Archive for January 21st, 2009
Not In My Backyard (Or Close Enough) You Don’t
January 21st, 2009
Just when you think a person cannot say or do something more bizarre than they have in the past they surprise you.
Here’s Jack Murtha’s suggestion as to where to house the terrorists imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay:
Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., says he’d be willing to house prisoners from Guantanamo Bay in his congressional district if President Obama makes good on a plan to close the U.S. prison there.
As one of his first acts in office, the president circulated a draft Wednesday that would shut down Guantanamo Bay within a year.
Murtha only has a minimum security prison in his district. But he says he’d have no reservations about holding detainees there in a maximum security prison.
“Sure, I’d take ‘em,” said Murtha, an outspoken critic of the Iraq war. “They’re no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo.”
Murtha added that there was “no reason not to put ‘em in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners.”
But that idea disturbs House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
“Most communities around America don’t want dangerous terrorists imported into their neighborhoods,” Boehner said in a statement.
“The key question is where do you put these terrorists?” Boehner asked.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, is introducing a bill that outlaws the release of a known terrorist into the U.S. Smith, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said it would be appalling to close Guantanamo.
“If terrorists suddenly get the same rights as citizens, then we’ve turned the world upside down,” Smith said. “We don’t think there should be a limit to their detention as long as they are a clear and present danger.”
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., had hoped the president would close Guantanamo Bay. But he said he didn’t know how best to handle the prisoners.
“They’re very unsavory,” Skelton said. “I don’t know where you put them.”
[emphasis-mine]
Jack Murtha has accused United States Marines of being cold blooded killers without them receiving due process. He has insulted his own constituents and now believes that my home state is equipped to deal with those who would kill more innocent Americans given even one whit of a chance.
No thanks sir. If you wish to personally take the responsibility of policing these thugs then please go find yourself a piece of ground away from civilization, retire from the House and do so. Requiring civilian guards in an already overcrowded prison system to take on this chore is well beyond the pale.
Are you listening Western Pennsylvania? Please think twice the next time Rep. Murtha is up for re-election.
John McCain’s Blame Game
January 21st, 2009
Politics is a high stakes game.
At the federal level the chess matches are monumentally important as the lives of millions are at stake.
John McCain chose to play the game. He was soundly taken to game, set, match, in short order.
Exactly whose fault his loss was depends on what day of the week it is..at least according to his camp (it escapes me why they would still be discussing it):
Just when you thought Senator John McCain and his crew had finally left the scene after getting pounded last November, at least one prominent McCain operative has crawled out of his bunker long enough to blame McCain’s loss on Rush Limbaugh and conservatism.
That’s right. On January 15, 2009, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis appeared on BBC’s “Hardtalk” and credited McCain’s loss to “the Rush Limbaughs of the world who…literally almost feed the nativist attitude toward immigration reform” and the exclusivity of conservative principles.
So the McCainiacs are still trying to blame the 2008 disaster on everyone except themselves and their candidate. If you’ll remember, in the initial days and weeks after the election they were spinning the idea that it was Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin’s fault that McCain lost. Members of the McCain campaign dumped on her and McCain was nowhere to be seen. “Big Mac” proved to be but a “small fry” as he failed to come to her defense even once.
Senator McCain fails to realize that he never excited the Republican base.
Many moderate conservatives had no interest in him as a candidate. Perhaps this was based on prior actions of bucking his party in his own interest or simply because they did not trust him to introduce legislation which would adhere to conservative principles.
Given the choice of the two candidates many made a conscious choice to go for the known entity feeling left with little other option. I do not believe those who were not totally committed to either candidate did so wholeheartedly.
Senator McCain and his minions need to leave the stage at least as far as this past election is concerned.
It remains to be seen whether he decides to work in the best interest of the country or chooses the path he has so often, the one of self serving political ambition.
Posted in John McCain, Politicians, Politics, Presidential Election, Presidential candidates, Winners and Losers | 
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Pictures Are Worth Thousands Of Words
January 21st, 2009
“You must love soldiers in order to understand them, and understand them in order to lead them.”
-Henri Turenne
Somehow I missed this tribute to now former President Bush earlier in the week.
Thanks to Greyhawk for sharing the following video:
This is the new era of post-partisanship
January 21st, 2009
Rahm Emanuel thumbs nose and sticks out tongue to people on his left. Could it be at President Bush?
This is the Chief of Staff to President Obama. Classy guy, huh? Now we know the children are in charge.
Enjoy your victory lap, Rahm, but just remember, what goes around comes around. And that thumb? It is pointing right back at you.
