Eric Holder: Now That Obama's up for Reelection, We're Seriously Going to Close Gitmo
The Associated Press reports that Attorney General Eric Holder has reiterated the Obama administration's promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, something Holder says will happen "as quickly as possible, recognizing that we will face substantial pressure." And by quickly, Holder means: "We will be pressing for the closure of the facility between now and [the election—]and after that election, we will try to close it as well."
Translation: We're going to try to do now what we promised you we'd do three years ago. So vote for us. If we don't do it now, you should still vote for us, because we'll do it later. We promise.
Via Hot Air's Ed Morrissey, who muses, "It's getting difficult to determine whether the Obama administration is working harder to fool its allies, its base, or itself. If they believe that Obama can run and win in 2012 on the I'll-close-Gitmo platform, then I'm guessing it's the latter."
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
I'll sleep better when Holder is in federal prision.
We can only dream. Fast and furiously.
Nice.
*golf clap*
Pivoting to Gitmo, eh?
Looks like they are worried the base will stay home on election day. Now if there was a way for the rED's base to stay home as well.
Like I've said before, Obama is going to stupidly run on Hope and Change again.
He is going to run as an outsider. Someone who is going to change Washington. I am not kidding.
He has, somehow, made Washington seem even less functional and more of a clusterfuck than it was when he took over.
It's truly amazing.
You give him more credit than he deserves on that front.
We're talking about the guy who sent the VP to -- literally -- Outer Mongolia and still nearly created an international incident. Believe me, these guys could fuck up boiling water. Their only saving grace is that the Republicans are the only people on Earth who could fuck up boiling water worse.
I don't think this is what you meant, but I do think Obama and his administration's incompetence tends to overshadow the truly awful Congress that was in power after 2006. Which, of course, overshadowed the truly awful government we had before that.
We could use a decent Congress, Supreme Court, and president for a change.
So you think he is competent? Is there anything you would blame him for? Or is he just a victim of circumstance?
And I would be curious what you thought about Bush. Was he a victim of circumstance or did you hold him responsible for the government? Just a guess but I am thinking you had no issue giving Bush so much credit.
When I started working with the gubmint I thought morale was pretty low. Most of these folks around here are flaming liberals and I started here unde rthe GWB Admin, so the low morale made sense. Now that their hero is in office, morale is even lower. It's just that they're to blinded by their cultie brainwashing to see that Obama is the cause.
some home nations have refused re-entry for their nationals held at gitmo
Which Obama knew perfectly well when he made his "promise" to close Gitmo.
obama did NOT know the entirety of this prob
That's so cute.
The Associated Press reports that Attorney General Place Holder has reiterated the Obama administration's promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay....
FIFY
Anyone want to bet that it is still open on 20 January 2013? Why would he close GUITMO and leave it to the Republicans to kill him on it with Independents when the people who are angry about GUITMO are going to vote for him anyway?
Because he's not to ightbray?
That's it. You're going on ATTACK WATCH!!! Using pig Latin to ridicule the messiah president is mean!!!
Plus he used the name "Gimlet" which I just know is wingnut code for something racist. Dog whistles going off! Don't you hear them, too?!!
"It's everything but the economy, stupid!"
*facepalm*
Mommy! Mommy! Look at the funny monkies!
Mommy? What are the funny monkies doing?
Mommy? What are the funny monkies doing?
They're legislating, honey. They're legislating.
any day now... any day...
They would have done it already, but those mean ol' Rethuglicans wouldn't let them.
That will be the spin. Count on it.
And that is what distubs me. Obama had Congressional majorities his firts two years. He has had a republican House for less than a year.
it's the tea party's fault.
Alt-caption: "We're not torturing them, this is preparation for winters. You never know when Cuba will experience freak winter."
WTF is up with red suits and space helmets and boxing gloves? I mean really, if they must be handcuffed what is wrong with regular cuffs?
Whoever thought of this stuff has some unresolved sexual issues.
I just suggested it, it's on them for going through with it...
Ha ha, they look like the dudes operating the radios in the 1980 Flash Gordon.
I'm sure that the Obama-bots will be tediously listing all of the various circumstances that prevented Obama from keeping this promise.
OK, fine. Here's the thing: all of these circumstances were easily foreseeable. So why the fuck do you people believe these politicians when they make these promises? You know damn well they can't deliver; you're the first in line to explain why they didn't. So why not apply that reasoning when the promise is uttered, and act accordingly? Do you just enjoy sucking politicians' cocks that much?
Because to understand that would mean having to admit that maybe just maybe the evil George Bush acted in good faith and perhaps made the best of a bad situation. And they will never do that. GUITMO is a huge problem. And it was a lousy solution to a lousy unsolvable problem. It is easy to talk shit when you are out of power and not responsible for anything. I bet Bush laughed his ass off when he heard Obama pledge to close GUITMO. Yeah, good luck with that pal.
Hope And Change were only promises for a second term.
Kinda like Bush's fiscal conservatism and compassionate foreign policy were the entire focus of his second term.
if it were not for the tsunami in Japan, the Arab business, Greece's problems, and a host of other unrelated things, Gitmo would have been closed by now.
Like this.
"It's getting difficult to determine whether the Obama administration is working harder to fool its allies, its base, or itself"
It's a trifecta!
We will be pressing for the closure of the facility between now and [the election?]and after that election, we will try to close it as well
So, you're assuming it will still be open after the election, then?
So... because he can't really run on Hope and 'CHANGE', I'm guessing 2012's slogan will be something along the lines of:
Hope and... I Really Am Going to Close Gitmo This Time Around, I Promise
I personally don't think it's all that catchy...
You know, what could be more damning than that video of Obama saying that the first thing he will do is bring our troops home and we can take that to the bank? Unfortunately, it would require a GOP candidate who doesn't actually worship war to be able to use that in his/her campaign. That pretty much leaves one guy. But he's "goofy" right? And sometimes he doesn't have his talking points down and he's not smooth and "with it" like the other candidates. Plus, he has this whacky commitment to telling the truth and having consistent principles, which are certainly major drawbacks for us cool people.