TPMDC Sunday Roundup
Mullen: Gitmo Needs To Be Closed
Appearing on ABC's This Week, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen reaffirmed his belief that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed. "The concern I've had about Guantanamo in these wars is it has been a symbol, and one which has been a recruiting symbol for those extremists and jihadists who would fight us. So and I think that centers -- you know, that's the heart of the concern for Guantanamo's continued existence, in which I spoke to a few years ago, the need to close it."
Obama's Day: Camp David
President Obama has been spending the weekend at Camp David, and is scheduled to arrive back at the White House tonight at 10 p.m. ET. He does not have any public events scheduled. Vice President Biden is in Wilmington, Delaware, and also does not have any scheduled public events.
Durbin: SCOTUS Pick Likely This Week
Appearing on NBC's Meet The Press, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) affirmed that the Supreme Court nomination could come this week. "Well, I, I've been told it's likely to come this week, but I don't know which day," said Durbin. He also pointed to President Obama's background as a constitutional law professor as an asset in picking a nominee: "I would hate to go through that interview on constitutional issues with our president, because he knows a lot more about the Constitution than many people who serve as judges today"
Gingrich: Gitmo Should Remain Open Until "The Terrorists Disappear"
Appearing on NBC's Meet The Press, former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) was asked by David Gregory how long the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay should remain open. "Until the war is over," said Gingrich. When asked what that means, Gingrich explained: "We'll -- when the terrorists disappear."
Kyl: Obama's Claims On Gitmo "Culpably False"
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said President Obama made false claims about Guantanamo. "When the president said in his speech that it -- that the existence of Gitmo probably created more terrorists than have ever been held there, he meant to say that 770 people or more became terrorists because we have a prison at Guantanamo," said Kyl. "We called his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, and asked for information about the charges that he'd made in his speech. We haven't heard back yet. This is a false charge. In fact, it's culpably false."
Powell: "I Am Still A Republican"
Appearing on CBS' Face The Nation, former Sec. of State Colin Powell said he is still a Republican. "Rush will not get his wish. And Mr. Cheney was misinformed. I am still a Republican," said Powell. "And I'd like to point out that in the course of my 50 years of voting for presidents, I have voted for the person I thought was best- qualified at that time to lead the nation. Last year I thought it was President-now Barack Obama."
Ridge To Limbaugh: Don't Be Divisive
Appearing on CNN's State of the Union, former Sec. of Homeland Security Tom Ridge offered some criticism of Rush Limbaugh. "It does get the base all fired up and he's got a strong following," said Ridge. "But personally, if he would listen to me and I doubt if he would, the notion is express yourself but let's respect others opinions and let's not be divisive."
Ridge Doesn't Endorse Toomey -- Nor Rules Out Voting For Specter
Also during his State of the Union appearance, Tom Ridge again did not endorse Republican candidate Pat Toomey for the 2010 Pennsylvania Senate race -- and didn't rule out a vote for newly-minted Democrat Arlen Specter. "I'm a strong, strong Republican but I'd be -- I've never, ever, ever voted straight Republican ticket in my life and I never will," Ridge continued," said Ridge.


















"until the terrorists disappear"
sounds like a job for David Copperfield!
May 24, 2009 1:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I missed the part where we successfully tried and convicted the people held in Gitmo as terrorists. Innocent until proven guilty, yes?
Re: ridge, I think I see what his game is now in not jumping into the primary. I'm still murky on what he thinks his payout will be, but it's obvious he thinks he'll benefit from supporting Specter.
May 24, 2009 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Innocent until proven guilty
I believe the source of this fantastical-sounding phrase was some satirical work, probably Twain or Vonnegut.
May 24, 2009 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kyl is repeating the oft repeated and seldom questioned mantra that if you are held in Guantanamo you must be a terrorist. This ignores the tradition that people are innocent until proven guilty and that for most of the people in Guantanamo they couldn't build a case to convict them even after they had changed the rules to favor the prosecution.
Even if you just used the balance of probabilities threshold many of them would be considered innocent or only convicted of fighting for the losing side in Afghanistan. It is crazy to equate a foot soldier in a civil war with a terrorist.
May 24, 2009 1:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure I'd be talking about "culpability" if I were in Kyl's shoes. Does he understand that if the search for culpability were to actually be undertakes it's his friends who stand to lose the most?
May 24, 2009 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think the big point of the Sunday shows was Powell blasting Cheney about Gitmo. Powell said that he believed that Gitmo should be closed and that Cheney was not only going against Obama's philosophy but Bush's as well.
The Sunday shows showed just how big a split there was in the Bush presidency about terror policy: The Cheney-Rumsfeld policy vs the Powell-Gates-Hadley policy.
Obama has sided with the Powell-Gates-Hadley policy and that is why many on the Left are frustrated with Obama because Obama has taken a more centrist approach.
May 24, 2009 2:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
The magical superhuman warlock-terrorists certainly have the capability to disappear from this plane of existence. Their continued imprisonment at Guantanamo is, in fact, completely voluntary for these eldritch sourcerers, and only means that they are intentionally lingering to cause the Great People of the United States of America harm, and their gnome illusionists are weaving tricky webs of false moral dilemmas!
Those dastardly foes!
May 24, 2009 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Dear David: you deserve some credit, albeit not a whole lot, for asking when the war will be over, but as usual, a Republican rolls you, and you don't notice.
According to Newtie, Gitmo should remain open until the war is over. We'll know when the war is over when the terrorists disappear.
Do tell: when will the terrorists "disappear"?When the war is over, by any chance?
Finally, whatever credit you earned for asking Newtalicious when the war is over gets erased by the failure to ask "Just how are the terrorists going to disappear?"
I wasn't a huge fan of Tim Russert's, but thanks to David Gregory, Russert is looking more and more like the reincarnation of Edward R. Murrow.
May 24, 2009 5:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the Chairman of the JCS says GitMo should be closed but Newt, the chickenhawk, knows better.
The pumpkin headed reptile always knows better. He's probably dreaming up a list of derogatory words for Mullen. Newt likes making lists and bullet points. A walk through the ocean of his soul would barely get your feet wet, though.
Newt Gingrich:
Legend in his own mind.
May 24, 2009 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink