Patterico's Pontifications

1/17/2017

President Obama And Today’s Commutations

Filed under: General — Dana @ 5:41 pm



[guest post by Dana]

So, this happened:

President Obama commuted the vast majority of former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence for leaking classified documents, the White House announced Tuesday.

Manning is more than six years into a 35-year sentence at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas for leaking classified government and military documents to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Her sentence is now set to expire May 17.

Manning was known as Bradley Manning at the time of her 2010 arrest, but revealed after being convicted of espionage that she identifies as a woman.

Manning accepted responsibility for leaking the material to WikiLeaks to raise public awareness about the effects of war on civilians, and has said she was confronting gender dysphoria at the time of the leaks while deployed in Iraq.

How do Democrats, who have vociferously argued that election interference by the Russians and Wikileaks handed Trump the election (and his illegitimacy presidency), square that with President Obama’s decision today?

David French points out the truth of the matter and the immensity of Manning’s actions:

He disclosed details of American military operations, the identities of American military allies, and placed sensitive American diplomatic relationships at risk. We may never know exactly how much damage he did. No matter how troubled Manning is (and he’s certainly troubled), he breached faith with his brothers in arms. Armies depend on bonds of trust, and he knowingly and intentionally placed lives in danger by indiscriminately placing our nation’s secrets in the public domain. He risked American lives. He risked allied lives. It’s not that long ago that actions like Manning’s would merit execution, and he should be grateful that he merely received a 35 year sentence. Instead, however, both the Times and the Obama administration treat him more like a messed-up kid than a soldier who betrayed his nation.

Amusingly, according to The New York Times, President Obama rescued both Manning and the Department of Defense from a complicated situation:

The commutation also relieved the Department of Defense of the difficult responsibility of her incarceration as she pushes for treatment for her gender dysphoria — including sex reassignment surgery — that the military has no experience providing.

No word on whether taxpayers will still be on the hook for Manning’s surgery…

According to CNN, here is the president’s rationale for the commutation: Manning accepted responsibility. Manning expressed remorse. Manning had already served six years and received a long sentence.

Also announced today, yet overshadowed by the Manning news, is this:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of Oscar Lopez Rivera, who was serving 70 years in prison for his role in an organization that plotted bombings, prison escapes and armed robberies in an effort to secure independence for Puerto Rico.

With Obama’s commutation, Lopez Rivera will leave prison May 17.

You can read more about the heinous actions of Lopez Rivera and FALN here:

Now 74-years old, López Rivera has served 35 years of a 55-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and weapons-related charges. “I am an enemy of the United States government,” he told federal judge Thomas McMillen in 1983. There is no evidence that he’s changed his mind.

During the 1970s and 80s, López Rivera’s FALN placed more than 130 bombs in American cities. Their goal was to destabilize what they called the “Yanki capitalist monopoly” and achieve Puerto Rican independence. Their method was terrorism.

In 1974, the FALN began planting booby-trap bombs around New York. While most of these early explosions caused only property damage, the group’s clear intention was to kill and maim. In December 1974, an NYPD officer responding to a report of a dead body in an abandoned building on 110th St. was seriously injured by an FALN incendiary device.

In January 1975, a 10-pound dynamite bomb killed four people and injured dozens at Fraunces Tavern. The powerful blast was felt blocks away. In an eerie foreshadowing of 9/11, dust-covered victims staggered through downtown streets. The FALN quickly took responsibility for the deadly deed.

When a Chicago apartment serving as the FALN’s bomb-making factory was raided in November 1976, authorities learned the names of the group’s leadership. López Rivera and several associates became fugitives.

On Aug. 3, 1977, the FALN struck again in a coordinated attack in Midtown. An alert office worker at 342 Madison Ave., near 43rd St., noticed a suspicious package and evacuated the building. No one was hurt in the subsequent blast.

Oddly, there was no word from the White House about Lopez Rivera being remorseful and accepting responsibility for his actions.

–Dana

131 Responses to “President Obama And Today’s Commutations”

  1. In a rush, but wanted to get this up.

    President Obama is determined to keep flipping the bird at America on his way out the door.

    Dana (023079)

  2. He was just recognizing a fellow community organizer like bill ayers

    narciso (d1f714)

  3. He is a despicable little Mau Mau.

    nk (dbc370)

  4. he needs to be careful not to smear the signature on the commutation document by oozing her tranny juices all over it

    that happened to my cousin once and she had to stay in jail until her spleen got funky and they let him out cause of the smell

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  5. Their goal was to destabilize what they called the “Yanki capitalist monopoly”

    Hmm… This reminds of someone…

    Dana (023079)

  6. President Obama commuted *the vast majority of former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence* for leaking classified documents, the White House announced Tuesday.

    That was actually published by Fox News. “the vast majority of … prison sentence. They are illiterate as well as stupid.

    nk (dbc370)

  7. Panther, flan, aim , I. The case of pettier (what am I chopped liver) he’s wondering. Recall the first iteration was done by the Clinton admunistration

    narciso (d1f714)

  8. leaky trannies is redundant

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  9. I was in a rush, nk!

