https://redstate.com/dan_mclaughlin/2011/05/03/inconvenient-facts-about-the-takedown-of-osama-bin-laden/feed/Conservative News & Politicsen-usWed, 10 Jun 2026 01:41:59 -0400<![CDATA[One good rule of thumb if you are arguing politics &#8211; or practicing law, as I do &#8211; is that if your argument requires you to prove that something never happens or somebody does nothing good or right, you have started off with two strikes against you. Never is a hard thing to prove and an easy one to disprove. In the real world, bad ideas work sometimes, bad people do good things sometimes, brilliant plans fail sometimes, and time and chance happen to us all. This is, in fact, why the wise conservative recognizes the wisdom of crowds and the benefit of tradition: things must be tried many times by many people to see what works most, and what works in one situation may not work in another. Thus, while we can fairly debate the respective amount of credit given to President Obama and his senior advisors for taking out Osama bin Laden, there is no useful cause served in arguing that the Administration should get no credit. Many national leaders far worse than Obama have done something right in office. In the long run, Obama&#8217;s political success will stand or fall on his record as a whole.]]>Tue, 03 May 2011 13:42:20 -0400<![CDATA[Dan McLaughlin]]>https://redstate.com/dan_mclaughlin/2011/05/03/inconvenient-facts-about-the-takedown-of-osama-bin-laden-n38871