Friday, March 27, 2015
Another Whistleblower Prediction That Came True
We told you so Last D-Day (That was June 6, 2014 for all you Failed Cincinnati Public School graduates). It was just another one of Obama’s historical decisions when our Incompetent-in-chief illegally traded those five murdering Terrorist Four-Star Taliban Generals for a known traitor like Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. No wonder the latest Fox News Poll said 84% worried Obama’s prisoner swap would put US soldiers at risk.
As usual, TEA Party Patriots were calling for Obama to be impeached. But Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin said Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was clearly a deserter who should never draw a free breath, and Obama was guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors for once again ignoring federal law in pursuit of an administration goal. RINO Senator Lindsay Graham even threatened to start using the “I-Word,” but only if Obama ever did it again.
On Fox News, Judge Andrew Napolitano asked Can President Obama faithfully enforce the laws? “The president has a serious problem with competence and with fidelity to his oath. In one week, he has alienated and demoralized much of the intelligence community by revealing the true name of one of them and by releasing their worst nightmare back into the theater of Middle East warfare. He has, as well, flagrantly failed to enforce federal law by materially aiding a non-state terrorist group condemned by American law. This is almost inconceivable in an American president.”
In Congress, Disingenuous DemocRAT Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said, “Obama made the right decision.” But Republicans weren’t much better: Senator Portman said, “Obama’s swap set a bad precedent.” Congressman Chabot said, “This puts a price on our men and women serving overseas.” Wenstrup favored a rescue mission. Boehner called for more meaningless hearings. Kentucky’s Congressman Massie mumbled about Obama not really having the authority to make the swap. Senator McConnell blathered about making sure those five murdering terrorists Obama let loose don’t kill any more Americans. Surprisingly, Senator Rand Paul actually called Sgt. Bergdahl a ‘deserter.”
But Keith Maupin, father of a Clermont County soldier who was kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents and later killed says Obama’s swap was “a bad deal,” sending the message that the U.S. “is willing to make trades with terrorists.” Maupin said he never would have agreed to a trade for his own son, had such a deal been proposed.
Meanwhile, as the Middle East continues to explode, Obama will be vacationing in South Florida this weekend at the Florida National Golf Club in Palm City and Port St. Lucie. Obama made a similar trip to the area in February of 2013.
Now Let’s Meet Today’s Guest Editor
Why, it’s none other than Legendary War Hero Oliver North, who long ago demanded Obama be impeached and who last year demanded that the media ask the Obama administration if there was “a ransom, a fiscal, financial, money transaction,” with the Taliban as part of the deal.
That’s why The Blower, which takes pride in rewarding anybody calling for Obama’s long-overdue impeachment to be this week’s guest editor and choose three Bergdahl items plus a couple of Bergdahl Quickies for today’s E-dition from our Current Cadre of Conservative Columnists and Contributors, and our Quote for Today Committee chose Ollie’s “If any other president had tried to do what Obama has done, he already would be impeached.”
Obama administration on trial for Bergdahl by Jonathan Turley
Troubled soldier has become a symbol in a political scandal.
This image made from video released by the Taliban and obtained by IntelCenter on Dec. 8, 2010, shows a man believed to be Bowe Bergdahl at left. Bergdahl, a U.S. Army soldier, went missing from his outpost in Afghanistan in June 2009 and was released from Taliban captivity on May 31, 2014 in exchange for five enemy combatants held in the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He will be tried by the Army for desertion and misbehavior.(Photo: IntelCenter via AP)
Almost six years after he went missing in Afghanistan, Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl now faces criminal charges for desertion and misbehavior before the enemy that endangered his fellow soldiers. The course and delay of the investigation has raised serious questions of political manipulation of the case. After swapping five Taliban leaders with terrorism links for Bergdahl, President Barack Obama faced rising criticism not just for the release of such dangerous blood-soaked characters but also the violation of federal law in ordering the exchange. Worse yet, there are allegations soldiers may have been killed on missions that included efforts to locate Bergdahl.
Those questions are likely to return with a vengeance with the formal charge that Bergdahl was a deserter who abandoned his post and fellow soldiers in a combat area. His case could raise some interesting legal defenses and historical analogies. These cases also suggest that the most promising course for Bergdahl may be a plea bargain, though such a deal could raise political issues for the administration.
Flashback: Bergdahl desertion report held hostage
From the earliest accounts, the evidence against Bergdahl seemed to refute suggestions that he was a captive. Bergdahl stated that he had lagged behind a patrol and was captured, but there was no evidence of such a capture. There are also allegations that he actively sought contact with the Taliban and may have been a collaborator. For example, Bergdahl is accused of teaching the Taliban how to convert a cellphone into the base of an improvised explosive device. Then there is the strange reported conduct of Bergdahl before his disappearance. He reportedly sent his parents a uniform as well as messages that indicated his dissatisfaction with our country and the U.S. operations in Afghanistan. In one email, Bergdahl allegedly wrote his parents that “life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong… I am ashamed to even be (A)merican.” Then there is his description of his commander as a “conceited old fool” and his comrades as “the army of liars, backstabbers, fools and bullies.”