    Dana (023079)

  10. Manning might qualify to be a Waffle House waitress with an 83 from the Health Department.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  11. Cut! Lighting change!

    And The Donald says, ‘thank you.’
    And the CIA says, ‘damn you.’
    And Lewis says, “I’m ready for my close-up now, Mr. DeMille.”

    Cowboy: “Is this a game of chance?” Twillie: “Not the way I play it. No.” – Cuthbert J. Twillie [W.C. Fields] ‘My Little Chickadee’ 1940

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  12. Now, I will admit that I would give Katherine Archuleta a longer sentence. I’d take her out anhd shoot her if I could. She was head of the Office of Personnel Management (appointed as a sinecure post for work on Obama’s re-election) at the time 21 million SF-86 clearance questionnaires were left lying around for the Chinese to take. The information was MUCH more than credit info. They required one to list all kinds of personal information (sexual, travel, organizations, etc) under penalty of super-perjury. Plus fingerprints. And they didn’t bother to encrypt it at all. Despite being warned multiple times that they were3 a hack waiting to happen, they waited for it to happen and it did.

    I believe she’s collecting her pension as we speak. So the Bradley Chelsea Manning thing is just par for the course.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  13. President Obama prefers reducing the sentence to make someone eligible for release, but not releasing someone right away. He also did about a quarter as many outright pardons.

    He also pardoned retired Marine Corps general James Cartwright, who was charged with crimes related to leaked information about the Stuxnet computer virus.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/us/politics/obama-pardons-james-cartwright-general-who-lied-to-fbi-in-leak-case.html

    But in a background briefing with reporters, a senior White House official said Mr. Obama had made his decision in part because of General Cartwright’s description of his motive, as well as because of a letter by Mr. Sanger saying that he had already learned about the program before speaking to the general and that the conversation with the general informed his thinking about which information to withhold.

    In a statement, Mr. Sanger said he was “happy to see that President Obama has taken this step,” reiterating that he had had “many sources, from around the world” and that General Cartwright had “showed concern that information damaging to U.S. interests not be made public.”

    Mr. Sanger added: “The Times has frequently said that stories like this one are critical to helping Americans understand how decisions on vital national security matters are made. Leak investigations have the effect of making people less willing to talk, and the result is often a loss for our democracy.”

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  14. This is different from the macheteros, that were explicitly were backed the Cuban dig.

    narciso (d1f714)

  15. Right sanger probably got it from donilon, the first rule of fight club

    narciso (d1f714)

  16. nk@6 Re: “The vast majority of Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence”

    What’s the word that Fox News should have used instead of “majority?”

    Maybe you have to get rid of “vast” too.

    The cliche expert says “vast” always goes with “majority” like “Q” goes with “U”

    “Overwhelming portion?”

    That’s maybe not right either.

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  17. Lions share, he’s served about 14% of his sentence.

    narciso (d1f714)

  18. The FALN bombing at the Fraunces Tavern complex killed and maimed innocent people and was an assault not just on New York but on American History. And yeah I’m pissed Lopez Rivera got a commutation. I mean, WTF????

    On November 25, 1783, British troops left New York City – the last American city to be occupied. This day would later be referred to as Evacuation Day. George Washington led his Continental Army in a parade from Bull’s Head Tavern in the Bowery to Cape’s Tavern on Broadway and Wall Street. New York Governor George Clinton’s Evacuation Day celebration was held at Fraunces Tavern. During the week of Evacuation Day George Washington was in the City, and he made use of the Tavern by dining in and ordering take-out.

    On December 4, 1783, nine days after the last British soldiers left American soil, George Washington invited the officers of the Continental Army to join him in the Long Room of Fraunces Tavern so he could say farewell. The best known account of this emotional leave-taking comes from the Memoirs of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, written in 1830 and now in the collection of Fraunces Tavern Museum.
    The officers escorted Washington from the Tavern to the Whitehall wharf, where he boarded a barge that took him to Paulus Hook, (now Jersey City) New Jersey. Washington continued to Annapolis, where the Continental Congress was meeting, and resigned his commission.

    elissa (aba3e1)

  19. That was not you, Dana! It was Fox! You know how to write.

    Seriously, Sammy? How about “29 years of … 35-year sentence”?

    nk (dbc370)

  20. Six months after Manning accepts a job at KFC, Julia Assange releases Colonel Sander’s 11 secret herbs and spices.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  21. “remaining 29 years of … 35-year sentence”?

    nk (dbc370)

  22. Another member of the faln leadership Carlos Torres was released in 210

    narciso (d1f714)

  23. @16 Sammy

    More like half-vast.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  24. Bt you want something that says “most of” “the largest portion of” of the sentence. Without having to give a number.

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  25. “Lion’s share” That’s it!

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  26. Ok. “The vastly greater part of”.

    nk (dbc370)

  27. Who was that cop killin’ biotch who was lurking down in Cuba?

    Give us your murders, your traitors and your a-holes aching to break free

    free at last free at last free at last

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  28. Talk about a Golden Shower.

