As we wrote earlier tonight, the news of Osama Bin Laden's death -- and its implications for President Barack Obama's legacy and his re-election race -- is almost certain to change the contours of the 2012 race.
Here's some responses from potential 2012 GOP contenders to the news that the al-Qaeda leader has been killed in a U.S.-led operation in Pakistan.
Facebook post from former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: "This is a great victory for lovers of freedom and justice everywhere. Congratulations to our intelligence community, our military and the president. My thoughts are with the families of Osama bin Laden's many thousands of victims, and the brave servicemen and women who have laid down their lives in pursuit of this murderous terrorist."
Written statement from former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: "This is terrific news for freedom and justice. In the hours after the 9/11 attacks, President Bush promised that America would bring Osama bin Laden to justice — and we did. I want to congratulate America's armed forces and President Obama for a job well done. Let history show that the perseverance of the US military and the American people never wavered. America will never shrink from the fight and ultimately those who seek to harm us face only defeat. Today, justice is done, but the fight against radical Islamic terrorism is not yet over."
Tweet from former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin: "Thank you, American men and women in uniform. You are America's finest and we are all so proud. Thank you for fighting against terrorism.
Written statement from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: "It is unusual to celebrate a death, but today Americans and decent people the world over cheer the news that madman, murderer and terrorist Osama Bin Laden is dead. The leader of Al Qaeda--- responsible for the deaths of 3000 innocent citizens on September 11, 2001, and whose maniacal hate is responsible for the deaths of thousands of US servicemen and women was killed by U.S. military. President Obama confirmed the announcement late last night. DNA tests confirmed his death and his body is in the possession of the U. S. It has taken a long time for this monster to be brought to justice. Welcome to hell, bin Laden. Let us all hope that his demise will serve notice to Islamic radicals the world over that the United States will be relentless is tracking down and terminating those who would inflict terror, mayhem and death on any of our citizens."
Written statement from Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann: "I want to express my deepest gratitude to the men and women of the U.S. military and intelligence community. Their persistence and dedicated service has yielded success in a mission that has gripped our nation since the terrible events of 9/11. Tonight’s news does not bring back the lives of the thousands of innocent people who were killed that day by Osama bin Laden’s horrific plan, and it does not end the threat posed by terrorists, but it is my hope that this is the beginning of the end of Sharia-compliant terrorism.”
Written statement from former Sen. Rick Santorum: "This is extraordinary news for all freedom loving people of the world, and I commend all those involved for this historic triumph. Americans have waited nearly ten years for the news of Osama bin Laden's death. And while this is a very significant objective that cannot be minimized, the threat from Jihadism does not die with bin Laden. As we were vigilant in taking him out we need to demonstrate we will continue to be vigilant until the enemy has been subdued."


And they, of course, offered congratulations to President Obama for his fine leadership.
On 911 American's watched in Horror,but soon came together to get "Whoever Did This" !
Maybe, just Maybe, Osama Bin Laden's Death will bring US together again !
Tonight, We Are 1 America !
President Obama, Our troops have done what they were tasked with in Afghanistan:
Bring them Home!
newdayDAWNING10
And they, of course, offered congratulations to President Obama for his fine leadership.
And of course if GWB hadn't dropped the ball and been so quick to start a war in Iraq this narrative would be totally different. Plus, our economy and standing in the world would have been much different.
I hope the MSM brings that aspect out.
The media news to portray how President Obama is bringing change to the globe with the revolution in the Middle East and not credit that scoundrel GW Bush for this accomplishment
Great Victory For USA! To get the man responsible for 911. I agree bring the troops home to celebrate and honor them with a Victory parade. Then reassign many of the troops to the states besieged with tornadoes and floods. We can't be serious about finances if we don't trim the defense department budget. It is the old guns or butter thing and they tell me we are fresh out of butter.
Bush 7 years no Osama
Obama 2 years no more Osama
Obama tripled the troops bush languished there for 7 years and quadrupled drone attacks, and moved Petraus over from Iraq among other changes. Combined it worked in 2 what didn't work in 7. God bless our troops. God bless our new commander in chief. God bless the USA!!!
Did they, indeed? Sarah Palin said this:
"Thank you, American men and women in uniform. You are America's finest and we are all so proud. Thank you for fighting against terrorism." No mention of the President. Same with Michele Bachmann.
