I'm rather stunned that the news of Obama's expected reversal on the holding of military tribunals for Gitmo detainees isn't garnering more interest on DailyKos. Just consider this one quote from Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU:
http://www.cnn.com/...
Progressive activists blasted the potential administration switch.
"If this stunning reversal comes to pass, President Obama will deal a death blow to his own Justice Department, not to mention American values," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
"If the president flip-flops and retreats to the Bush military commissions, he will betray his campaign promise to restore the rule of law, demonstrate that his principles are up for grabs and lose all credibility with Americans who care about justice and the rule of law."
A commenter at AmericaBlog summed things up rather nicely. "I was thinking of making a drinking game where every time Obama has another cave-in, you chug a drink. But then I'd be stumbling around drunk all the time."
Although we may want to cling to the possibility that Obama will overrule his own commission's recommendations, or excuse him by saying that it's their fault, not his, the fault for doing this will be his and his alone. And, yeah, I think we all expect him to, don't we? It's the routine, by now.
We already know which side Rahm Emmanuel takes on this. In Dana Milbank's worshipful piece in last week's WaPo about the wisdom of Rahm Emmanuel, Rahm, or somebody who REALLY, REALLY LIKES RAHM, suggested that, on the subject of civilian trials...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The president would have been better off heeding Emanuel's counsel. For example, Emanuel bitterly opposed former White House counsel Greg Craig's effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year, arguing that it wasn't politically feasible. Obama overruled Emanuel, the deadline wasn't met, and Republicans pounced on the president and the Democrats for trying to bring terrorists to U.S. prisons. Likewise, Emanuel fought fiercely against Attorney General Eric Holder's plan to send Khalid Sheik Mohammed to New York for a trial. Emanuel lost, and the result was another political fiasco.
I also understand, it must be difficult for Obama having to take wisecracks from the daughter of a former WAR CRIMINAL who criticizes him for being soft. However, somebody needs to tell him, there is nothing hard about caving-in on deeply held moral principals.
I'm losing it. We are rapidly approaching the point at which we have to ask if those of us that oppose what Bush and Cheney did during their administration might have more in common with the values of (gasp!) moderate Republicans who oppose these things more than even our own Democratic president.
For instance, here is that dirty commie, Bob Barr on the subject at the last CPAC:
http://www.lp.org/...
Conservatives jeer Bob Barr for his principles regarding terrorist suspects
... According to several sources, the conservative crowd booed when he said that waterboarding is torture, and that civilian trials may be preferable to military tribunals. According to the Huffington Post:
"There is nothing magical about a military tribunal," Barr said, as boos from the audience began cascading around him. "They don't have, necessarily, better lawyers than in a civilian sector. I think I have a lot more faith in our U.S. attorneys who are non political, than my colleagues on the other side of this debate do. We can try them. We should try them. That is precisely... what our law provides for. And if next time we are faced with a situation we say: 'Oh, you know, we want to have them go to the military. Let them torture them for a while. It's not enhanced interrogation techniques. Waterboarding is torture. How would you like to be waterboarded? Try that!"
I quote this only to point out the irony. I'm still a Democrat. I'm no fan of Bob Barr, but oh how things have changed when I would rather have him running our justice department than the worms that are contemplating this. We are treading into the kind of territory that really breaks deals. Success or failure at health care reform was never a deal breaker for me in 2008, or today. Nor DADT. Nor war crime trials. I'm mad about how all those were handled, but as long as we began cleaning up the mess, it was okay. But restoring the rule of law and ending the Bush-Cheney authoritarian trend was non-negotiable.
UPDATE:
Joe Lieberman, for one, is thrilled.
http://twitter.com/...
JoeLieberman
No more KSM trials in NYC, or Miranda warnings to people who try to blow up our planes in Detroit
3:24 PM Mar 4th via web