perfidy

Murdoc has posed an interesting question:

There's been a lot of talk about how we might know where Osama is and how there might be a big operation along the Pakistan border soon. There's also been a lot of talk about how the capture of OBL might be "managed" by the Bush administration for maximum political effect. I get the feeling that whenever he's caught, there's going to be a general outcry of "politicization."

So I'm taking a poll to attempt to determine what window is available to
capture OBL without appearing to have staged it.

Whether the capture will have appeared to be politicized will depend on two things. One, the party affilation of the beholder, and the backstory behind the capture. For some, no matter when bin Laden is captured, it will be a nefarious Rove-orchestrated plot designed to seduce the befuddled masses away from the clearly superior Democratic candidate.
Others might think so if there is any indication that the intelligence services and armed forces had knowledge of his whereabouts for a significant length of time befoe the apprehension. How long "significant" is will again likely depend on party affiliation.

Absent that kind of information, I think most people will assume that we just caught him. The only capture date after which a majority of the public would wonder if it had been stage managed would be in the month before the election. Indeed, it might almost be better to intentionally capture him after the election.

So I voted for Oct 1; but for many on the left, it will be anytime after right now.

In any event, go over there and cast your vote.