(Kakistocracy – noun, government by the worst persons; a form of government in which the worst persons are in power.)
This coming November 2nd will be two years since the election of “Change” brought then-senator Barack Obama into the White House and temporarily awarded the Democrats a filibuster-proof control over Congress. As we round the corner to the midterm elections, I would like to investigate/discuss/consider the record of the Obama administration, so far, one issue at a time.
First up – GITMO
During the campaign the American Military Holding Tank in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (or GITMO, as it was known to the cool kids) was low-hanging fruit for every candidate on the Democrat side of the game. Just about every Presidential wannabe had a plan to close GITMO and apologize to the world for what was being done to the terrorists, er, excuse me, enemy combatants, being held there. Candidate Obama was rather outspoken on the topic:
So the game plan was to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and according to this little ceremony from January 22, 2009, the President meant business.
Umm, yeah, about that Executive Order from 18 months ago, you remember it, the one that was all about closing GITMO… It did not happen. Never you mind that it was the very FIRST executive order from the new President and the fact that the President states the facility will be closed “no later than one year from now.” (For anyone keeping score, that would have been January 22nd of 2010.)
An honest analysis of the performance of President Obama on both his campaign promise and the subsequent executive order to close Gitmo would be a “FAIL.” However, further investigation into the situation might warrant raising (or lowering) this grade to the level of EPIC FAILURE.
Once the President signed the Executive Order, it was revealed that many of the detainees would be brought to locations inside the country and given the same rights as criminals arrested on American soil – Miranda rights, free legal advice, etc. This did not sit well with people who considered the prisoners to an actual threat to America and wanted them treated like prisoners of war. And then there was the NIMBY feeling that pops up when dangerous terrorists are clustered in a facility near your town.
Nobody wants a small cadre of al Qaeda being housed in their zip code. This theory was proven true on May 30th of this year when Congress voted 282-131 to reject funding that would have allowed a group of these prisoners to be moved to an “underused” prison in Thompson, Illinois. For the record, this was a bi-partisan rejection with the 12 Congressional Democrats from Obama’s old home state splitting right down the middle, 6 for, and 6 against.
And finally, the last piece of evidence that shows the President’s inability to deliver on a major campaign promise and the subject of his very first Executive Order is displayed in the treatment of those still housed at Gitmo. The remaining 181 detainees are forced to deal with such awful realities as:
– Gardening
– Watching cable TV – they have 18 channels to choose from, including Al Jazeera
– Listening to radio – a choice of 11 stations
Some of the prisoners are also allowed to play video games on a Sony Playstation and take classes in art, “resume building” and other life-skills courses that will help them once they are released back into the world.
Fox News Reporter Katherine Herridge – lays it out here:
The failure to close Gitmo must weigh heavily on the minds of those who supported Obama because of his repeated promises to do just that, followed by his first Executive Order setting an official closing date no later than Jan 22, 2010. And even worse for the approval ratings of the President should be the knowledge of the soft treatment given to those prisoners who remain under lock and key in Cuba. . . Why are we coddling these 181 suspected terrorists/enemy combatants? How will the already overburdened American taxpayer feel about providing video games, career counseling, cable TV and radio as they are also being told by the Federal Reserve that the recovery will not be as strong or arrive as soon as previously expected?
The only word to accurately assess the President’s performance here KARISTOCRATIC.