"High Crime and Misdemeanor"

Former Navy Admiral and recently nominated Democrat Senate candidate for Pennsylvania Joe Sestak is in increasingly hot water. The speculation from all sides is he was indeed offered the position of Admiral of the High Seas (Navy Secretary) in exchange for him dropping out of the Senate race, thus allowing Arlen Specter to sail through the primary.

Humble Libertarian and LR Webmaster Wes Messamore asks - Did Barack Obama Commit A Felony?:

Could this be the beginning of the end of the Obama Administration? Have his corrupt, Chicago-style politics finally caught up with him?

Discussing the issue with Sean Hannity, former White House adviser to President Bill Clinton, Dick Morris said:

"This scandal could be enormous. It's Valerie Plame only 10 times bigger, because it's illegal and Joe Sestak is either lying or the White House committed a crime. Obviously, the offer of a significant job in the White House could not be made unless it was by Rahm Emanuel or cleared with Rahm Emanuel... that is a high crime and misdemeanor."

Sestak is running against libertarian-leaning Republican and former Club for Growth President Pat Toomey.

From Eric Dondero:

The Washington Post quoted Libertarian Party of Kentucky Vice-Chairman Joshua Koch yesterday in an article titled - "Libertarians may run Senate candidate in Ky." by reporter Roger Alford. The story was picked up by the AP. From WaPo:

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The Libertarian Party is considering running a candidate in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race, saying GOP nominee Rand Paul - the son of a former Libertarian presidential candidate - has betrayed the party's values.

Party Vice Chairman Joshua Koch said Wednesday that Paul has been a black eye for Libertarians because of stands he's taken on issues, including his criticism of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Koch said Paul is not a Libertarian. He called Paul and his Democratic opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, "faces of the same bad coin."

The article continued:

Koch had strong criticism for Paul, who won the Republican Senate nomination last week by trouncing the GOP establishment candidate, Secretary of State Trey Grayson.

"He had gone from being an outsider candidate to a tea party candidate to an establishment candidate in the past nine months," Koch said. "It's a complete identity crisis. I've never seen anything like it."

Koch did not say who the Libertarian Party might put up to run in the race.

Reached for a comment by Libertarian Republican Koch wanted to be clear that his views were his and represented only the Libertarian Party of Kentucky:

"These are my comments and do not speak for the entire libertarian movement... my remarks and those released were from the LPKY. I do not speak for Libertarian Republicans."

The Washington Post did not make the distinction between Libertarian Party and the small 'l' libertarian movement in the piece.

Tea Party Libertarians, Libertarian Republicans and numerous independent libertarians are enthusiastically supportive of Paul. Paul was one of the first candidates endorsed in the 2010 electon cycle by the Republican Liberty Caucus, which represents the libertarian win of the GOP. Dave Nalle, National Chairman of the RLC was not contacted by the Post for the interview, nor were any RLC members in Kentucky.

From Eric Dondero:

The leadership of the Libertarian Party of Kentucky is in turmoil over comments made by LPKY Vice-Chair Joshua Koch to the Washington Post on Tuesday. Koch said that Rand Paul was not going to be supported by Libertarians in the State, and that the Libertarian Party may in fact run a candidate against him.

In an interview with Libertarian Republican, LPKY Chairman Ken Moellman indicated that Vice-Chairman Joshua Koch may have been speaking out of turn, and was misrepresented by the Washington Post as speaking on behalf of the entire Libertarian Party.

Late last night, Moellman issued the following statement on the Party's official website, (excerpted):

It's now painfully obvious that we need to clarify some things. I've been on the phone all day, which has just been great (sarcasm). Let's get some things cleared up right now:

The LPKY is not endorsing anyone in the Senate race

As a party we have no one in this race, and we do not seek to help or harm the candidacy of any candidates other than our own. As a party, it would be completely inappropriate to involve ourselves or in any way devote resources to a candidate outside of the LPKY, when there are great libertarian candidates running as Libertarians for office in Kentucky.

Anything that looked like any sort of endorsement or un-endorsement should be seen as a private individual's opinion, and not the policy of the LPKY. .

The LPKY has no candidate for US Senate

While technically possible for the LPKY to run a US Senate candidate in 2010, the prospects are very unlikely, despite what some in the media have said...

