Obama: Beheading of Daniel Pearl ‘captured the world’s imagination’ [video]

President Obama today signed into law The Daniel Pearl Freedom of Press Act, which expands efforts to identify countries that don’t share our love for the First Amendment. He also took time to honor the man the bill is named after, journalist Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded by Islamic extremists in 2002 in what the President called a somber moment that ‘captured the world’s imagination’ and reminded the world of the importance of having free press. The Obama administration has pushed to have Pearl’s professed killer, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, tried in civilian court.

Writes Cuffy Meigs at Perfunction:

Just like the pair of amazing NASA rovers on Mars, the Yukon Gold Rush, and quirky British skier Eddie the Eagle, the barbaric videotaped slaughter of Daniel Pearl was one of those singularly magical moments that “captured the world’s imagination”, according to Obama.

And of course, Obama doesn’t say exactly who slashed Pearl’s throat, sawed off his head and hacked his body into ten pieces. Here’s a hint: Obama wants to remove him from Gitmo and try him in New York City, just blocks from another place that “captured the world’s imagination.”