Brian Beutler, a senior editor at The New Republic, claimed in a column Friday (June 6) that the GOP was "overreaching" in its criticism of President Obama for trading five Taliban leaders for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. He acknowledged that there are legitimate questions about the deal, but these should have been kept to a "narrow" and "nuanced" debate. Raising the question of whether Bergdahl is a deserter added too much emotion to the discussion. He would rather "imagine" an inquiry that did not include this element. This would have just been another unremarkable attempt to defend President Obama by a member of his dwindling base except for Beutler's use of the word "bloodthirsty" in the fifth paragraph. Certainly, "bloodthirsty" comes to mind whenever the Taliban is mentioned. Consider the five terrorist leaders released from Gitmo by the White House. Abdul Haq Wasiq worked closely with al-Qaeda and has been...(Read Full Post)