What kind of people does the nation get to lead us when Obama brings in virtually every Clinton buddy in the beltway? People who defended the pardon of terrorists who committed this:
It was nearly 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, 1982. Two officers on New York Police Department’s elite bomb squad rushed to headquarters at One Police Plaza, where minutes earlier an explosion had destroyed the entrance to the building. Lying amid the carnage was Police Officer Rocco Pascarella, his lower leg blasted off.
“He was ripped up like someone took a box cutter and shredded his face,” remembered Detective Anthony Senft, one of the bomb-squad officers who answered the call 25 years ago. “We really didn’t even know that he was a uniformed man until we found his weapon, that’s how badly he was injured.”
About 20 minutes later, Mr. Senft and his partner, Richard Pastorella, were blown 15 feet in the air as they knelt in protective gear to defuse another bomb. Detective Senft was blinded in one eye, his facial bones shattered, his hip severely fractured. Mr. Pastorella was blinded in both eyes and lost all the fingers of his right hand. A total of four bombs exploded in a single hour on that night, including at FBI headquarters in Manhattan and the federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
The perpetrators were members of Armed Forces of National Liberation, FALN (the Spanish acronym), a clandestine terrorist group devoted to bringing about independence for Puerto Rico through violent means. Its members waged war on America with bombings, arson, kidnappings, prison escapes, threats and intimidation. The most gruesome attack was the 1975 Fraunces Tavern bombing in Lower Manhattan. Timed to go off during the lunch-hour rush, the explosion decapitated one of the four people killed and injured another 60.
FALN bragged about the bloodbath, calling the victims “reactionary corporate executives” and threatening: “You have unleashed a storm from which you comfortable Yankees can’t escape.” By 1996, the FBI had linked FALN to 146 bombings and a string of armed robberies — a reign of terror that resulted in nine deaths and hundreds of injured victims.
August 7th, 1999. President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright vow to ensure justice will be done over the bombings of the African embassies:
“Although a year has passed … our mourning for those who died, Americans and Africans, has not diminished,” she said. “We miss them still and rage against their loss.”
U.S. President Bill Clinton, in a statement read by National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, said the United States would not stop in the pursuit of those guilty of the bombings.
“Working with our friends abroad, we have tracked down, arrested and indicted key suspects,” Berger said, “and we will not rest until justice is done.”
And four days later President Clinton granted clemency to 16 imprisoned FALN terrorists:
Mr. Clinton justified the clemencies by asserting that the sentences were disproportionate to the crimes. None of the petitioners, he stated, had been directly involved in crimes that caused bodily harm to anyone. “For me,” the president concluded, “the question, therefore, was whether their continuing incarceration served any meaningful purpose.”
His comments, including the astonishing claim that the FALN prisoners were being unfairly punished because of “guilt by association,” were widely condemned as a concession to terrorists. Further, they were seen as an outrageous slap in the face of the victims and a bitter betrayal of the cops and federal law enforcement officers who had put their lives on the line to protect the public and who had invested years of their careers to put these people behind bars. The U.S. Sentencing Commission affirmed a pre-existing Justice Department assessment that the sentences, ranging from 30 to 90 years, were “in line with sentences imposed in other cases for similar terrorist activity.”
The prisoners were convicted on a variety of charges that included conspiracy, sedition, violation of the Hobbes Act (extortion by force, violence or fear), armed robbery and illegal possession of weapons and explosives — including large quantities of C-4 plastic explosive, dynamite and huge caches of ammunition. Mr. Clinton’s action was opposed by the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. attorney offices that prosecuted the cases and the victims whose lives had been shattered. In contravention of standard procedures, none of these agencies, victims or families of victims were consulted or notified prior to the president’s announcement.
Who else defended the clemency? The incoming Attorney General, Eric Holder:
Holder defended the pardon of Marc Rich also. Pardons of criminals and terrorists, all a-ok to the incoming AG.
