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Another Surge of Stupid from Powerline
Well, Power Tool regular Paul (”Deacon”) Mirengoff has decided to emulate his fellow Power Tool blogger Ass Rocket by bending over, grabbing his ankles, pointing his butt towards the heavens and launching another projectile of teh stupid into the blogosphere:
I wrote here about Abdullah Saleh al-Ajmi, “a former Guantanamo detainee who carried out a recent suicide bombing in Mosul.” There are two main theories as to why he did this: (1) he was a terrorist all along and naturally reverted to terrorism upon his release or (2) he was not a terrorist before and conditions at Gitmo drove him into being one.
It’s pretty clear which theory the Washington Post favors. … :
A Kuwaiti man who complained about maltreatment during a three-year stay in the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was involved in a deadly suicide bombing in northern Iraq last month, the U.S. military confirmed yesterday.
In the Post’s telling, the man’s complaint gets first billing. In fact, he’s not even referred to as a detainee … he’s just a Kuwaiti man on a “stay.”
So you won’t have to click through the link to the WaPo story, here is where Ajmi is “not even referred to as a detainee”:
Ex-Guantanamo Detainee Joined Iraq Suicide Attack
That would be just the headline of the story. And here they don’t call him a detainee again:
The suicide bombing is the first such attack in Iraq linked to a former Guantanamo detainee.
Go to the article yourself and count the number of times it uses the word “detainee,” and you’ll discover that Mirengoff apparently can’t read, or count, or both.
But the stupidity has only started:
The thesis that abusive conditions at Gitmo are turning peaceable men into suicide bombers strikes me as dubious. But suppose conditions there really have been that bad. In that scenario, if we’re still serious about fighting terrorism and saving innocent lives we’d be crazy to release any of the detainees, regardless of whether we have evidence of prior involvement with terrorism … .
If someone was a terrorist before he went into Gitmo, we can’t release him. And if he wasn’t, he still can’t be released because, well, we’ve probably turned him into one. Heads we win; tails they lose — the perfect wingnut wager.
MzNicky said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:44
Hey — that robot’s arm looks like a dryer-vent hose. I don’t think it’s real.
Social Scientists said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:45
*Slap foreheads*
This is how we can cut the rate of recidivism among prisoners!
MzNicky said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:51
So what he’s saying is, just go ahead and detain all Iraqiranians, then when they turn into terrorists, which doesn’t happen, don’t release them, because now they’re terrorists fer shure.
…”strikes me as dubious.”
Yeah, I’d like to strike him dubious.
sfHeath said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:53
not to pick nits, but the Powerline page says “Posted by Paul” not John. Love the robot photo, though.
Satan's Dirty Underwear said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:55
Curses! Another of my minions foiled by Teh NO!
Warshow said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:58
Ringo, George, whoever wrote it, they’re all masticating the corndog of truth into unrecognizable mush.
What?
mikey said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:58
I really love the “they’re not treated badly” meme.
You know, they eat better than you and me? They have regular exercise and health and dental care?
Shee-it.
It’s odd that these assclowns don’t mention that they’re being held without charge and without recourse and with NO CONTACT with family, friends or any support, no due process, for YEARS!
Hey assrocket? I find it funny you talk about how well these guys are being treated, but you sure ain’t volunteering to go there yourself.
So don’t tell us how pleasant the conditions are, fuckhead…
mikey
Me said,
May 10, 2008 at 21:59
Aside from every other consideration, can someone explain just what actionable intelligence a person might have who’s been cut off from the outside world for several years? Thanks.
Clif said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:03
Shit. You’re right. We’ll fix it. Be right back.
His Grace said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:04
Me: Remember, the terrorists can communicate by blinking. Who knows what fiendish plots they have cooked up, even under the government’s watchful eye?
Clif said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:39
Post fixed.
MzNicky said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:43
Yeah, but I miss the robot caveman guy.
billy pilgrim said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:50
I don’t know, Mr. Psycho Robot Bunny is pretty good….
Blue Buddha said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:52
He has a difficult time counting his balls.
Susan of Texas said,
May 10, 2008 at 22:53
This guy is so stupid that he takes Douglas Feith at his word.
Would that make him the stupidest man in the galaxy?
Monty Python's Election Night Special said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:03
I think I know where this photo is from: The Annual Carnival of the Stupid
GSD said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:08
Ah sweet conservative justice.
Let’s not forget that one day in jail was just too much for poor Lewis Scooter Libby to suffer.
Rule of law, rule of law.
-GSD
Doctorb Science said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:11
You know, it strikes me that if we were really serious about preventing terrorism and saving innocent lives, we’d lock up absolutely everybody. Or, since that isn’t quite practical, we could inductively define everywhere to be a prison, thus solving the problem entirely.
People might still be attacked, but those are basically jailhouse shankings, which would be of far less concern than attacks on innocent people.
J— said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:12
Power Line Forum—where they bring the funny.
MajorKong said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:22
Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!!! The stupid!!!!!! It burns!!!!!!!!!!!!
gbear said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:38
Sorry Clif and J-. Life is just too short to follow links to Powerline. I will trust you that it’s bad.
alan said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:40
From the same Post story:
“In 2006, Ajmi was tried in a Kuwaiti court, along with a group of other alleged terrorists, but was acquitted and released. Defense officials said he apparently had been living a “productive life” in Kuwait since his release, and an attorney for him in the United States said yesterday that Ajmi had fathered a child shortly after returning home. … Ajmi was held at Guantanamo until late 2005, when he was transferred to the custody of the Kuwaiti government as part of a diplomatic arrangement. In hearings at Guantanamo, Ajmi maintained his innocence and said he never fought with the Taliban or meant anyone any harm.”
Obviously he was a terrorist all along. We can deduce this from the total absence of facts.
We’re these clowns once lawyers?
alan said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:41
sorry, “weren’t”
Smut Clyde said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:46
one day in jail was just too much for poor Lewis Scooter Libby to suffer
The abusive conditions and long-term solitary confinement would have radicalised him.
STH said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:50
Don’t you think this vicious little twit needs a party hat, too? I see him in one of those “Ride of the Valkyries” horned numbers . . . or, maybe, considering what he’s advocating here, he should get the whole tinpot dictator treatment: military uniform with lots of braid and medals, big cigar, mirrored shades . . . .
J— said,
May 10, 2008 at 23:51
I give Mirengoff credit for going with the adverb-verb 1-2 punch of “naturally reverted.” It has a nice Cesare Lombroso vibe to it that for me that fits Power Line nicely.
jon said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:19
See? The system works.
We just need a lot more black holes.
Snorghagen said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:32
That’s not his fault. It’s always difficult to find and count objects of extremely small size.
Bob said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:34
Sometimes we have to destroy the village in order to save it.
Ripley said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:36
Two kinds of fruit! TWO KINDS OF FRUIT!!!
Arky H8r of VürdPress said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:43
Fixed.
Smut Clyde said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:50
The thesis that abusive conditions in prisons are turning peaceable men into gang members strikes me as dubious. But suppose conditions there really have been that bad. In that scenario, if we’re still serious about fighting crime and saving innocent lives we’d be crazy to release anyone from death row, regardless of any DNA evidence that proves their innocence.
nightjar said,
May 11, 2008 at 0:55
Self sustaining prisons, wave of the future. Think of the jobs created by guarding the innocent made guilty from abuse.
Jas said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:08
I’m sure I can’t be the first to have heard of this can I?
Mark “The Human” Steyn going on trial for hate speech??
Buddy "Seven Diamonds" Moleman said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:09
Think of those chinese Uighur shepherds that were incarcerated for years, even after they were deemed innocent of terror dealings. They’ve certainly by now become gangster/shepherds, procuring ewe-ho’s and dealing dip-dime-bags packing nine millemeter shears. Somebody call the philadelphia police.
Jas said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:10
And do you notice that, as quick as they are to say that people, once interred, should never come out, but say nothing about the converse, whereby we should also refrain from detaining anyone else, lest we make them into a terrorist.
Buddy "Seven Diamonds" Moleman said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:16
There is a precedent at Powerline. They were all arrested by a deputy sherriff at a bar for ‘being stupid’, and after they were released they went right out and got stupid all over again. They had even promised the deputy that they had learned a lesson and weren’t stupid anymore.
