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Conservatives Say Gitmo Detainees Would Be Fine In IL Prison, Warn GOP Of 'Scaremongering'

Christina Bellantoni | November 16, 2009, 10:19AM

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President of The American Conservative Union David Keene, frmr House Rep./Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, and Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist

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GOP, Guantanamo Bay, National Security, Terrorism

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Three prominent conservatives warned in a joint statement against Republican "scaremongering" on Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying the prison in Thomson, Illinois would be fine to handle them.

Former Republican Congressman and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union and Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, have teamed up to urge the Gitmo detainees be taken to the U.S.

"The scaremongering about these issues should stop," Barr, Keene and Norquist wrote.

"Civilian federal courts are the proper forum for terrorism cases," they wrote. "Civilian prisons are the safe, cost effective and appropriate venue to hold persons in federal courts."

"Likewise the federal prison system has proven itself fully capable of safely holding literally hundreds of convicted terrorists with no threat or danger to the surrounding community," they wrote. "We are confident that the government can preserve national security without resorting to sweeping and radical departures from an American constitutional tradition that has served us effectively for over two centuries."

Read the full letter here.

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97 comments

Recommend Recommend (5)

holyhandgrenaid

November 16, 2009 10:22 AM

Christina, you put me in a difficult position... I prefer not welcoming Norquist's opinion.

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Winston Smith

November 16, 2009 12:30 PM in reply to holyhandgrenaid

I often think the same thing. Then I remember that this is Talking Points Memo, where the talking points of Repugs and their shadow governors are discussed.

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commie atheist

November 16, 2009 1:13 PM in reply to Winston Smith

And this is a problem...why? Is TPM supposed to be an echo chamber, where only one point of view is discussed?

More specifically, do you disagree with what they are saying? No matter how noxious the views of these gentlemen may be on other matters, I have no problem with their taking a stand on civil liberties issues. As the saying goes, even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. If they are willing to break with the moron wing of the party on terrorist trials and detentions, more power to them.

If there is a growing schism in the conservative movement between the neocons and the more libertarian faction, I have no problem with exploiting it to the fullest extent possible.

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holyhandgrenaid

November 16, 2009 1:15 PM in reply to Winston Smith

My point was largely about how agreeing with that buffoon on one thing adds an element of legitimacy to the rest of the tripe he spouts.

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commie atheist

November 16, 2009 1:18 PM in reply to holyhandgrenaid

Nope. Blind squirrel. Nut.

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November 16, 2009 1:39 PM in reply to holyhandgrenaid

Broken watch. Twice daily.

But in all seriousness, this is a great example of an issue that should rise above partisan politics, and one that both the Ds and Rs have been failing at miserably since 9/11.

Realistically, it may be that only bona fide conservatives had the gravitas to kick some R ass and tell them to stop being Glenn Beck crybabies, cowering in the corner in fear that the big, bad terrorists (who are mostly poor, uneducated men who can't speak English and hail from third-world countries) are going to manage to escape from a supermax prison and hunt them down. Really, these guys aren't Hannibal Lecter or Lex Luthor.

I assume that most of the Ds went along with this charade not for fear of the terrorists, but out of fear of Rs claiming they coddled terrorists, which is equally deplorable.

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November 16, 2009 4:28 PM in reply to Mr.E.

you forgot to add that the poor, uneducated, men that can't speak english would slit your wife's throat and rape your son and daughter. in front of you. while you did nothing. because, afterall, they are just poor, uneducated men. pansy.

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November 16, 2009 5:01 PM in reply to jjdjjd

Filthy bigot.
America really doesn't want to hear from such disgusting, hate centered semi-humans such as yourself.

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November 16, 2009 6:37 PM in reply to cinesimon

did i say something untrue? point it out to me.

