Obama: Closing Gitmo 'a challenge' (Politico)
Barack Obama suggested he's not likely to actively pursue criminal charges against national security officials who were directly involved in unlawful interrogations or wire-tapping, and said it would be difficult to quickly close down Guantanamo Bay. On Guantanamo — which he repeatedly promised to shutter during the campaign — Obama, in an interview on Sunday with George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week," reiterated his intent to do just that but also sounded a pragmatic note. "That's a challenge," the president-elect said about the prospect of closing down to the detainee facility within the first 100 days of taking office.
Is there a new definition of “pragmatic” that has somehow escaped my attention? It now seems to mean “whatever the Beltway blowhards want.”—Caro
Obama's … ABC interview … (by Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory, Salon)
Obama [on Sunday] rather clearly stated that he will not close Guantanamo in the first 100 days of his presidency. He recited the standard Jack Goldsmith/Brookings Institution condescending excuse that closing Guantanamo is "more difficult than people realize."… Worst of all, Obama (in response to Stephanopoulos' asking him about the number one highest-voted question on Change.gov, … all but said that he does not want to pursue prosecutions for high-level lawbreakers in the Bush administration, twice repeating the standard Beltway mantra that "we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards"… In the U.S., high political officials aren't investigated, let alone held accountable, for lawbreaking, and that is rather clearly something Obama has no intention of changing.
Conyers introduces bill creating commission to investigate Bush’s torture and wiretapping policies. (Think Progress)
TPM notes that House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has introduced legislation setting up a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties. The panel’s goal is to “establish a Blue Ribbon Commission comprised of experts outside government service to investigate the broad range of policies of the Bush administration that were undertaken by the Bush administration under claims of unreviewable war powers.” While he is unlikely to prosecute Bush officials for war crimes, President-elect Obama has hinted at support for such a commission.
After Defending Bush Admin Abuses, McConnell Appointed To Intel Advisory Board By Obama (Think Progress)
[Friday] President-elect Obama announced his selections for top intelligence posts including Leon Panetta for CIA Director and Dennis Blair for Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Surprisingly, Obama also announced that he would at least partially rely on the guidance of the current DNI, Mike McConnell. McConnell will “continue to offer his counsel through my Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board,” Obama said. In some instances, McConnell has shown himself to be an independent actor… In other cases, however, McConnell has also been a key defender of some of the Bush administration’s most egregious violations of civil and human rights. Last night on Charlie Rose, for example, McConnell defended the Bush administration’s expanded use of extraordinary-rendition on enemy combatants. He claimed such renditions never resulted in torture.
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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com
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Comments
I especially loved reading this
post at The Hill's Blog Briefing Room this morning:
contentions
@ 8:23 am by Chris Good
President-elect Barack Obama has made a smart, practical move by deciding not to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay in the first 100 days of his presidency, Jennifer Rubin writes, suggesting Obama will win praise from everyone but liberal bloggers for his decision.
Praise from everyone, Jennifer? I doubt it. (Who the eff is she, anyway?)
Also, I just read that Voinovich will join Kit Bond, Mel Martinez and Sam Brownback when he announces he's not running for reelection in 2010. Hmmm. Interesting.
Commentary is a conservative mag.
I guess she means all conservatives. Which to the Beltway crowd IS everyone.
gaslight watch
part of what Versailles
is trying to do here is put that most establishment spin they can on Obama's words. They are making it worse than what he really said.
This is part of their larger strategy to stop any meaningful inquiry. Levin is holding hearings on torture in the near future. A lot depends on how those hearings are handled.
Levin has only disappointed me
a few times (voting for the bail-out after speaking against it was last), but I trust him more than most to do the right thing, because he usually not only says the right things but votes accordingly. We'll have to rely on his leadership and experience and values to guide the country through the post-Bush years without becoming as dirty as those tied to the Bush administration.
I hope our trust is well-placed.
Trust in Democrats ...
... hasn't been well placed in many years.