Once again, Obama’s judgment is in question.
Hope and change!
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A Traitor is as a Traitor does.
Obammy and company are all traitors. No further discussion is necessary.
i wonder what obama would do if FALN again reared its ugly head and his family was hurt or destroyed? would he allow them clemency? would he shoot them himself? any lose of life due to terrorism is to much, there is no way it should ever be considered disproportionate to the crime. if you are a terrorist you should be willing to pay for your crimes.
i guess the funny thing is that mr. hopey changey really has given us no hope for change.
“Once again, Obama’s judgment is in question.”
It is not a question of judgment. Obama knows very well what he is doing. He wants to destroy America and he his going to do a very good job.
People wanted change? They will get it !
I’m surprised “O” didn’t nominate William Ayers. If bombing police stations, or overlooking the crimes of those who do is a qualification for office Ayers has it in spades.
Too bad the Obamatons didn’t hear anything about Ayers during the campaign.
We live in a different county with different values. This would of never been allowed to occur a few years ago. But we now elect a president who’s friends are terrorist, and his minister is a US hater.
And don’t forget that we were going to get Osama bin Laden handed to us on a silver platter, but Bill Clinton passed on that opportunity. Like Mr. Cassel said, “A Traitor is as a Traitor does.” And thank you sir for your service to our/your country.
The reality of the election is finally coming home to roost. I say again! All you conservatives that voted to teach a lesson, are now learning a lesson that I hope you can live with. He is in reality rubbing his face with his middle finger at us all. Shame on all you lesson teachers, you are responsible for the ruin of this great nation. Shame!
Just a hint of things to come. I’m trying hard to come up with some sort of logical way to make sense of this.
Think about it. If you want to build a civilian police force, wouldn’t it be best to use individuals with inside knowledge of how the prison system works and who are best equiped to serve and recognize criminal activities? Who best for this but the criminals themselves. Imagine it, our overcrowded prisons suddenly no longer a problem to challenge the sensibilities of those bleeding hearts so concerned about the rights of those who commit crimes against society and with little regard over the plight of victims.
Youthbuild already has a track record of taking juvenile criminals and rehabilitating them to make them good little community
activistsleaders, right? So what difference does it make if they use some like FALN as their captains and lieutenants. These are people known to make things happen.After all, they are going to need a lot of warm bodies if they’re to round up all those people who cling to their guns and religion. So what if it takes a few Waco like ventures to get the message across. They must make room for the socialization of America at any cost. Why not use people who are well acquainted with using fear as a motivational tool and oppressing people in communities?
Why… Just compare it to the old practice of colonial governors using pirates as privateers, with Letters of Marquis to engage in any means necessary to achieve certain goals within the police state. However in this case, the colony would be a nation and those pardoned would be the equivalent of a privateer on every street corner. They’re going to need people who wouldn’t be distracted by such niceties and nonsense as the civil rights of citizens.
this is really not good. you cannot expect a different out come when you put the same people in the cabinet. i really wish we had had a better candidate to put forth this year, can you imagine if it were palin in there and the terrorists cameout? she would kick their asses herself.
Alright, fair is fair so I’m going to agree with The One Elect (his new title) on something.
We DO need a civilian defense force.
To defend us from the government.
It’s impossible for me to believe these heartless maniacs would change their ways. It’s shameful that this was done let alone done behind the backs of the families. Nothing could explain this away. But, we already know over half of America just won’t care, their world is looking pretty rosy right now, no need to even think about who their Messiah puts in charge, all will be well.
And when he closes Gitmo, how will that work out for us?
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/72509
July 28, 2008
And yet these guys are in jail. Where’s the presidential pardon?
Actually, I read one analysis which suggests that Ramos/Compean stand a better-than-reasonable chance of receiving a pardon from President Bush.
Holder Defends Terrorists’ Clemency, Calls Rich Pardon a Mistake’.
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