Dems, Obama: Closing Gitmo is hard !!

As previously referenced on this blog, Obama's bluster in announcing an intent to close Gitmo was an act of political immaturity. While it was fun to paint Boooosh as the bogey-man, there were no grownups in the room to note that there was no better alternative.

It looks like the Obama plan was to simply have other countries fall all over themselves to take these fanatics to demonstrate their fealty to The One. But apparently there was no plan B. Ever the masters of political expediency, the dems in Congress are now criticizing Obama's lack of planning.

Now Democrats are ganging up on President Barack Obama’s plans to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. Or rather, the president’s lack of planning for how to shutter the prison and how to handle the detainees.

“They say, ‘We’re going to close Guantanamo.’ OK, fine. How are you going to do that? That’s the question,” Rep. Neal Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) told POLITICO Thursday. “They should have had that worked out from the get-go.”

“There’s this vague game plan that now we’re going to leave Guantanamo,” Abercrombie said. “It’s allowed it to become a political football.”

I feel no compulsion to defend BO (that's what MSNBC, CNN, NYT etc. are for) but didn't he do exactly what the left wing of Congress has been demanding. And Congress' plan is ______ ??

But even more outrageous is that despite acknowledging that there might not be a better solution than Gitmo, they still want to shut it down anyway.

But while Democrats don’t deny that the White House has provided few specifics on how they plan to transfer the detainees, Democratic leaders still back the idea of closing the facility.

“Personally, I feel pretty good about where we are on the issue,” Reid said. “I think that the vast, vast majority, if not every Democratic senator feels the same way and many Republicans feel the same way.”

Morons!

A picture's worth a million words.

But this one is worth $357,000 -- of taxpayer money.

Irrefutable proof that Arlen Specter is a douche

Why the dems can have him.

Later I heard a revealing story from one of his squashing-playing aides. The fitness club had replaced all the lockers, requiring members to buy new combination locks. Specter had assigned this task to the aide, but, as became clear as they started their regular game, it had completely slipped his mind. “Did you buy me a lock?” Specter asked as they stood side by side on the squash court, racquets at the ready. “Oh no, Senator, I’m so sorry, I forgot.” Specter’s eyes grew dark and hooded as he said slowly and loudly. “YOU DIDN’T BUY ME A LOCK? I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO BUY ME A FUCKING LOCK!” The aide drew back. “We can’t play today, you’re too mad,” the underling said, and left the court—and within a week, had left the senator’s employ.

As they say in blog circles: read the whole thing.

Europe's "tolerance" is increasingly becoming anti-Semitism

Like all nations, Israel is not perfect and has made mistakes and has enacted policies that could invite criticism. And, such criticisms, in the context of serious debate are legitimate. However, the anti-Israel movement seems to increasingly be a home for anti-Semites. As outright anti-Semitism is socially unacceptable, it has been masked by railing against the Jewish state.

The whiff of anti-Semitism has arisen here in the US but seems to be much more prevalent in Europe; particularly in areas with large numbers of Muslim immigrants. Making matters worse, the state, despite much lip service, continues to turn a blind eye to such activity in the name of diversity and cultural sensitivity. In other words, they are gutless appeasers who have been cowed.

For the most recent example, here is video (h/t Powerline) of a "boycott" of Israeli goods at a French supermarket. As you can see, theft and thuggery have now become accepted protest.

Arlen Specter becomes the biggest ass-hat in the Senate

Senator Principle has managed to poop the bed on both sides of the aisle.

Since declaring himself a Democrat last Tuesday, Specter has defied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the White House on virtually everything that’s come down the pike: the budget, mortgage reform, the Al Franken-Norm Coleman race, even President Barack Obama’s appointment of Dawn Johnsen to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

All while quibbling over whether he said he’d be a “loyal Democrat” — and insisting that he had an “entitlement” to transfer his Senate seniority from one side of the aisle to the other.

The blowback came Tuesday night: On a voice vote, the Senate voted to strip Specter of his 29 years of seniority, effectively transforming him in a blink-and-you-missed-it-moment from one of the most senior senators in the body to a lowly freshman on most committees.

Will Snarlin' Arlen drop the dems a second time and return to the Republicans some are speculating?? Let's hope not. The dems can have him and the Republicans are better off without him.

And he's not doing Pennsylvania any favors either. One of Specter's frequent campaign themes is premised on the benefit his seniority brings. That's gone and, hopefully, soon he will be as well.

Scare Force One photos

The official explanation was that the pictures taken during the low altitude pass over Ground Zero were to update their publicity photos. After the incident turned into a PR disaster we are told that they will not be released.

Your tax dollars at work -- $328,835 (and serious anxiety in lower Manhattan) for publicity photos that are not to be released to the public. there is clearly a steady hand at the rudder of this nation.

Arlen Specter gets played

After essentially handing the dems a veto-proof majority, the senior senator from PA now has junior status on the committees on which he sits.

Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday.

Under the modified organizing resolution, Specter will not keep his committee seniority on any of the five committees that he serves on and will be the junior Democrat on all but one — the chamber’s Special Committee on Aging. On that committee, he will be next to last in seniority.

As a result, Specter — who as a Republican was ranking member on the Judiciary Committee and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, as well as ranking member of the panel’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education — will now rank behind all the other Democrats, at least until the end of this Congress.

Karma's a bitch!

Trojan Jackass

There are some indications emerging that AG Eric Holder will not pursue criminal charges against authors of the "torture" memos. While this appears to be good news there is still serious cause for concern.

