From the Gartman letter today:

Moving on, yet continuing our concerned regarding bin

Laden, the following was sent to us several times

yesterday by friends, courtesy of Commentary

magazine. Former Speaker of the House Pelosi

apparently has difficulty understanding the bin Laden

situation and whether it would have been proper for a

Republican President to have him assassinated instead

of a Democrat. She said back in early September of ’06

that

"[E]ven if [Osama bin Laden] is caught tomorrow,

it is five years too late. He has done more

damage the longer he has been out there. But,

in fact, the damage that he has done . . . is

done. And even to capture him now I don’t think

makes us any safer."

That was her “take” when George W. Bush was

President. Monday, following President Obama’s

announcement of the success of the raid upon bin

Laden’s compound in Pakistan she said

"The death of Osama bin Laden marks the most

significant development in our fight against al-

Qaida. . . . I salute President Obama, his

national security team, Director Panetta, our

men and women in the intelligence community

and military, and other nations who supported

this effort for their leadership in achieving this

major accomplishment. . . . [T]he death of

Osama bin Laden is historic. . . ."

So now we know: according to Ms. Pelosi, a Republican

assassination would have been damaging and would not

have made us any safer, but a Democrat assassination

is “the most significant development in our fight against

al-Qaida” and President Obama is to be saluted. We too

think Obama should be saluted and we did so here

yesterday, but we find Ms. Pelosi’s comments somewhat

disingenuous and simply wrong.