Tim Pawlenty attempted to give credit to George W. Bush. In that regard, however, before we give Bush too much credit, perhaps we should remember this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGmnz5Ow-o
whoa.......santorum, sarah palin and bachmann can't even congratulate president obama for a job well done. too bad for you guys.
i guess this community organizer has rattled them. shame on you guys.
Romney and Pawlenty DID give credit to Obama. Kudos to them. A pox on the other low lifes who don't have the kahoonas to actually give credit to someone, whom without his actions, this great event wouldn't have occured.
Geez. Cant we just be happy for ALL of America. A person that attacked us has been killed and yet we still fight amongst each other. Let it go for a day and celebrate among ALL of US.
slick willy dropped the ball. Keep applying the pressure to the bastards, wherever they are hiding!
You people wouldn't have been satisfied, no matter what Palin said. You would have freaked out if she said nothing. Admit it. She could have slobbered and drooled all over Obama like you do - which NO politician deserves, and you would have accused her of being insincere.
I'm no fan of any of those candidates, or much of the Republican party for that matter, but their responses have been perfectly acceptable - unless you have a constant axe to grind now that you no longer have Bush to put Hitler moustaches on.'
Good job, Obama. Now bring the troops home.
I love this guy so I have to share what he writes:
http://www.borowitzreport.com/
Holy crap Bev. You are a disgrace to liberals and Democrats. Its so unfortunate that when I think of a leftwinger I think of you and your pal Fiesty, who are filled with more hate than David Duke and Louis Farrahkan combined. Then, ironically, in an excellent display of talking out of both sides of your mouth, you guys complain about "violent rhetoric" coming from the right. You immediately, I mean, IMMEDIATELY, wasted no effort turning something incredibly wonderful for the United States and the world and giving it a vile stench based on your stupid, juvenile assumptions. Even Obama had the decency to refer to Bush in a positive light, that we all, Republicans and Democrats, deserve to share the spotlight for this accomplishment.
Like Obama, Bush inherited a dot-com bust recession and within months of being sworn in dealt with the worst terror attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor. I challenge any president to have done a better job when Americans were hell-bent on revenge after 9/11.
president obama put his a$$ on the line, when he gave the orders to put boots on the ground in pakistan. if the mission would have gone bad , it would have been the end if his political career. it very well could be the biggest decicion of his presidency. so for some people not to give him any credit is just political and in my opinion unamerican. these are the same people always screaming they are patriots and everyone else are leftest, communist ,marxist etc.
From a secular perspective, the real bummer here is that there is no hell for this disgrace of a person to rot in.
In the end, his demise came as a sudden flash of light, a subtle ringing in the ear, and a somewhat slow-fade to darkness.
He probably felt little pain ... although we can all take some solace that at least he knew what was coming. His fate was not decided by a booming explosion, but he was hunted and exterminated as he deserved to be.
He undoubtedly listened to the gunshots as our forces cleared room by room, floor by floor. He knew his fate would be violent, and he knew by who's hands it would come. I can only take a slight pause in comfort at the notion of the Red, White and Blue patches that Osama saw on our solders arms as the muzzle flashes blinded at first his sight, then his pathetic life.
In the end, all his fights ... all his godly praises fell on def ears. He killed in the name of tradition and superstition and he died for such empty causes as well.
Thousands killed. And for what?
Decent responses by Huckabee and Romney. The rest seemed a bit petty and envious. Embarrassed by knowing that they themselves had nothing to do with the solution, they were unable to congratulate our Commander-in-Chief on a job well done. Pawlenty, apparently does not even know who the current President is. And he's supposed to be the sane candidate from Minnesota.
Only Romney and Pawlenty managed to include the president in their congratulations. There are your two credible candidates.
Every time Michele Bachmann talks about Sharia law I say to myself "if anybody ever made the case to keep a women's mouth wrapped with scarves you do lady".
And take out Pawlenty because he also tried to give the primary credit to George W. Bush. Not hardly.
what a pathetic lot they are
even GW had the decency to congratulate the Pres.
even Limbaugh gave thanks to Obama....but the spin on that was that Obama had continued the policies of GW Bush which has made him sucessful.
