Just hours after President Obama announced he was going to shut down Guantanamo Bay, the feds confirmed that a released Gitmo inmate, 35-year-old Sahid al-Shahiri, had resumed terrorist activities in Yemen.
Now if this isn't a warning, ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what is. Obama tells the world no more Gitmo, and a guy the Bush administration let go in 2007 is now a major Al Qaeda terrorist again. So we can add this guy to a list of 61former Gitmo detainees who have returned to being terrorists after they've been released, that according to the Defense Department. That's 11 percent of those let go returning to the terror world. Despite that, Barack Obama says this:
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BARACK OBAMA: As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.
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With all due respect, the president is wrong. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus because he wanted the union to win the conflict. He suspended our ideals in order to win. Now, I believe Mr. Lincoln is one of President Obama's role models.
On Gitmo, Mr. Obama is playing to his far-left base. "Talking Points" understands that, but I must warn you, this is very risky business.
So is Iraq. Ambassador Ryan Crocker warned President Obama this week that if he withdraws troops too quickly, disaster may occur.
Again, it's my job to bring all of this to your attention, as Paul Revere would do. We discussed that earlier this week.
Now Caroline Kennedy. Not a big story. She's out, and New York Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand has been appointed to take Hillary Clinton's Senate seat. We wish her well.
But it was fascinating to watch the left-wing media, especially NBC News, ignore the bizarre way Caroline Kennedy pulled out of contention. She quit at midnight with no explanation, other than it was because of a personal issue.
Now, can you imagine if Sarah Palin had pulled out of the campaign at midnight saying it was over a personal issue? Can you picture what NBC News, The New York Times and other far-left deceivers would have done to Governor Palin? I mean, it would have been bloody. And there is no better example of media corruption in this country than that comparison.
"Talking Points" wishes Caroline Kennedy well. We are happy that her personal situation is not under scrutiny. She is, by all accounts, a nice woman.
But this story is very strange. And if it happened to a Republican or a conservative, they would have been ripped to pieces. And that's the truth. And no honest person can deny it.
And that's "The Memo."
Pinheads & Patriots
Our pal Elisabeth Hasselbeck is sticking up for Michelle Obama. It's a clothes thing.
Click here to watch "Pinheads & Patriots"!
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ELISABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": If this is the media's attempt at trying to be objective as we move into the next administration, they are moving in the wrong direction. Her fashion, she's made good choices. She's chosen American designers as mush as possible. The kids are dressed in clothes that are economical. I think that they've actually, in terms of fashion, done a great job. And so all these naysayers on this side better find something else to get jumping about.
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Right on. Ms. Hasselbeck is a patriot, rightly pointing out that nitpicking what people wear is dopey.
On the pinhead front, the Australian Tennis Open is under way, and once again there have been problems. After a Serb player defeated a Bosnian player, ethnic violence broke out. It's the third year in a row this kind of garbage has happened. Two people were arrested, and everybody that participated in this is a pinhead.
— You can catch Bill O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo" and "Pinheads & Patriots" weeknights at 8 and 11 p.m. ET on the FOX News Channel and any time on foxnews.com/oreilly. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com
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