Buddy "Seven Diamonds" Moleman said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:23
Do they know at Powerline that ewe-ho’s like assertive American guys. TIDOS Yankee says ewe-ho’s smell like lamb chops and play-doh. They ba-aaa-aang you long time.
Smut Clyde said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:26
The thesis that abusive and isolated conditions in asylums are turning normal people into imbeciles and schizophrenics strikes me as dubious. But suppose conditions there really have been that bad. In that scenario, if we’re still serious about fighting insanity and raising the average IQ we’d be crazy to release anyone from the back ward, regardless of whether we have evidence of prior mental problems.
Fozzetti said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:28
Conservative guys have no idea how to dress, do they? I mean the guy in front; the others are SNAAAAAzy!
Snorghagen said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:45
We’d be crazy to release anyone who could produce evidence of just how crazy we really are. That being the case, we have no choice but to place ourselves under arrest.
g said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:49
Hey guys, sadly regulars. Remember my posts a little while ago about my friend Z, who’s 16 and had a heart attack? He spent 3 months in the hospital, and then his family took him home & were trying to help him with therapy, etc. He was unconscious, unresponsive.
He has had some respiratory problems. Last night he died, just before midnight.
it’s so sad.
Some Guy said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:51
Fuck it. Wordpress didn’t let me post because it doesn’t want to hold my Name info. Which is fine, because I hit submit before I got a chance to edit spelling and stuff, but still.
Perhaps Mr. Mirengoff would like to spend three years of his life in, say, a Russian or Chinese prison, with no contact to the outside world or loved ones, and see how he feels about Russia or China afterwards.
J— said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:53
Thanks for the update, g. Sorry for Z’s passing. My condolences to his family.
mikey said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:56
I’m very sorry, g.
I’ll not provide much in the way of additional commentary, as people regularly find my discussion of the death of those around us to be unduly harsh, and it’s fair to say I’ve had to develop some hardened responses to fatal events.
But the key here, if I may, is the living. You bury the dead, but the rest of you have to live on, with another rock in your ruck. Please take care of those in his tribe, and don’t forget to find some peace and beauty, even perhaps a smile through the tears, for you and yours…
mikey
stryx said,
May 11, 2008 at 1:57
Just read something over at FDL about the new and improved methods BushCo is using to rape the Constitution and I followed a link to a Newsweek article about how some people who should have been sent to the Gitmo of 1985 are at it again.
This is some kind of joke where Ledeen and Ghorbanifar, yes motherfcking Manucher Ghorbanifar, are getting together to invent some evidence to use to justify a US attack on Iran.
Why is this still happening? Why aren’t both of those two being traded for smokes in Pelican Bay? Is it because the US is too busy locking up hapless Afghanis?
stryx said,
May 11, 2008 at 2:13
Went back and reread- I now understand that we’re just learning the details about how fckded up some stupid shit was that happened in 2001-2003.
The point still stands: why aren’t Ledeen and Ghorbanifar tossing salads for a living? Why didn’t the stars of Iran-Contra get the same treatment we’re giving random Muslims?
stryx said,
May 11, 2008 at 2:19
Sorry for being such an oblivious, crude twit, g.
My condolences to you and the family.
Gundamhead said,
May 11, 2008 at 2:58
Shorter Paul ”Deacon” Mirengoff: My simultaneous pants pissing terror and lust for violent domination of others by proxy is something I’m proud to show the world.
MzNicky said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:06
Jas: Hey man, better safe than sorry.
g: Sorry about your friend. What mikey said. My dad passed on two weeks ago. Love the living while we, and they, are here. That’s all we can do.
El Cid said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:09
Holy sh*t, but I gotta give it up for the Power Tools: that’s just darned impressive, above and beyond the Call of Doody type crazy.
Pamela Troy said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:12
I’m reminded of a line from Catch-22. Aarfy has just raped a young Italian girl and killed her by throwing her from a window. When Yossarian confronts him with this Aarfy explains, “I had to. I’d just raped her. I couldn’t let her go around saying bad things about me, could I?”
g said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:22
Thank you all. I think my sorrow about Z is mostly a kind of existential sorrow. Injured people die; it is probably best that people who are so seriously injured that they cannot have a good life die. I have no quarrel with that. See: Terri Schiavo.
