Time Magazine Cashes In

I had a chance to listen to Michael Duffy on CSPAN today. Time is marketing its non-story about the abuse of the 20th Hijacker at Guantanamo Bay in an effort to sell magazines. The problem is that it is disguised as news. In case you are wondering who Michael Duffy is, he is the writer or co-writer who brought us such wonders as:

'How Well Did He Serve?'
Bush said he reported for duty in Alabama, but even with the new documents, the evidence is thin. TIME looks at four key questions…

‘Marching In Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush’ (George H. W. Bush)

‘Cooling On Ashcroft’ and

‘Is Rumsfeld losing his mojo?’

Michael Duffy is also a co-writer of the Gitmo hit piece that Time published this week. I found him to be one of the most arrogant people I have ever listened to. But I digress. Back to the issue at hand.

Many times, when asked a question about his article, Duffy's reply would be something on the order of ‘Go read the article’. Once again, no major news outlets picked up where Time left off. CNN and AFP are the only ones to actually write a story about the story. It is mentioned at the bottom of a couple of articles highlighting a few left-of-center politicians who have taken it upon themselves to call for the closing of Gitmo. It seems their concern for terrorist’s discomfort outweighs any threat to the United States or its citizens. Let’s give Rupert Murdoch a link:

To Close or Not to Close Gitmo?

Why are some of our leaders worried about the image of a high security prison for terrorists? They aren't, but who can pass up a photo op. Most of the Muslim world is laughing at us. I suspect they can’t believe how weak minded we are. The only abuse going on is the abuse that we dish upon ourselves at the behest of agenda driven politicians and reporters.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said "Guantanamo has not made our country safer ... The stain of Guantanamo has become the primary recruiting tool for our enemies."

I believe they were recruiting fairly well prior to Gitmo. There are two or three missing buildings in New York as a result.

Obligatory Abu Ghraib reference incoming…

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said: "My personal feeling is that Guantanamo is just a sign of the problems we're having. From the time of Abu Ghraib this country has been embarrassed by many minds, humiliated ... and Guantanamo is just another series of problems that we have with the whole Iraq policy."

The biggest problem with our Iraq policy is left wing blowhards that are more concerned with political sound bytes than our country's safety. Someone please inform the Senator that Gitmo has nothing to do with our Iraq policy.

'…about 520 detainees are currently at Guantanamo. But of the 234 who have been released, about 12 of them have since gone back to the battlefield.'

There is a lot to be gained from the printing of the Time article. The Democrats get another ‘scandal’ to grandstand. Time Warner gains a boat load of money. Time Magazine gains the satisfaction that they have yet again stuck it to the US Military. The terrorists gain sympathy from the American left. The rest of the world gets a good laugh out of the whole thing. The only losers are the American people and the American soldiers in the field.

In Sports:

Nats 6, Angels 3
Braves 7, Rangers 2