Obama Drafts Order To Close Gitmo; Suspends Habeas Cases In DC Circuit

/in , , , /by

First off, President Obama has already drafted the order to close Gitmo, as he had promised. The AOL News is reporting:

The Obama administration is circulating a draft executive order that calls for closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay within a year.

The draft order also would declare a halt to all trials currently under way at the facility, where roughly 800 detainees in the war on terror are held.
…
Word of the draft order comes on the same day that a judge granted Obama’s request to suspend the war crimes trial of a young Canadian in what may be the beginning of the end for the Bush administration’s system of trying alleged terrorists.
The judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, issued a written order for the 120-day continuance, without even holding a hearing on the question. Another judge was expected to rule later Wednesday on a similar motion to suspend the trial of five men charged in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Secondly, as I explained in the last post, President Obama has moved to suspend tribunal proceedings at Gitmo, and the military panels have started entering the orders. As further evidence of the determination to immediately address, and bring a new sense of enlightened justice to, the detainees in Guantanamo, the Administration has imposed analogous continuance motions in pending Habeas cases in United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Specifically via a motion in Bostan v. Bush et. al, (DC Dist. 05-CV-00883), and a similar motion filed in Mohammon v. Bush et. al (DC Dist. 05-CV-02386), the Administration has moved to continue two hearings scheduled for this afternoon in respective Habeas Corpus cases.

The gist of the motions in both cases can be gleaned from the operative language in the Bostan case motion:

1. The Court previously scheduled a hearing on petitioners’ motions for expedited
judgment on the record for Wednesday, January 21, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. See, e.g., Bostan v.
Obama, No. 05-cv-0883, Order (Jan. 12, 2009, dkt. no. 109). The argument will involve issues
such as the appropriate nature and scope of the Executive’s detention authority during wartime.

2. Earlier today, Barack Obama assumed the office of the President of the United
States.

3. The Government is now assessing how it will proceed in the above-captioned
Guantanamo Bay detainee habeas corpus cases. Time is needed to make that assessment and
determination. Accordingly, the Government requests a short, two-week continuance of
tomorrow’s hearing to permit the assessment to move forward without an intervening argument
on the first full day of the new Administration as to the Government’s legal and other merits-
related positions in these cases.

4. Counsel for respondents has conferred with counsel for petitioners in these cases,
who do not oppose a continuance of limited duration.

5. Respondents, therefore, request a continuance of two weeks, subject to the
Court’s schedule and without prejudice to any request for additional relief that may be
subsequently sought.

Our new President Obama is moving at light speed to set things on a more rational and even keel on the detainee cases. This is change i believe in. For once. It may not turn out perfect, but it sure is a breath of fresh air from where we were a mere 24 hours ago. Booyah!

Oh, and one other thing, if you are thinking we might need to find a place for some of these innocuous detainees we have been wrongfully holding all these years based on no evidence and manufactured evidence, often through torture, Switzerland is offering to help. Via Reuters:

Switzerland is ready to consider taking in detainees from the U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba if that helps to shut it down, the Swiss government said on Wednesday.

"For Switzerland, the detention of people in Guantanamo is in conflict with international law. Switzerland is ready to consider how it can contribute to the solution of the Guantanamo problem," the government said in a statement.

Switzerland said it welcomed the expressed intention of U.S. President Barack Obama to close the prison and would investigate security and legal implications of possibly taking in detainees.

Again, breath in the justice. This is what a real President can accomplish in a mere 24 hours. Makes you wonder what the, ahem, previous administration was doing for seven plus years. Once again, Booyah!

image_print
  1. BoxTurtle says:

    Do I once again hear the slow grinding of the wheels of justice? Or is that the collective teeth grinding of BushCo. Or both? *giddy laughter*

    The Swiss have stepped up. Hooray for them! I bet they had this all written up weeks ago, just waiting for Obama.

    Now, what do we do with the few truly evil ones at Gitmo whose prosecutions are forever tainted by torture. Current law says they walk. Connon sense say they walk right back into Jihad. Let ‘em go and then bomb them as soon as they get back to Pakistan? Declare them POW’s in the GWOT and not release them until AQ surrenders?

    Boxturtle (Give ‘em each three virgins, a bottle of Bourbon, and a week in Vegas and call it even?)

    • Petrocelli says:

      I don’t know where you’d find 3 Virgins, but if Obama wants to end torture, he should ban Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton from performing … intentional or otherwise.

