GOP Rep: ‘I Don’t Know’ If Military Would Follow Orders To Close Gitmo
I know how to make it happen!
President Obama is being raked over the Republican coals yet one more time, and all because he has once again suggested that the Guantanamo Detention Center (or whatever the hell it’s called) be permanently and forever closed, that the prisoners held there be (finally) treated as if law, and fair trial, and innocence, and guilt each and all mean something in this country. Republicans, of course, have freaked out over the concept — “We’ll all be dead!!!” they scream. “Terrorists! Muslims! Oh Ick!! Leave ’em there!!”
I have a better idea.
I heard on the news somewhere that it costs us about $5 million per terrorist per year to keep those nasty bums incarcerated down there in Guantanamo. And since Republicans want to keep Guantanamo open for the foreseeable future, we can count on that expense to continue — for the foreseeable. So in view of that, I offer my suggestions — solutions! — to the Guantanamo mess; SOLUTIONS to those who would benefit most, i.e. to Congressional Republicans along with Republican Presidential candidates everywhere.
My proposed five-step procedure is a simple one:
- Set up an (offshore/tax free) account for each of the incarcerees in the amount of $5 million U.S., and guarantee an additional annual (tax free) deposit of $5 million per year for each of them, for the foreseeable.
- Via official paperwork, grant each and every incarceree an American name, full identity papers, and full citizenship (including, of course the right to keep and bear arms) with but one proviso: no passport can be issued for the foreseeable; i.e. each incarceree must agree to live the rest of his life as if he was born a rich Republican, and he must do so with nary a complaint about anything, EVER!
- Set up each incarceree (and his family, if he so desires) in a beach-front home/property anywhere along the Atlantic coast (south of the Mason-Dixon line) or anywhere along the Gulf of Mexico coast from S. Florida to S. Texas, each property to be fully paid for with funds that would otherwise be wasted on toilet seats by the Defense Department.
- Allow each incarceree (and all of his age-eligible family members) to register to vote in whichever state they choose to live, with but one proviso: each and all MUST swear to ALWAYS vote Republican in EVERY election, ando NEVER for a Democrat or an Independent, upon guarantee of torture via waterboarding or whatever method is in vogue at the time of any such treasonous indiscretion.
- Allow Republicans to proclaim and insist full credit for having solved the Guantanamo issue by ignoring Obama’s ridiculous and anti-American proposals of allowing the law and the Constitution to waste even more money on trials; by strengthening America all-the-while increasing the number of Republican-voting devotees in the process.
It’s so simple!!!
I do hereby offer the above details of this full procedure proposal to the RNC, to the respective Senate and House majorities, and to any/all of their current (or future?) Presidential candidates, and all with NO CHARGE! today or forever! My gift to a free, and prosperous, and TOLERANT! America! So Reince! Mitch! Paul! Donald! Anyone! It’s right here, and it’s for YOU and for the 91! FREEDOM!
What could possibly go wrong?
******
OPEN THREAD
TheZoo 
I don’t think your plan will work unless you include a tax cut for the 1%.
I like it – can we get a petition going on Whitehouse.gov?
The military will obey the President’s order. Pompeo is an asshat.
You are absolutely right. Pompeo might have ignored any such order, but Pompeo is a conservative, and conservatives don’t like to be told what to do. Even by people lawfully in a position to tell them what to do. Would Pompeo show such disrespect to Speaker Ryan?
Secondly, there would be nothing unconstitutional about Obama ordering military prisoners moved somewhere else. If anything, it’s the Republicans who are disrespecting the Constitution by not allowing these people their right to a speedy trial.
When the Bush Admin set this whole thing up, they did it in a way that would make it very difficult to honor these prisoners’ rights (and they do have rights.) Bush wanted military tribunals precisely because the rules of evidence are much more lax than in civilian court, and things would be allowed that no civilian court ever would. And THAT’s the real reason these people won’t get a fair trial in the USA. Evidence that would be used against them was obtained illegally, despite the fact that they went to two lawyers in their admin who were willing to ignore the Constitution and international treaties and say that torture wasn’t torture. Then they hid behind their lawyers’ “findings”, which is ironic coming from conservative Republicans with no respect for lawyers.