When such evidence is presented at trial, a defense becomes more complex and more nuanced to explain such statements and actions while denying the underlying charges. Complex personalities lead to complex defenses, but those are defenses that rarely work with jurors. Desertion is viewed by most people (particularly most people in uniform) as a simple and straightforward matter.
The most obvious comparison is with the trial of Marine Pfc. Robert Garwood, convicted of aiding the enemy in the Vietnam War. While other prisoners were released in 1973, Garwood did not come home until 1979 and faced allegations of collaboration, including working for the Vietnamese as a mechanic. Notably, there was no allegation that Garwood voluntarily left his post. The Garwood case shows that, even if Bergdahl maintains that he was captured, the military could still charge that he remained on his own free will and collaborated with the enemy. Garwood was ultimately able to secure acquittals on charges of desertion, solicitation of U.S. troops to refuse to fight and to defect and of maltreatment. However, he was convicted on charges of communicating with the enemy and the assault of an American prisoner of war interned in a POW camp. He was given a dishonorable discharge and other sanctions but not jail time. That would not be such a bad result for Bergdahl but there remains the added element of desertion in his case.
Flashback: Bergdahl deserves day in court
The other interesting case comparison is with the trial of Patti Hearst, heiress to the Hearst newspaper fortune. Again, there was not an allegation that Hearst went willingly when kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army. However, she appeared in a tape in 1974 announcing that she had joined the SLA. Assuming the name “Tania” (after the nom de guerre of Haydee Tamara Bunke Bider, a communist guerrilla and one of Che Guevara’s comrade in arms), Hearst appeared to change from captive to collaborator. Hearst was ultimately captured on film holding a M1 carbine while robbing a bank in San Francisco.
Hearst insisted that she was brainwashed and that the trauma of her confinement explained her conduct. It did not work, she was convicted of bank robbery in 1976 and sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment. President Jimmy Carter later commuted her sentence to two years, and she was eventually granted a full pardon by President Bill Clinton in 2001.
Bergdahl should not expect any similar presidential acts of sympathy, particularly from President Obama. After all, the administration paid dearly for his release and fellow soldiers may have paid with their lives.
The fact that Bergdahl may be a deserter might not have changed the merits of the decision to seek his release in a trade. President Obama must have known that there was an allegation of desertion before ordering the swap. It is clear that he acted out of an honest concern for an American in deplorable and dangerous conditions. However, the decision of the White House to avoid informing Congress, as required under federal law, clearly reflected a discomfort of the administration over the merits of such a trade with terrorists. That debate is now going to happen as part of a very public trial.
Indeed, it will be a challenge to insulate a trial from the powerful political winds swirling around Bergdahl and the deal that led to his freedom. The fact is that Bergdahl is not just a defendant. He has entered that dangerous realm of being a symbol in a political scandal.
In the end, it will not be a political symbol but an Army sergeant who will have to answer for these alleged crimes. Bergdahl may, for the first time, publicly answer some of these allegations for himself. It will not only be the first time that he will be heard, but the first answer that the public has received in months of controversy over his release.
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, is a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors and has handled military and national security cases as criminal defense counsel.
Susan Rice Flashback: Bergdahl Served ‘With Honor and Distinction’
Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice defended the prisoner swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on the June 1, 2014 broadcast of ABC’s “This Week” by saying Bergdahl “served the United States with honor and distinction.”
Regarding the desertion allegations, she said Bergdahl, “served the United States with honor and distinction. And we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years.”
Rice also said that “assurances relating to the movement, the activities, the monitoring of those detainees [released in exchange for Bergdahl] give us confidence that they cannot and, in all likelihood, will not pose a significant risk to the United States. And that it is in our national interests that this transfer had been made.”
Walker On Obama Bergdahl Swap: ‘This Is What Happens When’ You Elect Someone ‘Who’s Never…
Hours after the news that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl would be charged with desertion, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker lambasted President Barack Obama for making the prisoner swap in the first place.
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Wednesday evening, Walker echoed the host’s statement that the decision points to the judgment of Obama, saying “this is what happens when you put someone in office that’s never led before.”
“It goes to the issue of judgment, Governor Walker,” Hewitt said, pointing to Walker’s perceived comparison of union workers to ISIS fighters. “Nevertheless, the small becomes large and the large becomes small. What do you think of the president’s judgment. Not your judgment, but the president’s judgment as it’s evolving and unfolding?”
“Well, the unfortunate reality is this is what happens when you put someone in office who’s never led before. He’s not listening,” Walker said. “When you’re a governor, you’re a mayor, you’re a county executive, wherever you’re at. When you have a cabinet and you have to act on behalf of, not just the people who elected you, but the whole group. The whole constituency.”