Any other comments are individual opinions and are not the view of the Libertarian Party of Kentucky. (emphasis Ken Moellman's)

Note - Other leaders in the libertarian political movement at the upper levels, have expressed privately to Libertarian Republican their great displeasure at the initial comments released by the LPKY.

From Eric Dondero:

Lex Green is the Libertarian Party nominee for Governor of Illinois. The Party recently went over the required amount of signatures for ballot access for 2010.

Green comes from the mainstream wing of the Libertarian Party. His emphasis is solidly on the economics side. He's been crunching the numbers on the Illinois budget and has come up with an 8-point plan.

It includes:

1. No Growth Budgeting.
2. Pension Reform.
3. Reduce added costs associated with Bond debt.
4. Both Broad and Specific Budget Cuts.
5. Deep cuts in Agencies and Grants.
6. Reduce Medicaid fraud and look to sunset Illinois participation.
7. Use Zero based budget justification.

All sensible, almost Republican style proposals. But it is with #8 that his libertarian streak breaks through:

8. Issue Additional Casino Licenses. There is no reason to limit casino licenses, except to respect the wishes of individual counties. While we re-prioritize our budgets, we can continue to collect revenue from casinos. But we have no reason to be in the Lottery business. I propose to sell the lottery to the highest bidder.

Note - Green's wife Karen is a local Republican Precinct Committeewoman.

See the entire detailed budget proposal at electLex.com

Alleged Sex Scandal erupts among two libertarian Republicans

From Eric Dondero:

This is a painful blog post to make. About as painful as when we reported here a year ago, on Wisconsin State Rep. Jeff Woods a former Libertarian Party member, turned Republican, getting busted on his second DUI charge, or when we had to first report definitively on Mark Sanford's affair with an Argentine woman. But report on this we must.

As many are aware reading the political news sites these past couple days, there's been allegations of infidelity made against Nikki Halley, now frontrunner for South Carolina governor. The allegations are being shot down rather quickly. Halley has of course, unequivocally denied everything.

Halley has long been considered a libertarian Republican. And she is clearly identified with what's called the "Mark Sanford libertarian wing of the SC GOP."

Now we learn that the allegations have been made by another libertarian Republican.

From the Sun-News:

Haley "categorically and totally" denied the allegation by Will Folks, a controversial former spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford. Folks now blogs and has done paid public relations work for politicians -- including Haley

Former rock band member's blog "sometimes accurate; sometimes not"

Folks has an "edgie" punk rock persona. He leads what's been called a "moderately successful" alternative rock band called Dead Agent Caper. More:

Folks is a controversial figure in S.C. politics. He first came to notice after Mark Sanford tapped the former rock band bass player as his spokesman. In 2005, however, Folks pleaded guilty to criminal domestic violence. Since then, he has built FITSnews.com into an influential blog among South Carolina politicos, particularly libertarian-Republicans, including the Sanford-Haley wing of the GOP.

The site frequently taps anonymous sources to publish otherwise unverifiable rumors, sometimes accurately and sometimes not. Much of the rest of the site covers sports or the latest celebrity photos cribbed from entertainment blogs. Folks shrugs off accusations that he is paid to publish certain stories on his blog.

There's been internet rumors that he's on somebody's payroll. I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Ironically, this could all end up benefiting Halley, by giving her a huge groundswell of sympathy vote. Notably, both Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are standing by her side, and have backed her up on this 100%.

In one way, it might even be a welcome sign for libertarian Republicans: A sign that we've grown so large and influential that we now have our own fiery internal battles and even (non)sex scandals.

UPDATE!

Our friend Stacy McCain at TheOtherMcCain has uncovered some rather creepy details of Will Folk's past relationships or more accurately non-relationships with Republican female campaign staffers. Article: "OMG: Did You See What Haley Accuser Will Folks Wrote About Ashley Herzog?"

Warren Redlich is the Libertarian Party nominee for Governor of New York. He was elected as a Republican in 2006 to the Guiderland town council (upstate). He is also seeking the Republican nomination for Governor.

From The Business Review - Albany:

Cuomo is the only Democrat to announce his candidacy so far. Republicans have four candidates: Lazio, who is currently a lobbyist for J.P. Morgan Chase; Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive; Carl Paladino, a multimillionaire developer from Buffalo; and Warren Redlich, an attorney in Guilderland. He has already received the Libertarian Party’s nomination.

