BloggeRhythms

Dan Lamothe writes in washingtonpost.com, “Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who slipped away from his patrol base in Afghanistan in 2009 and was held in captivity for five years, has been charged with desertion and misbehaving before the enemy, Army officials said Wednesday, setting the stage for emotionally charged court proceedings in coming months.”

 

There may be even more to come, whereas after nearly 10 months of debate about whether Bergdahl should face charges and about the circumstances of his recovery, an independent review by the Government Accountability Office says "President Obama also broke the law by authorizing the release of five Taliban detainees held by the United States in exchange for Bergdahl without consulting Congress."

 

At the time of the prisoner swap, June 1, 2014, National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, defended the decision on ABC’s “This Week,” saying Bergdahl “served the United States with honor and distinction.”

 

Regarding the current desertion allegations, she said again that Bergdahl, “served the United States with honor and distinction. And we’ll have the opportunity eventually to learn what has transpired in the past years.”

 

Rice also said that “assurances relating to the movement, the activities, the monitoring of those detainees [released in exchange for Bergdahl] give us confidence that they cannot and, in all likelihood, will not pose a significant risk to the United States. And that it is in our national interests that this transfer had been made.”

 

For Rice, however, this isn’t the first time she’s been accused of being wrong on the facts in the middle of a controversy. Most notably in the days after the deadly Sept. 11, 2011, attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya, which she steadfastly claimed was a “spontaneous response” to an anti-Islam video.

 

Which is why, perhaps, Wall Street Journal Editorial Report panelist Jason Riley remarked on Saturday that he can’t understand why she still has a job at the White House and that, “she is either giving the president bad advice or she is deliberately misleading the public, whether it's on this issue or the Benghazi video.”

 

On another issue, Michael W. Chapman headlined an article on CNSNews.com: “Gallup: Concern About Environment Down – Americans Worry Least About Global Warming”

 

Mr. Chapman writes that, “Americans concern over environmental issues such as water and air pollution and extinction of species is down from last year, and the data show that of all green issues, Americans worry the least about global warming (or climate change), according to Gallup.

 

“As part of its annual Environmental survey, which Gallup has done for more than two decades, the surveyors on March 5-8” found that for “global warming or climate change,” some 34% worried about it a “great deal” in 2014 but that went down to 32% in 2015.”

 

Furthermore, “When Gallup broke the data down by political party, Republican versus Democrat, it found that only 13% of Republicans worry a “great deal” about global warming in 2015 while 52% of Democrats worry a “great deal” about the issue.”

 

Which goes to prove that when government pays for their existence in one way or another, people worry about what they’re told to,  or at least, say that they do.

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios