Fisking Bin Laden
[Guest post by DRJ]
Is it possible to fisk an Osama Bin Laden videotape? Absolutely, and NRO’s James S. Robbins shows us how:
“The new bin Laden videotape is a great disappointment. No new threats, no new deals, just a new beard, if it is even real. Apart from being dyed, the shape is a departure from previous styles, and it looks a bit too full on the sides. Losing his beard would of course be counter to the Islamist orthodoxy, but the requirements of the life of the fugitive will out. Hasn’t al Qaeda instructed its operatives to shave, wear Western clothes, and hang out at strip clubs to allay suspicion?
His speech, such as it is, is an interesting fusion of pseudo-Marxism and standard Islamism, sprinkled with political sound bites that rob the address of whatever seriousness it might aspire to. The real terrorism is global warming and the failure to observe Kyoto! Please. And the bit about how Americans are suffering under credit card-debt and mortgage payments — it’s like his speech team is cribbing from the presidential debates. I really expect more from a terrorist mastermind.“
Much more at the link …
As an old guy pushing 60, let me assure you that beards (which I have always had for maybe 30 years) do not get THICKER in your old age.
Check the old picks of OBL, the check area was always thin and sparce.
I have a Santa Clause style beard now, but it is still thinner than years ago.
I say photoshop or a stage beard.
Heck even the mustache looks crappy.
SlimGuy (ea6549) — 9/8/2007 @ 3:18 pmDurn that was supposed to be cheek area.
SlimGuy (ea6549) — 9/8/2007 @ 3:18 pmI don’t believe for one second that the video is authentic. Bin Laden’s dead and had been for years, in my opinion.
Jerri Lynn Ward (bf2d8c) — 9/8/2007 @ 5:25 pmThis sure seems more interesting:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/09/wladen109.xml
steve (6810ef) — 9/8/2007 @ 7:03 pmFriday night on NBC Nightly News Brian Williams had some obvious fun declaring that OBL was now a pundit.
And, from another point of view, Andrew Sullivan’s post is worth reading, if you haven’t seen it:
kishnevi (0ffb02) — 9/8/2007 @ 8:20 pmhttp://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/09/queer-eye-for-t.html
K,
Did you notice the ad at your Andrew Sullivan link? It’s a “Just For Men” mustache, beard and sideburn dye to cover grey.
DRJ (2afbca) — 9/8/2007 @ 8:23 pmCancel that – AS put the ad there. I thought the advertiser was blogger-friendly but, sadly, no.
DRJ (2afbca) — 9/8/2007 @ 8:25 pmI’d rather we were frisking him. Just don’t make ME do it….
Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 9/8/2007 @ 10:44 pmWhere’s MD in Philly when you need him? Don’t some immunosuppressants which OBL would be on if he had a kidney transplant do weird things to hair?
nk (0c0cd0) — 9/10/2007 @ 6:30 amI could have sworn I heard on the radio that this video had Osama bitching about how the Democrats had been elected to end the war but Donald Rumsfeld paid no price. Assuming the report and my memory are right (two big assumptions, I’ll grant), that sounds like Osama made a bunch of videos a couple of years back to handle every anticipated contingency – and dumping Rumsfeld wasn’t one of them.
Xrlq (6c2116) — 9/10/2007 @ 4:04 pm