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November 16, 2009 8:41 PM in reply to jjdjjd

1. A majority of those originally held in Gitmo have already been released because they were deemed not to be a danger.
2. Almost half of those still held have been deemed eligible for release, also without any charges against them.
3. Those that are a danger will be tried, and placed in a supermax prison, which has never had a single release.
4. Because they are poor, uneducated and cannot speak English, they are less of a risk than any garden-variety, homegrown violent criminal, which this country excels at creating. A 14 year old gangbanger owns or knows where to get a gun, and can find directions to your house and hunt you down. Most of these guys can't read an English map, don't know American currency, can't ask directions, and wouldn't even know where to find food or a place to sleep.
5. What makes you think you know ANYTHING about the individuals held in Gitmo?
6. If you were picked up by a foreign country just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, held without charges or any rights for up to eight years with no contact with friends, family or a legal representative, repeatedly interrogated and possibly tortured, AND housed with people who really are terrorists and want to harm members of your captor's society, how long would it take before YOU became sympathetic to their cause and be ready to commit harms against your captors?

I'm guessing about 15 minutes.

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November 16, 2009 9:34 PM in reply to Mr.E.

you would be wrong, just like the rest of your thinking. actually, your statement that they will be tried and sent to a supermax prison shows how wrong you are. suppose the case against them is thrown out, on the grounds they were abused? what would you have done with the nazi war criminals? tried them in civilian court? even the darling of the left,FDR, tried german spy's caught in this country, out of uniform, by military court. no pansy, the proper forum is a military court. you already made up your mind that they are guilty by your statement that 'they will be tried and sent to prison' well, glad to see you have an open mind. the blind shiek was tried in new york in the 1990's and sent to prison, where he got to see 911. if you want and get the ok from obama, i'll kill them all, and all others that would kill you and him. i only ask that you don't put me in jail for saving your life. there will come a time that you will eat the words you have said, because our enemies are committed to our destruction, while we are not committed to theirs. guess who wins that one?

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November 16, 2009 9:37 PM in reply to jjdjjd

well sorry,the blind shiek got to hear about 911, not see it.

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trulyskewed

November 17, 2009 3:05 AM in reply to jjdjjd

guess who wins on that one?

If we take your point of view, then we've lost before we've even begun.

We've lost what makes us Americans. Americans believe in laws and justice. Americans believe in the concept of being prove guilty in a court of law. Americans don't take captives behind the compound and shoot them in the back of the head.

People like you and Bill O'Reilly are terrified that if we stick to what makes us great, someone might hurt us. People who don't believe in the concept of America, think it's worth it to give up American ideals at the first sign of danger. When did right-wingers become such wussies?

If we think like you, we've already lost.

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November 17, 2009 4:09 AM in reply to trulyskewed

you mean what your idea of america is, don't you? we americans have been pretty brutal in our history,up to and including ww2. since then we have been in a series of wars that we refuse to win. korea, vietnam, the gulf wars, afganistan. there is no substitute for victory, if you don't win, you lose. perhaps you think our founders were genteel, polite, and men of faith. they were brutal rebels that outlasted the most powerful army in the world [the british] i mean for christ sakes, washington shot his own men, more then once. and for little reason. but hey, if you want to put the terrorists on trial in civilian court, don't cry when some are aquitted. and when their friends come for us again you can rest easy because then you will know that when or if we catch them a good lawyer will get them off.

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November 17, 2009 3:54 AM in reply to jjdjjd

Oh yeah you're big and bad, Mr. "jjdjjd", the nut job who's so scared he won't even sign his name to his posts. Yeah you're going to "kill 'em all".

Riiiight.

I feel safer already....

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November 17, 2009 4:13 AM in reply to Dave Adams

and just how do we know thats your name and picture? i'm waiting for you, i don't you got the guts.

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November 17, 2009 4:14 AM in reply to jjdjjd

whoops, missed a word, i don't think you got the guts.

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November 17, 2009 3:35 PM in reply to jjdjjd

Like I said jjdjjd, you're not even remotely my type, but by all means, keep looking.

