If Obama closes Guantanamo Bay TODAY. He can have my vote TOMMORROW.

[Earth_First]

This was part of Change (Pt. I) that I believed in.

[dennis4868]

1. Do you have the money?

That's the problem. Congress will not fund the closing of Gittmo.....Obama is probably not wealthy enough to use his own money to close Gittmo....your post implies that Obama has a choice.....

[Shiver]

2. He issued an executive order to have it closed his first week in office.

Congress blocked the funding to have it closed.

[Earth_First]

4. I understand that...

Since then, what?

[Solomon]

You understand but still you persist!?

Oy....

[I Drink Water]

26. Obama could fight harder. Instead of rolling over to Republicans, Obama could

actually take his case to the public, but he has been doing a poor job of this. He could use a little more heart.

[jbnow]

34. That wasn't republicans! A 90-6 Senate vote in May 2009

first blocked the funding
After May 2009 vote they've kept at it renewing and adding to ban. On December 14th they added a provision to \omnibus spending bill blocking funds again, including them coming here for trial

He has spoken out about it since and Holder sure expressed his opinion at press conference
Holder blasts Congress for politicizing KSM trial
But he can't blast republicans even if he wanted to. He'd have to blast Schu,m,er and Reid and so many others.

Congress and Obama responded to the panic talk in different ways. Obama did it by reminding everyone of how well we handle trials and very dangerous prisoners
He looked for prison here to take prisoners. Congress banned it.
Congress added to the panic

I blame Obama for many things, this isn't one of them

[sudopod]

6. This. Congress cutting off funding didn't cut off his microphone too. nt

[Ignis]

16. Great point.

:thumbsup:

[Shiver]

11. That was with Democratic majority in Congress.

Now with the Teabaggers and the overall Repug majority, there's no chance in hell funding will be approved to close the place, if for nothing else than spite. Congress controls the purse strings, and unless the closing is funded, as is the transfers of the prisoners, there isn't much he can do about it besides talk.

[Davis_X_Machina]

15. Check out Bernie Sanders' vote...

...on the Senate bill here.

When you wake up on the left of Bernie Sanders on an issue, and it's still not good enough for DU, I mean, why bother?

You're dealing with people who refuse to be happy.

[sudopod]

22. You know how THOSE people are. nt

[emulatorloo]

24. The Republicans took over the house among other things

n/t

[dennis4868]

7. right....

but understand that DUers blame Obama for congress inaction....

[Davis_X_Machina]

18. Why not?

This was where you could find threads full of K&R calling on Obama to open Medicare to all by executive order, or add a public option to the PPACA via a signing statement.

Half the people here would be happy monarchists, so long as you could guarantee them up front the king was coming from the same place they were. The other half are anarchists, and can't conceive of any government they'd actually trust.

Precious little actual support for, you know, democracy at Democratic Underground.

[Scurrilous]

3. Take it up w/ Congress.

They're the ones who threw up roadblocks preventing the transfer of detainees.

[babylonsister]

5. Blame the congress critters who are opposed to closing it, not Obama.

And this also entails finding stateside jails for some of these folks, which many Congress members are also opposed to.
This is another issue where Obama's intentions were purposefully blocked, but you can blame him til the cows come home.

[StarburstClock]

27. There are cows coming home? Alright!!!

Didn't Bush issues a bunch of worthless executive orders too? If an executive order can be easily ignored, what's the point? I'll tell you what the point is, political posturing.

[gratuitous]

8. He tried once . . .early on

And those meanies in Congress said, "Nuh uh." So Obama was all like, "'K. Nevermind."

I mean, what else could he possibly do? Yanno?

[JuniperLea]

9. Perspective is everything...

You can blame Obama for whatever you choose, but that doesn't make him responsible.

This is something to discuss with Congress, not Obama.

Rule number one in Obama bashing is to have something REAL to bitch about. Break rule one, and your entire meme goes down the spiral water hole.

[pnwmom]

10. No, then you'll go on to the next demand.

Obama will never be good enough.

[Davis_X_Machina]

14. There is a small but noisy claque..

...on DU for whom the only thing Obama could do, or could have done, and keep their respect, was resign as soon as he was sworn in.

After all, power corrupts, great power corrupts greatly, and the only thing for a good man to do faced with corruption of that magnitude is to refuse to become complicit in it.

A good third to a half of DU doesn't actually believe in politics.

Strange on a political board, but there it is.

[sudopod]

17. You're for us or you're against us! GRRRRRRRR

Stop questioning things and believe!

[Davis_X_Machina]

19. I just wanted to point out...

...that unicorns are endangered, and listed under CITES. You can't have one.

Instead you've got a government as good as the country that elected it.

[sudopod]

20. wat? nt

[Davis_X_Machina]

23. Look at the people in your checkout line...

...when next you go to your grocery store. Don't get your hopes up -- they actually buy those magazines they display there, too.

That's who's choosing your government. You'll get as good as they're content to give you. You'll get a Boehner for every Jan Schakowsky, a DeMint for every Whitehouse or Sherrod Brown -- if you're lucky.

[StarburstClock]

28. Yea, it's just a widdle ole torture camp, nothing of any real importance...LOL

Just like Abu-Ghraib, the entire rendition program of torture in 7 different countries, Bagram air base and the entire Bush administration that's never been held accountable for any of the war crimes. I wonder who's in power now who could have held the war criminals accountable?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

12. Close it? Walk away and let Castro deal with the inmates?

I'll second that.

[shraby]

13. He was going to but the republicans raised such a stink

saying that they would escape and be loose in the country that he didn't have any alternative. They went on every talking head show and yelled at the top of their voices that the bad guys would be loose.

[Arkana]

32. Not just Republicans--Democrats did too.

Harry Reid, in particular, was rather NIMBY about the whole affair.

[shraby]

33. Mostly Dinos did that.

[gimama]

21. me, too

Promises are Sacred, I take 'em seriously.
I don't make many, & I DON'T make Promises I can't/won't keep.
it's simple.

I had very high HOPEs,& have been disappointed, over & over.
I *STILL* have HOPE~===]

[emulatorloo]

25. Seems like we are starting early with the "Let's Sit Home in 2012" threads n/t

[MineralMan]

29. Expect MUCH more to come.

I predict a crisis for DU.

[emulatorloo]

30. You're probably right.

It was bad enough in 2010. And now too many in denial about the pure hellishness of Republican rule (Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana),

I don't know how DU can go on this way

[Arkana]

31. How would you like him to do that?

Fly to Cuba and chain himself to the front gates?

He tried through executive order in like the first week. The OVERWHELMINGLY Democratic House and Senate got all NIMBY and said no. Without Congress, IT DOESN'T HAPPEN.