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  29. Assata shaker, they aren’t giving her up.

    narciso (d1f714)

  30. == “The vastly greater part of”.==

    Or, The bigly part of

    elissa (aba3e1)

  31. When is that jackwagon Nidal Hassan getting his virgins?

    The Army should have no problem building a wheelchair ramp on the side of a gallows.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  32. Shaker?

    I damn near rekt her.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  33. If I were googling her I’d go with Assata Shakur AKA Joanne Chesimard.

    elissa (aba3e1)

  34. i wonder what captain chickpea has in store for wednesday

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  35. Let’s salt the ground and free all the traitors as we head out the door. All hopeee-changey and shi+.

    Scott Pelley spoke of mercy and forgiveness tonight…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  36. Yes that’s the one, autocorrect flagged.

    narciso (d1f714)

  37. i feel like i should know who this Scott Pelley is

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  38. I’d wrap her in duct tape, bring her to a Federal Prison and call her Etch-a-Scetch.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  39. Not worth a frappacino pikachu.

    narciso (d1f714)

  40. Yeah, Scott Pelley, I think we’re gonna go in a different direction. Show no mercy.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  41. The first thing Holder did coming in the door was take a knee on the Philly voter intimidation case.

    I wonder what Sessions has teed up?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  42. He has a few more days to make it worse…
    http://lidblog.com/obama-appoints-ben-rhodes/

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  43. He’s saving the announcement of the commutations of Leonard Peltier and The Blind Shiekh for 11:59AM on Friday, when it will end up getting buried by the ensuing Trumpmania which will occupy America for the entire weekend.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  44. A pardon for Berghdal??

    Dana (023079)

  45. If he pardons Bergdahl we will know for certain that he is absolutely flicking his middle finger to the military.

    elissa (aba3e1)

  46. His atty works the lgbt angle for the aclu, not the traitorous beat, a distinction without a diffence

    narciso (d1f714)

  47. Lin-Maniel Miranda says he will reclaim his title role of Alexander Hamilton in Chicago’s production of the musical Hamilton for one night only–the night Oscar Lopez Rivera attends –in honor of the commutation of Oscar Lopez Rivera’s sentence by President Obama. Miranda last played the title role in New York In July 2016. “Hamilton” opened in October in Chicago, led by Miguel Cervantes.

    Lin- Manuel Miranda tweeted from London that he is “sobbing in gratitude”
    http://wgntv.com/2017/01/17/lin-manuel-miranda-says-he-will-play-hamilton-for-oscar-lopez-rivera/

    elissa (aba3e1)

  48. So Lopez Rivera is light in the huaraches too?

    nk (dbc370)

  49. So is the assumption that members of the LGBT community and the Puerto Rican community don’t actually perceive Manning and Rivera as criminals who did wrong?

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  50. I don’t think so, but that kind of direct action, is prized in the environs where Miranda inhabits

    narciso (d1f714)

  51. Of course mayor bane is celebrating, probably doc brown as well,

    narciso (d1f714)

  52. 48… now that was funny, nk. Hat tip.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  53. I’m old enough to remember when Barack believed that Scooter Libby deserved prison time!

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/07/12/barack-obama-stirs-race-issue-with-reference-to-libby-commutation.html

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  54. Perhaps since Mr Manning’s commutation doesn’t take effect until May, the documents will be slow in transmission, and won’t be finalized until after noon on Friday. Then President Trump can call a halt to it, just as James Madison refused to deliver William Marbury’s commission to be a Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia.

    Yeah, I know: that probably won’t happen, and wouldn’t work if it did happen. But Mr Manning’s sentence wasn’t too long; it was too short, and he should rot in prison until the day he draws his final breath.

    The (slightly) hopeful Dana (1b79fa)

  55. ==Scott Pelley spoke of mercy and forgiveness tonight…==

    And NBC website is headlining “Some Big Names Got a Measure of Mercy From President Obama”

    I love it when out of all the words in the English dictionary and during the same couple of hours, two media outlets coincidentally came up with the exact same word to describe the president’s commutations and pardons.

    Saaay, I just had a thought. You don’t suppose some one like, suggested that they use “mercy” do you? Nah. Who would do that? But it won’t hurt to kind of keep an eye out for more “mercy” in coverage over the next day or so as a test.

    elissa (aba3e1)

  56. Good idea, elissa!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  57. It’s like President Obama is like God doling out the mercy.

    Dana (023079)

  58. mercy me!

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  59. i wish barack would be as forgiving toward america for the slavery that happened a couple centuries ago as he is toward domestic terrorists, saboteurs, and traitors who hurt america in recent years

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  60. That not how he rolls,

    narciso (d1f714)

  61. Any guesses on who will be on the next batch of Obama pardons/commutations? I’m betting he saves the most controversial for last, so here’s my guess as to the most notable for Thursday’s list;

    Bergdahl
    Mumia (the cop killer)
    Hillary Clinton

    Arizona CJ (191c8a)

  62. “I love it when out of all the words in the English dictionary and during the same couple of hours, two media outlets coincidentally came up with the exact same word to describe the president’s commutations and pardons.”

