Absurd. There are about 10 or 20 real criminals probably and the rest they don't know WTF to do with them. We already have the "mastermind" of the 93 bombing behind bars in colorado I believe. Also, we have the 20th hijacker in jail as well. I actually would have no problem with them building a max security prison on my property to put the 10 or 20 in and I can hurl insults at them on a daily basis until the end of time. Totally absurd.

I thought the campaign would've taught McCain about the wonders of "the Google", where all of his prior "Mavericky" statements are on full display, and available to make him look (again) like a lying hypocrite.

I have no worries about putting alleged terrorists in American prisons. I've watched documentaries on our maximum security prisons and it's the detainees who should be worried. And if the government can't protect us from alleged terrorists in our own prison, how can you protect us from the ones abroad.

While Rove et al still want to twist the knife into the back of the US public a few more times, it is nice to see the whole fear of terrorism thing losing its punch. I mean, people in small towns across America freaked out and went "all fear, all the time," like they were NY or DC, or LA even, and people of those large metro areas had a much more balanced perspective by and large.

Of course, it's inevitable that there will be another attack of some sort, from a domestic or overseas source, at some point, but I think America has re-gained its collective mind and, without Presidential ginning up of the fear, tis country will never be as panicky as it was in the early days of this decade.

I think Democrats need to whip their communications strategy into shape. People who complain will always be louder, in this case, Republicans.

But Democrats have an opportunity to be smarter and debunk Republican talking points in force.

The Republicans are great simplifiers, (not a compliment, as it paints everything in a dumb black and white)--it's been one of the most dangerous tools in their arsenal.

Democrats still don't have their act together--time for surrogate boot camp.

So let me see if I have this straight. I am supposed to be concerned because the prison that houses the psychopath who walked in off the street and butchered 10 people in a meaningless mass-murder shooting spree is somehow not safe enough to contain the 28 year old Afghani who took some light infantry training at an al Qaeda camp six years ago and who has been detained in virtual solitary confinement for much of the time since?

Really?

The current GOP leadership is completely in campaign mode. This is a freebie. What damage could it possibly do back home in their home districts to oppose closing Gitmo? None.

I live next door to Camp Pendleton - close enough that my windows rattle when they practice with the big guns. I have no problem with holding the Gitmo detainees there. The Marines can do the job quite well, thank you.

I guess this NIMBY argument is really two separate concerns: first, that the prisons would be instant targets for another attack, and second that the prisoners might escape. Both are of course absurd, but let's look at them.

First, escape. Even if escape from Leavenworth or Supermax were possible...where do they go once they escape? They're in the middle of America with no friends or cohorts, unarmed and standing out like a sore thumb, with pictures of themselves on every TV screen and with the vast majority of the population owning firearms. Compare this to an escape from Gitmo; if they get out (pretty much exactly as impossible as getting out of Supermax) they are in Cuba. In other words, they're someplace where they have at least a fighting chance of getting some aid, possibly from the government itself.

Second, terrorist attack. Since when do we think these terrorists are stupid? Or is it that we think these particular individuals are completely indispensable to the organization? Because I think the leadership recognizes that these guys are a lot more valuable to them in jail as martyrs than they are safely back in Pakistan. That's another reason to move them from Gitmo; they are even more valuable as martyrs there. Also, attacking a prison just doesn't work very well for the fundamentals of terrorism; right or wrong you just can't work up public fear and reaction the same way by killing convicts as you can by killing firefighters and "innocent civilians." And let's not even talk about prison architecture, land area, and the mechanics of an attack...but suffice to say, it'll take a much bigger bomb to take out Leavenworth than it would, say, a skyscraper.

The main Republican objective today: avoid being prosecuted for war crimes! The more Obama looks into Gitmo the closer he is to filing charges.

Secondary Republican objective: prevent Obama from being successful. The only problem with that of course is that they become the problem and not the solution. And, Obama doesn't really need them.

Primary McCain objective: be a contrarian. It is the only thing he does well. It doesn't make for strong leadership but it gets your name in the papers and gives you some fans.

I actually think the GOP are building up a campaign issue for the 2010 mid-terms. Try to understand that these are basic scare tactics to create enough of a wedge issue to give the GOP any kind of chance next year. What's sad is the media is going along with this already. Case in point:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/world/middleeast/23yemen.html
The emergence of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee as the deputy leader of Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch has underscored the potential complications in carrying out the executive order President Obama signed Thursday that the detention center be shut down within a year.

You get enough people wetting their pants about where the boogeymen will end up, then those same people will be disturbed enough to listen when some blow-hard NeoCon harps on it.

Nothing like a republican to do the right thing for the country, eh?

Patriots? Dare to question their allegiance and see what happens. If they did love their country they would be appalled that Guantanamo exists at all, and should be WILLING to take these prisoners until justice can prevail.

Perhaps we should tell them there is oil in the prisoners' fecal matter just ready for harvesting.

Good grief. The average gang-banger behind bars is more dangerous than any of the people at Gitmo.

This is beyond stupid. Next.

"pose a significant escape risk..."

Yeah, right... IF THE WORLD OF HIGH TECH HAS DONE ANYTHING OTHER THAN GIVING US THE BLOGS, IT HAS CERTAINLY MADE ESCAPING FROM PRISON MUCH HARDER...

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3DA1739F93BA15751C0A96E948260

Republicans = contemptible scum, as usual.

We have Crips and Bloods, gang bangers of all types, Mafia hit men, serial killers, sex degenerates, and we even have Charles Manson and his gang in our prisons, so what's to fear from the Gitmo inmates?

Hasn't the blind Sheik and one or more of his gang who are responsible for the first attack on the Trade Center been in jail in the U. S. lo these many years? How is that working out?

Never mind that McCain seemed to have made that decision in 2007 ...

One of the great things about John McCain's 2008 Flip-Flop Extravaganza is that for just about every position McCain takes in opposition to the Obama Administration now, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a position he took earlier that is in basic agreement with what the Administration is advocating.

Wow! Don't you people know the first thing about being a terrorist?

You just act natural until they move you into a really important place on the mainland, then at the time when maximum effect/publicity can be attained, you detonate your internal nuclear device.

Message delivered.

Gee willikers.

The new nickname for the terrorists;
Lecter Lunch.

We've heard how tough they are, maybe we should get an expert opinion...

I love our new president! He's made a lot of good choices and taken some important, though sometimes symbolic steps to start moving us toward where we should be as a country. And I look forward to what else he has in store. Honoring John McCain at a dinner and showing him any kind of respect however, was not one of the big O's best moves. McCain is a pathetic old man, who will twist himself into a pretzel to curry favor with his repub pals and the news media and get any scrap of attention he can. No flip or flop is too extreme for him. Why does his opinion matter? He lost. He was pretty thoroughly repudiated by the electorate. His judgment is illustrated by his disasterous pick of a VP candidate and the vile and ineffective campaing they ran. The previous comments were right on. The surrogates need to come out and make McCain and the rest of these clowns look as stupid as they are.

You'd think the Republicans would be thrilled to have Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 'tossing salad' in Leavenworth.