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November 17, 2009 5:47 PM in reply to Dave Adams

not your type? i thought you guys would do anyone.

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November 17, 2009 10:43 PM in reply to jjdjjd

Of course you think that- in addition to being a jjdjjdickenshit, you're a moron. Or to use your own word, "werong" again.

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November 18, 2009 3:50 PM in reply to Dave Adams

'mo

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November 17, 2009 7:22 PM in reply to jjdjjd

Facts:

1. The perpetrators of the 1993 bombing at the WTC were pursued, captured, arrested, indicted, and tried as the CRIMINALS they were/are under CRIMINAL investigation and prosecution.

They are rotting in prison.

Had Clinton followed the Bushit/your approach, he would have bombed and invaded New Jersey.

2. The Madrid bommbers were identified, captured, indicted, prosecuted under CRIMINAL investigation and law, and are rotting in jail.

Had Spain followed the Bushit/your approach, they would have bombed and invaded their ally Italy.

Now answer this question:

2. For all your tough-guy militarist bluster --

Where's Osama bin Laden?

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November 18, 2009 8:52 AM in reply to jjdjjd

If our enemies are determined to destroy us, then why did they do nothing for years while their brethren were held without warrants, and tortured in Gitmo? They don't need KSM in NYC to commit a terrorist act in NYC. The real question is when did conservatives and Republicans develop this yellow streak, and this fear that our system cannot convict somebody big Dick Cheney and little Rudy Guliani are so certain was the "mastermind" of one of the worst mass murders ever committed (I prefer "sick, twisted, loser" to "mastermind", but hey, I'm a Democrat and an Obama supporter, which puts me about one millimeter from Satanic worshipper in your right wing nutworld). Phuck them and phuck KSM. I don't need people who think torture is OK when the ends justify it, who think secret military trials are OK for a nation that professes to be the most free society in the world, and who think all Democrats hate America, to take part in this decision. You lost the election by 9 million votes. Now STFU and let somebody with intellect and courage lead (instead of a monkey disguised as a bully, and the twisted puppeteer who made his mouth move, or the yellow GOP who continue to bask in his "accomplishments."

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November 17, 2009 7:16 PM in reply to jjdjjd

You know the terrorists you describe personally?

Or are you relying on racist FOX's fear-mongering for your self-terrorizing?

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eric the red

November 16, 2009 10:33 AM

Interesting. What is the motive here? Do these guys really just want to save money and preserve constitutional values? Really?

It is just strange because I can't think I have ever agreed with Norquist on anything.

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November 16, 2009 11:34 AM in reply to eric the red

I smell a payoff.

This is a lobbying effort. These guys never do anything for free.

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Metzengerstein

November 16, 2009 7:23 PM in reply to brianm0122

May be. One site would mean big job creation for northwest IL.

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November 17, 2009 11:56 AM in reply to Metzengerstein

It is possible their healthy egoes will not let them portray themselves as being totally ignorant of reality, like the Fox News crew, or consummate policy hypocrites like Giulliani?

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November 16, 2009 11:42 AM in reply to eric the red

Norquist's behavior is very suspect (perhaps Big Prison is paying him off these days?), but it is not the first time Bob Barr rails against conservative orthodoxy - since he left the GOP at least.

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November 16, 2009 12:49 PM in reply to Why oh why

True, and true.

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November 17, 2009 12:01 PM in reply to kenga

This train of thought just gave me a chuckle... maybe now that the pot laws are changing, they need a new class of prisoners to support Big Prison interests, in order to fill all that bedspace they built during Rove's permanent Republican majority?

I hope this is just snark.

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November 17, 2009 12:21 PM in reply to JEP07

Along those lines, anyone else wondering what's up with a state-of-the-art maximum security facility standing empty out in the cornfields along the Mississippi River in Illinois?

No doubt there's an official explanation...

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November 16, 2009 1:03 PM in reply to eric the red

Maybe they just don't like the image of Republicans as pissy-pants.