    – elissa

    Well, that’s kinda, like, a synonym for clemency. Akin to commutation, pardon, etc. You can find a conspiracy there if you want, I guess.

    Leviticus (70ca80)

  63. One thing you won’t find there is “Justice”.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  64. What mercy, you do the crime, even for political reasons then do the time, I know that’s nit how it works.

    narciso (d1f714)

  65. The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
    It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

    Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

    I bless the rains down in Africa
    I bless the rains down in Africa
    (I bless the rain)
    I bless the rains down in Africa
    (I bless the rain)
    I bless the rains down in Africa
    I bless the rains down in Africa
    (Ah, gonna take the time)
    Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

    Toto

    nk (dbc370)

  66. 37. happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/17/2017 @ 6:39 pm

    i feel like i should know who this Scott Pelley is

    Anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News – he sits in the chair (metaphorical at least) that Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer sat in. Well also, Katie Couric.

    I watched that news. That word “mercy” must passed over me. It’s probably a self-characterization by the Obama Adminsitration.

    I had a thought when watching the news tonight: We’re seeing all these advertisements for Trivago (sp?) It’s not just medical advertisements – there’s also this hotel room aggregator. It must be because it’s not only elderly or sick people who watch the news – it’s also people travelling, stuck in airports, waiting. And there’s a TV on. And it’ll be turned to the news.

    The character featured in the ad has accused people of stealing shampoo from hotel rooms, albeit a long time ago.

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  67. Part of me hopes Obama will become the first president to pardon himself. (Hillary pobably would have. Trump may well.)

    Demosthenes (09f714)

  68. here’s my guess as to the most notable for Thursday’s list;

    Bergdahl
    Mumia (the cop killer)
    Hillary Clinton

    He can’t pardon Mummia, any more than he can pardon someone in a French or Chinese prison. He’s not the president of Pennsylvania.

    Milhouse (40ca7b)

  69. ah, mercy mercy me
    ah, things ain’t what they used to be, no, no

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  70. 61. Arizona CJ (191c8a) — 1/17/2017 @ 8:49 pm

    Any guesses on who will be on the next batch of Obama pardons/commutations? I’m betting he saves the most controversial for last, so here’s my guess as to the most notable for Thursday’s list;

    Bergdahl
    Mumia (the cop killer)
    Hillary Clinton

    Not Mumia, and besides he’s a prisoner of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not not the government of the United States.

    I’m not sure Obama is going to do one last round of pardons, after his last round of pardons. Bill Clinton did, but that was unusual. and I think the previous last were in December.

    Bergdahl – I don’t know. I’d say rather some Taliban people or from a similar group of terrorists. But they are held by the government of Afghanistan. He actually can’t release any more from Guantanamo. Unless maybe I guess, it;s an emergency, like with Bergdahl.

    The Administration trying to negotiate the release of some hostages held by the Haqqani network.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/15/us/politics/one-hand-on-light-switch-obama-isnt-flipping-to-off-just-yet.html

    Perhaps the most dramatic last-minute action could come any day. The administration is racing to secure the release of American hostages in Afghanistan, including an American woman and her Canadian husband, who were abducted in 2012 by the Haqqani network, a powerful faction of the Taliban. The couple later had two children in captivity.

    The terrorist group is also suspected of abducting an American professor and his Australian colleague in Kabul in August. American Special Operations forces tried to rescue the two men several weeks later but they had been moved. The Haqqanis are demanding the release of members of their group who are being held by the Afghan government.

    Hillary Clinton, if she got one, would be the last day. But does she want it? And what’s the rationale? Supposedly, all the investigations are over. If she’d been indicted for mishandling classified information, then it could happen. But only on that charge.

    The New York Times said that Obama can also make some last minute appointments (that he probably delayed making)

    In recent days, Mr. Obama has named new members to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition; the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board; the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture Arts Development; and the United States Merchant Marine Academy.

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  71. Well, he could pardon Mummia for any federal crimes he may have committed, but since nobody expects him ever to be charged with such a crime there’d be little point.

    Milhouse (40ca7b)

  72. No, he couldn’t. That’s ridiculous, a very stupid idea. You shouldn’t share every thought that skips through your head.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  73. If you can pardon nixon and the iran/contra drug dealing traitors you can pardon anybody!

    pardon me (0c46ce)

  74. Obama:

    “Only “hacking” that hurts the DNC and is leaked to Wikileaks is BAD. If it hurts the USA and gets people killed… that’s no big deal.”

    NJRob (43d957)

  75. Pimpin’ Putin trumps Cold War loss declaring Sold W-hore victory: “ours are undoubtedly the best in the world.”

    “Hey big spender! Spend a little time with me…” — ‘Sweet Charity’ 1968

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  76. Hi Leviticus–If you have some time, look up the many articles and references in google to Hillary and the media and the word “muscular”. I’ve selected two to link to below but there are many others as well. These are well sourced examples which may better explain my snark and why the unusual use of “mercy” in multiple news channels yesterday as a descriptor to commute the sentences of murderers and traitors immediately stood out to me and others who watch the media. “Mercy” is more likely the word we use as a society for a compassionate governor’s decision to commute the prison sentence of an 85 year old husband who suffocated his bedridden and Alzheimers- bound wife of 50 years.

