the magical solution

on sunday morning, a smug newt gingrich suggested the obama administration was looking for "a magical solution that doesn't involve effort and doesn't involve risk" when it came to dealing with the somali pirates holding an american captain hostage. on sunday afternoon, that magical solution involved exactly three bullets, three dead pirates, a fourth pirate in u.s. custody, and an american captain being reunited with his friends and family.

sounds pretty magical to me.

and while he's certainly not alone, conservative blogger charles laughlin of little green footballs gives obama pretty major props for the pirate rescue deal:

"Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but what the hell happened to “The buck stops here”?

President Barack Obama is the Commander in Chief of the US armed forces. I certainly don’t agree with a lot of his policies, but I’ll be damned if I won’t — at the very least — respect the office and give him congratulations when it’s deserved. And when the US military succeeds in a critical mission, the C-in-C deserves congratulations.

There is way too much mean-spiritedness in modern politics, and I for one am totally sick of it...Take a step back from the brink, folks. Oppose Obama’s policies all you like, but be the loyal opposition, not a bunch of ranting haters. The Internet already has more than enough of those."

ladies and gentlemen, the ranting haters:


(hat tip andrew sullivan / daily kos)