tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7971426430678948233.post2396671014968696651..comments2024-02-10T04:32:14.218-05:00Comments on Kevin Slaten's Blog: Obama eats his own wordsKevin Slatenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07892885228803292894noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7971426430678948233.post-59423481110030350382009-05-21T17:50:09.674-04:002009-05-21T17:50:09.674-04:00Yes, I agree. Both of these are also disturbing. B...Yes, I agree. Both of these are also disturbing. But perhaps it is the acute intelligence of Obama that makes his (potential) transgression so frightening.Kevin Slatenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07892885228803292894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7971426430678948233.post-10826776266612717952009-05-21T17:35:03.978-04:002009-05-21T17:35:03.978-04:00Good post - I also wondered about the rhetorical i...Good post - I also wondered about the rhetorical inconsistencies when I read a transcript of his speech. Out of one mouth he seemed to be criticising those like Cheney who don't even apologize for torture (did you see Cheney's speech?), but then he steps into his "commander in chief" role and makes it seem like he would let some of these people rot in a hole for the rest of their lives, the law be damned, simply because they can't fit into any convenient category.<br /><br />Despite all of this, however, there are two more things more upsetting to me than Obama's political mumbo-jumbo. <br /><br />First is Congress' reaction to allowing Gitmo detainees to be placed in US prisons. Congress just voted against placing $80 million in the War Supplemental to fund closing Gitmo. Several bills have been introduced from many different Congresspeople (most are Republicans) that would prevent Gitmo detainees from being placed in certain prisons in the US. It's almost as if Congress is saying that our beast of a prison system, which currently handles the incarceration of more than 2 million people, can't handle however many prisoners from Guantanamo. It's ridiculous. <br /><br />Second, one can only imagine that our elected officials are reacting in this fearful, xenophobic manner because their constituents are pushing them to it. How horrible is that? That there are honestly people out there in this country who simply don't care about the rule of law, don't care that we've tortured and probably created terrorists out of some of the men in Gitmo, and certainly don't want to take responsibility for our POWs in this "war" on terror.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com