Bipartisanship, Osama-style

(Events have caught up to me in recent weeks, but I'll be resuming regular posting this week.)

Despite his avowed hatred of all things American, it seems that Osama bin Laden didn't extend that disdain to American products:

Bloomberg: 

Bin Laden Aides Bought Big Orders of Pepsi, Coke, Grocer Says 

The two polite Pakistanis who helped Osama bin Laden hide in the shadow of their country’s army bought bulk food orders, chose major brands and equally favored Pepsi and Coke, neighbors and a local shopkeeper said. 

Rashid and Akbar Khan owned the fortified residence where U.S. commandos killed bin Laden in an early morning raid yesterday, and did the daily shopping in the Pashtu-language accents of Waziristan, a region on the Afghan border, said grocer Anjum Qaisar, 27, who works 150 meters from the compound. Bin Laden’s men "never came by foot, they always drove a Pajero or a little Suzuki van, and they bought enough food for 10 people," Qaisar said in an interview. 

"I was curious about why they bought so much food, but I did not want to be rude by asking" such a personal question, Qaisar said. The Khans told neighbors they had fled a violent tribal feud in Waziristan to seek a calmer life in Abbottabad, an army headquarters town 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital, Islamabad. 

[...] 

As Qaisar and other neighbors traded stories of bin Laden’s household and the U.S. raid, Pakistani troops controlled access into Bilal Town, their neighborhood of new, walled villas interspersed with farm plots where bin Laden’s 1.5-acre compound was the biggest. Qaisar was one of few merchants who braved the checkpoints to open for business today. 

Bin Laden’s protectors "always bought the best brands -- Nestle milk, the good-quality soaps and shampoos," Qaisar said. "They always paid cash, never asked for credit." They purchased meat from a butcher nearby who stayed closed today, he said.

So bin Laden, as Jon Stewart pointed out last night, was living in the suburbs, quaffing cold Coke and Pepsi,  keeping his hair and beard nice and silky with Aveda products, and...what else, watching the Final Four on satellite tv? Meanwhile, the Bush administration told us that he was "living in a cave." Looks like he found a damn nice cave! But seriously, this was a 6-foot+ Arab man who needed dialysis several times a week. He wasn't in some cave, not unless it had electricity and running water!

I am SO glad that we have a smart president now, one with rare intelligence and guts, a man who proved once again that he is more than capable of answering that 03:00 call.