If Cuomo faced Paladino or Levy on Election Day, Cuomo defeats either one by the same margin, 65 percent to 22 percent, according to the poll...

Though, Redlich unlike the three others, was not included in the polling numbers.

It's called Radical Islam Mr. President!

On the Islamic Mosque being constructed in NYC.

Rick Barber for Congress:

"On September 11, 2001 America was attacked. We weren't attacked by a Nation. We weren't attacked by Terror. We were attacked by Islamic Jihadists."

By Jim Lagnese AKA The Right Guy

Reported in the news, South Korea alleges that North Korea sunk the boat with a torpedo. Shown on CNN, are fragments of said torpedo.     While the non-interventionists take the side of North Korea and call the evidence fake, the South Koreans and the US plan naval exercises and both call for the cessession of trade with North Korea. 

 Earlier this month we published an article here and on Libertarian Republican from Michael Savage's website that proposed that the North Koreans torpedoed the Deepwater Horizon Oil Platform in the gulf. We did publish a disclaimer that these views were not necessarily the views of The Right Guy Show and Libertarian Republican. I stated in my own opinion that occam's razor applies.

Then I got an email from Eric this week saying may be the North Korean's involvement wasn't too far fetched:

You know Eric, you have a point. So just to stir up the pot, does anyone want to jump in on this again? Is it still a far fetched conspiracy theory or plausible now?

My own opinion is that occam's razor applies, meaning that the simplest and most reasonable explanation  is the right one, which is it just blew up. But you have to admit that this whole oil rig disaster has been a morbid comedy of errors where Obama now makes Bush look like an overbearing mother with his response to Katrina. It is a far comparison and Obama has failed miserably. Much worse than Bush ever has and with a 42% approval rating in less than a year and a half, he's heading down very quickly. 

So there you have it, or do you? With all the tensions with North Korea, would they be so bold? Tensions seems to be building in a post-Bush Obama world, with Israel on maneuvers, ratcheting it up with Iran, who with Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is making nuclear deals with other mideast countries, North Korea sinking a South Korean Navy vessel, and now with South Korea and the US stopping all trade with NK and NK threatening war if anyone retaliates? We also have the continuing mess and morass in Afghanistan and even though Iraq is now secured, we still have bombings and violence. Will these seem like separate, isolated instances, there seems to be a synchronicity to it that may be it's not completely random. I wonder what Occam would think?

Thank you for reading this blog.

With friends like this, the younger Paul needs no enemies

by Eric Dondero

I've known Justin Raimondo for over two decades. I was the Florida Chairman for his Libertarian Republican Organzing Committee for two years, before it went defunct, and I replaced it by founding the Republican Liberty Caucus. I also knew him from various Young Americans for Freedom, and national Republican Party events in the late 1980s, and 90s.

He's been a thorn in the side of Libertarians and Libertarian Republicans for decades. He's also been an extreme trouble-maker, (some suspect on someone's payroll?) whether it was his vicious attacks on Ron Paul in the late 1980s as a "John Birch Society fringe Rightwinger," his organizing Gays for Buchanan in the '90s, his joining in a coalition with Code Pink, or his strident anti-Bush rants and joining with the hard Left against the Iraq War in the early 2000s.

But now he may have completely stepped over the line.

Opines Raimondo at AntiWar.com yesterday:

Rand Paul’s Problem, and Ours: He's not half the man his father is

In the first few paragraphs he makes a half-ass attempt to refute Rachel Maddow's attack on Rand Paul. At the same time he calls the younger Paul's performance, "not very articulate."

Code Pinkos like Raimondo opposing Rand Paul no doubt helpful in Kentucky

He then goes on the attack himself against Rand Paul:

Maddow didn’t expose Rand Paul’s alleged “racism” – what she revealed is his inability to function, like his father, as a spokesman for libertarianism. After all, he isn’t his father – unfortunately, I would add. Wouldn’t it be great to have Ron in the Senate? He’s certainly more than earned it. One can only dream. Yet the advent of Paul, the son, is turning into my personal nightmare.

