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    HypnoCatGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:43am

    I was listening to the Republican push back to this plan this morning and just shaking my head. Mind you, most of the people still being detained haven’t actually been tried. so there is no certainty that they were actually involved in terrorist activity - just “suspected” of.

    Why aren’t Republicans as horrified at the thought of detaining possibly innocent people for years and years on end as I am?

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      j4x_HypnoCat
      2/23/16 11:47am

      Because they are facists and always have been.

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      TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)HypnoCat
      2/23/16 11:48am

      Because you’re not one of their voters. Their voters are terrified, and they can’t offend those voters, lest they risk their office.

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    TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Gabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:41am

    You can expect a repeat of this scene if Obama ever tries to implement this plan:

    We are a nation of idiot NIMBYs. No governor is going to risk their reelection over “harboring terrorists.”

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      Sean BrodyTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      2/23/16 11:47am

      Can Obama send who he wants to whatever federal prison he wants?

      Legally speaking?

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      Misteaks were madeTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      2/23/16 11:49am

      Plenty of terrorists calling ADX Florence in CO home these days. Shoe Bomber Dickhead Ried, Joker Zarnif, Zachariah Missouri, Theo Kapinsky. What’s a few more?

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    ManchuCandidateGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:41am

    Cue, GOP shrieking that Guantanamo Detainees are either Muslim Hannibal Lectors or Super Mutants like Magneto and thus should not be allowed in the US Amercia.

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      SohrabManchuCandidate
      2/23/16 11:48am

      My favorite is the GOP supports the military... Until the military proposes a policy the GOP can’t wrap their tiny little brains around. They want to rubber stamp wars everywhere but when it comes to gays in the military, closing Guantanamo,and the problem of climate change the GOP thinks the generals are beholden to Obama.

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      ReverandRichardWayneGaryWayneManchuCandidate
      2/23/16 12:12pm

      The worst would be a Muslim Miggs. Add all the other fear factors plus public masterbation.

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    Johnny ChundersGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:52am

    This marks the fourth, or possibly the fifth, time that Obama has surrendered to the terrorists, but no caliphate has been put into place in Ames, IA, yet.

    I’m starting to think that maybe the existential threat of Islamic terror is overblown.

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      tzimtzum does not existJohnny Chunders
      2/23/16 12:35pm

      And it only stands to get worse. As the world continues to warm, portions of the middle east are projected to be uninhabitable during the daytime. As a species, we need to address mass migration and the permanence of refugees, because we are, collectively, phobic of the wrong fucking things:

      http://www.vox.com/2015/12/1/9822…

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      ARP2Johnny Chunders
      2/23/16 12:50pm

      Ah, but there’s creeping Sharia!

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    Low Information BoaterGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:45am

    Darrell Issa has helpfully made the inevitable Trail of Tears comparison that we were all thinking of, already.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/issa-…
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      BurnedAtTheSteakLow Information Boater
      2/23/16 11:49am

      Andrew Jackson would have beaten Darrell Issa to death with a stick for daring to call him “Andy.”

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      Low Information BoaterBurnedAtTheSteak
      2/23/16 11:50am

      Yeah, I doubt Old Hickory would have taken kindly to a jumped-up car thief using his christian name.

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    MattGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 12:22pm

    Honest question: assuming that the potential sites are not like falling to pieces or anything, why is it necessary to renovate them before transferring the inmates, or for that matter, at all? Considering we're talking about a military prison, a supermax prison and a Navy Brig, like aren't they probably already the most secure of the secure in terms of prisons? Is there really that much extra stuff that needs to be done to securely detain 91 people?

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      BrigitMatt
      2/23/16 12:28pm

      My guess is they won’t be mixing with the general populous of the prisons. Anywhere they are sent with room is likely having an area sectioned off. It’s likely if they didn’t do this the people too scary to be let into the US would get killed by the other prisoners,

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      MattBrigit
      2/23/16 12:32pm

      Don't most prisons already have isolation units? *shrug* still just seems very steep to make room to house less than 100 people. Like I can imagine it being a few million or so. but shit, this works out to more than 5 million per prisoner (assuming all 91 get transferred).

