Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Has there ever been an alleged news entity that was so brazenly just a marketing scheme than the Worldnutdaily? It seems every other "article" there is really just a thinly disguised ad for a book they're selling. A perfect example is this article about blowhard Larry Klayman, which breathlessly announces that he has "launched a probe" of Attorney General Eric Holder.
Since Klayman is a private citizen only, what does "launched a probe" mean? It means he filed a FOIA request. Boy, that's news. And then I got to the bottom and realized that it was just an ad for Klayman's new book, which is being sold by the Worldnutdaily. And as usual, Klayman is spouting nonsense:
"The attorney general's refusal to prosecute admitted terrorists, like the Christmas Day bomber and the infamous Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM), as so-called 'enemy combatants' has resulted in the hindrance of national security and law enforcement agencies," he said in a prepared statement. "This refusal by Holder not only resulted in Miranda rights being read to the Christmas Day bomber - preventing the FBI and other agencies from obtaining meaningful intelligence from him when his lawyer stopped the interrogation - but with regard to KSM, has also jeopardized the safety of New York City residents, due to the insistence of investigating an act of terror as if it were a common crime."
Does anyone remember Klayman issuing press releases condemning the Bush administration for trying the shoe bomber in civilian court? Or any of the 289 terror defendants tried in civilian court under Bush? Yeah, I don't either.
I'm far more concerned about Holder's refusal to prosecute admitted torturers.
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The 'nut' mixes up their sales efforts. Some are thinly veiled news items meant to stir the ire of morons who then must have the proffered product. The others are outright sales pitches for widely discredited crap like weight loss and diet 'phenomena'.
They must make money off the rubes as they keep pushing the crap.
Posted by: MikeMa | February 6, 2010 9:27 AM
Lying piece of filth Joseph Farah, the "editor" of the Wingnutdaily, gave a speech to the tea baggers get together humping the birther cow manure. Dave Weigle has the lowdown.
http://washingtonindependent.com/75944/joseph-farahs-big-birther-speech
Posted by: SLC | February 6, 2010 9:41 AM
The funny thing to me about all this nonsense is that just yesterday I saw Fox News reporting on the kid's connections to Yemen and to an American-born cleric. How do we know all these things if this kid hasn't talked at all, because his case was bungled by the horrible act of reading him his Miranda rights? We know so much about him and about his connections, but he hasn't said a word? The right has an amazing ability to do one thing with it's right hand while not noticing what the left hand is doing. "Obama wants the terrorists to win and hates America because he's having them Mirandized! But, by the way, did you hear what the kid told the FBI?" I also love the hypocrisy of being "patriotic, REAL AMERICANS" and demanding the president do everything the military wants ("If they want 40,000 troops in Afghanistan, he should do it, no questions asked!" was essentially the argument against him when he was "dithering" on the buildup) and being rah-rah about how our military and our police are the best in the world...except that if we try terrorists in NYC we WILL be struck by a terrorist attack, because apparently our troops and police aren't good enough to stop it. I also want to know who exactly thinks this "KSM" (if a catchy nickname for a terrorism suspect doesn't demean what they did, then I don't know what does) trial is anything more than a show. It's the American version of public trials in the old Soviet Union. Obviously he's not going to get a fair trial (not that I'm particularly concerned about it...we know he's guilty so whatever) and he's not going to be acquitted. There's a reason the Obama (and Bush) administrations don't try ALL terrorist suspects in civilian courts; they pick and choose the open and shut cases. If you think Khalid Sheihk Mohammed has a chance of walking out of the federal courthouse into lower Manhattan a free man, then I have a bridge to sell you.
The thing that's really weird about all of this is that not only do I not recall anyone batting an eyelash at Bush trying terrorism suspects in civilian court, I don't recall people being up in arms about Clinton doing so with the original WTC bombers. In fact, it seems like the Republican party as a whole was much more interested in genuine governance (and was much more centrist) in the Clinton years than it is now. It got a little nutty towards the end of his presidency with the Lewinski scandal and impeachment, but at least shortly after '94, the Republicans and Clinton effectively governed from the center and accomplished big partisan legislation that has worked well. That seems all but impossible today. Why and when did the Republicans tack so hard to the extreme right? I'm only 26, so I remember the Clinton years, but not with enough insight to be informed about them.
Posted by: Ryan | February 6, 2010 11:47 AM
During the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, the United States was the scene of and eventual target of dozens of terrorist attacks and plots by Serbian and Croatian emigres seeking to destroy Yugoslavia. The groups involved were part of and often led by senior figures of the Chetnik movement (Serbian) and the Ustashi (Croatian), which killed hundreds of thousands of people during the Second World War.
Both groups were as vile and skilled as Al-Qaeda. In 1963, Serbians bombed 8 Yugoslav diplomatic establishments on the same day. On June 3, 1980, Croatians bombed the home of a Yugoslav diplomat and the Statue of Liberty. In 1979, a Serbian terrorist hijacked an American airliner with the intention of crashing, 9-11 style, into a Belgrade skyscraper.
Yet, despite that, and the tendency and success of the Croatians and Serbians in conducting terrorist attacks designed to secure the release of their comrades, the United States arrested them, tried them, and convicted them while giving them all the rights of due process. Some were found not guilty and allowed to walk.
It worked through. It smashed the groups far more effectively than the Yugoslav tactic of massive military operations, secret trials, torture, and a secret island prison.
Posted by: History Punk | February 6, 2010 12:05 PM