Obama on Terrorists: "Take 'Em Out"

The other day, in Michigan, Obama played Tough Guy. Like Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, he apparently wants us all to know that he has testicular virility. The Democrats freak out about Gitmo because, as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) might describe it, it's worse than Auschwitz or Dachau. They insist, as a party, on civilian trials for captured terrorists. Barack Obama, however, has had a sudden change of heart. Or so it seems. He told the crowd, "There should be no conflict between keeping America safe and secure and respecting our Constitution.” He went on to say that his position has “always been clear: If you've got a terrorist, take 'em out, take 'em out. Anybody who was involved in 9/11, take 'em out." [Source] Peter Slevin points out the weirdness of Obama's statements: Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for more than a decade, said captured suspects deserve to file writs of habeus corpus. Calling it “the foundation of Anglo-American law,” he said the principle “says very simply: If the government grabs you, then you have the right to at least ask, ‘Why was I grabbed?’ And say, ‘Maybe you’ve got the wrong person.’” The safeguard is essential, Obama continued, “because we don’t always have the right person.” [Source] So, which is it? "Take 'em out," as Obama told the folks in Michigan, or allow the suspected terrorist the opportunity to file writs of habeus corpus? There's a huge disconnect going on there. Either Obama made yet another gigantic flip-flop or he is again lying through his pearly whites. Of course, we may have misunderstood Obama. By "take 'em out," did he mean "kill them?" Perhaps he was simply suggesting that they be taken out to dinner or lunch. Then, over coffee, the suspected terrorist could calmly ask his captors, "Why was I grabbed? Maybe you've got the wrong person?" To which his captor might respond, "Try the orange glazed chicken. It's very good here."