HOLDER TO TRY KSM, BOEHNER WHINES…. As expected, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today that he will try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in an NYC courtroom, and intends to pursue the death penalty against the suspected terrorist mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), predictably, is blasting the move because … well, just because.
“The Obama Administration’s irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people. The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause.”
Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) added that a trial “a few blocks from the World Trade Center site” necessarily puts the United States “at greater risk.”
Keep in mind, this bizarre nonsense came by way of written statements. The comments weren’t made off the cuff, before they could really think about what they were saying — these were carefully crafted sentiments, which just happen to be ridiculous.
Greg Sargent added, “The larger point is that Republicans are already seizing on the Obama administration’s decision to revive memories of 9/11 in order to give fresh urgency to GOP criticism of current terrorism policies. The amount of time that has passed since 9/11 had caused terrorism to fall dramatically on the list of voter concerns, making Republican criticism of the administration’s moves on terror seem almost like a sideshow and a distraction.”
I just wish conservative Republicans would come up with an argument here. I’m not looking for air-tight reasoning — just something coherent and half-way intelligent. Because at this point, I have a hard time imagining that even the most dimwitted member of Congress actually believes that fair trials for almost-certainly-guilty terrorist suspects are “dangerous.”
Who is it, exactly, that Boehner & Co. don’t trust? The American system of justice? Federal prosecutors? Officials at federal detention facilities?
Or are we back to Republican fears that terrorist suspects are comic-book villains with super powers?