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November 17, 2009 12:02 PM in reply to SqueakyRat

LOL!

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November 16, 2009 10:57 AM

Are you sure this statement wasn't issued by the same guys that spoke on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce regarding climate change legislation a few weeks back?

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Walter Mitty

November 16, 2009 11:16 AM in reply to MP

This is exactly what I was and am thinking.

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VivaAmerica!

November 16, 2009 12:22 PM in reply to MP

ahh, yes, certainly. That would be something. I hope it's them.

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November 16, 2009 3:31 PM in reply to MP

That was my thought as well.

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November 17, 2009 12:07 PM in reply to Kuyleh

Now I'm wondering myself, you guys are usually right...

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November 16, 2009 10:58 AM

What? Ratchet back conservative rhetoric? That train left the station in November, 2000. These three see the handwriting on the wall, written in tea stains: Everlasting Minority.

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November 16, 2009 11:00 AM

Norquist or Scaremongers. Not much of choice these days for Republicans.

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November 16, 2009 11:11 AM in reply to Indie Pro

Have we entered the Twilight Zone? Grover Norquist sounds sane. Make it stop!

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November 16, 2009 12:15 PM in reply to Dorn76

I wondered if it was April 1, myself.

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November 16, 2009 11:10 AM

Grover!

Yeesh.

Look if there is anything we know how to do in this country it is lock people up.

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November 16, 2009 11:16 AM

I think these guys are smart enough to know this makes the Repubs look like cowards at the same time the Repubs chest thump that we are the toughest, greatest, etc.

This isn't inconsistent for Barr. He really has been consistent in his views, he really does believe in the Constitution. I don't always agree with him on the reading of it, but he, like Ron Paul, has taken stands counter to the conventional GOP plank.

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November 16, 2009 6:58 PM in reply to AnnieW

This is right out of one of Glenn's (the intelligent, reasonable one) recent columns...

The Right's textbook "surrender to terrorists"
"We're too scared to have real trials in our country" is a level of cowardice unmatched in the world.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/11/14/terrorism/index.html

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Bill From PA

November 16, 2009 11:17 AM

This looks like the first, tentative effort of some of the so-called 'Adults' in the conservative movement to dial back the loons. They'll need to draw some sort of line on what's acceptable or the GOP is doomed as a national force, and this looks to me to be the safest place for them to start.

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November 16, 2009 12:51 PM in reply to Bill From PA

I never thought I woudld see Norquist and Adult in one sentence, may be except for a remote possibility we were talking about a movie genre.

Breaking News: Conservatives opinion leaders only count when they take a shovel and help dig a deeper hold for this country. They value Orly Taitz more than Bob Barr as of this afternoon.

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November 16, 2009 12:53 PM in reply to kash79

deeper hole...damn

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November 16, 2009 11:21 AM

My, my, seems as if even a few Republicans weary of calling Americans cowards. About damned time....

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November 16, 2009 11:25 AM

It's the Nuts vs. the Idiots. Go, GOP.

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November 16, 2009 11:25 AM

Rudy Giuliani: KSM Should Be Tried Like an 'Animal'
http://satiricalpolitical.com/2009/11/16/rudy-giuliani-khalid-shaikh-mohammed-terrorist-trial-ny-911/

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November 16, 2009 11:59 AM in reply to DonDavis

Spammer

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midnight rambler

November 16, 2009 1:29 PM in reply to DonDavis

President Obama: Don Davis "Should Be Drawn and Quartered".
http://www.nytimes.com/obama_davis_spam.html

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November 16, 2009 5:24 PM in reply to midnight rambler

One of these was meant literally.
Clue: one of them believes torture to be the least of what we should be doing to people not even convicted of anything - but driven by a combination of right wing bigotry, and score settling in Afghanistan - American soldiers with no local knowledge have been fooled time and time again, and paid handsomely a business men fro turning ion their business competition as a terrorist.
These are the people Giuliani and most right wingers wants tortured and treated like animals.
Because hey: they're Muslims anyway, so they must be future terrorists anyway!

