He's spent most of his career as leader of the Senate Democrats knuckling under to the Republicans. Now, it appears that he's gone senile as well, as shown by this excerpt from his press conference in which he demanded that Guantanamo Detainees Not Be Moved to U.S. Prisons:
REID: I’m saying that the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, do not want terrorists to be released in the United States. That’s very clear.
QUESTION: No one’s talking about releasing them. We’re talking about putting them in prison somewhere in the United States.
REID: Can’t put them in prison unless you release them.
QUESTION: Sir, are you going to clarify that a little bit? …
REID: I can’t make it any more clear than the statement I have given to you. We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States.
WTF? "You can't put them in prison unless you release them"?
No one's talking about letting them loose, you old fool. We've already got dozens of terror suspects and convicted terrorists, as well as other extremely dangerous criminals, in American prisons.
It makes no logical sense to say, as Reid does, that Gitmo has made us less safe and needs to be closed, and then to turn around and say "we can't move detainees even to maximum security US prisons". Where the hell does he think we're going to send them, the fucking Death Star?
Enough is enough. Reid needs to go. It's bad enough that the Republicans are fearmongering and lying through their teeth about this, but when the Democratic Majority Leader starts parroting the RNC party line as if he's ripping and reading off Rush Limbaugh's fax machine, it's time for him to go. Replace him with somebody who remembers that the Democrats won the goddamn election.
10 comments:
According to Maureen Dowd in today's Times, Harry isn't the only one knuckling under, brother.
It's a Rumsfield and Cheney fictional conversation ... at least I think it's fictional.
"“You’re running national security now and everyone knows it,” Rummy says. “You got Obama to do an about-face on the torture photos. He’s using our old line about how it would endanger the troops. He’s keeping our military tribunals. His Justice Department invoked our state secrets privilege to try to get that lawsuit on torture and rendition dismissed. He’s trying to stop any sort of truth commission, thank goodness. He’s got his own surge going in Afghanistan. He’s withdrawing from Iraq more slowly. He’s extended our secret incursions over the Afghan border into Pakistan.”
You have to read this article that ends with Cheney saying, “Yes we can.”
Assholery is an equal-opportunity employer. You can't blame this one on the Republicans . . .
Reid needed to go years ago. He made a career of getting rolled by Bill Frist when Reid was Minority Leader. He happened to be top Democrat when the American people got hip to the fact the Republicans were treating the country like some mob bust-out, and now he's getting rolled by Mitch McConnell, even though Reid has more votes than Frist did when the situations were reversed. The same parliamentary moves the Republicans threaten Reid with were available to him when he was Minority Leader, and he used none of them to slow down the Bush Administration. He rose to the top by doing favors for other Senate Democrats, and has proved himself in over his head on issues from this to the stimulus to the Specter party-switching debacle.
I've wanted to Reid to go for quite some time. He's looked like a coward for moths. Now he looks stupid to boot.
I'm not sure about the 6, but ... The measure (Don't transfer Gitmo detainees to U.S.) passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in a 90-6 vote.
Bipartisan? It's hard for a guy like me (and other Naderites) to see how it (bipartisanship) is even possible (or necessary) when both parties act as if the other is in power.
One can only wonder how many more Dems would have shown a little backbone on this issue if their majority leader had, you know, LED LIKE HE HAD A MAJORITY.
I mean, as far as I can see, the opposition to moving Gitmo detainees to US prisons is based on a the ridiculous lie that they'll suddenly be running loose in the U.S. Just ask inmates in America's Supermax prisons how likely that is. And it pisses me off to no end to see Democrats buying into that lie.
At first when I read it, I thought it was a joke. But a few places have now quoted Harry and it's starting to look pretty scary.
Does he think they get released and have to find their way to a U.S. prison?
The huge support certainly implies our illustrious two parties' fear of voter backlash to how the media presents the issue (which is equally insane).
None of these guys (or gals) ... at least VERY few of them have any balls.
This just isn't a very big deal to me (the issue itself), except it further confirms my belief that both parties are more or less equally useless.
Where the hell does he think we're going to send them, the fucking Death Star?The Death Star was defeated. Twice.
Treat them like the scum they are and put them in prison. They're not radioactive.
Charlie, the 6 were Dick Durbin, Tom Harkin, Patrick Leahy, Carl Levin, Jack Reed, and Sheldon Whitehouse.
As for giving Rollover Harry the sack, it may not be sufficient, but necessary is another matter.
And in yet another Obama-Bush connection (this time regarding the Wilson lawsuit against former administration officials who leaked classified information ... unless this is bogus:
Agreeing with the Bush administration, the Obama Justice Department argues the Wilsons have no legitimate grounds to sue. It is surprising that the first time the Obama administration has been required to take a public position on this matter, the administration is so closely aligning itself with the Bush administration’s views.
Can't blame Harry for this one.
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