In re “rights” — I think it’s more than fair to say that in the collective ‘mind’ of the GOP, the ONLY ‘right’ that counts is that which they perceive to be their (god-given, usually) ‘right’ to impose their belief(s), their ideas, their attitudes, on everyone else. They seem, in fact, to actually believe that that’s what the Constitution says, and most will argue a given notion into the ground before they’ll accept an actual reality.
And of course, “rights” are mainly the property of the wealthy and/or the evangelical nutcases; all the rest of us are, in effect, slaves to those two realities, because nothing else is worth considering. Oh, and being white is typically a major part of the equation.
But here’s the flaw in their ‘argument’. If our rights are really ‘God-given’, then why don’t the prisoners in GTMO have any?
I think I’ll ask Col Morris that on Twitter.
Cuz them’re muslims and they don’t even believe in god.
Former candidate for president and architect of Obamacare, Mitt Romney (R-Money) …. has today’s quote of the day:
<a href=""I think in Donald Trump's case it's likely to be a bombshell," ""I think in Donald Trump's case it's (his tax return) likely to be a bombshell,"
“I think in Donald Trump’s case it’s likely to be a bombshell,”
Michael Savage: Replace Gitmo With Firing Squads
Just a guess, but I’m thinking that the Savage Weiner hasn’t logged onto The Zoo yet today. Of course, he said all this on Tuesday, so maybe he’s just not had the opportunity to take it all back and instead go for something really solid! 😆
It has already been proven that something like seven dozen prisoners are actually innocent. They aren’t there because they’re guilty, Weiner, they’re there because they got picked up on the battlefield and locked away without trial.
Plus they ain’t ‘Muricans anyway, so they ain’t got no rights. Hell, they ain’t even bein’ held on ‘Murican soil!
If memory serves, one of the reasons the Bushies put that detention camp in Gitmo was that it was not on American soil and therefore they assumed that Constitutional rights didn’t apply to the prisoners. I assume that’s how they justified torture as well. What I don’t get is where they got all that, especially the attitude on torture since it’s prohibited by ratified treaty, and since Article VI. Clause 2 clearly states that
I guess stuff like “supreme Law of the Land” is a meaningless phrase to Constitutionalist Republicans.
Doesn’t matter that it’s not American soil, it’s an American military facility, and all rules of the UCMJ apply, the same as if the base was in Germany.
Yep, I know. Puzzled me why no one of legal authority called out the Bushies on the whole matter. Puzzled me that Obama didn’t pursue charges against Bush et al. Why did everyone look the other way? Why does everyone STILL look the other way? I do give Obama credit for bringing the issue up again, but why the seven years of non-discussion since he first mentioned it early in his first term? Doesn’t speak very loudly in support of America’s oft-stated “rule of law” thesis. Makes me think there’s more bullshit driving this country than typically meets the eye — or the coverage by mass media, for that matter.
A good number of them were sold to the US forces for the bounty – some were in disputes with their neighbours, others were just tourists
Poll: Trump’s negatives among Hispanics rise; worst in GOP field
And here I thought Trump ‘loved’ Hispanics, that he employed ‘thousands’ of them.
Fascinating, Captain.
Hi there, the boys and me are watching the debate, so you don’t have to.
My heroine!
😇
I’d like to see the “deportation force” Trump envisions. Black or brown shirts?
Deport ALL Republicans only! Yay!
And I thoroughly loathe Marco Rubio.
Shouting match already.
Cruz has quite an effective start, slings mud quite effectively, leetle Marco fidgets, Trump is Trump. Kasich fakes sanity well.
Los Cubanos! Only in Amurkkka.
Hi frugal, only in murka, yes.
Glad to ‘see’ you back, EV, it’s been awhile. Hope all is well over your way!
Hi frugal, I still can’t find work, but other than that things are ok over here. All good on your side?
Hangin’ in there, as they say. Another day older every morning, but I’m not alone in that li’l feature — or so other folks tell me. 🙂
Frugal, guilty as charged here, too.
