Media misses the obvious in Pakistan story

In case you missed it over the weekend, there was an incident in Pakistan that is causing us some serious foreign policy headaches. There's some conflicting reports about what happened, but basically NATO airstrikes wiped out two Pakistani military bases and killed about two dozen of their troops. Our relationship with Pakistan is apparently at the "worst" it has ever been since the war in Afghanistan began.

A powerful tribute to our Navy SEALs

A graphic design company called the Stoneridge Group created this poster as a tribute to our Navy SEALs and their heroism on May 1, 2011.

You can order a 24" by 36" poster of this image here. All proceeds go to the Navy SEAL Foundation.

(Hat tip: RedState)

Get a cup of coffee, and read...

I send out a lot of links to great articles on my twitter account, and don't always remember to post them here. I'm going to try and collect them from my tweets and post them in groups here as "morning coffee reading" every now and then.

Anyway, here's some for today. Hope you enjoy:

An excellent, well-reasoned, and thoroughly researched article by Dan McLaughlin on some of the ridiculously illogical arguments being tossed around by the left since the news broke about bin Laden becoming shark food:

RedState | Inconvenient Facts About The Takedown of Osama bin Laden

Another RedState article, this one by Melissa Clouthier, addressing liberal hypocrisy with her usual wickedly sharp wit:

RedState | Osama Bin Laden's Death: Proving Liberals Don't Really Mean Their Rhetoric

Last RedState article for now. As usual, Erick Erickson is saying what needs to be said. This time, he addresses the unnecessary panic attack that Republicans are having about our 2012 presidential candidates:

RedState | The Winter of Republican Discontent

Apparently, Obama took 16 hours to make a decision about the raid to take out Osama bin Laden (as Dodd Harris put it, "15 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds too long"):

The Daily Mail | Obama took SIXTEEN HOURS to make up his mind about Bin Laden mission

A touching story from the Sarasota schoolchildren who were with President Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001:

Time.com | The Interrupted Reading: The Kids with George Bush on 9/11

A tongue-in-cheek article about how very, very awesome Navy SEALs are:

Guns.com | Behind the Balaclava: Getting to know Seal Team Six

Senator Bill Nelson, Florida's sole remaining Democrat in a statewide office, really jammed his foot in his mouth on Monday with a stupid and offensive comment trying to tie Osama bin Laden to one of the Florida Legislature's election bills (yes, really). Here's @diggrbiii's take:

The Right Sphere | Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL): Idiot

OK, let me know if you like lists of links like this and I might keep doing it. I'm going to go get some coffee now. Have a great morning, y'all.

We Got Him

What a great day in American history.

We got him. Osama bin Laden is dead, after a raid on his secret compound where he was hiding in Pakistan.

Crowds spontaneously gathered to celebrate in front of the White House, in New York City at Times Square and Ground Zero, and at our military academies.

This picture, from the New York Times, is destined to become iconic:

Photo: Michael Appleton, New York Times

The New York Post and New York Daily News seem to have the best headlines this morning:

[Hat tips to Patrick Ruffini, Nathan Wurtzel, and Brian Stelter]

I am so proud of the excellent work by our intelligence agents and military in bringing this evil man to justice. His death does not erase the loss and pain of those lost on September 11th, 2001, but it does show that America fulfilled its commitment to the victims to see that justice be done.

I find it very telling that bin Laden preached to his followers about the decadence and sins of the West, while living a luxurious - especially by Pakistani standards - lifestyle, in a private mansion. The same man who bragged about killing innocent Americans died a coward's death, reportedly attempting to use a woman as a human shield. Bin Laden was a hypocritical coward, but now he's a dead hypocritical coward.

Another interesting aspect of this story is how it played out online.

The White House had announced that the President would have a press conference at 10:30 pm last night regarding a "national security issue," but did not release the topic. Speculation and rumors began flying immediately. What seems to be the first real "leak" of the story was posted on Twitter by Keith Urbahn, who had served as Donald Rumsfeld's chief of staff.

Once the news of bin Laden's death was on Twitter, it set off a flood of "anonymous sources" at the White House, Pentagon, and Congressional offices who confirmed the story.

Once Obama finally spoke an hour later at 11:30 pm, the entire nation was already celebrating.

The Wall Street Journal has a story about how an IT consultant named Sohaib Athar inadvertently live-tweeted the raid on bin Laden yesterday.

Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it.Mon May 02 04:41:46 via TweetDeckSohaib Athar
ReallyVirtual

Some of the internet's merry pranksters had a little fun with Google reviews, adding a location for "Osama bin Laden's Compound" to the map for Abbottabad, Pakistan...and giving the place a four-star review. [Hat tip: Matt Bramanti]

Here's some more of my favorite tweets from the night:

Hey, it looks like there is a military solution to terrorism after all. Go figure.Mon May 02 02:47:46 via TweetDeckNoah Pollak
NoahPollak

Ya know whats awesome about all this? It'll never be "too soon" for Osama jokes.Mon May 02 04:53:17 via TweetDeckBrandon Morse
CnservativePunk

PLEASE tell me "Handling #Osama 's body according to Muslim tradition" is a euphemism for "Bacon-stuffed piñata" #tcotMon May 02 04:57:52 via webExurbanKevin
Hawthorne

In the morning, I'll wake up needing coffee. Osama? Not so much.Mon May 02 05:03:13 via TweetDeckRick Wilson
TheRickWilson

I think they should shlep Osama's body around the country like the Stanley Cup.Mon May 02 05:38:54 via webAndrewBreitbart
AndrewBreitbart

Osama Bin Laden was a coward. He hid from us for 10 years, the last 10 seconds of which behind some poor woman.Mon May 02 05:57:59 via web'Jim' 'Treacher'
jtLOL

Hey Taliban: while you've been camping in caves, your leader was living in a mansion. Think he lied about anything else? #novirginsforyouMon May 02 05:32:39 via ÜberSocialSarah Rumpf
rumpfshaker

And my favorite:

We're unlikely to ever know the name of the individual who pulled the trigger. Unnamed, you are still our hero.Mon May 02 03:41:21 via TweetDeckBen Domenech
bdomenech

Update: here's a transcript of both President Obama remarks, and the statement released by President George W. Bush last night.