What’s interesting in the news today?
1. By now you’ve heard about the prisoner swap for an American POW held by the Taliban. The more details we get, the worse the deal sounds. And it looks like it may have been another illegal move by the White House.
From TheBlaze “Two Republican lawmakers said President Barack Obama violated U.S. laws when he approved the exchange of an American soldier believed held by Islamist insurgents for five years for five Afghan detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon of California and Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma said Saturday in a statement that Obama is required by law to notify Congress 30 days before any transfer of terrorists from the U.S. detention facility.
In response, the White House says that officials considered what they called “unique and exigent circumstances” and decided to go ahead with the transfer despite the legal requirement.
Lawmakers weren’t notified of the Guantanamo detainees’ transfer until after it occurred, according to the Washington Post.”
And the detainees swapped were the worst of the bunch.
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2. The White House is also dodging questions about just how it was he came to be a POW in the first place.
From TheHill “Top Obama administration officials on Sunday avoided question about whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who was released by the Taliban in exchange for five detainees on Saturday, deserted the Army.
ABC News “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos asked National Security Adviser Rice whether such allegations would be “investigated.”
“If it is found that he did, will he be disciplined or has he already paid the price?” he asked.
“Certainly, anybody who has been held in those conditions in captivity for five years has paid an extraordinary price, but that is really not the point,” Rice said. “The point is he’s back. He’s going to be safely reunited with his family. He served the United States with honor and distinction.”
Oh well, I guess we should be happy. At least she didn’t blame it on a video this time.
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3. But others are talking about it.
From TheTelegraph/UK “But hopefulness soon gave way to despair after his unit began to take casualties and he saw how US troops treated the Afghans they were supposed to be saving. “These people need help, yet what they get is the most conceited country in the world telling them that they are nothing and that they are stupid,” he wrote in an email to his parents on June 27, 2009.
Three days later, according to Rolling Stone, the 23-year-old soldier simply walked off his base in Patika province, carrying a knife, his diary and a small camera.”
“Chuck Hagel, the US secretary of defence, said the first priority is to restore his health before American intelligence officers begin to debrief him in the hope of extracting valuable information on the Taliban. He declined to comment on the possibility that Sgt Bergdahl could face a court martial for desertion when he finally returns to the United States.”
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4. Things are worsening at the southern border. 2,000 a day in Texas alone. Overwhelming the system, classic Cloward/Piven.
More on that here, from FoxNews
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5. Oh boy. The Epic Fail continues to.. well, fail.
From IJReview “A new study was released which shows that Obamacare will both increase the cost of health insurance and increase the number of uninsured.
Professor Stephen Parente and Adjunct Professor Michael Ramlet did an analysis of Obamacare and its projected effect on the number of uninsured over the next ten years. He found that the number of uninsured will go up starting in 2017, due to the declining purchasing power of the government subsidies.
Parente & Ramlet also found that health insurance costs will increase by nearly $1400 for those individuals with “silver” plans and $4200 for families with “silver” plans.”
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6. And since we’re on the subject of failures….. As always, revised down.
From HotAir “For the first time in three years, the American economy contracted over the course of a quarter. In the interim report on GDP, the BEA estimates that the US economy shrunk by a full point in 2014 Q1, a downward revision of the advance estimate of 0.1% growth:
Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — decreased at an annual rate of 1.0 percent in the first quarter according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.6 percent.
The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, real GDP was estimated to have increased 0.1 percent. With this second estimate for the first quarter, the decline in private inventory investment was larger than previously estimated (see “Revisions” on page 3).”
“The decrease in real GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from private inventory investment, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, state and local government spending, and residential fixed investment that were partly offset by a positive contribution from personal consumption expenditures. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, increased.”
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Wandering Views 
Everyone is talking about the trade of the American soldier for five Taliban terrorist.
No one, not even the guy doing Rush today suggests that it was really a way for Obama to get five more people out of Gitmo.
I may be the only person who believes that.
He was wanted to do something about Gitmo forever.
Those terrorists will be back. Martyrdom is their goal.
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Chas, I believe you are right. In Obama’s last few months I expect him to release terrorists even as Bill Clinton, in his last days, released criminals who paid him bribes.
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My wife: If Houston is destroyed by fire and brimstone, do you think Oklahoma City might get the Astros?
http://misguidedchildren.com/domestic-affairs/2014/05/houston-ordinance-calls-for-unisex-restrooms/21947?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=houston-ordinance-calls-for-unisex-restrooms
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I read an interesting book called The Deserters — a hidden history of WWII. It could’ve been better done but still makes interesting points. In WWII, desertion of western soldiers was far more common than people think. The allies rarely pursued deserter nor did they bring them to trial. For most part, the deserters suffered from PTSD or shell shock and simply left the battle. Rather than discuss the implications of PTSD, the allies simply ignored the desertion and eventually reintegrated the deserters or just sent them home. It appears Bergdahl probably falls under the same category — after the political fallout and debriefing he will simply be discharged. And why not?? I doubt hardly anyone criticizing him or the political machinations which brought him home would have acted better than him.
During the cold war prisoner exchanges weren’t uncommon and for the most part pilots and spies went right back to work. Both sides will derive something of value from this exchange. And think about it, the Gitmo prisoners need to go somewhere eventually.
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hwesseli, I think in this case the claim that some of his fellow soldiers lost their lives while on missions to try to find him (if true) is a significant factor.
I’m glad he’s home, very glad for his parents. But this was a big mess and, by all accounts, it sounds like his own actions led him right into the enemy’s arms.
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All five of those will be back. Martyrdom is their objective.
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Meanwhile, we have a marine in Mexico.
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Not to mention his own rather harsh words about his country that are coming back to haunt him. It will be interesting to hear from him eventually, so see how this has affected him and his views.
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Texans are saying that Jerry Jones is now advising Obama on trades: One free agent for five first round picks.
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HRW, I would like to think that 99.99% of American soldiers would have acted better than Bergdahl, and in fact they did. The way he deserted got many of his comrades killed as they were out looking for him.
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