been freed, much less traded for five suspected terrorists. He will be called terrible names in person and in the media by those who believe that they are the country’s moral arbiters. I have one word for them: Vietnam.
Last week I took my classes to the New Jersey Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. It’s a trip that’s become a yearly ritual at my school, and this year it was even more valuable because it provided some historical relevance in light of Sgt. Bergdahl’s story. Vietnam veterans lead all of the tours and are available for discussion, question and answer periods, and explanations of some of the exhibits at the memorial and education center. To a man, and they were all men, they recounted their experiences as soldiers returning to a divided country in the 1960s and 1970s. They told us about being called baby killers, village burners, Nazis, fascists and murderers. They were young men, some who were drafted and some who enlisted, who saw it as their duty to fight for their country, and their country turned their back on them. Today, they are kind, thoughtful men who are proud to be grandfathers and are happy to tell the younger generation about their experiences.
I thought of Bowe Bergdahl. Not the Sergeant; just the young man, and what he faces in the near future. For the Vietnam veterans there was some strength in numbers. Bowe Bergdahl will face the country alone. John McCain met President Nixon as a hero. I hope that President Obama sticks to his position and does the same for Bergdahl. Yes, he made a terrible mistake which became a tragedy for some of his fellow soldiers. But to hang this whole tragedy on him would be a terrible mistake. Let’s hope that we haven’t forgotten the lessons of 40 years ago.
Lady Michelle Obama is everywhere. She’s traveling to China. She’s raising money for Democrats. She’s issuing plaintive tweets seeking the rescue of the kidnapped Nigerian girls.
She’s wading uncharacteristically deep into the Washington political mud pit to defend her school lunch program against Republicans, assailing them last Tuesday for opting to “play politics with our kids’ health.” She struck a similar tone in a New York Times op-ed two days later, accusing Republicans of trying to “override science” and suggesting they join parents and “put our children’s interests first.”
So what’s with the bolder profile?
Sure, Obama cares strongly about the things she is doing. That she does care in fact begs another question: Is caring all that’s going on here? Does she have political ambitions that would allow her to pursue an agenda while working to cement her husband’s legacy?
michelle — nutriation factsSpeculation about a possible political future for Michelle Obama has naturally centered on the White House. But that’s the wrong place — at least for now.
Illinois has a Republican senator, Mark Kirk, and he is up for reelection in 2016. He’ll be formidable, particularly given his brave recovery from a stroke. But Illinois is a heavily Democratic state, and the race could be close.
No Illinois Democratic candidate would bring the star power and nationwide fundraising capacity that Obama would.
She has proven herself a superb speaker on behalf of her pet projects and is now a veteran campaigner for her husband. She’s also remained highly popular — even as the president’s ratings have plummeted.
She could represent the Democrats’ best chance to pick up a desperately needed — and winnable — seat
When it comes to either supporting our troops or hating Obama the Republicans overwhelmingly choose the latter. Oh boy do they ever. The party who loves jingoistic phrases and loud macho alpha chest beating just couldn’t wait to bash the soldier that our President bravely rescued. Yes it is very brave to actually take action. And that’s what our President did. To fuck with the consequences of more bashing and phony scandal and impeachment talk from the right wing scum. Obama actually did the right thing!
Yes the Republicans love to talk big. “Support our troops”…”Semper Fi.. do or die..gung ho..gung ho…gung ho!” But when it comes to taking action all they can do is sit back and be Monday morning quarterbacks. Now many Republicans were caught erasing tweets they had sent out before Bergdahl’s return which said they were in favor of doing whatever was necessary to get him back. You see that was before Obama did what they never expected him to do..actually get the dude back. Republicans, since they are the party of do nothing, or do nothing unless it fucks most people over, figured Obama wouldn’t have the balls to actually make the deal to bring Bergdahl home.
But he did exactly that. And now they are against what they were for. Not the first time the ballsy black President has done something they actually wanted, to only bash him once he pulls the trigger. It’s commonplace. It’s not surprising at all. Not surprising because the Republican party couldn’t care less about our troops. They have been using our troops as pawns for decades. They send them to die in needless, useless wars. They destroy families in the name of power and money and greed and oil.
When the troops come back home all fucked up mentally and physically they cut funding to VA hospitals and know they can just blame the next Democratic President for it. “Never leave a man behind” they shout and pound their bloated chests, yet when the black President brings one home, the last one, they immediately try to destroy the soldiers reputation. Why? To just get back at the black President.
They destroy the soldiers father. Irish big mouthed right wing pricks on television call him “Taliban” because he has a long beard yet those same pricks give a guy like Phil Robertson a pass, because he is just a good American with a long unwashed beard. Old decrepit, senile Senators forget they were just on television saying they were in favor of the soldiers return by any means necessary. But now they are against it because they are fucked up in the head and forget what they just said. But they often do this, even when they were younger. Maybe they were always good for nothing mental midgets.
The Republicans love to “pray” for the troops. Pray for them oh lord! Just don’t let the black President actually bring them home. Let’s keep them in captivity until a good white male Republican is President..like in fifty years if they are lucky. Lip service is all these good for nothing Republican scumbags are actually good for. When they have to take action they shit their pants, and just criticize those who actually take that action.
On issue after issue. Guns. Health care. Veterans rights. Immigration…on and on and on. They are on default mode. Wait for Obama to make his move then attack, attack, attack. Even if it means attacking our troops and their families. Erase those tweets, make up lies about soldiers dying trying to save the guy Obama saved without one lost life, go on Fox News and make shit up!