How on earth shall I blog on THAT? Blitzer brought up the f word, said ‘effing’ but puleeeehze. Blitzer taking the standards even lower than ever before.
ya know, I do believe those sovereign citizens who took up arms and invaded a federal building under force of arms, may well be unlawful alien enemy combatants – subject to indefinite incarceration in Guantanamo without never being charged fer no offense ever. They can even be used to prove once an fer all that waterboardin’ ain’t no torture.
I like that idea very, very much. They certainly qualify as ‘enemy combatants’, moreso than most of the GTMO prisoners.
Oh, and we should send Sean Hannity with them so that he can finally keep his promise. 😀
‘I’m doing very well with Hispanics’ – He’s deluded.
He has extremely subservient undocumented employees?
The Univision woman has a semblance to a journalist. Shoot Blitzer and let her handle the unruly lot.
She don’t need help from Hugh Hewitt either. Hi EV!
Hi house! She is acually quite good.
Hi, EV! Good to see you!
Thanks for watching, I fear for what little is left of my sanity if I tried watching those asswipes. And yes, shoot Blitzer, he’s no better than Chuck Toady.
Jane, I have a love/hate relationship to the debates. I think watching a democratic system disintegrate, while it is undoubtedly riveting, is not funny at all.
That may well be the most poetic description of what’s happening in / to this country that I’ve run across. Fascinating how ‘invisible’ is our nat’l destruction to oh, so many who live here — and still support the AFM, the American Fascist Movement, aka today’s GOP.
☺️
The moderators have lost control of this debate.
Republican Debate Moderators are the oratorical equivalent of WWF referees.
In case you wonder, I’m still watching, but this is almost impossible to relay. You can watch a drunken brawl on Saturday evening in some hick town and what the combatants there shout at each other would be more reasonable than was goes on here.
‘All of you have agreed to the rules…’ – No Republican ever sticks to an agreement.
nor rules.
Poor Ben Carson, he isn’t really there. Wolf reinforces my aversion to CNN. Marco got close to wounding Trump with his “there he goes again” retort. He’s right, Donald says a lot without really telling us anything.
I want some of what Carson smokes, though. Laaaaiiiiid baaaack.
Break. I read Marco is ‘killing it’ (Glenn Beck). He did take the fight to Trump, but the stadards of discussion are ridiculous. If you wish for McCain and Romney to reappear on the political stage, things are very bad. And I’d welcome both back in the race.
The idea that any of those goons is going to defile the White House is galling.
Oh man, poor Ben Carson. “Somebody attack me, please?” Blitzer is only interested in firing up the brawl. Not in moderating.
Ben, you won’t get attacked until you attack Donald first. Haven’t you been paying attention to your opponents or is that not a necessary part of your groft?
Groft, how one types grift when stoned and watching the CNN comedy show.
Lucky you, I’m sober.
I catch your ‘droft’…we were doing the same, but watching an actual comedy show – Craig Ferguson was on @midnight, Chris Hardwick’s show. Craig definitely brought the funny.
These are the rules…. that Wolf is funny!
Cute, he first eggs them on then wonders they brawl?
Are there ANY adults supervising this (what sounds like a) free-for-all?
Wolf should still have some vestigial memory of what a political debate used to look like in the dim past – ya know, conducted with a sense of decorum, at least feigned politeness, fewer empty boasts, etc. He (and his ilk) should be ashamed of themselves.
Jeez, these (R) idiots actually make Grampa and Caribou Barbie’s attacks on Obama look like a picnic.
If Obama locked any CEO in a room to reach a deal the right would go crazy, just like they are for letting the process follow the law.
Like locking the fracking execs in a room to divulge what shit they pump in your water. They’d go batshit over that.
Closing statements finally.
Ok. That’s it. I very unceremonially retire. Hugs to all.
Back at ya, EV!
I don’t know who they’ll say won but the experience was a negative to me.
Ya know what’s scary? If you put them all in a room with Sarah Palin, SHE’D come across as the sane one!
I’d have to be drunk and stoned to endure that clusterfuck.