Manns Medium

Many of us have heard some say over and over again that the president should never had been allowed to run because he was not born in the United States.   We have heard this for so long that many of us quickly ignore those who say that not because we do not wish to face the truth but because we are not insane enough to allow truth to be formed into a lie.   Now, one of my favorite people of Washington, Chris Matthews said on his show “Hardball” that it could be just the “luck of Obama” that is why this president is successful.   Both of these ideas share one common thread.   That common thread is the illegitimacy of Barack Obama.   The birth conspiracy means that his parents had to foresee that he would be running for president in order to make sure he could win which means manipulating the announcement of his birth and paying to have a false birth certificate created.   The problem with the lucky argument is it assumes that this president does not p...

My favorite moments was less about speeches and more about, sometimes, missed actions by those who participated.  The little things that makes one heart sing and reinforce your belief in the goodness of people. One of these was the sincere look Michelle Obama had on her face when she spoke about how her husband sat and read those letters, committing and re-committing himself to doing whatever he could to ease their pain.  Another was hearing Joe Biden tell us how his first question was always “How will this effect the lives of everyday people.”  For a person to make this there first priority means that he surely seeks to answer to a much higher power than delegates and donors.  I was touched by Bill Clinton’s real reaction when he turned to see Barack coming toward him on the stage.  The bending at the waist was a real reaction and not a staged one.  The embrace that both man shared and the closing of their eyes to soak in the true meaning of their relat...

Ever since this president was sworn in, there have been those who will stop at nothing but to oppose anything and everything that he says and does.   It is not so unexpected but it still is bewildering.   The newest media frenzy is over the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden and decenters are given a microphone and all the time they need on every channel to roar.   The sad part of it is, many of them may have more at stake than this media mass are interested in finding out. John McCain says that the Obama Re-election Team was wrong for politicizing the death of bin Laden but many refuse to remind people that John McCain ran on having the knowledge and expertise to find and “get” bin Laden.   So was that politicizing it then or does McCain get a mulligan?   Ed Gillespie repeated close to this take but I do not remember him stepping to the microphone and declaring it off-limits when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney was going around bragging about ke...

Kimberly Dozier and Matt Apuzzo of the Associated Press, US officials: US attack in Yemen kills al-Awlaki reports that “i n a devastating double-blow to al-Qaida's most dangerous franchise, U.S. counterterrorism forces killed two American citizens who played key roles in inspiring attacks against the U.S., U.S. and Yemeni officials said Friday.   U.S-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, who edited the slick Jihadi Internet magazine, were killed in an air strike on their convoy in Yemen by a joint CIA-U.S. military operation, according to counterterrorism officials. Al-Awlaki was targeted in the killing, but Khan apparently was not targeted directly.   Following the strike, a U.S. official outlined new details of al-Awlaki's involvement in anti-U.S. operations, including the attempted 2009 Christmas Day bombing of a U.S.-bound aircraft. The official said that al-Awlaki specifically directed the men accused of trying to bomb the Detroit-bound plane to detonate an explos...

According to an article written by Caren Bihan and Tabassun Zakaria of Reuters titled Al Qaeda number two killed in Pakistan this week, they reported that “Al Qaeda's new second-in-command was killed earlier this week in Pakistan, U.S. officials said Saturday, in a major blow to the group still reeling from the death of Osama bin Laden.   Atiyah abd al-Rahman, a Libyan national, rose to the number two spot when Ayman al-Zawahri took the reins of al Qaeda after bin Laden was killed in May in a U.S. raid in Pakistan.” They say that this is not confirmed but if it is then while many may have forgotten about the reason given for the Afghanistan War, there are many who have not.   It appears that soon wars will be fought similar to video games so those who demean those who are quite good at those war games may want to re-think their position.   The best quote found in this article was that from a top US Official saying "Dialing back on al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, especi...

According to an article written by Chris Brummitt and Ishtiaq Mehsud of the Associated Press titled Al-Qaida militant said killed by US in Pakistan “a n al-Qaida leader sought in the 2008 Mumbai siege and rumored to be a long shot choice to succeed Osama bin Laden was believed killed in a U.S. drone attack as he met with other militants in an apple orchard in Pakistan, an intelligence official said Saturday. If confirmed, it would be another blow against the terror organization a month after the slaying of its leader”.   The article goes on to say that while it was unclear how Kashmiri was tracked and because it was a drone strike, “verifying who has been killed in the drone strikes is difficult, with DNA samples or photographic evidence typically needed” , we may never be really sure.   But one thing is extremely clear; those who indulge themselves with the destruction of countries and their citizens, their days are numbered. The article says that we do not know how he w...

The latest rounds of insurgent skirmishes in Afghanistan are a little curious considering the time frame but may be less about making a statement than it is something else.   According to an article written by Rahim Faiez and Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press titled Gunmen attack Afghan government building, kill 6 reports that “Taliban fighters wearing suicide bomb vests hidden under police uniforms attacked a government building Sunday in eastern Afghanistan, triggering an hours-long gun battle and killing six people, officials said.   The attack came a day after a Taliban suicide bomber slipped inside the capital's main military hospital and killed at least six Afghan medical students — worrying reminders of militants' ability to infiltrate locations thought to be secure.   A roadside bomb exploded Sunday in the southern province of Zabul, killing two people and wounding five others, the Afghan Interior Ministry said. Another roadside bomb exploded overnight in K...

This article may be putting the cart before the horse but I think it‘s worth asking if these types of charges will become more famous with the cache of information gleamed from the assault on the Osama compound in Pakistan. Truth be told in, the article by Rasha Madkour of the Associated Press titled Fla. imam, 2 sons charged with supporting Taliban reports that “U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer said the investigation was sparked three years ago by suspicious financial activity and was not based on an undercover sting operation. "This is based on the defendant's words, actions and records," Ferrer said at a news conference Saturday.   The indictment recounts recorded conversations in which Hafiz Khan allegedly voices support for attacks on the Pakistani government and American troops in the region.   The indictment lists about $50,000 in transactions. The funds were used to buy guns, support militants' families and promote the cause of the Pakistani Taliban, accordin...

It’s been a long time coming and I, for one, thought I would never see it again but low and behold on the floor of the senate stood a man who has more creditability on torture than any other person I know.   This man is john McCain and yes Virginia he is back. It has been reported that John McCain stood flat footed on the floor of the Senate and re-educated that body and all who listen that torture does not work and the raid on the Osama bin Laden compound was not a result of it.   He re-educated them on exactly what is gained or not gained by torture and there is no one alive today that can disagree with him.   This man lived it and did not dream it.   What happens now to those who were quick to run to torture’s defense, not sure but I hope that they have some steak sauce to go with their filet of soul. It is my wish that other politicians and pundits would take a lesson from John McCain and stand up for the truth instead of what sounds good to their particular...

I have heard some spinning of an issue before but none quite like this article written by Zachary Roth titled Bin Laden family condemns killing, while wife says one son escaped , by this family.   Family is expected to bond when a tragic event happens with it and leave it to the media to try and exploit it.   But to just sit there and allow the family of bin Laden to pontificate without challenge makes me even unsure of those we place our faith in to deliver the whole story.   Here is some of the many questions those sons should have been forced to answer. In the article it was reported that “yesterday, the al Qaeda leader's sons denounced what they called their father's "arbitrary killing." In a statement, bin Laden's sons questioned why their father "was not arrested and tried in a court of law so that the truth is revealed to the people of the world." "We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems," the sta...