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midnight rambler

November 16, 2009 7:45 PM in reply to cinesimon

Just out of curiosity, which of the above do you think was meant literally?

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AlphaLiberal

November 16, 2009 11:37 AM

The voice of reason is Grover Norquist? WTF? Ack! Ack!

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slb

November 16, 2009 5:37 PM in reply to AlphaLiberal

If that's not a measure of how far the Republican base has moved into loony tunes land, I don't know what is.

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November 16, 2009 11:47 AM

Good political instincts. These three understand that the GOP has a lot to lose if they continue their antics in this matter. If they do not fall in line with the DOJ Republicans will waste a lot of political capital on a controversy that will end up making them look like cowards too weak to trust in the American justice system and due process of law. Or, to put it differently: Obama has set them a trap, and most Republicans are rushing headlong into it.

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November 17, 2009 7:29 PM in reply to berliner2

But they don't beliee in the Constitution and rule of law. They know that they can't win except by criminal means.

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November 16, 2009 11:58 AM

Nice to see that, while all Conservatives are incapable of running a government, at least some of them aren't Chickenshits.

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November 16, 2009 7:09 PM in reply to Dave Adams

the liberals are just as incapable to run the government. and ALL of them are chickenshits.

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November 16, 2009 9:06 PM in reply to jjdjjd

Sorry, I'm afraid Liberals will have to concede the incapablility title to Conservatives.

By the way want to deliver any more homilies on who's a chickenshit? If you're going to go there, you might want to start by putting your name on your posts. If that's a little scary for you, in the mean time you might want to just STFU.

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November 16, 2009 9:49 PM in reply to Dave Adams

ohoh, a liberal with his panties in a bunch. as for liberals running govenment better then conservatives i give you jimmy carter. i give you bill clinton who repealed the glass- steagall act[look it up] and also could have had bin laden but turned him down. how about LBJ, well he escalated vietnam, books have been written on FDR, YES ALL LIBERALS, and now we have obambi, on another world apology tour, perhaps the greatest pansy of all time. as for my name, i have my initials, which should suffice. if not track my account, find where i live and come and get me. i dare you.

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November 16, 2009 9:51 PM in reply to jjdjjd

and i won't STFU.

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November 17, 2009 3:35 AM in reply to jjdjjd

Are you that stupid or are you just lying? Republican Presidents over the last 70 years have worse GDP growth, worse unemployment numbers, and worse inflation than Democratic Presidents BY A WIDE MARGIN. The only Republican who had better numbers than any Democrat was Reagan, and HIS NUMBERS WERE ONLY BETTER THAN CARTER'S.

DO SOME RESEARCH DUMBASS!

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November 17, 2009 4:17 AM in reply to Dave Adams

you think because i don't like the dems that i do like the repubs? you are, as usual, werong. one can dislike both.

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November 17, 2009 3:48 AM in reply to jjdjjd

The "greatest pansy of all time" is the right-wing whack job who won't sign his name to his posts.

C'mon "jjdjjd", tells us some more about courage, will you? You're such a paragon of strength. Make sure you don't post your picture either.

As far as "coming to get you" goes, sorry, I'm taken, and I don't swing that way anyhow. But keep looking "jjdjjd"; you'll find some big strong Liberal to take care of you.

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November 17, 2009 4:23 AM in reply to Dave Adams

i'm sure you are taken, i can see that from the picture. you are taken by the dems, and cheer their every move, without thinking for yourself. i dislike all politicians, because, well because they will [do ], lie, steal and cheat us at every opportunity. and you accept it, i don't.

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bluestatedon

November 16, 2009 12:02 PM

I just saw a huge flock of pigs flying outside my window. One of them was a bit chubbier than the rest and was wearing a beard.