But how fucked up is it that someone who is 16 years old is one minute vital and full of health and running on a track at his high school, and the next minute is at the point of dying because his heart has just stopped beating?
Karen Hughes said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:22
So we stuff them full of Orange Glazed Chicken and Rice Pilaf, let them play futbol to their heart’s content….and this is the thanks we get!?…..Hmph……Oh…hold on…….Abaya!!….did I not just tell you to put down that swiffer and see to the children!…….Alright, fine…..I’m dialing the INS again!…I warned you!…..good…..and stop that blubbering too!…..you sound like an Italian, for Heaven’s sake!….Now…sorry…..where were we?
Karen Hughes said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:33
And General Franks was being kind about Doug Feith being the “fucking stupidest guy on the face of the earth!!” It’s long been an ‘open secret’ that he’s the stupidest guy in the entire Alpha Quadrant!! Even Species#6942 is well aware of his reputation.
tontocal said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:35
damn….forgot to change back agin!!
J— said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:36
My God, Rugged in Montana is right!
Picture here.
mikey said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:38
But how fucked up is it that someone who is 16 years old is one minute vital and full of health and running on a track at his high school, and the next minute is at the point of dying because his heart has just stopped beating?
Yep.
How many 19 and 20 year olds stopped a hot piece of metal or a sharp blade in the millenia since somebody decided that it made some kind of mad sense to kill people in an organized and industrial fashion in order to make them see things your way.
I saw children ripped apart without ever having the chance to live.
Jeezus, I coulda BEEN one of them.
We regularly slammed them with too much morphine when the worst possible outcome would have been to survive.
It’s a harsh and unforgiving planet. And people aren’t doing anything to make it better. So you gotta wonder. When we can see a path to a better, peaceful world where our children learn and grow, and the enemies are disease and poverty, and the challenges are resource allocation and justice, what the fuck is WRONG with us?
mikey
tontocal said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:40
Sorry about your friend g…..so sad
Susan of Texas said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:43
My condolances too. It’s so hard when kids die.
g said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:44
I know mikey. I look at that picture that’s out there of the little Iraqi girl covered in her parents’ blood crying.
You could take what i said and change it to - But how fucked up is it that someone who is 6 years old is one minute vital and full of health and riding in a car feeling safe with her mother, and the next minute is covered with the blood of her parents who were saughtered in their car because they didn’t understand the order to stop?
It’s fucked up.
I just feel so sad that he died - no wait. I don’t feel sad that he died, because it was inevitable. I feel so sad that the thing that struck him down - like a lightning bolt - struck him down in the first place.
J— said,
May 11, 2008 at 3:51
It hurts to think of parents burying their teenage kids. It doesn’t seem right.
henry lewis said,
May 11, 2008 at 5:11
Seattle times on Steyn:
A bellicose champion of the West, Steyn predicts in his new book, “America Alone,” that Muslims will swarm over Europe
The champion of bedwetting.
In Canada, the law makes such questions the government’s decision.
Gross exaggeration. Citizens complain, a tribunal is held, all sides argue. A slap on the wrist may or may not be ordered. Enforcement is likewise slack.
henry lewis said,
May 11, 2008 at 5:21
Oh….
I jumped ahead and posted. I’ll post again.
My condolences, g.
16 years old. How unfair.
MzNicky said,
May 11, 2008 at 5:54
Think of the jobs created by guarding the innocent made guilty from abuse.
And as all capitalists know, the creation of jobs is the most important endeavor ever.
OneMan said,
May 11, 2008 at 7:08
g, sorry to hear of your friend. We should all give those we love an extra hug tonight.
And I agree that Steyn shouldn’t be prosecuted. He should be mocked and humiliated, just like all of these asshats.
ed said,
May 11, 2008 at 7:35
But suppose conditions there really have been that bad. In that scenario, if we’re still serious about fighting terrorism and saving innocent lives we’d be crazy to release any of the detainees, regardless of whether we have evidence of prior involvement with terrorism … .
Godwin’s Law ought not apply in this instance.