There really is no basis for criminal prosecutions of lawyers drafting a legal analysis and all but the bat-shit crazy on the left know it. Any prosecution is a dead end.

But to exact their vengeance, the left intends to take away the livelihood (as well as the reputations) of their prey.

Investigators initially recommended professional sanctions against Bybee and Yoo, but not Bradbury, according to the person familiar with the matter. That would come in the form of recommendations to state bar associations, where the most severe possible punishment is disbarment.

So instead of fighting an almost impossible battle to prosecute, the condemned will be stripped of their jobs and future career paths as professors and judges. And make no mistake, state bar associations are very political and will not feel constrained by law or due process.

This is becoming a far too typical ploy of the left. Not content to merely defeat their enemies at the ballot box, they seek to destroy them.

And I wouldn't bet on Mr. Reach-across-the-aisle to apply the brakes. Instead, he will be seeking our adulation for his thoughtful compromise of dropping the criminal charges.

More good news from the most ethical Congress - Evah !!!

No bid contracts for Halliburton were the mark of pure evil (even if originating from the Clinton administration. No bid contracts for John Murtha's nephew"; no problem.

Yet last year, Murtech received $4 million in Pentagon work, all of it without competition, for a variety of warehousing and engineering services. With its long corridor of sparsely occupied offices and an unmanned reception area, Murtech's most striking feature is its owner -- Robert C. Murtha Jr., 49. He is the nephew of Rep. John P. Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has significant sway over the Defense Department's spending as chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

Robert Murtha said he is not at liberty to discuss in detail what his company does, but for four years it has subsisted on defense contracts, according to records and interviews. He said Murtech's 17 employees "provide necessary logistical support" to Pentagon testing programs that focus on detecting chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, "and that's about as far as I feel comfortable going." Giving more details could provide important clues to terrorist plotters, he said.

Murtha said he does not advertise being the nephew of John Murtha and considers it "unfortunate" that some will unfairly assume Murtech received its federal contracts because of his uncle's influence at the Pentagon.

Obama botches Cinco de Mayo address

Trying to employ a little Spanish lingo, our super-cool , just totally awesome President wishes everyone a happy "five of four".

Didn't Obama say during the campaign that it was important to know other languages; how we should teach our kids to be multi-lingual ?? Maybe he would have gotten it right if it were in Austrian.

I also seem to remember a certain prior occupant of the White House who could Habla Espanol. Who was that again ?? Hmmm??

R.I.P. Jack Kemp

One of the early supporters of supply-side economics.

Dumb cowboy right again??

As posted earlier on this site keeping Gitmo open was probably not a favored strategy but rather the best of a bunch of bad options.

Now that reality has collided with campaign rhetoric, His Barry-ness is coming to the same conclusion .

The Obama administration is moving toward reviving the military commission system for prosecuting Guantánamo detainees, which was a target of critics during the Bush administration, including Mr. Obama himself.
.....
Officials who work on the Guantánamo issue say administration lawyers have become concerned that they would face significant obstacles to trying some terrorism suspects in federal courts. Judges might make it difficult to prosecute detainees who were subjected to brutal treatment or for prosecutors to use hearsay evidence gathered by intelligence agencies.
.....
But in recent days a variety of officials involved in the deliberations say that after administration lawyers examined many of the cases, the mood shifted toward using military commissions to prosecute some detainees, perhaps including those charged with coordinating the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The more they look at it,” said one official, “the more commissions don’t look as bad as they did on Jan. 20.”

Is Bill Clinton a war criminal ??

There has been much made about whether Harry Truman was a war criminal for dropping a pair of nukes on Japan to hasten its surrender.

But has everyone forgot that Bill Clinton authorized a cruise missile strike on what turned out to be an aspirin factory -- resulting in the loss of life of an innocent civilian. There is no dispute that Clinton ordered the attack; more than sufficient culpability under the left's logic.

So, off to the Hague with Bubba!!!

Has the press corps "inadvertently" become Obama's brownshirts??

This report by Jake Tapper should raise concerns.

A leading bankruptcy attorney representing hedge funds and money managers told ABC News Saturday that Steve Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's Auto Industry Task Force, threatened one of the firms, an investment bank, that if it continued to oppose the administration's Chrysler bankruptcy plan, the White House would use the White House press corps to destroy its reputation.
......
Perella Weinberg Partners, Lauria said, "was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House press corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That’s how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence."

Perella Weinberg Partners, which owned Chrysler debt through its Xerion Fund, was one of Lauria's clients in this bankruptcy, but no longer is. Before the Thursday deadline, Joseph Perella and Peter Weinberg tried to join the larger creditors -- JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs -- who are owed roughly 70% of Chrysler's debt and had already agreed to participate with the administration's plan.

All four financial institutions are recipients of up to $100 billion in federal government bailout funds, though the Obama administration insists the matters were kept completely separate.

Imagine the howls from the left if the Bush administration were involved.

ABC = Scooter Libby - outs CIA interrogations designers

Actually, worse than Scooter, because it wasn't really Scooter; it was Richard Armitage. But anyway, in yet another example of shameless hypocrisy, ABC news identifies the "architects" of the CIA's interrogation program.

Not content with revealing their identity, ABC also posts pictures of their faces. Next week they will give out addresses with turn-by-turn directions.

And get ready for much to be made about their "$1,ooo per day" rate. It's $125 per hour if they work an eighth hour day.