    Next time a Hillary Clinton speech is described in the press as “muscular,” beware. Gawker’s J.K. Trotter has a fantastic piece of reporting, “This Is How Hillary Clinton Gets the Coverage She Wants,” detailing how Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines works with journalists, most notably Marc Ambinder, Mike Allen, and Mark Halperin, to produce favorable stories.
    It’s a damning “how it’s done” story about how transactional journalism works: Reines provides scoops and the journalists pepper in the right phrases. The most notable example is shown in emails between Reines and Ambinder, in which “you can see Reines ‘blackmailing’ Ambinder into describing a Clinton speech as ‘muscular’ in exchange for early access to the transcript. In other words, Ambinder outsourced his editorial judgment about the speech to a member of Clinton’s own staff.”

    https://newrepublic.com/minutes/129521/next-time-hillary-clinton-speech-described-press-muscular-beware

    A REPORTER FOR THE ATLANTIC got in trouble recently for agreeing, in 2009, to receive an advance copy of a Hillary Clinton speech in return for calling it “muscular. A reporter for The New York Times also used the word “muscular” for the same speech, but told the public editor that there was no deal.
    To use a journalistic cliché, these reporters are not alone. The Daily News in New York said of that same speech that Clinton “stacked the room with aides and her team talked up the ‘muscular’ approach she would take toward Iran.” The Boston Globe, compiling its article from wires, apparently used The Times’ phrasing and noted the “muscular tone and sweeping scope” of the speech. On CNN’s American Morning program, John Roberts noted: “The speech was billed by her aides as ‘muscular.’ ” In other words, the chances are that the speech would have been called “muscular” whether it was part of a deal or not.
    In that same month, July 2009, The Washington Post said Clinton, then Secretary of State, was speaking tougher about Thailand, “one of several muscular statements she made on her trip to Asia apparently to demarcate her positions more clearly than before.” (The Post columnist referred to a Times account written by the same “muscular” reporter, who did not use that word in covering the Thailand speech.) And even before the speech under discussion, CNN’s Gloria Borger, asking whether Clinton had been sidelined by the White House, said: “she may have wanted a more muscular response on Iran but the president was the one who had to decide to pull the trigger on that.”

    We’ll stop now, before we become musclebound.”

    http://www.cjr.org/language_corner/the_muscularity_of_hillary_clinton.php

    elissa (aba3e1)

  77. Mercy aside, were these commutations historic?

    nk (dbc370)

  78. possibly unpresecented

    elissa (aba3e1)

  79. *unprecedented*

    elissa (aba3e1)

  80. I’d like to hear the opinion of a civil rights icon on that.

    nk (dbc370)

  81. Sadly we are near the end of the remarkably scandal free Obama administration, nk.

    elissa (aba3e1)

  82. If scandalous behavior happens and no one reports on it,
    Did a scandal happen?

    The thing about God’s mercy is that it cost Him dearly.
    The absolute need for justice woven into the reality of the universe,
    Unlike that of human governments,
    Must be honored and accounted for.
    God’s mercy came at His own cost at the suffering and death of His Son.

    Obama did not extend mercy,
    he committed injustice,
    that cost him nothing.

    At some point in time, it would nice to see Obama put on trial,
    If only in a fictional setting, a play, “Obama”, where he is tried for his role in Syria, Libya, whatever gitmo released prisoners do, what this FALN person does, what the lady in Cuba did, etc.

    MD in Philly (78e2df)

  83. Well, they went beyond what Clinton did,
    because he released only those FALN members with were repentant.

    Obama counts unrepentant domestic terrorists against the US as among his closest friends,
    But ya’ll already know that.

    MD in Philly (78e2df)

  84. And this last batch of detainees including the last of the bihani clan is particularly nasty.

    narciso (d1f714)

  85. scan·dal
    ˈskandl/Submit
    noun
    an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage.
    “a bribery scandal involving one of his key supporters”
    synonyms: (outrageous) wrongdoing, impropriety, misconduct, immoral behavior, unethical behavior, discreditable behavior, outrageous behavior;

    the outrage or anger caused by a scandalous action or event.
    “divorce was cause for scandal on the island”
    synonyms: shame, dishonor, disgrace, disrepute, discredit, infamy, ignominy, embarrassment;

    rumor or malicious gossip about scandalous events or actions.
    “I know that you would want no scandal attached to her name”
    synonyms: malicious gossip, malicious rumor(s), slander, libel, calumny, defamation, aspersions, muckraking, scandalmongering, smear campaign; informal dirt
    “no scandal is attached to her name”

    nk (dbc370)

  86. So, yes, if it’s not talked about, it’s not a scandal. The media provided Obama plenty of cover (as opposed to coverage).

    nk (dbc370)

  87. Take oil macchia besides being a scribe for a sociopath the older borgia, he defamed the reputations of those like the duchess of forli who defied his advice

    narciso (d1f714)

