Does Osama love Kerry?

I've written about this before, and I plan to do so at greater length in the near future. For now, I'll just note that the "Osama wants Kerry to become president" motif in right-wing propaganda has become inescapable. See, for example, this analysis of Dick Morris' latest rant, which repeats this morbid party line.

Am I the only one who finds this stuff ultra-creepy? It's as though the peddlers of reaction know that Something Big is coming soon, and they are laying the groundwork for the post-attack spin.

There is no evidence -- zero -- that Al Qaida prefers Kerry to Bush. I doubt that most terrorists have any interest in or deep knowledge of America's internal politics. The only released Al Qaida statement on the subject indicates that Al Qaida prefers Bush to remain in office, because they view him as a more foolish foe.

Unlike many of his underlings, Osama Bin Laden knows something of the non-Islamic world. He is surely intelligent enough to understand that the World Trade Center attack gave an enormous boost to Bush's popularity. He knows that a second attack would secure W's (re-?) election.

Osama knows it. I know it. You know it. Dick Morris must know it. The loudmouth at your local bar knows it. Everyone knows it.

So why do the GOP propagandists keep saying otherwise? As I said: Creepy.