Negotiating With The Taliban.

[Razgovory]

Tough to criticize a decision by the executive without criticizing the president.

"Republican talking point" seems to be gaining more and more currency among the Democratic pundocracy.  Part and parcel of the ossification of the ability to debate anything on the merits.  Another good one is "it's just common sense."  Hear that one a lot too.

Welcome to 1998.

[Admiral Yi]

It's 2014.

[Valmy]

"Republican talking point" seems to be gaining more and more currency among the Democratic pundocracy.  Part and parcel of the ossification of the ability to debate anything on the merits.  Another good one is "it's just common sense."  Hear that one a lot too.

Again you have a coalition of Democrats and Republicans coming together right to counter executive over-reach but you just ignore that completely and cry about how Democrats are all Obamadrones and won't criticize him.  I mean surely you never expected the Obama loyalists or party stalwarts to start aligning with Republicans did you?  This is absurd.

[Admiral Yi]

Again you have a coalition of Democrats and Republicans coming together right to counter executive over-reach but you just ignore that completely and cry about how Democrats are all Obamadrones and won't criticize him.  I mean surely you never expected the Obama loyalists or party stalwarts to start aligning with Republicans did you?  This is absurd.

I said absolutely nothing of the sort. 

[derspiess]

It's 2014.

Boom.

[Razgovory]

It's 2014.

Says the guy who didn't understand the "Haters gonna Hate", gif.

[Jacob]

Some of them possibly, some of them not. There are also, I expect, some legitimate criticism coming from Republican quarters but it kind of gets lost in the noise of the high-pitched outrage-machine.

What media sources are you following?  As I mentioned earlier, I am unaware of any Republican talking points on this issue.

All the brouhaha about pre-emptively labelling him a deserter is part of the outrage-machine, IMO, and it gets kind of silly when people like FOX's Kimberly Guilfoyle suggests that Bergdahl would have been brought home in a body-bag had former comrades found him. O'Reilly calling Bergdahl's father a muslim because of his beard, and Palin accusing Bergdahl of having "horrid anti-American beliefs" are more of the same.

That whole "he is a deserter" thing is pretty distasteful too, IMO, at the very least until that's been established through proper juridical channels. The fact that the GOP pushed for Bergdahl's release in the past - including people like McCain (and Palin), and including having Bergdahl's father speak at GOP functions - and now it's all about smearing the man because it serves GOP interests to paint him as worthless (so they can attack Obama) is pretty sick.

Graham bringing up impeachment over this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion also.

Certainly, there can be some criticism on the "communicate with Congress" issue, there could also be something to "these guys are too valuable and/or bad to trade" (but from what I've read, they weren't really); but the media is full of Bergdahl's character being besmirched for political purposes and that is being fuelled both by GOP politicians and by aligned political operatives and media people.

[Berkut]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/06/politics/rice-cnn-interview/index.html

Colleville-sur-Mer, FRANCE (CNN) -- President Barack Obama's national security adviser said Friday that her full-throated praise of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was appropriate given the former Taliban prisoner's willingness to go to war for his country -- despite questions about whether or not he deserted his Army colleagues.

  Oh, Susan...

What about all the Conservative praise for him...up until they all got the memo that this was another chance to attack the President?

[Razgovory]

"Todd and I are praying for Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl, his family, and all of his fellow soldiers who are putting their lives on the line to defend our freedom and protect democracy abroad," Governor Palin said. "The capture of Private Bergdahl and the bombings in Jakarta prove that we have not defeated terrorism, and that radical extremists will stop at nothing to attack Westerners and our ideals."

Sarah Palin in 2009

No, Mr. President, a soldier expressing horrid anti-American beliefs – even boldly putting them in writing and unabashedly firing off his messages (http://nypost.com/2014/05/31/the-bizarre-tale-of-americas-last-known-pow/) while in uniform, just three days before he left his unit on foot – is not "honorable service." Unless that is your standard."