Andrew A. Gill, SLS said,
May 11, 2008 at 7:36
Not only can’t he count, but he apparently can’t count to 1.
protected static said,
May 11, 2008 at 7:46
I’m sorry, g.
Wish I had more to offer…
Prospero said,
May 11, 2008 at 8:17
Terrorist just hate you for your freedoms!
Like, freedom to imprison innocent people, for example…
Prospero said,
May 11, 2008 at 9:10
*Terrorists
Smut Clyde said,
May 11, 2008 at 9:22
a hot piece of metal or a sharp blade in the millenia
[English comedian]
Oo-err. Sounds painful.
[/English comedian]
Smut Clyde said,
May 11, 2008 at 9:33
In light of Mirengoff’s enthusiasm for the culture of incarceration, can I suggest that any future pictures of him should be phopped into one of Piranesi’s ‘Carceri’?
Note for Mikey: That is not a depiction of the guest-room here at Maison D’Etre.
Doodle Bean said,
May 11, 2008 at 12:54
Wow. Rugged was right somehow?!?!?! That’s the real news here.
My condolences, g.
dim-witted badger said,
May 11, 2008 at 13:56
FUCKING pelicans.
To quote…
Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s running and screaming.
WereBear said,
May 11, 2008 at 17:33
I’m so sorry, g.
The younger the person is, the harder. We feel they did not get good value.
MileHi Hawkeye said,
May 11, 2008 at 19:18
So sorry for your loss g.
Speaking as someone who wasn’t supposed to live to see 14, I know how hard it is on the family and friends–especially the parents. I can only hope they (and you) take comfort in their memories and the fact that he is no longer suffering.
DB said,
May 11, 2008 at 21:56
If someone was a terrorist before he went into Gitmo, we can’t release him. And if he wasn’t, he still can’t be released because, well, we’ve probably turned him into one. Heads we win; tails they lose — the perfect wingnut wager.
Stephen Colbert came to the same conclusion after debating himself in Formidable Opponent.
tensor said,
May 11, 2008 at 22:49
Let’s not forget that one day in jail was just too much for poor Lewis Scooter Libby to suffer.
But if he went to jail, and then had sex with some guy, the Religious Right would demand his incarceration for homosexuality. And since he’s a Republican, we would never know if he’d secretly been having homosex before going to The Big House. So, the only way to keep him out of jail is to keep him out of jail. Since this post shows that getting detained indefinitely has nothing to do with actual crimes, we can see the advantages. Right?
Smut Clyde said,
May 11, 2008 at 23:56
Sez the Wikipedia:
So 775 people were rounded up at random and detained for long periods in violation of every human right. US officials admit that there is no reason to suspect about 700 of them, though nearly 300 no-evidence cases are still detained due to administrative inertia or the potential embarrassment of releasing them. Meanwhile, of the 420 people who have been released, one has been linked to a bomb attack, though it is not clear whether his anti-US feelings predated or were a result of his detention.
Mirengoff concludes that it would therefore be crazy to ever release any of the nearly 300 no-evidence-but-still-detained prisoners. It is not clear whether he also wants to re-arrest the 420 released ones.
I am going to write a Living Will, against the possibility that an accident or old age leaves me morally dead and I am reduced to making arguments like that, authorising my family to euthanase me quietly and use my body parts for transplants.
bago said,
May 12, 2008 at 0:50
Not as fucked up as some asshole you invited for free beer and scotch blowing away a bunch of your friends with a shotgun and pistol. Some people are just fucking assholes.
being released said,
May 12, 2008 at 19:18
In that scenario, if we’re still serious about fighting terrorism and saving innocent lives we’d be crazy to release any of the detainees, regardless of whether we have evidence of prior involvement with terrorism … .
This logic, I think, is actually used in the American criminal justice system. In the novel, The Animal Factory, by Edward “Mr Blue in Reservoir Dogs” Bunker a guy in prison for dealing drugs becomes violent in order to protect himself. When up for sentence adjustment, the judge says “You may not have been violent before, but now you are and we can’t let you out.” I realize this is just a novel, but Bunker spent decades in prison and knew what he was talking about.
Not saying this isn’t crazy talk, just that it’s road tested crazy talk.