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November 16, 2009 12:07 PM in reply to bluestatedon

Were any of them wearing lipstick?

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November 16, 2009 12:58 PM in reply to tiowally

You betcha'!

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November 16, 2009 12:10 PM

Uh oh, conservatives that sound rational.

Sign of the End Times.

Not to worry. They will be on their knees apologizing to Limbaugh by noon.

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November 16, 2009 12:24 PM

It's about time that people from the right start calling this what the left has said for years-- that the standard GOP modus operandi, scaremongering, is bullshit.

The Mad Libs GOP response: "Why do the ________s hate America?" sounds weird when the word "Conservative" is what's filling the blank.

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miki

November 16, 2009 12:33 PM

It's easier to get the death penalty in a federal trial than at Gitmo. That's why these three released the statement. They have no desire to see KSM to live out his life in a prison cell.

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November 16, 2009 12:47 PM

Did Grover take down his living room portrait of
Lenin, and realize that mocking the essential competence of all Federal justice and prision employees would conflict with the new wingbagger populism? I am shocked....shocked I tell you.

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DownriverDem

November 16, 2009 1:04 PM

Oh wow. Now the Tea Baggers will set their sites on these guys.

They really are eating their own.

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November 16, 2009 1:12 PM

According to the NY Times on Jan 9, 1998, in response to sentencing of Ramsi Yousef, the Mastermind of the WTC Bombing in 1993:

"Response to the sentence came quickly from city and Federal officials. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said the sentencing ''sends a clear message to the world: the United States will vigorously prosecute and punish those who murder and maim the innocent.''"

This would be the same Giuliani who was all over the airwaves yesterday saying it would be a huge mistake to try the 2001 bombers in NYC because it would not be safe and would allow them a platform for propaganda.

Maybe Grover et al realize the precarious logic the GOP is advancing.

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commie atheist

November 16, 2009 1:17 PM in reply to George C

Rudy jumped the shark some time ago, and knows it, so he's throwing in his lot with the crazies. He probably thinks that's the only way he'll get airtime and keep his name and face in the public consciousness. And now that the World Series is over, he's right.

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synchronicity

November 16, 2009 1:14 PM

Hey, somebody has to realize that keeping the money in the US instead of paying it to foreign governments would be better for our economy right now. It's crazy to pay millions of dollars to have other countries house them.

The real reason the republicans do not want them hear is that they don't want them under the jurisdiction of federal courts where torture may be tried.

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November 16, 2009 1:51 PM

There is also an element of pragmatic damage control going on here, which even the most jaded politicians can't (always) ignore:

Gitmo is closing. [I have it on reliable authority that the military on Gitmo are all acting like this is a fait accompli. Support staffing and budgets are being shrunk, and schedules are being implemented based on the prison part of Gitmo ending.]
The Rs can't stop Holder from bringing individuals here, convicting them and putting them in stateside supermax prisons.
Unlike the all hat, no cattle, big publicity chickenshit cases the Bush team prosecuted and failed, Holder is going after the real bad actors, and is going to get convictions. When that starts happening, the citizens will cheer, and anyone who opposed the prosecutions is going to look foolish.

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November 16, 2009 1:58 PM

I have no problem with real conservatives, whether or not I agree with them. The Republican Party is no longer the party of true (by which I mean sincere, small-government, Goldwater-style) conservatism, but rather of Christianist reactionaries who want plenty of government as long as it pursues their cultural biases for them. These three guys are talking as true conservatives, at least on this one issue, and I agree with them (I know they'll all be pleased to hear that).

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November 16, 2009 5:19 PM in reply to JimmyBobby

Indeed, I stopped calling them conservatives when they began to be the party run by Falwell and the Moonies.
They're a combination of cults and right wing fascists.

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November 17, 2009 12:12 PM in reply to cinesimon

"Falwell and the Moonies."

And yes, they were "unified"....

Didn't his association with such a certified cult make his congregation at least a LITTLE confused?

