I had the pleasure last night of attending a discussion at Radio City Music Hall between Karl Rove and James Carville. It was certainly entertaining, with plenty of finger-pointing, raised voices and Carvillian theatrics. When the conversation came to closing Guantanamo, we heard Karl Rove return to a common theme - that there "aren't enough empty Supermax cells for the Guantanamo prisoners."

This argument drives me crazy. It rings so clearly of the scare tactics we got from Rove and friends for eight years and it is simply not true. The claim that a nation that imprisons 2.4 million people can't find cells for 241 people is simply preposterous. It also exposes the fallacy of the "lock-em-up" argument for extended incarceration. If we believe our maximum security prisons were unsafe, why are they ok for serial killers?

We absolutely have room for Guantanamo detainees in our Supermax prisons. Their conditions won't improve much over Guantanamo - but Rove and friends aren't concerned about their treatment anyway. This is a moving-target argument (a specialty of Rove's). It diverts the discussion in a non-productive direction and seeks to stall action on an important policy reform - to bring Guantanamo prisoners onto U.S. soil and under the rule of our Constitution. Rove's aim here is not to keep America safe but to derail Obama's efforts to close Guantanamo.

Rove seems to forget that our prisons already hold terrorists safely - the federal supermax in Florence, Colorado already holds convicted terrorists like "shoe-bomber" Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui. . Michelle Malkin echoed Rove's argument last week and wrote that Florence doesn't have room for anyone else. Even if Florence is indeed full and we can't bear to transfer some of the aging inmates and drug prisoners there to a maximum security facility, there are plenty of other options - it might just take some cooperation between the federal and state systems.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Sunday that he would be willing to house suspected terrorists from Guantanamo in an Illinois Supermax There is a federal high security facility in downstate Illinois, but also a state supermax with plenty of room at Tamms.

We could safely house the prisoners at Guantanamo at a simple high-security facility - Supermaxes often amount to their own form of torture and we need to be careful not to create another domestic Guantanamo. In the past I've advocated for the closure of Tamms, or at least reforms to bring them into compliance with international human rights standards. Prisoners there are under solitary confinement 23 hours a day, with no end in sight.

But because I find it important for our international image that we close Guantanamo, I think moving them somewhere like Tamms would be an acceptable compromise. Reforming practices in our domestic supermaxes is an important goal and shouldn't be sidelined. But moving 241 suspected terrorists to these facilities will only bring them more visibility and will perhaps lead to reforms that affect all supermax inmates. We can't let the red herring of crowded supermaxes derail the closure of Guantanamo. It's an affront to all of the work we've done building the world's biggest prison system.

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

So Dank, you were in NYC last night eh? Or maybe you were just plagiarizing. Maybe you should credit the author, or since most of us know you live in OK, tell us you were on Vacation to NYC, just saying.

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Understanding is the key. There are way too many things that are misunderstood. May we learn to understand them soon.

First of all...why close it? Everyone familiar with Gitmo will tell you it is the finest prison in US possession. I don't understand the reason to close it at all.

Secondly, perhaps you are unaware of reports from the US prison Board that they feel their prisons (supermax's included) are hot spots for recruiting into terrorism. Want more terrorist cells? Put the terrorists amongst our homegrowns and that's exactly what you'll get.

Thirdly, no foreign nations even wish to take THEIR terrorists back from Gitmo.... what does that tell you?


Hooboy...

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...out
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If I'm rough on you ... it's because I like you.

I didn't say I wrote it... What's your point.... I guess you had you ass kicked by the Consrvatives enough and now your wanting some one who can turn your own logic against you?

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

Because it is a Huge Waste of Tax Payer Money, especially when we already have Supermax Prisons that can house them so far that they would never see the light of day again.

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

Money? That's enough reason to infect our prison population with terrorism?

Who cares about money? Certainly not the Obama administration.

Sometimes real security is expensive...but ultimately worth it.

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If I'm rough on you ... it's because I like you.

Another ridiculous argument. What do you think they are going to be in general population with the rest of the inmates lol

No doubt they would be seperated from general population

What do you think Khalid Sheik Mohommad and Debo Jones are going to be sharing a cell at San Quentin?

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How are they going to infect our prison population with terrorism?
In a Supermax prison there is no human contact except with the Guards. Even when they get out of their cell for 30 minutes to 1 hour a day the inmate is cuffed until they get to the yard or showers and are there by themselves.

Look I'm not happy about the money that CONGRESS has spent (not the president, all the president can do is suggest) but in the total scheme of things it's really not much more than the Congress under Bush has spent.

Now please next time you make a post, do a little research and quit posting from your emotions.
Thanks for playing CrackerJax

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn

Gitmo is supermax already....sounds redundant.

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...out
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If I'm rough on you ... it's because I like you.

Gitmo is in Cuba, these are prisoners that were taken by the US and as such should be held on US soil.
We have plenty of room in US supermax prisons. Face it, if your argument were a bucket, it would hold no water hold no water. It has too many holes.

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The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. United State Constitution, Art. I Sec. 9 Par. 2

"Dissent is the Highest form of Patriotism" -- Howard Zinn