I have to say that I’ve held off commenting on the subject of Rand’s candidacy quite deliberately, because I wanted to give him the benefit of every doubt. I wasn’t too alarmed, at first, when he differed from his father on the subject of Guantanamo and the question of whether to give “enemy combatants” a trial before we lock them up forever – I didn’t and don’t agree, but plenty of anti-interventionists I respect, such as Pat Buchanan, would take Rand’s side in that debate...

Rand came out in favor of economic sanctions on Iran:

“I do see Iran as a threat to the stability of the Middle East… Recently, President Obama took nuclear weapons off the table in certain circumstances, and I think that’s a mistake. I think it’s reckless to take them out of the equation.”

Raimondo's response:

Correct me if I’m wrong, but that sounds to me like he’s in favor – given the right circumstances – of nuking Iran. This is something that not even the wildest-eyed neocon has seriously proposed. That an alleged “libertarian” could mouth those words is appalling...

Raimondo continues by taking personal shots at him:

It’s true that Rand got his start in the libertarian movement, as a supporter of and spokesman for his father, but good sense may not be hereditary...

He concludes:

Why doesn’t he spend a few moments backtracking from his morally reprehensible refusal to take nuking Iran “out of the equation”? Now that’s something he really ought to get down on his hands and knees and beg forgiveness for – and maybe (just maybe!) libertarians will think about supporting him. Until that apology – or “clarification” – is forthcoming, I wouldn’t give Rand Paul the time of day.

Something tells me that the good voters of Kentucky will be more appreciative of Rand Paul's pro-national security views, rather than the stidently Anti-American/antiWar views of Raimondo, Maddow, and groups like Code Pink. The fact that Raimondo & Co. are withholding support for Rand, is no doubt a huge net-positive.

The very worst thing that could happen for Rand Paul would be if Raimondo & Crew suddenly showed up campaigning for him in Paducah.

From Eric Dondero:

It's just like a credit card. No shame at all.

From the Daily Caller:

The Agriculture Department announced Wednesday it will encourage grocery stores and other retail outlets that accept food stamps to post signs reading “We Welcome SNAP Benefits.” The move is part of an effort to decrease the stigma of using government food assistance in a tough economy.

Attempts to reduce such stigmas have been ongoing for years. SNAP is an acronym for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a recent name change designed to get away from the loaded phrase “food stamps.” Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, is an electronic way of paying for items so it just appears that a customer is using a credit card.

“Underscoring that SNAP benefits are welcome, rather than merely accepted, signals an important change in the way both retailers and program participants view these benefits,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Of course, tax-payers not wanting to subsidize the tax-takers, have the ability and the full right to avoid shopping at establishments that accept SNAP. See a "Welcome Food Stamp Recipients" sign in the window of such an establishment. Protest to the Manager first, and then take your business elsewhere. After all, it'd be a Snap!

(H/t Boortz)

GOP needs candidates who are Big, Bold, Provocative

From Eric Dondero:

Former Florida Governor was interviewed by Fred Barnes, on "The Republican Party's future."

Bush quoted in The Weekly Standard:

His advice to Republicans for the midterm elections: Pursue a bold, policy-oriented campaign. “I completely disagree with the idea that you rope-a-dope,” he says. “If we just are trying to be against the president’s efforts to redefine who we are as a nation, eventually .??.??. you can’t score many touchdowns playing defense the whole game.”

“This is a good time to be a little less constrained in your thinking,” Bush says. “Candidates that win will be a little emboldened. They’re not going to take the traditional point of view that we can’t be too provocative because we’re going to upset the population. Think big and bold.

Bush mentioned Marco Rubio as his ideal candidate. But could he have also had a certain Kentuckian in mind?

Interestingly Bush went on to comment:

“We have all these factions inside the conservative cause, people focused on social issues, or libertarian leave-me-alone issues or paleocons or neocons or traditional conservatives,” Bush says. “It seems to me if you ask what is the one thing that we all agree on, [it’s] that we passionately agree that entrepreneurial capitalism works.”

From Eric Dondero:

Warren Redlich is the Libertarian Party nominee for Governor of New York. He is also seeking the Republican nomination.

Andrew Cuomo's "plan" for New York lacks substance. Cutting spending requires more than vague ideas. It means firing people, cutting pay and reducing benefits. Any candidate should have the decency to say who will get hurt.

