Waldmann Smackdown Watch

Someone who is not as enthusiastic about Barack Obama as I am.
We had an e-mail debate about Obama's willingness to attempt to kill Osama in Pakistan
with or without Pakistani permission.

He wrote to me (among other things) "As he [Obama] put it, he would not hesitate to bomb people.
It's always wise to think it over before you start WW III.

I thought Huh wah ?!?!?!? and replied (quoted in full)

don't recall Obama every saying he wouldn't hesitate befor bombing.
If I am aware of the statement by Obama which you are paraphrasing, it
has since been done, and didn't start WWIII. I bet you didn't even
notice. He said he would send missiles after Osama even without
Pakistani permission. Since then, Bush has done so twice against
lower al Qaeda figures. As far as I know, Pakistan didn't even
protest. I would like a quote supporting your accusation that "As he
put it, he would not hesitate to bomb people." I expect to find the
word "hesitate" in it.

Which is clearly throwing down the googling gauntlet.

He came back with a quote from the Washington Post

This week saw the unusual spectacle of a foreign government criticizing a U.S. presidential candidate. The government is Pakistan and the candidate is Sen. Barack Obama -- and while such criticism is rare, Obama's remarks were pretty strange, too.

Clicking on "remarks" took me to proof that Obama did, indeed, say "I will not hesitate to take out terrorists who pose a direct threat to America"

He wins. I lose.

Now I happen to agree with Obama about not hesitating if there is actionable intelligence about the location of Osama bin Laden, but I sure wish I had hesitated before starting a googling war.