Republicans are a disgusting lot that grow more and more disgusting by the day. By the event.
To hell with the truth, with facts. Just destroy. Destroy our men and women in war and then continue to destroy them when they get home.
Yes people, the president of the United States, the Commander-In-Chief of our military, had to once again explain that he will not apologies for bringing an American soldier home. He is the Commander-In-Chief, and Republicans and their nonsense is questioning the right of the president to bring a prisoner of war, an American citizen, a member of the military, they cannot understand why the president would bring him back home.
I find this mind-boggling!
“We saw an opportunity and we seized it. And I make no apologies for that,” Mr. Obama said at a press conference in Brussels.
“We have a basic principle: we do not leave anybody wearing the American uniform behind.”
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding the soldier’s disappearance and capture by the Taliban, why are the Republicans – in all their life-loving, troops-loving splendor – forgetting that this soldier was captured by the Taliban because he signed up and went to war for this country? Isn’t that fact alone worth saving his life and bringing him home to finally answer the questions surrounding his capture?
Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more surprised by these Republicans, they prove me wrong one more time. But the president is not surprised. In his statements in Brussels, he said, “I’m never surprised by controversies that are whipped up in Washington. That’s par for the course.”
The President continued;
“I think it was important for people to understand that this is not some abstraction, this is not a political football. You have a couple of parents whose kid volunteered to fight in a distant land who they hadn’t seen in five years and they didn’t know if they would ever see again.
“I make absolutely no apologies for making sure that we get back a young man to his parents and that the American people understand that this is somebody’s child. And that we don’t condition whether or not we make the effort to try to get them back.”
Attention Motorists Using the George Washington Bridge (GWB) During the Overnight Hours:
Beginning Monday, June 16, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will resume a steel deck improvement project on the upper level of the GWB that may cause significant overnight delays.
Three of four upper level bridge lanes will be closed in either the eastbound or westbound directionduring the hours below:
Monday to Thursday from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Friday night from 10 p.m. to 10 a.m.Saturday morning
The work will also require several 10-15 minutes traffic holds during the hours above
NOTE: Closure hours will be adjusted to accommodate Yankee games and Meadowlands events.
Passenger vehicles should use the GWB lower level (which will be fully open to cash and E-ZPass) to minimize their delay OR consider seeking an alternate route. Trucks are required to use the upper level at all times. Highway message signs, 511 and traffic reports will advise motorists in advance which direction will be under construction (on any given night). Visit ourwebsite for the most up-to-dateclosure schedule and project details.
This must be what they mean when they call them “spineless democrats.”
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to figure out the difference between Fox News and MSNBC. Just a few days ago, I blogged about Chris Hayes, going above and beyond what is required to help the Republicans get their talking points together, by providing them a video of Obama apparently going against their words. After Chris’ video, the Republican in the room applauded the video, grinning ear to ear.
I’m waiting for their ad starring Chris Hayes.
I just watched the first segment of the Chris Matthews Hardball show, and his anger towards the release of the American soldier held for 5 years by the Taliban was again, surprising to me.
Now I’ve watched Chris Matthews on more than a few occasions and I know how unpredictable the man and his interview methods are. But after watching this first segment, I wondered why, why is MSNBC trying to take away viewership from Fox? These people don’t care about you MSNBC, keep it moving!
While conducting an interview with both Chuck Todd of MSNBC and Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune, Matthews spent most of the interview attacking Todd with questions of dissatisfaction at the circumstances surrounding the release of Bergdahl. Todd apparently felt so attacked, he had to remind Matthews on more than one occasions that he is not working for the Obama administration, but just a reporter.
Matthews questioned Bergdahl’s character forgetting that he was a member of the military who, before he disappeared, was in a war fighting for this country. He questioned the release of the 5 Gitmo detainees, and when told that we had to release these detainees regardless because the war is winding down, Matthews stated that the war will not be over, thus, we should not have released them.
And he ended the segment with an indirect message to the Republicans – “if any of our Americans from this day forward get killed over there because of these five guys once they’re back in authority over there, whose fault is that?” Clearly stating that from this day on, President Obama would and should be blamed if an American get’s killed based on actions from any of the former five Gitmo detainees.
As usual, Republicans once again find themselves on the wrong side of history.
General Stanley McChrystal, the General in charge when Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl went messing is just the latest in a group of knowledgeable military experts calling out the ignorant Republicans, pundits and Fox commentators for opposing the process involved in bringing Bergdahl home.
In an interview with Yahoo News, McChrystal made it clear that in our military, “we do not leave Americans behind. That’s unequivocal,” he said.
“We did a huge number of operations to try to stop the Taliban from being able to move him across the border into Pakistan,” McChrystal told Yahoo News in an exclusive interview. “And we made a great effort and put a lot of people at risk in doing that, but that’s what you should do. That’s what soldiers do for each other.”
—
McChrystal, who commanded the war effort in Afghanistan at the time of Bergdahl’s June 2009 vanishing, declined to shed any more light on the circumstances of his disappearance. “We’re going to have to wait and talk to Sgt. Bergdahl now and get his side of the story,” he said. “One of the great things about America is we should not judge until we know the facts. And after we know the facts, then we should make a mature judgment on how we should handle it.”
Asked whether he would have made the same prisoner swap, McChrystal replied: “We don’t leave Americans behind. That’s unequivocal.”
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
