It's hard not to question the serendipity of May Day and the killing of America's bugaboo under the bed, Creepy closet crawler, shadow under the stairs. Osama bin Laden turns out to have been living in suburban limbo near Islamabad. New York went nuts celebrating traditional jingoistic victimhood with the rockets' red glare and the tear-stained stare of the professionally traumatized. Ah Yes.......a day to remember. Hopefully at Election Day 2012. Of course, Donald Trump's PR team must surely have a plan in place to swing this into his court - or should I say 'atrium'. Perhaps he will demand to be shown bin Laden's Dead Certificate. Although in terms of death paperwork, this would doubtless be his second choice. And the teagbagger rabble awaits its marching orders from Captains Courageous the Koch Bros. As Dylan says: "What looks large in the distance, up close ain't never that big..."
And if - as some believe - bin Laden has been spirited back to Saudi Arabia, who fucking cares? Let's just declare Victory in the War on Terror and and go home...like Osama himself...
Despite clear evidence of torture, Private Bradley Manning who is accused of leaking United States government files to Wikileaks has been found competent to stand trial by a “panel of experts.” Manning was earlier put on suicide watch, after Pentagon officials decided he was in danger of harming himself. It is also possible that officials gave that decision in order that the soldier may be kept in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and stripped naked at night. Last week Manning was transferred from the strict military facility in Quantico, Virginia, to a prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas following the adverse publicity his treatment was garnering. Manning's treatment in Quantico was described as “degrading and inhumane” by a group of 250 legal experts. Ahhh, but now another group of experts has decided that pvt. 1st class Manning is in fact competent to stand trial. Not that a trial date has been set...
- KBOO