Sarah Palin 2014.

She's not the only one.

"Then there is Army SGT Bowe Bergdahl still held by the Islamic terrorist Haqqani network, probably in Pakistan, in the same place where Osama Bin Laden was hiding. This past POW/MIA national day of recognition, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel reiterated a pledge to secure the young Army NCO being held captive, but have there been any actions? Any time, attention, or even mention from the Commander-in-Chief? Nah, no camera highlights in it for him."

Allen West in 2013

"Ladies and gentlemen, I submit that Barack Hussein Obama's unilateral negotiations with terrorists and the ensuing release of their key leadership without consult — mandated by law — with the U.S. Congress represents high crimes and misdemeanors, an impeachable offense.

Allen West in 2014

"The mission to bring our missing soldiers home is one that will never end. It's important that we make every effort to bring this captured soldier home to his family."

James Inhofe in 2013

Well, my response is the president knew fell and well that these are the highest ranking Taliban people in captivity. And that's the issue. It wouldn't make any difference who Bergdahl was. [...] So they should have turned Hitler loose and that would have been the end of the war. No, that's on his face, it didn't pass the smell test."

James Inhofe in 2014

http://thedailybanter.com/2014/06/republicans-sgt-bergdahl-now/  And so on...

[Eddie Teach]

Other than Palin's comments, those don't seem like flip-flops. Basically they're saying "Something needs to be done to get Bergdahl out!" Then "No, not that!"

[Admiral Yi]

All the brouhaha about pre-emptively labelling him a deserter is part of the outrage-machine, IMO, and it gets kind of silly when people like FOX's Kimberly Guilfoyle suggests that Bergdahl would have been brought home in a body-bag had former comrades found him. O'Reilly calling Bergdahl's father a muslim because of his beard, and Palin accusing Bergdahl of having "horrid anti-American beliefs" are more of the same.

Well yeah, if you follow the story on Fox you're going to get a lot of outrage.

I, on the other hand, have been following it mostly on CNN, and have yet to see any outrage.

That whole "he is a deserter" thing is pretty distasteful too, IMO, at the very least until that's been established through proper juridical channels. The fact that the GOP pushed for Bergdahl's release in the past - including people like McCain (and Palin), and including having Bergdahl's father speak at GOP functions - and now it's all about smearing the man because it serves GOP interests to paint him as worthless (so they can attack Obama) is pretty sick.

Disagree on these two.  Members of his platoon came forward after the exchange was announced to express their opinions about Bergdahl's actions.  I don't need to wait for a court verdict before I can start forming an opinion on whether he deserted or not.

The people who changed their tune were, AFAIK, unaware of the desertion allegation when they pushed for his release.  It would be very peculiar if they did *not* change their stance when that came to light.

Graham bringing up impeachment over this is pretty ridiculous in my opinion also.

I'm a little iffyer on this one.  I have read somewhere that members of Congress feel like they were lied to by the White House.  That's not a joking matter.

[Razgovory]

Other than Palin's comments, those don't seem like flip-flops. Basically they're saying "Something needs to be done to get Bergdahl out!" Then "No, not that!"

I screwed up Inhofe's comment.  Last year he was saying that every thing should be done to get Bergdahl back.

[Razgovory]

Yi, as far as I know Bergdahl has not been convicted of anything, it would be inappropriate to take the tack of "Leave him to die" for an American citizen who has only been accused of something.

[Admiral Yi]

Yi, as far as I know Bergdahl has not been convicted of anything, it would be inappropriate to take the tack of "Leave him to die" for an American citizen who has only been accused of something.

I get the sense you think this somehow rebuts something that I wrote.

[Admiral Yi]

You know Jake, I think I misinterpreted your statement.  I read it to mean *discussion* of Bergdahl is dominated by GOP outrage, whereas now I'm thinking you mean GOP criticism is dominated by loopy outrage.