I Ain't A-Skeered of You!

Our supervisors are ready to put on a show for us again. They have their stage makeup on, and their wireless microphones are in place and powered up.

Holder: Don't fear trial of 'coward' 9/11 plotter

By DEVLIN BARRETT (AP)

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder is defending his decision to put the professed Sept. 11 mastermind on trial in New York — and urging critics of the plan not to cower in the face of terrorists.

Holder is set to testify Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers are likely to spar over the attorney general's decision last week to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged henchmen from a detention center at Guantanamo Bay to New York to face a civilian federal trial.

Critics of Holder's decision — mostly Republicans — have argued the trial will give Mohammed a world stage to spout hateful rhetoric.

In remarks prepared before Wednesday's hearing, Holder says such concerns are misplaced, because judges can control unruly defendants and any pronouncements by Mohammed would only make him look worse.

"I have every confidence the nation and the world will see him for the coward he is," Holder says in written testimony obtained by The Associated Press. "I'm not scared of what (Mohammed) will have to say at trial — and no one else needs to be either."

Addressing other concerns about the case, the attorney general says the public and the nation's intelligence secrets can be protected during a public trial in civilian court.

"We need not cower in the face of this enemy," Holder says. "Our institutions are strong, our infrastructure is sturdy, our resolve is firm, and our people are ready."

What is it with these people, anyway? They can't just say, "we don't see any significant problems with holding a trial," or "we don't anticipate any troublesome security situation." No, they have to play the pol's childish and unconvincing version of the testosterone card. If anyone disagrees with the program, imply that the disagreement is based on un-manly fear. ("Homophobia," anyone?) Then Mr. Holder goes on to toss the customary charge of "cowardice" onto that veteran of hundreds of waterboardings, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Why? Because he is alleged to have sent others to kill, and to die? How does that differentiate him from either of the Bushes, or from Clinton, or from his own boss, Rainbow Brite? Wartime Presidents all, and therefore prime exemplars of the manly virtues, no? Of course, Mr. Holder simply follows the pattern of his boss. You may remember that the mighty warrior Obama the First disparaged the Fort Hood shooter, a week or so back, as "craven." Same deal: one guy with a couple of handguns launches an attack on an entire military base. Call him murderous; like most acts of war, his certainly was murderous. Call him foolish; he probably was. Call him "the enemy;" I'm sure he was that. Fanatical? Crazy? Quite possibly; I won't argue. But "craven?" You go and do likewise, O Great One, and then make that accusation.

No, the Other can't just be opposed, bombed, killed, or otherwise resisted. He has to be accused of everything, including things that, it's childishly obvious, aren't true.

Meanwhile, back to the show. Let me interpret for Mr. Holder: My fellow Americans, you're broke, hopelessly in debt, and your currency has been debased in order to shower it in obscene amounts on the already-wealthy and well-connected. We're trying desperately to keep the wagon lurching drunkenly down the rutted road just a little farther, and just long enough to finish up the looting. We'd rather you didn't notice this, although -- what with it being "Dancing With the Stars" season -- there really isn't much danger of that. Just in case, though, we think it might be prudent to stage a small diversion ... so we'll lynch us a towelhead. The show must go on.

Once again ... what's supposed to be the difference between the horrible Bush II regime and the current crew? Oh, that's right: most many of Rainbow Brite's sentences do parse, don't they? Terrific!