  88. We really do need to hire someone to translate narciso,
    Or am I the only one who doesn’t understand him

    If we just had a secret code of who he is referring to with each reference would that be enough?
    Or does he keep using different metaphors, and one just needs to be as broadly educated and know how his mind works?
    Maybe a special AI app like Siri
    We could name it after out host,
    ” Hey, PP, please translate narciso”.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  89. nk, you I can understand, and your response was not only appropriate,
    But unfortunately accurate and explains a lot.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  90. Niccholo Machiavelli one of the enablers of that 16th century band if brigands, from castle unfortunately. Italian renaissance and English tudor always had a band of courtiers.

    narciso (d1f714)

  91. He speaks in metaphors, euphemisms, and allusions.

    felipe (b5e0f4)

  92. Yes Thomas joscelyn has the highlights on those Obama choose to bestow mercytoo d

    narciso (d1f714)

  93. But it is an illusion to think that I get his allusions,
    unless they are to Scripture,
    Lewis,
    or The Princess Bride,
    in which cases I have a chance.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  94. The interests of Barack Hussein Obama and the United States of America have seldom coincided.

    Wednesday I got Friday on my mind.

    Colonel Haiku (603887)

  95. Re #47 Ironically, the FALN bombed the Chicago theater now hosting Hamilton. They timed the blast to occur when the audience was exiting the building.

    Obama's neighbor (1e8add)

  96. No, he couldn’t. That’s ridiculous, a very stupid idea. You shouldn’t share every thought that skips through your head.

    Yes he could. I can’t imagine why on earth you think he couldn’t. He can pardon any federal crime that has already been committed, or may have been committed, even if the perpetrator is unknown. There is a long tradition of blanket pardons for anyone who has committed a particular offense, without specifying who they are. He can’t pardon state crimes (none of his business) or future crimes (that’s not a pardon, it’s a license).

    (In Virginia, where the governor tried to issue a blanket pardon to restore voting rights to over 400K people at once, the state supreme court explicitly acknowledged that federal law allows this, but said the state one doesn’t.)

    Milhouse (40ca7b)

  97. “oil macchia” for Niccolo Machiavelli is beyond obtuse, but I have read a lot of Rafael Sabatini, a Cesare Borgia apologist, so I got it.

    BTW, did you know that “Old Nick” as one of the Devil’s names, came about because of Niccolo Machiavelli and the perceived evil of his writings? To have the Devil named after you. Who can top that?

    nk (dbc370)

  98. Monday mornin’ feels so good
    All the lefties goin’ wacky
    Comin’ Tuesday even better
    Thinkin’ bout it I get wood
    Wednesday just don’t go
    Thursday’ll go too slow
    I’ve got Friday on my mind

    It’s a new day in the city
    Get right down to nitty gritty
    Hopin’ for the best
    Deep six all the rest, you bet
    That night, the libs will cry, that night
    Won’t wonder why, that night
    Sick dreams will die, that night
    Monday I had Friday on my mind

    Colonel Haiku (603887)

  99. Obama’s neighbor (1e8add) — 1/18/2017 @ 7:55 am

    Ironically, the FALN bombed the Chicago theater now hosting Hamilton. They timed the blast to occur when the audience was exiting the building.

    That’s almost as bad as Bill Ayers having planned to destroy the same Columbia University library that a dozen years later Barack Obama used to hang out in.

    Except that the Weathermen retrospectively changed the target to Fort Dix about the time Bill Ayers got to know Barack Obama.

    They had never said what their intended target had been. It had always been assumed to be the Butler library, or maybe the Low Memorial Library because they had a lot of architectural details in their possession. Then suddenly they were confessing Fort Dix.

    I see Wikipedia compromises now and says both:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Village_townhouse_explosion

    Former members of the Weathermen later advanced differing claims as to the planned uses of the bombs. According to Mark Rudd, the plan was to set them off that evening at a dance for noncommissioned officers and their dates at the Fort Dix, New Jersey Army base, to “bring the [Vietnam] war home”.[3] Other reports say that some were destined for the Fort Dix dance and some were to destroy the main library at Columbia University.[4][5]

    In the year 2000, an article in the New York Times by a person relying on his memories, was still saying the library: (and made an error, which it later corrected)

    http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/05/nyregion/the-house-on-west-11th-street.html

    The explosion, which became front page news and sent a shock wave through the city, was caused by the accidental detonation of dynamite in a subbasement bomb factory. Young radicals from the Weathermen were making bombs to destroy property, beginning with the main library at Columbia University.

    Three bomb makers, Theodore Gold, Diana Oughton and Terry Robbins, were killed. Two others, Kathy Boudin and Cathlyn Wilkerson, escaped and remained fugitives for more than a decade. The first was the daughter of the civil liberties lawyer Leonard Boudin, the second the daughter of James P. Wilkerson, the owner of the house at No. 18.

    A 2003 article says both:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/24/nyregion/quieter-lives-for-60-s-militants-but-intensity-of-beliefs-hasn-t-faded.html

    Professor Klehr also took a dim view of the often stated account that after the town house explosion, the Weathermen resolved to take no lives, and that in the string of bombings that followed, no one was seriously injured. He points out that members have said the explosives at the town house were intended for an officers’ dance at Fort Dix in New Jersey and for Butler Library at Columbia University.