      • BoxTurtle says:

        I don’t know where you’d find 3 Virgins

        You can find ANYTHING in Vegas. There was one up for auction at a nearby brothel just last week. Fox was all over the fact the Government couldn’t do anything about it.

        Boxturtle (at $1.3M each, I bet I could find three)

        • hackworth1 says:

          Some reconstituted virgins would be more economical – you know, ones the Fundy’s recycled for Jesus through a pledge or some such. In this economy, there would be plenty of takers looking for swarthy adventure.

        • freepatriot says:

          no UGGGOOOs

          and try to make sure they’re FEMALE virgins this time

          who put you in charge of this again anyway ???

    • cinnamonape says:

      Now, what do we do with the few truly evil ones at Gitmo whose prosecutions are forever tainted by torture. Current law says they walk. Connon sense say they walk right back into Jihad. Let ‘em go and then bomb them as soon as they get back to Pakistan? Declare them POW’s in the GWOT and not release them until AQ surrenders?

      It depends. Clearly their confessions are coerced and could not hold up in a normal court. But there may be substantitive evidence that is not tainted of their involvement in 9/11 or other acts of terror. Provided that evidence wasn’t tainted by information obtained during torture it’s likely acceptable. This is one more problem with torture…”good evidence” that may have been acquired through normal investigative methods (or voluntary confessions) gets impacted by torture.

      In fact, there is no evidence at all that the torture would have obtained “critical” actionable intelligence of a near-term act of terrorism that would not have been obtained by other means. When one listens to the Bush CIA and DOI folks they merely say that they obtained “useful intelligence” or some other mealy-mouthed statement. They never state that the information provided was critical to stopping an “imminent attack” or anything that would balance the danger of releasing these individuals. This wasn’t “Jack Bauer”, it was more like a game of “Bullsh*t”…sorting out the fake, the trivial, and the duplicative from anything that might eventually lead to information of value.

      • nomolos says:

        But there may be substantitive evidence that is not tainted of their involvement in 9/11 or other acts of terror.

        If the bushies had had any information at all that would have resulted in a conviction they would have had a show trial some time ago. They obviously have no evidence against any of these people that is not totally tainted.

        Maybe it is time to turn the whole matter over to the International Court.

  3. BlueStateRedHead says:

    Inglesis to DOJ.

    Justice is served.

    From Josh.

    David Iglesias — the former US Attorney who was fired in 2006 for failing to prosecute politically motivated cases as aggressively as the Bush administration and its allies wanted — has a new job.

    Iglesias, a member of the US Naval Reserve JAG corps, has been reactivated as part of a special prosecution team for Guantanamo detainees, he told a New Mexico news station this morning.

    “One hundred percent of what I’m doing is prosecuting terrorist cases out of Guantanamo,” he said.

  4. BlueStateRedHead says:

    Now just when I thought the zillion snoopies who had been dancing in my head had settled down, he goes and does this.

    I am going to have to go some undisclosed location without internet if work is going to get done.

    how do you do it, EW.

    btw, the WashPo has a story about the purple tunnel of doom ticket holders’ sad fate.

  5. plunger says:

    Obama just fired a shot straight at Bush re: FOIA. He said that neither he nor former Presidents would be beyond the reach of FOIA requests.

    Cheney should be nervous.

    • acquarius74 says:

      Great news, plunger! Think we can learn some facts about Poppy and the little king? Addington is one who should be hunting a cave to hide in.

    • Redshift says:

      Wasn’t Bush’s first act (or nearly first) in office to give former presidents and their families complete control of access to their administration’s records for some insanely long period of time? It was completely obnoxious — how dare you declare that the people’s records belong to you! At the time, it made everyone wonder what exactly he was covering up from Daddy’s administration (not that there were a lack of possibilities.)

      Since it was an executive order, I had always assumed that the next Democratic president would reverse it. Good to hear it’s happening.

  6. Arbusto says:

    Next, open Gitmo to unfettered Defense Attorney, Red Cross and Red Crescent access & take the lumps over detainee mistreatment now, not later.

  8. freepatriot says:

    btw, that headline is a little scary

    I though for a second that it said “Obama suspends Habeas Corpus in DC circuit”

    it was a “WTF ???” moment

    jes sayin, is all …

  9. Minnesotachuck says:

    OT: Per AFP via TPM, President Obama’s first phone call to a foreign leader was to Mahmud Abbas. The good news is that it wasn’t to Olmert, but it’s unfortunate that Abbas has lost almost all credibility among the Palestinian people he allegedly leads. When he does contact Olmert or whoever his successor is, whether anything can possibly come of it will be determined by whether the president leans hard enough on the Israelis to require them to seriously listen to Hamas, at least by proxy if not in person.

    • Petrocelli says:

      I heard that Israel has done an about face and allowed Arab Political Parties to participate in their upcoming elections … the next 100 days are going to be interesting, to say the least.

  10. bmaz says:

    Nell posted the following on the previous Gitmo thread, and I thought it should be brought here as well:

    Obama will no doubt have some unbiased prosecutors locked in a room with the files

    A commenter of long standing who participates at Obsidian Wings and is a lawyer defending a number of Guantanamo prisoners had this to say last week:

    There aren’t files. No one believes this at first, and it takes a long time to accept it, but really, that’s it: no files. There are databases that can be searched . . .

    If what we’re asking the new team to do is go through the data and figure out who was an AQ leader, this won’t take much time at all. They’ve done factual returns (ie, an annotated narrative)for some 200 prisoners in the last four and a half months, and these narratives would include allegations like that if there is any evidence at all, no matter how specious. If instead you want the new folks to go through the returns (and responses) to define just exactly which species of small fry each of the 90% of guys is, then you’re taking time.

    Also this:

    there are a bunch of parts of the problem — the vast bulk of it — that aren’t difficult at all.

    (There’s no reason to let GWB off any hooks at all, btw. In Hamdan, the Supreme Court told him that he doesn’t have the authority he pretended to have, and also that the prisoners were covered by the GC. Dozens and dozens of men are today, right now, being held in conditions that violate the GC. This could have been remedied by the stroke of a pen, and none of the ‘difficulties’ oft identified prevented it. Instead, the President went for a different stroke — signing the MCA — which didn’t bring him into compliance with the law, but simply deferred all accountability.)

    There’s also this recent article from the Washington Post about the evidentiary disarray.

    This was foreshadowed early on by an interview in November (maybe with Glenn Greenwald, or maybe Scott Horton, can’t find right now) with one of the military officials who resigned from the show-trial apparatus, that was deeply shocking even to me. The officer had expertise in intelligence and investigations, and the interview focused on the apparently deliberate near-total absence of expertise among the show trial preparers that allowed them to be stonewalled by agency after agency when requesting evidence that might be useful to the defense (or even to a competent, good-faith prosecution).

    • Nell says:

      Thanks, bmaz!

      I’m deeply, deeply grateful for lawyers willing to take the time and effort to translate and interpret and provide context for us ‘civilians’.

      You, CharleyCarp, Katherine at ObWi, Marty Lederman, and many many others. Thanks again.

  11. randiego says:

    Now THIS is the stuff i have been waiting for! OUTSTANDING! Iglesias back on DOJ staff, working on Gitmo no less!

    Take that Gonzo and Rove! Take that Domenici! Take that Heather Wilson! POW! POW!

    • skdadl says:

      I’m not sure what to think of the enthusiasm for this appointment of Iglesias. I agree that he personally was wronged, but he has hired on as a prosecutor, at a political level. And he keeps emphasizing that he is working on terrorist cases at Guantanamo.

      I think I’d like to hear him speak to the subject of how tainted any evidence out of Guantanamo is now before I will be enthusiastic.

        • mui1 says:

          I read the book too. I found myself liking him as well, in spite of the fact he’s clearly republican and I don’t share is evangelistic views.

  13. reader says:

    omg. i am feeling lightheaded actually. i came here after watching the wh staff oaths on cnn and had some thing to say about that but this is amazing. suspending the habeus corpus cases for just two weeks is amazing. and iglesias… wow. just. wow. and the FOIA for all presidents. wow. wow. wow. wow.

    elections have consequences.

  14. reader says:

    with a fair, ethical, moral, accomplished prosecutor like igelsias the work towards a fair and equitable conclusion to the cases will be assured.

    that’s how i see it skadl.

    • skdadl says:

      You can call me Flower if you want to. *wink*

      I still dunno. The FBI guys knew there was something wrong even with participating at GTMO. If you’re slotted into a process where someone has been abused before and may be again after you leave, and you all know that, then all evidence you get from them, no matter how proper and disciplined you personally may be, is going to be suspect.

