It's hard to listen the GOP reaction to President Obama's decision to move the detainees to a nearly empty prison in Thomson, Illinois, without cringing at their statements. After the US government has tried and sentenced so many maniacs, hard-core criminals, and yes, other international terrorists, there is this feeling within the Republican party that this one prison - located on the Iowa-Illinois border, miles from civilization, with a local population who fervently welcomes the opportunity - is somehow the greatest threat to liberty today. Here's a memo the Repubs are circulating and its statements.
- Importing terrorists from Guantanamo into the United States likely gives them more legal protections than they have now.
- Voluntarily bringing Guantanamo terrorists into the United States increases the chances they will be ordered released into the country.
- Creating Guantanamo in Illinois will not appease the Democratic base.
- Creating Guantanamo in Illinois certainly will not appease al Qaeda.
- So who is coming to dinner? – Reviewing the Guantanamo population
- Hasn’t the Senate clearly opposed this move?
- At the end of the day, the President has not explained how this decision makes America safer.
It almost doesn't deserve a response, these statements are so ridiculous. But I can't help myself.
- They have to get more legal protections, since the Bush administration started them with zero. Even if we have military tribunals, it will mean that they finally have more legal rights than they have for the past six-seven years.
- How asinine is the statement that the US government will release detainees - which haven't been found guilty as terrorists - into the country? The really bad ones are probably not even getting the hearing. This line is really for the stupid and those fearing their own shadows.
- No, Gitmo in Illinois will not appease Dems, but those people who elected Obama will understand that he keeps his promises - to close Gitmo's prison system.
- No, Gitmo in Illinois will not appease al Qaeda, but it will ensure that they can't claim that the US government is running a gulag for Muslims.
- Who's coming to dinner? Is that a racist crack? Yeah, we don't need any more brown people here. Keep 'em out of the country. Very nice attitude, guys.
- The Senate is ruled by eunuchs who need to remember that they have a pair of balls. The original signers of the Declaration would be embarrassed to watch this spectacle.
- Obama has in fact explained that the United States endorses the principle of "rule of law," that to try all people under formal courts that will determine their guilt or innocence will in fact reduce the chance of more people joining terrorist groups.
Speaking of senators who lack their manhood, Sen. Lindsey "Brave Sir Robin" Graham is really standing out as a courageous example for us all. "Oh, no, Mr. President, please don't send those dangerous men to South Carolina! We just couldn't handle the stress..." What a coward.