This is just a prediction, based on the madness of the Right for the past 15 years.
Within a few weeks, and certainly no later than the heat of the next presidential campaign, some Republican will suggest that maybe Obama should be IMPEACHED for assassinating Bin Laden, since that exceeded his authority under the Constitution.
This thought came to me after reading all the reports of the Republicans and right wing commentators already hitting the air waves with their slanders of Obama's role and abilities in tracking down Obama, this accompanied with their attempts to convince the weak-minded American public that the torture they instituted was the source of the information that let to Osama.
Then today the President announces he will not release the photos of the dead Osama Bin Laden.
Now I read that Reuters is releasing graphic photos from the compound, including pics of three dead men in pools of blood taken within one to a few hours after the departure of American forces.
The pictures are also taken in sequence and are all the same size in pixels, indicating they have not been tampered with. The time and date in the photos as recorded in the digital file's metadata match lighting conditions for the area as well as the time and date imprinted on the image itself.
The close-cropped pictures do not show any weapons on the dead men, but the photos are taken in medium close-up and often crop out the men's hands and arms.
One photo shows a computer cable and what looks like a child's plastic green and orange water pistol lying under the right shoulder of one of the dead men. A large pool of blood has formed under his head.
A second shows another man with a streak of blood running from his nose across his right cheek and a large band of blood across his chest.
A third man, in a T-shirt, is on his back in a large pool of blood which appears to be from a head wound.
U.S. acknowledgment on Tuesday that bin Laden was unarmed when shot dead had raised accusations Washington had violated international law. The exact circumstances of his death remained unclear and could yet fuel controversy, especially in the Muslim world.
Photos from the Bin Laden Compound
Good for Reuters. Reporting and truth laid before the American people disappeared after 9/11.
First, the pictures of people jumping from the Twin Towers simply disappeared. No one would publish them after the first 48 hours or so. Swept under the rug of history.
That was the first sign of how the news and unvarnished horror were being handled.
Next, the Bush admin will not allow pictures of caskets of dead service men killed in line of duty in his wars be photographed.
Frankly, although I understand Obama's decision in part, regarding not releasing the pictures of Obama because of the reaction they might incite; on the other hand, you would think after the business of the birth certificate he would have learned his lesson on domestic politics and what to expect from the Right Wing. Or heck, maybe this is just another three dimensional chess move by Obama, and he knows it will snap back on his detractors in a year or two. Who knows?
In the absence of the photos of Bin Laden, the right wing and his opponents will simply latch onto that absence and begin to circulate a million conspiracy theories that Obama just made the whole thing up as a political plot. Seriously, just wait.
All the neo-con fascists who instituted torture and the bottomless pit of wars we are in already are on the air talking like a bunch of dirty liberal hippies on Faux Noise Nutwork, questioning whether what Obama did was legal or not.
I can almost guarantee that within a few weeks, some Republican will suggest that maybe Obama should be IMPEACHED for assassinating Bin Laden, since that exceeded his authority under the Constitution.
I have begun to frankly wonder if sanity in the body politic and culture of this nation is even possible anymore.
The madness just continues to rage around me, and the ante is upped more every hour now.