      To me, that is teh problem, and I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t recognize it. (CSIS and DFAIT and three Canadian PMs: I’m lookin’ at you.)

  17. mui1 says:

    Switzerland is ready to consider taking in detainees from the U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba if that helps to shut it down, the Swiss government said on Wednesday.

    Well I hope this is true and that they will take the Uighurs. Although I think the least the US can do after letting the Chinese and Chimpie administration torture them is offer permanent residency inside the US.

    • nomolos says:

      Chimpie administration torture them is offer permanent residency inside the US.

      There is a brush farm in Texas that they could move into tomorrow

  18. reader says:

    i’ve heard all the doubts about obama but jeez, watching him on cnn and seeing how steeled he looks and how he’s ’going all radical’ *g* on us like this already, i’m really seeing greatness. i’m really seeing a consistent arc, without pretension, without artifice.

    think about the oaths of office for the wh staff: i was watching that and thinking, they have them (WHAT? you mean Rove took an oath to protect and defend the Consititution? yuppers.), and that they would be open to coverage, and that Obama would want that. it’s amazing. it’s got to be an education for all our peeps. radical, that’s the word.

    oh and i am so fucking sick of hearing about how weighty the office is … all falling on one man’s shoulder. no doubt but the coverage is perpetuating the bushian meme of ”it’s hard work.”

    no, it’s joyous work in the service of our country. thank you president obama.

  20. reader says:

    as far as i am concerned, the US should take the ughurs. there are groups in the US (and/or in canada i think) offering to take responsibility and sponsor them for quite a while now.

    Switzerland’s help is very much appreciated too though.

      • mui1 says:

        Yes but they must be ready to handle possible mental/physical disabilities from shock doctrine treatment. That can be a tall order.

      • Redshift says:

        As I recall, the only thing blocking it was Bush Administration delaying tactics. I think it’ll happen.

    • mui1 says:

      Sponsorship is good. From what I read, I get the feeling a lot of the detainees need both physical and mental therapy, and financial help.

    • cinnamonape says:

      The Uighers would likely be great cowboys or herdsmen. No reason that. like the Basques or Armenians, they couldn’t be integrated into American society. Maybe give them jobs up in Utah or Nevada.

      • mui1 says:

        Don’t bet on them being healthy enough. I read some lawyers’ report. I believe it was FDl hosted Andy Worthington, not sure though. I came away with the impression that they were disabled, seriously disabled, in the way that other lawyers have said their clients were disabled, and Jose Padilla’s family said he was not the same, not there, just screwed over.

        • mui1 says:

          Shock doctrined more like it. Like that woman Naomi Klein describes, who received XXX shock therapy treatments in a government funded(?) experiment.

  22. Redshift says:

    At an event with six former Secretaries of State a few months ago, they were asked what the new president could do to advance American foreign policy, and they all agreed that the first, most important thing to do was to close Guantanamo. So I didn’t actually doubt that it would happen, despite the Villagers’ endless blathering about how Obama might find it “difficult to do.” But I’m still impressed with the speed.

  23. reader says:

    skdadl/Flower: i know we hope that people will stand up to evil like torture orders … but there has been tremendous pressure on everyone in the Bush/Cheney admin plus threats like the outing of plame. in my experience and the theories i use, the tone of a group/organization is strongly determined by the leadership. change is still difficult. but obama has the power and is using it to change the tone already. now the people who would be most likely to go along with the previous admin are probably in many cases looking to go along with obama for many of the same reasons: keeping their job, not getting in trouble, not standing out.

  24. reader says:

    you know, if one is truly christian, even evangelical, there is strong guidance that justice for all is what god wants.

  25. reader says:

    so, if Iglesias is such a strong republican/evangelistic views, his assessments of the cases will carry a lot of weight, and perhaps not be seen as ”soft on terrorism?” it’s brilliant: not about ”letting the terrorists off” but doing the job right in every respect.

    oooooh, CNN wondering about the ”Haliburton conflict [for Cheney] in the Bush/Cheney years.” oh my, am i drooling?

  27. reader says:

    cinnamonape @ 49: excuse me, that seems quite stereotypical. i’m sure with good sponsorship they could make successful choices for themselves.

    • dosido says:

      destruction of evidence delayed by the mansafe accident. Shadow president asked for delay in Holder vote until shredding and arson could continue.

