More Weaksauce From Senate Democrats On GITMO

Greg Sargent talked to the aides for some Democratic Senators about closing GITMO and here is what they had to say.

The aides provide an interesting perspective on the fluidity of the situation, hinting at the extent of the breach that has opened up between the White House and Congressional Dems on this issue — and the extent of the work that will be required to repair that breach.

“Dems really want to work with him on this, but felt as though their flank was exposed,” is how one senior Democratic leadership aide put it. This aide said that the speech yesterday won’t do much to get Dems on board in the short term, barring “a detailed plan” from the White House on what to do with the detainees that will give cover to members of Congress to reconsider their opposition.

This aide predicts that a Department of Defense authorization bill coming up this summer is the most likely place where the issue will be revisited.

Another Democratic aide said that the burden is on Obama to move public opinion on the issue if he wants members of Congress on board. Members are relieved that the president is finally “out there with his bully pulpit,” this aide says. But she added: “Members will follow public opinion on this.”

First of all what public opinion polls are these idiots looking at? Every single one I have seen has a plurality that wants GITMO closed. But besides that what kind of cowards have we elected that they are going to follow public opinion rather than lead on this issue?! Hell I guess its a good thing Harry Reid and his minions weren't in the Senate back in 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was up for a vote. If they were I would probably still be having to eat in the "black" section of restaurants. I don't know who is behind this coward ass bullshit but I do know that Harry Reid is the ring leader and its going to be my mission in life to get that idiot out of the Senate if they don't remove him as Majority Leader. There is no excuse to have the kinds of advantages we have now in Congress and hold the White House and still run around scared of our own shadow on National Security issues. If the Democrats in the Senate are too afraid of Republicans to close GITMO and house some detainees in SuperMax prisons then its high time we got some better damned Democrats elected in their place!

Democrats, GITMO Detainees, And NIMBY

I for one am getting sick and damned tired of hearing about the GOP ramping up a fear campaign against Congressional Democrats when it comes to National Security. Specifically, now they are going to try to hit Democrats with ads about closing GITMO and "ZOMG teh terrorists will be in America". This is the latest lame ass offering.




Here is the deal, Congressional Democrats have an opportunity here and they are squandering it. What they need to do is stand up and say that they would welcome the opportunity to house some of the detainees in their state. Not only should they project an aura of confidence that American jails can hold foreign terrorists, but also that the move could help create more jobs in their state. They should also point out that those who wouldn’t be similarly enthusiastic about helping to maintain our national security are COWARDS. This NIMBY bullshit that the Republicans are embracing is exactly the chance Dems have been waiting for for years to be able to wrest the mantle of “tough on crime” and “strong on national security” from the GOP. I can’t for the life of me understand why they are scared to take Republican on with this issue. The detainees will be in supermax prisons. They don’t have any frikkin superpowers to be able to break out. And by not confronting the GOP on this and in some cases actually agreeing with them that it would be dangerous to house detainees on US soild they are not only legitimizing what is at its core a nonsensical viewpoint, they are also opening themselves up to charges of being weak on defense of the homeland.

Fuck it, if the Republicans are going to use the issue anyway its time to make them pay for being the bed wetting pussies that they really are. I keep waiting to hear “Send them to us, we know just how to handle them” from ANYBODY in the Democratic caucus but it seems like they are just going to allow Republicans to frame this issue and then turn around and use it as a platform to run against them next year. I can’t tell you how stupid that is and how much it frustrates the hell out of me. We have the WTC bombers in jail in Colorado for pete’s sake along with the Oklahoma City bombers. We have a long and storied history of locking up the most dangerous people in our society and in fact the world in our prisons here. Why in the fuck should Democrats now show so little faith in their consituents that they run away from an issue that they could clearly win on? Somebody needs to step up to the plate and in a frikkin hurry.