Warren Redlich names specific agencies to eliminate and the only one who proposes to cap pay and pensions for government jobs.
where he will cut spending. Read more:

Public Pay and Pension Caps

Eliminate Departments and Functions: Save $5 Billion

Say on Pay for Voters on Politician Raises

Fewer Taxes: New Yorkers Face Too Many Taxes

Real Tort Reform Will Reduce Insurance Costs

The Redlich plan eliminates spending on corporate welfare and unnecessary agencies so we can reopen parks, stop teacher layoffs and prevent new taxes.

Note - Redlich is an elected small town city councilman.

By Jim Lagnese AKA The Right Guy

With socialism, marxism, and collectivism, need always trump ability. If you do not believe me, look at the standard marxist statement: To each according to their needs, from each according to their ability. This means that what is given from the government, which acts as a proxy by force, to those that can't or won't do. It also means, that by force, this proxy for bad ideas takes what is earned by those who not only can but want to. It's not a free will gift and it is taken without respect to the people that earned it, but rather as an unwanted obligation and a demand that they should be happy to do it.

The New Jersey legislature passed a tax hike on all those who make more than a million dollars a year. This adds up to 16,000 people out of 3.9 million. Who speaks for them? Obviously to the socialist controlled New Jersey legislature, no one should.

The bill passed along party lines, 46-32 and 23-17 in the assembly and senate respectively. In a moment of honesty, a socialist in the assembly shows their true colors:

“We’ve got a lot of people who can’t afford to pay their taxes” and need the rebates that the measure may restore, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said before the vote. “Six- hundred thousand older adults would be better off.”

There are a couple problems here. If people can't afford to pay their taxes, ask why? Why are they being taxed so high? If the answer is to pilfer those that have more money, it's irresponsible and thievery. Socialism is based on coveting and stealing. It never occurs to the dems to cut expenditures because they are bribing people with their own money. The 600,000 that are complaining of cuts to senior citizen programs are a sizable voting block where 16,000 are not. How is that for taxation without representation? Oliver should read her history to understand the consequences of such aberrant thinking.

Why Chris Christie matters is that he says he will veto this bill. The demo-socialists do not have the votes to override the veto. A good thing. Time for some fiscal responsibility and honesty.

“This is a defining moment -- it seems to me to be all about taxes, taxes and taxes,” Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, a Republican from Parsippany, said during more than an hour of floor debate before the vote. Referring to Democrats, he said, “that’s all you guys do.”

And that is the truth. Socialists like to bribe people with their own money, and they do it as a bribe for votes. This is done to convert those that can to those that need. The more that need, the more votes the arbiters of socialism will get and thereby hold on to power. This is the path to becoming Farm Animals®. If you doubt me, look at another bit of honesty from a socialist that feels sacrifice is duty and who is also the high priest at the altar of sacrifice:

“I don’t have an issue with millionaires, I just have an issue with people not sharing in the sacrifice,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat from West Deptford. “Those 16,000 people can help 600,000.”
What Sweeney isn't honest about is that the taxes he wants to steal from the 16,000 is to restore programs to bribe the 600,000. Sfacime.

It is a good thing to see a governor stand on proper rational principle and not emotion based straw man arguments and populism. He was elected to govern and govern from a position of responsibility, not of a tyrant that succors the hoi pelloi into a puerile stupor for the purpose of political hegemony. Its time to grow up.

This is why we need Chris Christie.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Ayn Randist Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs gives the keynote speech to the Tea Party Coaltion of Tennessee. Despite pressure from radical Islamist group CAIR to cancel her appearance.

Geller: Sharia Law is creeping into the mainstream of American life.

Standing ovation at 9 minutes in, Geller's call to oppose the Muslim Mega-Mosque at Ground Zero in NYC.

The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) will hold its biannual national convention in St. Louis over Memorial Day Weekend, with the election of new LNC officers among the important business of the event.
Former LPIN State Chair Mark Rutherford is seeking the position of Vice Chair on the LNC, running as a [...]

Media attention has been focused on District 3 in the wake of the unexpected resignation of long-time US Representative Mark Souder, a Republican, who has confessed to an extra-martial affair.
While Republicans scramble to caucus and select a replacement candidate, Libertarian candidate Scott Wise carries on with his campaign, focusing on [...]