        • dosido says:

          You know I’m being facetious (sort of) but isn’t it interesting that BO’s first EO is FOIA including records of previous administration? I hope they change the locks on VP residence.

      • demi says:

        I just spoke to my fairy godmother who’s 90+ years old – she won’t reveal the actual number. Anyway, we were talking about Dr. Strangelove’s “accident” which made him show up in his wheelchair. After discussing some possibilities, she told me, You just know that there was some “intimate documents” that he felt he and only he could transport. Just sharing. And, yeah, if I was a betting person, oh, and had an extra nickel….

        • mui1 says:

          Ha! I had a great aunt who was *always eighty,* even almost twenty years after the fact. I need to see Dr. Strangelove again.

  29. reader says:

    recent reports are that the ”files” are disorganized, in parts all over the place if they exist at all, and amount to no more than ”pocket litter” collected at intake in many cases.

  30. oldgold says:

    This is related, sort of:

    Senate Republicans hope to delay a vote on the confirmation of Eric Holder to become attorney general in order to pressure him to say whether he will prosecute intelligence agents for torture if they were following orders and acting within what they believed to be legal guidelines.

    • mui1 says:

      It’s very depressing to see the Eichmann “just following orders” defense floating around as a possible defense for torturers here in the US, non?

  31. reader says:

    torture has lifelong devastating effects even if it’s ”only” the enhanced interrogation variety. this was well known before these sociopaths embarked on this adventure. these people should be taken care of by the US for the rest of their lives. the sooner they are released the sooner they can begin to reclaim what they can make of their life now. there are organizations to help, have been for decades. if they turn to terrorism, my attitude is too bad: we made this bed.

    • mui1 says:

      I feel mega lawsuits will be needed to pay medical bills and other expenses for the soon to be (cross your fingers) former detainees.

  33. demi says:

    Can someone tell me why this vote is taking so long? Hello? Where are they? Why hold a vote if no one is there? I know. Stupid questions.

  34. reader says:

    oldgold: hmmmm. i’m not sure we need to prosecute the intelligence agents … but if it was Nuremburg we would so it’s kinda a contradiction. we certainly CANNOT prosecute ONLY the intelligence agents. i dunno. it will be interesting to see what obama/holder do about this because i can’t be alone in having sympathy for the agents. but then again, they tool out insurance in droves against being prosecuted when this whole mess started. they knew.

    • mui1 says:

      Sure, there will be people who claimed only to be “paper pushers.” That’s in Hannah Arendts book as well.

  37. reader says:

    Obama could pardon the agents … now that might be a useful thing to do with pardon power. it’s not just for the elites anymore.

  39. reader says:

    ok guys, if it’s just Spector holding up Holder’s nomination … Spector blows hot air all the time for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. the delay is really annoying, but if Spector has anything to do with it (he’s on my tv as the ringleader) it will amount to nothing if the past 50 years are anything to do by.

    • hackworth1 says:

      Spector is famous for grandstanding. He relishes these opportunities that allow him the appearance of standing up for the common citizen consumer. When it’s time for Spector to vote, however, its Republican Party line.

      McCain is another one – that one!

  41. reader says:

    mui1: you are right. how much justice will we get? ok, this is a real test of everyone and everything. just over 24 hours ago it seemed impossible to hope for this kind of ”perfection.” all the naysayers. wow. i was going to also say that i was really annoyed about all the pre-inauguration talk that ”this [and that] will tie obama’s hands …” … i thought not but it was scary. it was all talk. all this ”oh the poor agents” is more talk too. but who’s going to tell the republicans who supported the unlimited powers of their war preznit?

    • mui1 says:

      For me, it’s still very depressing, and I can’t seem to ditch that feeling even with the news of a draft EO etc.

  42. reader says:

    i don’t pay any attention to Spector anymore: it gets SO old. you know, once obama get’s some wind in the sails and starts getting some where these republicans and their games are going to look really foolish. maybe we’re almost there already.

  43. JohnLopresti says:

    EO 13233 GWBush November 5 2001 superseding EO 12667 RReagan January 1989. Narrative of the shift the GWBush eo13233 generated. January 19 2009 Collar Kotelly presumption of forthrightness of declaration of willingness to preserve records in re Crew v VP.

    The Uighur issue is complex because of PRC hinterland policies extending back a century. Civil unrest as well as other regional closed systems of government will provide HRC grist for some international bargaining for disposition, likely otherwise than to Albania.

