Posted on 10/29/2004 3:32:45 PM PDT by Pokey78
Bummer. I'd hoped he was buried under rubble. What to make of the rant? The parroting of idiotic Michael Moore points was a little pathetic for an alleged spiritual mastermind. And the re-calibration of the rationale for 9/11 - again retroactively talking of Palestinians - was the usual vile opportunism. But why release a tape just before the elections? The obvious impact will be to help Bush. Any reminder of the 9/11 attacks will provoke a national rallying to the commander-in-chief. The deep emotional bond so many of us formed with the president back then is Bush's strongest weapon in this election, and OBL has just revived it. The real October Surprise turned out not to be OBL's capture (sorry, Teresa!) but OBL's resilience. I have a feeling that this will tip the election decisively toward the incumbent. A few hours ago, I thought Kerry was headed for victory. Now I think the opposite. I also have a sinking feeling that that was entirely bin Laden's objective.
New tactic? Reverse psychology? Uh huh.No. How about the guy doesn't grasp that Americans aren't like the cowards in Spain...we can't be cowed into submission.
OBL's objective was to "endorse" Kerry. This guy is right about one thing... Kerry is the big loser with this OBL tape.
Nothing CBS or the NY Times can do now will keep millions of more American's from voting for Bush. Thanks, Bin Laden!
By blaming it on policy and saying it does not matter if Bush or Kerry wins OBL is trying to provide support for Kerry, but it will of course only strengthen Bush's position.
Andrew Sullivan seems bummed by the prospect of OBL endorsing the same candidate he just did (sKerry).
Exactly.
Osama knows that Bush has been relentless is attacking the Islamist movement.
Osama has no clue as to how Kerry will react, honestly, I doubt anyone does, including Kerry himself.
Looking at that logically, it is obvious that for Osama, Kerry would be the one he would prefer.
Just like Saddam misunderestimated Bush about his willingness to attack, OBL also did the same to American people: the thought Americans are like Spanniards...
OBL is trying to use the "success" of Michael Moores propaganda techniques to scare people away from Bush. Its that simple.
It's called a net gain. While the Bush Administration will kill more terrorists, it will also radicalize more terrorists, and actually create some sympathy in the world for UBL and his crew. They well know they can't prevail in a military win/lose sense. But if they get the Muslim youth firmly on their side and the bulk of the world either against us or afraid to be too strongly for us, they have furthered their cause.
If OBL is willing to threaten America over who we elect President, then what makes Andrew Sullivan think that he wouldn't also threaten America over something like gay marriages?
If we bow to terrorists in setting American elections/policy, we face being blackmailed on any issue.
John Kerry's got Andrew Sullivan's back(side).
Sullivan's as principled as Kerry.
It was weird, but designed to appeal to Western lefty ears who want everything to be just about Israel, not Kashmir, Chechnya, etc. etc. as Osama has said before.
Also, according to KSM, it wasn't Osama's idea in the first place but KSM's.
i am not sure ubl fully grasps the concept of freedom and voting.
I don't buy it for one minute, but the pro-Kerry and International Socialist types say Bush is Bin Laden's best recruiter for al Qaeda. It's hooey, but it's their theory. Of course, the Left is always explaining this mass-murdering psychopath in ways that help their side. So what can we expect.
I think you're going to start seeing a lot of pundits latching onto this OBL appearance as a convenient excuse to change their predictions about Tuesday's election.
It's quite simple. By publicly supporting Kerry, bin Laden hopes to make us think that he actually prefers Bush, because we know terrorists are liars. But he knows we know this, and is counting on us to assume that he is lying when he's actually telling the truth. Now I must leave to continue building up my immunity to iocaine powder.
It's funny. I took it the other way. I thought it was bad for Bush. I too thought Osama was dead.
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