Now that they’re safely confined to the back benches, they’re kind of funny. I’m speaking about the Republicans, of course. One watches them with the same mixture of embarrassment and hilarity that one feels when watching monkeys masturbate at the zoo. Take this little item from the other day:
Republicans have an answer to the thorny problem of where President Barack Obama should put the 245 inmates of Guantanamo Bay – Alcatraz prison, in ultra liberal San Francisco.Mr Obama issued an executive order last week directing that the controversial detention facility on the island of Cuba will close within a year. But he admitted that he has no plan yet for where to send the prisoners, many of whose home countries refuse to accept them.
Republicans charge that Mr Obama is basking in worldwide adulation for announcing the closure – something President George W Bush desired – without doing the difficult bit.
“If liberals believe they ought to go, maybe we ought to open Alcatraz,” Congressman John Boehner, Republican leader in the House of Representatives, told NBC. “It’s very secure.”
Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps not, Alcatraz is in the constituency of Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and a vocal liberal opponent of Guantanamo.
“There’s a lot of discomfort about the idea of bringing the detainees in to the United States,” said Congressman Bill Young of Florida, the first to make the proposal. “That’s why I’ve suggested Alcatraz.” Senator Kit Bond of Missouri said: “Let our good friends in San Francisco deal with these deadly combatants.”
…Republicans believe that Mr Obama’s Guantanamo closure plan will run up against NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard – difficulties among Democrats who like the notion of Guantanamo Bay closing as long as the prisoners are nowhere nearby.
Who says there aren’t any second acts in American life? William Shatner became successful after he gave up any pretence of being a serious actor and settled on becoming a comedian instead, which is what he was born to be. I say the House Republicans should follow his lead. When they have no power, they’re absolutely hilarious, almost a national treasure. They should content themselves with being funny house pets. They’re good at it.
Yes, I am gloating.
You might enjoy this comment I made concerning some of the Repuglican hooplaa over closing Gitmo in some other blog (FiredogLake)
"What's important to recognize in this debate is, that we ARE a very elite country with a prison industrial complex, second to none, or at least very damn few. We have the best and biggest prisons of anywhere, with the biggest and toughest guards (China and N.Korea ( tough, but mostly small), and we have a lot of love to share - as in tough love. We also have alot of people who may need aplace to stay as we continue to empty houses of the not so deserving ( they should have known better than try to attain something they couldn't afford).
Stimulating the prison economy offers a double bang for the buck, more employment and profits for the corporations that depend on this income and a remarkably secure place to house people We also enjoy the highest per captia incarceration rate of any country in the world and we could help distance ourselves from those green with envy States like Egypt, China, Pakistan who covet our top spot in this competitive and not just symbolic arena of running a well behaved country. People seen to overlook that we have a faltering economy that could use a stimulus and our prison industrial complex has performed admirably, and could, by expanding its constituency, provide lots of jobs in construction and of course guarding dangerous criminals like marijuana users, pornographers (not good ones like Clarence Thomas) and would also be in keeping with our welcome engraved on the Statue of Liberty, ""Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." We can incarcerate them for a suitable amount of time, providing employment for our disserving citizens.
We all know that for the message (or the Statue) to have any meaning at all that rights like due process, Habeass Corpus, rules of evidence can not be just shared with anyone, why would anyone even want to come here if they could enjoy what we fought for and earned with the blood of our forefathers. We recognize that these rights are a privilege not to be shared willy nilly with the rest of the world cnn captured it better than even Sarah Palin could have expressed it right HERE. I join you in applauding our prison system but caution we shouldn't lose sight of what else could be at stake here like letting our ideals and values be commandered by people who don't deserve them. We should also give the Bush Administration credit for letting Americans know that they can't just take this stuff (due process or Habeass Corpus) for granted, that certain misbehaviors can result in their loss, individually speaking of course. Respectfully submitted in Chretanly, inspirational way, Knowdoubt"
Just imagine my surprise when I got this comment back in support:
"What's important to recognize in this debate is, that we ARE a very elite country with a prison industrial complex, second to none, or at least very damn few. We have the best and biggest prisons of anywhere, with the biggest and toughest guards (China and N.Korea ( tough, but mostly small), and we have a lot of love to share - as in tough love. We also have alot of people who may need aplace to stay as we continue to empty houses of the not so deserving ( they should have known better than try to attain something they couldn't afford).
Stimulating the prison economy offers a double bang for the buck, more employment and profits for the corporations that depend on this income and a remarkably secure place to house people
I agree but for private prisions, I want prisons out of the private sector again, there can be no profit in keeping someone in jail, that is counter productive
otherwise you make a great point"
Posted by: Knowdoubt on January 29, 2009 6:52 AM
Alcatraz is wonderful as a tourist attraction in several ways Republicans might dislike. It places a prison squarely in front of the public eye, giving people permission to marvel at its grotesqueries without risking guilt by association. It invites visitors to adopt the point of view of prisoners while admitting that American prisoners suffered hardships. It also creates occasions to reflect on the camaraderie shown years later in reunions of prisoners and guards who served time there together.
Yes, they'd probably rather Alcatraz was off-limits again.
Posted by: Martha Bridegam on January 29, 2009 9:59 PM