    It was refreshing to see the ObWi material, h, Nell, Ccarp, and one other pro bono counsel there have written some of the best material over the years.

    On the shuttering of Gtmo, there should be debriefings asap of who happens to be there now and incrementally until the process actually ceases, according to the local paper a process which is about one more year, 2010.

  44. TraditionalConservative says:

    Why not just let them all go? Surely the whole world love us and no one wants to attack us anymore now that The One is in power!

  46. WilliamOckham says:

    Here’s the relevant portion of Obama’s FOIA directive (courtesy of ProPublica):

    All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in FOIA, and to usher in a new era of open Government. The presumption of disclosure should be applied to all decisions involving FOIA.

    The presumption of disclosure also means that agencies should take affirmative steps to make information public. They should not wait for specific requests from the public. All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government. Disclosure should be timely.

    I direct the Attorney General to issue new guidelines governing the FOIA to the heads of executive departments and agencies, reaffirming the commitment to accountability and transparency, and to publish such guidelines in the Federal Register. In doing so, the Attorney General should review FOIA reports produced by the agencies under Executive Order 13392 of December 14, 2005. I also direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to update guidance to the agencies to increase and improve information dissemination to the public, including through the use of new technologies, and to publish such guidance in the Federal Register.

    This is potentially an important step towards shining a light on the dark deeds of the last eight years.

  48. Valtin says:

    ABC News, which has had some good sources and reporting, ever since they broke the story on the principals meeting last year re torture, report now that Obama will release three executive orders tomorrow.

    They involve the closure of Gitmo “within a year”, as well as establishing “new rules and guidelines on interrogation methods and the treatment of detainees, sources who have seen a draft of the orders tell ABC News.”

    Other relevant quotes from the article:

    In the motion filed last night, prosecutors laid out the administration’s options: “Implicit in this review is the possibility that the administration may forgo prosecution in certain cases altogether, move prosecution of some or all cases to federal district courts, and/or make changes to the rules and procedures applicable to military commissions.”

    The administration is expected to take some time to tackle the thorny issue regarding the closure of the military base. The most pressing and difficult questions are what to do with those detainees too dangerous to be released who are, or might be, tried for war crimes and cannot be tried in federal court.

    There are a variety of reasons why some of the detainees cannot be tried in federal court:

    Some evidence could be tainted by improper interrogations…..

    It is unlikely, but possible, that the new administration would in the first week expressly prohibit some interrogation techniques or refer to new legal parameters for the CIA program.

    There will be a lot to digest over the weekend. While things are looking up, there is likely to be evidence of the pushback and internal political pressures reflected in the language of the order, re what is not achieved.

    I think a lot of spin is going on prior to getting the final look at the EO, trying to influence things at the last minute. The fact that this is taking a few days (look how impatient I am!) and not on the vaunted “first day” is evidence that a lot of conflict is going on behind the scenes.

  50. Dismayed says:

    The problem with “traditional conservatives” is that most of them don’t know what it means.

    The one’s that do now mostly call themselve Independents.

  51. imtosmarttovoteforobama says:

    so if gitmo is closed where will these people go? oh yes they will fly a plane right back into the US…what kinda people voted for this guy?!?

    • bmaz says:

      Crikey, you’re not even smart enough to keep from running your letters and words together. Might want to reevaluate your self IQ.

    • randiego says:

      so if gitmo is closed where will these people go?

      Allowed their day in court, instead of thrown into a dungeon

      oh yes they will fly a plane right back into the US…

      hmm, don’t think that one will work again

      what kinda people voted for this guy?!?

      Sane ones.
      .
      this has been another version of Simple Answers to Asinine Questions.

      Oh yeah, and BOO!

  53. dopeyo says:

    Reader @ 76:

    ok guys, if it’s just Spector holding up Holder’s nomination … Spector blows hot air all the time for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. the delay is really annoying, but if Spector has anything to do with it (he’s on my tv as the ringleader) it will amount to nothing if the past 50 years are anything to do by.

    Re the delay on the Holder nomination: I have read (perhaps on Glennzilla’s blog) that some in the Senate may be thinking of running out the statute of limitations on Yoo’s Torture Memos, or events related to the Card / Gonzales hospital visit to Ashcroft, and the last-minute attempts to restore a veneer of legality to the FISA violations.