Rule number one for Republican presidential candidates should be: don't compliment Obama.

I only had opportunity to watch some of the primary debate last night and my first impression came at the wrong time. Gov. Rick Perry was asked a question and he began his answer by praising Obama for capturing Osama.

There is a time for southern compliments and small talk niceties; but now is not that time in context of preparing to run against a Chicago-machine politician who is at war with our way of life.

I don't recall Obama ever paying an honest compliment to President Bush. Bush was the enemy. Bush was effectively targeted as the devil by the media and the Obama campaign.

But that's not the main reason to refrain from complimenting Obama.

If anything, Mr. Perry should have pointed out that under Obama's America-is-the-bad-guy policies Osama would not have been captured. The enhanced interrogation - waterboarding -- which provided the pieces of intelligence to eventually capture Osama would not have been utilized. If Obama had been president on 9/12 he would have proactively thwarted the capture of bin Laden.

We saw what Obama's intentions were immediately after assuming office. He got on his high horse about the "illegal torture" of the Bush administration. He was set to literally "prosecute" the Bush administration for international crimes against humanity. He was also set to release to the world more Gitmo-type photos, showing the disenfranchised terrorists being "abused" and "tortured" by American troops.

Thankfully, Dick Cheney rode the television news circuits in 2009, explaining and defending the former administration's policies and thus turning public opinion against Obama. If public opinion hadn't turned so sharply, Obama would have stuck it to America and put the oppressive, imperialistic nation in its place.

From there, Obama would have gone on to fulfill his goal of having civilian show trials for Gitmo terrorists, with full constitutional rights in New York City. From his witness stand soapbox Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would have aired his grievances against the United States -- for the entire world to see. He would have angrily described how the United States tortured and abused him. His lawyers would have argued that his confessions were inadmissible in a U.S. court of law.

It's a good thing public opinion turned against Obama.