Confused about what is actually IN the new Finance Reform Bill making its way through Congress?  Interested in the reconciliation process and what final form the bill might take?  Here is a great article comparing the two versions of the bill from both chambers.
Read the Article

Proud Navy Vet, Patriot & Fierce Obama critic

Republican candidate for Congress, Alabama CD-1.

Note - he is running in the GOP primary against incumbent Democrat-turned-Republican Rep. Parker Griffith.

Editor's comment - this is a tough one. Phillip is fantastic. Just imagine Phillip and a newly-elected African-American Republican Rep. Allen West of Florida side-by-side fighting the Obama agenda in Congress. On the other hand a Phillip win might discourage conservative Democrats in the future from switching to the GOP?

The Midas touch, or the gift of profiting from whatever one undertakes, is named for a legendary king of Phrygia. Midas was granted the power to transmute whatever he touched into gold. -- MythWeb.com

From Eric Dondero:

Every Republican primary candidate she endorses turns to Gold.

Consider:

Five weeks ago, she broke with the GOP leadership, and backed libertarian Republican Rand Paul in his primary against establishment-backed candidate Trey Grayson.

Result - Paul wins by 24%

Three weeks ago, Palin traveled to South Carolina to campaign with underdog Nikki Haley who had been languishing in a distant 4th place. Days after, a poll was released showing State Rep. Haley jolting to a comfortable 10 point lead of the entire pack including both the State's AG, and the Lt. Governor.

In Minnesota she enthusiastically endorsed "Hockey Dad" Tom Emmer who had consistently been polling in 2nd place. He soon after won the support of GOP delegates in convention, and he is now virtually assured to be the nominee. What's more he's comfortably ahead of all potential Democrats in recent polls for the Fall.

And now this... Palin took some serious heat from hard-line social conservatives for her endorsement of pro-business/fiscal conservative Carly Fiorina in California's red hot Senate primary.

From the Daily Caller:

two weeks ago former Congressman Tom Campbell held a 11 percentage point lead over Carly Fiorina in the GOP governor’s primary. That lead has now incredibly evaporated into a 23 point deficit...

In the Republican primary for US Senator, support for former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is up sharply in the past 2 weeks, from 24% on 05/10/10 to 46% today 05/24/10. Fiorina’s support has more than doubled among women, seniors, Hispanics, the less educated, and in the Inland Empire. During these 2 weeks, Former Congressman Tom Campbell’s support dropped 12 points, from 35% on 05/10/10 to 23% today 05/24/10.

Overlooked, Fiorina, Paul, Emmer, and Halley all share a common bond: fiscal conservatism and staunch support for limited government policies with a de-emphasis of social issues. Indeed Paul and Emmer are explicitly libertarian Republicans. And Paul, Emmer and Halley all have strong Tea Party ties.

Palin's long held free market economics over divisive social issues libertarianism is finally triumphing much to the chagrin of her vitriolic critics on the Left, but even among her doubters - mostly establishment conservatives - on the Right.

Attacks by Radical Islamists against Western Europeans have been on the rise in recent weeks. Two weeks ago, Swedish Cartoonist Lars Vilk's home was busted into, grafiti was smeared on the walls, and a small fire was set. Prior to that he was head-butted and verbally assaulted by a group of Muslim youth at a university seminar.

And now this from the Dutch News:

Dutch security officials said Wednesday they are taking seriously the threat to soccer fans after a terrorism suspect arrested in Iraq claimed he considered attacking Dutch or Danish fans at the World Cup in South Africa.

Judith Sluiter of the Netherlands’ anti-terrorism coordination office says the comments made by Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani were in line with her agency’s perception of potential threats.

Dutch Member of Parliament and current candidate for President Geert Wilders may also be a target during the World Cup series. Continuing:

Al-Qahtani said he considered attacking the Dutch and Danish teams or fans to avenge perceived insults to Islam.

“We discussed the possibility of taking revenge for the insults of the prophet by attacking Denmark and Holland,” al-Qahtani told The Associated Press. “If we were not able to reach the teams, then we’d target the fans.”

Al-Qahtani, a Saudi citizen, was arrested in Iraq on May 3 after a note he had written detailing similar plans was found at a house where two leading al-Qaida suspects were killed in April.

Dutch citizens are considered potential targets in part due to an anti-Islam film made by right-wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders. Similarly, Danes have been considered at risk due to the publication of cartoons featuring Islam’s prophet Mohammed.