“You gotta lead and you gotta listen to people who are hopefully as smart or smarter than you are on any given topic. You ultimately have to make the decision,” Walker said. “But this president, unfortunately, having been a [U.S.] Senator, a state senator, and a community organizer never led anything. So he’s never been in any position to make those sorts of judgments.”
And a Couple of Quickies
These items are perfect to forward to all of your Internet Buddies and Facebook Friends with too much time on their hands.
TODAY’S “LIBERAL LIAR” AWARD GOES TO
incoming White House communications director Jen Psaki, who defended the decision to trade Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban leaders last year, even as newly announced desertion charges for Bergdahl renewed Republican criticism of the prisoner swap. “Was it worth it? Absolutely,” Jen Psaki told Megyn Kelly on Fox News’ “The Kelly File.” Lawmakers who long were critical of the 2014 prisoner swap, meanwhile, pointed to the latest development in reviving those concerns. “Today’s announcement is the exclamation point on the bad deal the Obama administration cut to free five terrorist killers in its rush to empty the prison at Guantanamo Bay,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said in a statement.
Another Muslim Women’s History Month Moment
A Muslim wife complains to her husband that all the romance
had gone out of their marriage.
“Remember when you used to carry me up to bed?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, “but be fair, you were only eleven at the time!”
Plagiarism Count: Unattributed material was filched from a mere 243 different websites for the production of today’s Blower.
Stories We Were Working on Last D-Day
Released Taliban Prisoners Promise to Strike Again
Politicians Rush to Delete Tweets Welcoming Bergdahl Home
Traitor’s Hometown Welcome Cancelled
Senators Unswayed by White House Case for Bergdahl Deal
Why Was Team Obama Blindsided by the Backlash?
Three More Members of Bergdahl’s Platoon Speak Out
Obama Still Not Apologizing for Taliban Terrorists’ Release
Last D-Day’s Whistleblower Web Poll
This week, here’s how the first 17,648 Whistleblower Readers Poll respondents said most Apathetic Americans would be spending Flag Day last year:
(A) Reviewing their books on Flag Etiquette: 2%
(B) Trying to find an American flag made in the USA: 1%
(C) Swimming in one of Cincinnati’s over-taxed payer funded public peeing pools: 1%
(D) Watching Desecrating DemocRAT David A. Pepper burn Old Glory: 96%
Note: Everything we write doesn’t have to be so damn cynical and mean-spirited, it’s just so much more fun that way!
Weekly Whistleblower Limerick Contest
No Fool Like an Old Fool
This week, everybody who can’t wait until Sunday to start playing April Fool’s Day jokes, e-mailed an entry to the Whistleblower Limerick Contest.
The winner is Harley Hoodwinker, who likes to watch people’s faces whenever he says, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times…” Harley wins a copy of the “1,001 Best April Fool’s Day Pranks of 2014” so he can plan ahead for next year, a lifetime pass on the new Cincinnati Trolley, and Reds and Bungals playoff tickets. His winning limerick is:
There once was an old April fool
Dumb as an ox, stubborn as a mule
He voted with libs
Fell for the DumbocRAT fibs
And left us with Obama to rule.
Here’s a Dishonorable Mention from “In Russ We Trust” Jackson
There once was an Old April Fool,
Who at one time had been very cool,
Now all of his friends,
Send him lots of Depends,
And Kleenex to catch to catch all his drool.
Bobby Leach says this is nostalgic
There once was an old April fool
Who thought that he was really cool
He wore bell bottomed jeans
Like he was still in his teens
And watched TV reruns of the Cool Ghoul.
E Rob Sanders denies he sent this in
There once was an Old April Fool
Who fancied his franchise quite cool.
He refused to trade old Number Nine,
Insisting everything would be fine,
Since all this Fool’s deals are Old School.
Rick “The Bat Boy” Robinson plans to include this in his next book
There once was an old April fool
Who challenged a guy to a duel
But he made a bad deal
The guy was a Navy SEAL
Now in Hades he is under Osama’s rule.
And from the Anderson Laureate (who’s counting the days until his poetic license is restored):
There once was an old April fool
Who forgot what to do with his tool
He got into trouble
When he folded it double
And found himself covered in drool.
The first line of next week’s limerick is:
“The Best Part About Paying Your Taxes”
Remember: We never print all the bad stuff we know and certain people ought to be damn glad we don’t, especially, Afghan Bob Bergdahl, Who Praised Allah During Press Conference With Obama Touting His Deserter Son’s Release.
MORE PRISONER SWAPS HOT LINE
E-mail your suggested trades today.
Some negotiating items in today’s Blower were sent in by our equally negotiating subscribers
Whistleblower Video of the Day
Jon Stewart Slams Obama, Media For Turning Bergdahl Story Into “Catastrophe”
(Sent in by Comedy Central Host Jon Stewart, looking for a little free publicity in The Blower.”
Note: We guarantee iPhone subscribers who don’t go home and see links and pictures on their computers are not going to appreciate all of this good stuff today.
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