It's unfortunate that Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Saxby Chamblis etc. could not congratulate President Obama...he ordered the hit, and it was his team who had the intelligence, and did the job. They may not support our President, but he got the job done.
Interestingly this morning on Morning Joe Saxon Chambliss acknowledged everyone except the Presdent. Joe Scarborough kept stating that Obama went against his base by continuing the war. That the difference between leadership and politics. A leader makes decisions in the best interest of the courntry, not in the best interest of the party or their base. Since their small minds won't say it, I will... Thank you Mr. President. Job well done!" I will continue to pray for this manespecially now because the lunatic fringe is already out claiming it is a sham. Americans will soon be forced to make a choice. Real leaderhip or these goons? I hope they think long and hard.
I applaud the President for pulling the trigger when he had the chance, however, I give him the same credit as GWB but both pale in comparison to the intelligence agents and military in reciveing credit.
Both Presidents deserve credit, one for initiating the manhunt and one for ending it, that's all. The military and intelligence community worked for a decade to find this man and didn't give up. This is the American spirit at it's finest....hard work, intelligence and perserverence.
This is a win for the American people, what we stand for, what we believe in....not what President gets credit for what. The Presidents(both) do it for political gain..... the "workers" do it for the People.
Thank you Chris, it's sad people on here talking about who should or should not get credit. The people who needed the thanks were thanked, our troops and agents they risked and still risk their lives everyday on the front lines. What Obama did was his job so I thank him for that, but I don't give credit to anyone except those on the ground.
Some people on the right don't want to give any (or very little) credit to Obama, but if this had gone wrong you would have given him all the blame.
Isn't it interesting how many Republicans failed to give Obama credit for his leadership in this matter?
No, it was totally, sadly, and completely predictable.
I am waiting for Trumps comments....he will probably try to take some credit for this too....
b. lopez
I am waiting for Trumps comments....he will probably try to take some credit for this too..
If you can stand it he'll be call calling in to the dumb bunnies at FOX & FRIENDS tomorrow morning. He does it every morning just about.
The Donald had the audacity to cry on the shoulders of F0X& FIENDS this morning because he was the butt end of the joke?
I don't expect him to be jubilant when he calls
http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=b40d4f43-37f0-4831-805f-ada2596895fd
In won't be long before Trump, Palin. Bachmann.Beck and the rest of the right wing crazies decide this is all a hoax.
Do you honestly believe Trump is a viable candidate? He hasn't even formed an exploratory committee and you know he's not spending HIS money to fund the campaign.
Trump will demand to see the body of OBL. Maybe we should all demand to see his actual hair line.
He deserved EVERTHING he got at the roasting he got. EVERYTHING and more.
not only will he take credit for the death, but he'll demand the long form death certificate, as well as demanding to know where his body was dumped at see so he can send his investigators to confirm that OBL is dead
Actually Trump has a history as a democrat. I wouldnt realy think he would run as republican. He's just figured out a way to make more money. Thats what he does he is a billionnaire. I am glad to see Obama actualy has done something good for us. I thank him for that but somebody needs to explain to him that he cant keep printing money. Thats one of the first things we learned in basic economics in high school. Printing money makes it not worth the paper it is printed on. Of course if you own gold you will surely want to keep Obama around.
Bev
.......Thanks for the hook.
Seems like all potential Republicans are either whiners or criers...lol..
Thank you Romeny and Pawlenty for acknowledging the fine work by our President as well as our armed forces and the CIA. The other Republican presidential hopefuls are all "carnival barkers". Obama 2012.
Great party going on outside the white house at this time. Can't wait for Will I Am's song!
Tweet from former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin:"Thank you, American men and women in uniform. You are America's finest and we are all so proud. Thank you for fighting against terrorism.
Retweet this Dittio head
Thank you Mr. President
Yeah! Thank you Mr. Obama!!! God Bless America!!!
I guess he was not hiding in a cave after all. Thank you President Obama for asking the security services to make this a top priority.
What's more interesting is that we actually kept a secret.
@Soapm: Yep, I agree. President went to the Correspondent's dinner with a secret and laugh all the way through it.
"What's more interesting is that we actually kept a secret."
That's because he didn't tell anyone in Congress until AFTER it was all over. God only knows what Bachmann would have done if she know about it.