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    e.nonGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:57am

    obama let this fester for eight years and on the last day he submits his plan for closing one of the most shameful of an endless list of shameful acts committed by this country. he should have been pounding this issue constantly, reminding people of the duty to uphold those supposed values so cherished by this country.

    the reaction of the scumbag republicans is rolling out as expected — fear-mongering and cowardice. and those values are eagerly embraced by their supporters judging by the reaction of rubio’s audience when he attacked the plan this morning. tough guy rubio won’t give gitmo to a
    ‘communist, dictator country’; in fact, he won’t give those ‘enemy combatants’ a trial in manhattan or ever allow them to return to their home countries... to the rousing cheers of the crowd.

    the spiral downward gathers momentum.

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      lewis55number2e.non
      2/23/16 12:13pm

      to be fair, he tried repeatedly to deal with this before now. he didn’t just let it fester. he was specifically stymied on this by congress each previous time he tried to deal with it, including by the passage of a clause in repeated defense appropriations bills over the last 6 years that forbid spending federal resources transferring these prisoners to US soil. so its not like he just wimped out completely. instead, he faced concerted, obstructionist opposition on this for years. its important to recognize that and put the blame where it belongs - also on congressional republicans, not just on him.

      and since he was blocked, he has been gradually transferring large numbers of these prisoners to other countries over the last several years. this has been a necessarily slow process because each prisoner transfer has to be negotiated with other countries on a case by case basis and very few countries are thrilled to accept these people with open arms, so they have to be paid to take these guys basically with various diplomatic concessions. so in lieu of being able to transfer them to the US (blocked by congress), he’s been doing this second best strategy, but its slow going by default.

      nonetheless, the population at the prison has been reduced dramatically from what it had been when he took office, even though he has still been prevented from closing it.

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      e.nonlewis55number2
      2/23/16 12:19pm

      i realize there were occasional efforts — and always to be rejected by republicons; but this is something that should have been constantly addressed, if for no other reason than to remind people of their responsibility to uphold those supposed values this country represents (although i bet the billions wasted is a more convincing argument). instead the fear and cowardice is ingrained and those men will spend the rest of their lives caged on that island.

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    Cherith CutestoryGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:57am

    So, once they are on US soil they’ll have actual rights. Like due process, access to an attorney, and a trial by jury. If there was enough legitimate, legal evidence against any of these people they’d likely already have been tried, as other terrorists have been. Apparently about 10 of them will face “military tribunals” but that still leaves 81.

    So, is this just a long game before releasing these people or do they plan on continuing to deny them their rights somehow? The “detention center” distinction has already been challenged concerning juvenile refugees. And these people are obviously prisoners, and have been for some time, not being detained pending return (considering no country will take many of them).

    I’m confused. The CNN article didn’t shed much light on what the plan is once they are on US soil.

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      Cherith CutestoryCherith Cutestory
      2/23/16 12:15pm

      To clarify, I 100% support finally closing Gitmo and providing constitutional rights to these people. But I’d like more clarification on what the actual plan is here after the closure. If the thought is just indefinite detainment without a trial then it isn’t much of an improvement, at all.

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      caekislove-caekingitupCherith Cutestory
      2/23/16 12:58pm

      Yeah, I’m still hung up on the fact that it’s now apparently “bipartisan consensus” to hold these people as prisoners from now until the end of time, despite the fact that the government admits that they don’t have anything resembling a criminal case against them.

      It clearly establishes precedence that when people are freaked out that the government can just round up a bunch of random people and throw them in a hole forever. Do we not even get a fucking vote on this!?

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    IAMBlastedBiggsLostBurnerGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:46am

    The GOP’s counter proposal to prisoner relocation

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      ThidrekrIAMBlastedBiggsLostBurner
      2/23/16 11:54am

      Death might be preferable to life in a U.S. Supermax prison, though. We’ve really mastered the art of socially acceptable torture.

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      IAMBlastedBiggsLostBurnerThidrekr
      2/23/16 11:59am

      Good point. I forgot the undercurrent of barely-repressed glee most citizens have to see the incarcerated shamed, humiliated, and tortured.

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    Sid and FinancyGabrielle Bluestone
    2/23/16 11:45am

    Just when travel to Cuba is finally opening up. Thanks for ruining spring break, Obama!

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      Loquacious of BorgSid and Financy
      2/23/16 11:50am

      Sounds like a good use of the free market to me. Sell the Cubans Club Fed and let them turn it into Club Med. Hello Spring Break in Guantanamo! :)

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      2DollarzSid and Financy
      2/23/16 11:51am

      ‘57 Chevys are bomb proof

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