A lot of people don't know what a contradiction is. In a House hearing the other day, Attorney General Eric Holder said the U.S. would probably never capture Osama bin Laden alive, so the question of whether he'd ever get a civilian trial is academic. "He will never appear in an American courtroom," Holder said.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal said that the goal is still to get him alive. "We would certainly go after trying to capture him alive and bring him to justice," McChrystal said. "I think that is something that is understood by everyone."
The Washington Post summarizes the broad conclusion of observers, that McChrystal was "contradicting remarks by a top Obama administration official."
In what way is "we'll probably never get him alive" and "we want to get him alive" a contradiction? These two things are not in any way mutually exclusive. They happen to both be true. Neither one contradicts the other in any sense whatsoever.
This is the most idiotic controversy since Obama put mayonnaise or mustard on his burger or whatever. If Obama does get bin Laden alive, the GOP can whine about civilian trials all they want; no amount of raw-throated caterwauling from the GOP will be heard over the grateful cheers of the American people.
-- A. Serwer
