Osama Obama Arama -- Part Deux

Like a cicada breaking out of its underground digs right on schedule, the Republican noise machine has pushed Osama bin Laden back into the spotlight in the run-up to the November election. You will recall that it did the very same thing in 2004 when it needed to scare the bejeebers out of voters and paint John Kerry as a girlie man who was weak on national security.

The target this time, of course, is Barack Obama, who is being portrayed as a softie who would give Bin Laden One habeas rights should he be captured.

This strikes me as a little disingenuous since the Bush administration has made a hash of going after OBL, and the president at one point even acknowledged that capturing or killing Global Enemy No. 1 was not a priority. This was a roundabout way of saying that going after the Bearded One was turning out to be a lot harder than mere breast beating.

And, let us not forget, the Bush White House has had at least one good shot at OBL in recent years and decided -- correctly, in my view -- that the collateral human damage and political and diplomatic repercussions were too great.

This, as uncomfortable as it is for the Bushies to admit, is exactly the same quandary that a couple of other national security softies faced -- Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

More here.