    ”The only reason they were not guilty of mass murder is mere incompetence,” he said. ”I don’t know what sort of defense that is.”

    As I said, I think Bill Ayers decided to change history when he got acquainted with Barack Obama, who used to use the Butler Library.

    Sammy Finkelman (0cf810)

  100. Scumbags of a feather, flock together… like vultures, over the dead carcass of far-left dreams.

    Colonel Haiku (603887)

  101. Make that turds of a feather… nicer ring to it.

    Colonel Haiku (603887)

  102. Filed under “clueless shi+heel comedian”…

    “No one knows what this man [Trump] is capable of. It is a very troubling idea that the FBI is politicized. When the internal police department is politicized, that’s a place I don’t want to be on the wrong side of — I mean, that’s fascism.”

    — Bill Maher

    Colonel Haiku (603887)

  103. Bill Ayers is trash.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  104. I walk along the street of sorrow
    The boulevard of far-left dreams
    Where gigolette and gigolette
    Can get abortions without regret
    So they have their broken dreams.

    You laugh tonight and cry tomorrow
    When you behold your shattered schemes.
    And gigolo and gigolette
    Wake up to find their eyes are wet
    in the boulevard of leftist dreams

    – Apologies to Marianne Faithfull

    felipe (b5e0f4)

  105. No apology needed, felipe. Well done, sir!

    …and their tears shall taste like fine champagne… http://www.breitbart.com/news/amid-packing-boxes-and-tears-staffers-leaving-white-house/

    Colonel Haiku (603887)

  106. Which one was the traitor?

    papertiger (c8116c)

  107. Dana,

    I’m a judge advocate (lawyer) in the military. I can say with near certainty that the DoD (or the taxpayers) will not be on the hook for Manning’s gender-related treatment in the future.

    As I understand it, Obama commuted JUST the confinement portion of his sentence. He was also awarded (that’s the term we use (ironically) in military courts for getting a punishment) a dishonorable discharge. As soon as he is discharged dishonorably, he will not be eligible for taxpayer funded treatments.

    There’s a but (there’s always a but). Those we are discharged from the military under less than honorable conditions can apply to the VA to have their discharge upgraded solely for VA purposes (doesn’t change the official military discharge) in order to receive treatment for military connected injuries.

    So, in theory, Manning could apply to the VA and the VA could approve it. I highly doubt that, but crazier things have happened in this country and in the bureaucratic nightmare that is the VA.

    TL;DR: likely will not receive government funded gender-related medical treatment after May when discharge is finalized.

    Helper (b16f18)

  108. Thanks for the informed info, Helper.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  109. Mr. Helper if you even slightly worry that your comment might be in the TL;DR category you have clearly not been hanging around here enough! 🙂

    To echo MD, thanks.

    elissa (aba3e1)

  110. Secret Service to Obama, Jan 21st:

    “I know we are supposed to provide you protection, but people keep resigning when we assign them to you.”

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  111. President Obama, about the only man in the country who could have our esteemed looking forward to the inauguration of Donald Trump, could commute Mr Manning’s sentence only for the crimes for which he has already been convicted. However, if there are other charges which could be brought against him, charges on which he has not previously been tried, or state rather than federal charges, incoming Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III — what a great Southern name! — or a state Attorney General could have him brought before the bar again, and lock him up.

    Perhaps there has been someone directly harmed by Mr Manning’s actions, and he could be sued into eternal penury, regardless of how much the partisans of this mentally ill cretin raise for him.

    I would never encourage vigilante justice against Mr Manning, but I might not shed any tears if such happened.

    The Dana who is probably tilting at windmills (1b79fa)

  112. Helper (b16f18) — 1/18/2017 @ 10:50 am

    TL;DR: likely will not receive government funded gender-related medical treatment after May when discharge is finalized.

    Not as a result of having been in the military, but s/he could still get Medicaid, if eligible.

    Or, if eligible, or presumptively eligible, get a subsidized individual insurance policy. Since Manning hasn’t had much income in the past year, s/he could probably get a subsidized Obamacare silver policy, even if in theory s/he will robably have to pay back at least the premiums when s/he files a 2017 tax return in 2018.

    But the Obama IRS hasn’t really tried to collect that kind of money and I don’t think the Republicans will either, and may even repeal it. By law the money can only be recovered through withholding of tax refunds, I think. Or maybe that’s just for the tax penalty for not having insurance altogether. Nobody knows – nobody in politics was much interested in informing people.

    2018 is the year people scream about the clawbacks, and Obamacare collapses if left alone.

    And in any case, s/he could get an insurance polioy through an employer, or buy one, and this is probably covered. Kevin M says it is in California. Manning is likely to get at least a book contract, plus appearance and autograph fees, if she is up to it, and so have a good income, (unless the terms of the release preclude it) so maybe some insurance company will pay for it.

