Obama Finding The Same Tough Issues Bush Had
Jul 2, 2009 Political
Barack Obama addressed the issue of indefinite detentions for the enemy combatants we are holding and said that the thought “gives me huge pause.” He has already discovered how difficult it is to get rid of the ones that we have determined can be released because, like Bush, he is unable to find them homes.
According to the AP:
But the president says there are some detainees who don’t fall neatly into existing categories for criminal prosecution in the United States or under international law.
Obama says that dealing with these situations is going to be “one of the biggest challenges” of his administration. The president says he’s not comfortable imposing indefinite detentions by executive order. But he didn’t explicitly rule it out. Breitbart
Obama has discovered that some of these people do not fit into neat little categories and that bringing them to trial is a difficult issue. He said that he was not comfortable with the Executive Order but did not rule it out. In fact, recent news indicates that his administration is drafting an EO that will do just what he is uncomfortable with.
This rookie went to the White House full of bravado and ideals with plans that he just knew would get things done. He made it sound so elementary during the campaign. Bush was an evil man who just wanted to hold these innocent people who were out wandering around battlefields minding their own business when our troops captured them. Some claim that a few were turned in for reward money. They were falsely accused. If that is the case would they have ever made it to Gitmo? We have plenty of places to hold them overseas and could have easily released them. Even if true, it amounts to a small minority of those held and they have probably been cleared but don’t want to go home and no one will take them.
Obama’s biggest problem with this is that he acted without thinking in order to appease his supporters. He signed the order to close Gitmo in a year before he had all the facts and before he discussed the release with other countries. Now he has a base that expects him to close the place on time and he is having trouble getting rid of the offenders. He might end up moving them to other prisons in the war zone in order to close Gitmo but he will not really be keeping his promise. He will just be shifting the issue from Cuba to some other place. He can claim he did what he said but it would be a hollow claim.
Rushing in without thinking seems to be a pattern with this guy. He rushed on Gitmo and then he rushed the stimulus bill through so quickly that he broke promises about transparency in so doing. In addition, no one had a chance to read the thing and there have been unintended consequences. The stimulus has also not had any effect on the economy. This economic downturn would have begun a recovery by now had the government not involved itself. It is FDR and the Great Depression all over again.
Now they are rushing Cap and Trade and Health Care Reform through. No one had the chance to read Cap and Trade and it is a disaster.
This guy is rushing head first into things in order to get them passed while he has a majority and popularity. He wants to get these things done, never letting a crisis go to waste, before the public turns on him which it is beginning to do.
The natives are restless. Obama promised that unemployment rate would not go higher than 8% if the stimulus was enacted but would be higher if it was not. The stimulus was enacted and unemployment is at 9.5%, further proof they do not know what they are talking about. The report is here and the end note only states that the estimate for unemployment without action could be higher. It does not give an out for it going up if they enacted the stimulus. They believed it would work so why have an out?
(1) Forecasts of the unemployment rate without the recovery plan vary substantially. Some private forecasters anticipate unemployment rates as high as 11% in the absence of action.
Obama rushes head first into the fire without knowing what is going on. He is using the “crisis” to get the Democrats’ wish list passed before the pitchfork crowd starts surrounding DC.
His pattern from Gitmo to economy has been to rush in. He exercises “caution” when he should be a roaring voice in the world but rushes things here at home. That is no way to lead.
A rookie at the helm is a bad thing.
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Tags: detainees, gitmo, indefinite detention, Obama, rookie, stimulus