Ugh, she would have broken it days ahead of time, demanded why we were keeping it secret (to be honest, we HAD to be sure, if we messed it up it would be one hell of a blow to all of us), and then thanked all the republicans for being hard on terrorism. Though it probably would have resulted in Bachman losing some supporters, she would have gained a few and it would be one divided @!$%# show. It went well, Obama did great, and his speech was excellent.
Bav. Palin will soon be as irelevent as Trump.
Palin will soon be as irelevent as Trump.
Neither has ever been relevant.
Palin will be soon as irrelevant as Trump? She and He are already irrelevant !!
The Republican Party is now super irrelevant......
Agreed. This may make President Obama unbeatable in 2012.
Reactions: Bin Laden's death
Global reactions to the news of Osama bin Laden's death.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/05/20115241936984209.html
Thanks for the link. No surprise that Hamas wasn't happy.
Patrick Salt Lake City
Bav. Palin will soon be as irelevent as Trump.
I know but she can't see it which is sad for her and America, with the fear, hatred, divisiveness, and lack of knowledge she engenders.
Hello kettle, my name is pot. Geez.
YES WE CAN!!!
Soapm
YES WE CAN!!!
I don't see nothing wrong with a little toot toot beep beep
See you around 9:AM if I don't oversleep.
This is a great day for President Obama, the Armed Forces of the United States, and the American People. Congratulations!!!! We are all proud to be Americans.
Tim Pawlenty:
[I want to congratulate America's armed forces and President Obama for a job well done.]
Seems Tea-Paw was the only one to actually acknowledge the president in their statements...
Best news to come out of Washington in almost a decade. Thank you Mr. President.
Congradulations President Obama and all our troop. This is a great day for you all.
I hear from ABC News that the seals were all dressed like Trump,Ryan and Huckabee and was afraid he would be forced to join the Republicans
Can't never give a blackman credit for fear of never gaining control again. Sad, sad Republicans... War mongers what will you do now,Osama dead and you have the prez's birth cirtificate all in a week. Damn thats good... God Bless the President of the UnitedStates...
Thank you Mr. President. Our new motto should be SMART, PROUD & STRONG
This is A big political win for the President, it shows how capable he is as A leader!!!
To bad Obama cant get anything else right. THE Candian dollar is worth more than the us dollar now. My health insurance went up 30 bucks a week this year. Gas is 4 dollars a gallon. Ge dint pay any taxes and I did, but at least you got bin ladens ass. Congrats for getting on thing right so now how bout shorten your parties and comedy acts and get us out of debt.
It shows we have the best trained military in the world! Anyone of my former team members that have been working under 4 presidents knew sooner or later he would turn up on their radar! Flawless execution, going to be interesting to see what they show! The news says he died of a single shot to the head, more than likely a large cal. rifle which means there is or was not much left of his cranium.
Thank God for President Bush who made it possible to accomplish this intel from GITMO and thank you President Obama for NOT closing down GITMO as you originally planned and Thank you is still not enough to every soldier whoever ever sacrificied themselves and to the soldiers who are in harm's way as we speak and in the service of our country! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!
You just can't handle the fact that President Obama got the job done, can you? What makes yo think the intel came from GITMO anyway?
"Thank God for President Bush who made it possible to accomplish this intel from GITMO"
Do you actually believe that people who have been locked up at GITMO know where Osmam was?? The first clue came about as a result of great intelligence work. The CIA thought it was strange that this huge, modern compound in Pakistan with no internet access, no TV or any other kind of electronic access was a bit strange. That's what started the ball rolling. GITMO had NOTHING to do with this.
ya been watching the rummy rumamuck vedio on fox.
how do you know it was a gitmo leak- came in august and wikileaks portrays the gitmo interrogations as a waste of time with little or nothing of consequence that can be proven and trusted.
I watched fox news last night when the announcement came and there is Andrew Card speaking of all the hard work Bush did to get us to yesterdays killing of Obama. Today Rumsfeld says it was Gitmo that did it- its always about the REpubliCONS isnt it.
The compound was built 3 years ago. Where were these prisoners then? Oh I forgot they have phones in Gitmo and was able to relay the information to Bush.
You got to give Obama credit. After getting the intelligence info on Bin Laden's whereabouts, he said to hell with you Pakistan, you have played us long enough. I'm coming to get that SOB! We'll talk about it later. Our Prez has some balls!
Damn right.