    Sammy Finkelman (8b8667)

  113. Chelsea’s sentence would not have been commuted had she considered herself a white male.

    Deuce Frehley (8afd8b)

  114. Not a surprise, but was informed today that daughter’s hs is full into the fluid gender identity thing, using he and she is potential hate speech, or something like that.

    I thought modern biology had reached the molecular level and knew all about chromosomes and DNA and such things.

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  115. The shocked family of one of Oscar Lopez Rivera’s victims speaks out:

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-wrong-free-faln-member-killed-brother-article-1.2949815

    elissa (bd880b)

  116. President Obama […] could commute Mr Manning’s sentence only for the crimes for which he has already been convicted.

    Not true. He could have given him a full pardon for all federal crimes he may have committed. Thankfully he didn’t do that.

    Milhouse (40ca7b)

  117. Does anybody remember why, after he was caught, Oscar Lopez Rivera was spared the death penalty for his crimes?

    elissa (bd880b)

  118. López Rivera was convicted of “seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms and ammunition to aid in the commission of a felony, and interstate transportation of stolen vehicles”.

    None of these carry the death penalty.

    nk (dbc370)

  119. Was that the correct charge? Could they not pin the bombing deaths on him for some reason or did the Feds choose not to try?

    elissa (bd880b)

  120. Does anybody remember why, after he was caught, Oscar Lopez Rivera was spared the death penalty for his crimes?

    He wasn’t charged, let alone convicted, of anything that could carry the death penalty. Seditious conspiracy, use of force to commit robbery, interstate transportation of firearms, and conspiracy to transport explosives with intent to destroy government property; none of those are capital crimes. As far as I know there is no evidence that he was directly involved in killing anyone.

    Milhouse (40ca7b)

  121. It doesn’t look like any of the ones who were caught were tried in state court for the murder and/or arson, elissa. Just the federal charges. This was before the Reagan era, the time of Deathwish (Charles Bronson) movies when we were still soft on criminals, would be my guess for the reason.

    nk (dbc370)

  122. Yeah, I keep forgetting that like clothes and baby names, criminal charges and sentencing go in and out of style.

    elissa (bd880b)

  123. For all we know, President Obama just glanced at those convictions and did not even know he was a murderous terrorist and a bomber/arsonist. I am a cynic, I know.

    elissa (bd880b)

  124. Clinton offered Rivera Lopez clemency in 1999. He refused it as did another FALNer. Eleven? others accepted it.

    nk (dbc370)

  125. Would it be corrupt somehow for Manning to come under new charges for some other offense, when the Obama administration is finally gone? Is there such an offense to charge him with?

    It sends such a terrible message to our troops who keep their oath to let it slide when one of them doesn’t.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  126. nk (dbc370) — 1/18/2017 @ 10:25 pm

    Just the federal charges. This was before the Reagan era, the time of Deathwish (Charles Bronson) movies when we were still soft on criminals, would be my guess for the reason.

    New York State essentially did not have a death penalty. With the FALN leaders being effectively given life sentences, there was probably no point seen in prosecuting them.

    But wouldn’t causing death also be a federal charge? Maybe it was left out because they couldn’t pin the actually placing the bomb on anybody. To answer this question, we probably need to search 40-year old newspapers, or some book that is at least n part about the case.

    124. elissa (bd880b) — 1/18/2017 @ 10:41 pm

    For all we know, President Obama just glanced at those convictions and did not even know he was a murderous terrorist and a bomber/arsonist. I am a cynic, I know.

    He probably only knows the charges; the fact that he is a “hero” whose release was backed by virtually every Puerto Rican political party and elected official, eleven Nobel lauretes and the Pope; whatever Lin Manuel Miranda told him about him; and that he’s the only “fighter” for Puerto Rican independence that there was left to let out of jail. (it wasn’t a pardon – it was a commutation of his sentence)

    Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton had pardoned all the rest.

    Sammy Finkelman (8b8667)

  127. harvardtrash poopypants conservatism needs to be about more than just being all butthurt that ted’s proffered leadership was emphatically spurned by america

    number one should be an enthusiastic search for common ground with Mr. Trump

    number two should be a commitment to a loyal playful and fun-loving articulation of conservative principles

    number three should be to exhibit humility and graciousness, for the food stamp years, they are over, hallelujah, and hillary stinkypig clinton – a totteringly sickly woman, a rapaciously criminal woman, and, above all, a perniciously nasty woman, she will never be president

    number four should be you should get a theme song

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  128. HF, did you hear Amazon grocery is now accepting food stamps? That’s what that mid-contract uptick would have paying for (grrrr!)

    https://qz.com/887122/americans-on-food-stamps-are-getting-access-to-amazon-amzn-and-freshdirects-online-grocery-deliveries/?

    although you could do as the Romans have been doing on the south side of Madison street, call in a delivery and take the whole truck with you.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  129. that’s just disgusting to me and i tell you why

    everyone on food stamps is on drugs and they have poor impulse control

    i know for a fact it’s way too easy to jump online and order super marked up stuff and make bad choices when you’re NOT high on the crack marijuana

    this is stupid

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  130. There’s still one member of the FALN not pardoned. He’s in Cuba.

    Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42)


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