Just wonder how Falwell and his flock could be so hard on the Catholics, Jews and Mormons, but so easy on the Moonies....

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November 17, 2009 12:16 PM in reply to JEP07

Maybe cuz' the Catholics, Jews and Mormons refused to bail Falwell out when he was facing total financial collapse?

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November 16, 2009 2:04 PM

I dont trust this for a second..I smell money...long green money. These guys wouldn't know a principle/value if it smacked them in the tea bags!

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ArmChairPol

November 16, 2009 2:17 PM

Act like a stark raving lunatic for 36 months, then sound like the moderate voice of reason for the last year. Not only do you get loads of ink for being an idiot in the first place, but you get even more for sounding like a "Maverick" and calling for "Reform." Now that's some real straight talk you can believe in?

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An Outhouse

November 16, 2009 3:42 PM

I don't care what the three stooges' opinion is on any topic, including this one. They can choose to be correct once in their life, its a free country.

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November 16, 2009 3:49 PM

It beats strict constructionism only when the construction suits your political point of view.

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November 16, 2009 5:17 PM

I sincerely hope this is the beginning of the end of this most ridiculous of debates.
Giuliani recently exemplified the right wing take on this issue, basically saying America's justice system is inherently broken - the Ft Hood case has shown just how much stock the right put in pitchfork-bearing mob justice of old. They seem to be advocating punishment based on their bigotry alone - not on facts, nor witnesses, nor reality - they're so deluded they truly believe that in their wisdom, they can mete out justice simply because they 'know'. The guy was a Muslim - must be a terrorist. End of story. Anyone who disagrees loves terrorist(i.e. all 1.5 billion Muslims on the planet, and most of them on planet Zuasar-13 - the republican ones apparently are OK for now, as long as they continue to crack the whip and turn in their fellow Muslims regarding any anti-Christian talk), and hates America. period.
On the other hand, Democrats are once again taking the basic, pro-American approach(many might say this approach should be the conservative one): trust the American justice system. It works. And, it's much cheaper than keeping them at Gitmo.
So, as usual the right wing on the wrong side of a very basic issue, and have fooled their cult followers into believing what they say about our justice system, simply because all this was Obama's idea.
Anti-Obama madness can be the only answer to the question: Why are they so viciously bashing, with massive prejudice, bizarre, completely illogical reasoning, and a rather large dose of bigotry, one of America's greatest institutions?
As with the Olympics bid, the right continue to show just how much they think of America when they're not in the drivers seat.
They're like a homicidal ex-husband who's decided "IF I CAN'T HAVE HER, NOBODY WILL!!!!"

BANG.

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November 16, 2009 7:28 PM in reply to cinesimon

YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOURSELF, THAT IS THE SAD PART.

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EddyKilowatt

November 16, 2009 5:48 PM

The words 'cost effective' jumped out at me and I figured that was Grover's angle on it.

Whatever, my respect for him inched upward slightly (still in the single digits, mind you). It seems like real progress to hear him saluting two centuries of constitutional tradition, and not trying to drown it in the bathtub.

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November 17, 2009 11:44 AM in reply to EddyKilowatt

"Whatever, my respect for him inched upward slightly"

millimetered. maybe...

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November 17, 2009 11:40 AM

Geraldo and Grover, both voices of reason in the same week?
What, did Someone mix some kool-aid into their tea?

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agio

November 17, 2009 11:40 AM

The problem we face is that, after nearly ten years of scaremongering from the Right, these terrorists are viewed as supervillians capable of reducing jail walls to rubble with their heat-ray vision, as opposed to the small-minded petty criminals they really are.

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November 17, 2009 11:52 AM

Here's a thought,,, no matter where we put them, lets put a full-time web camera on each of them, let the public peek in at will, with a blog for each camera.

Might become the latest internet sensation.

Imagine the comments sections...

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November 17, 2009 11:52 AM in reply to JEP07

Then we can all keep an eye on them...

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