"Obama closed Gitmo!"

If one more obot tells me that "Obama closed Gitmo!" I'm liable to kick them in the shins. Okay, in fact, only 3 obots have said this to me - still - one has to wonder if they don't get robo calls from the White House informing them of the day's deflection of choice.

"Obama closed Gitmo!" is thrown out as proof that he is the "change" at least some were waiting for and that he's a man of his word (s). Like so much during the campaign this yelped sentiment is just that, a sentiment. A hope. A political ruffie for the Obama addled.

Obama has not closed Gitmo. Guantanamo is open for business, and holding prisoners as it was under Bush. Early on Obama announced a plan to close Guantanamo. In the past he has announced his intended plans to brings a brigade a month home from Iraq, to fight for a public option, and to publicly finance his election campaign. Those were his plans too.

The Gitmo announcement, that came with all the bells and whistles the new POTUS could muster, was roundly criticized and suffered severe blow back - even from his own party. Originally it called for closure in a year. That is now a pipe dream.

It was evident - as soon as one found out that the Administration had not made plans for the prisoners held there - that the announcement was foolish and amateurish.

Obama: We're going to close Gitmo!

Anyone with a half functioning brain: What are you going to do with the prisoners, Mr. President?

Obama: I dunno.


We shall see if Guantanamo is closed eventually. Regardless of what the yelping Obots yelp this is what we know:

Guantanamo is open.

The original announcement about closing Gitmo was a P.R. stunt.

The closure, if it happens, will not happen by Obama's self imposed deadline.

That's three whole sentences. I doubt an Obot would let me get to the end of the first one before screaming "Racist!" Nevertheless, Obots:

OBAMA HAS NOT CLOSED GUANTANAMO.

Round one goes to Cheney

As predicted round one goes to Cheney. A large majority - 65% - of Americans do not want Gitmo closed. The lesson here is to avoid listening to the MSM when it gets a hold of a meme (Cheney unpopular! Cheney bad!) that does not hold up to even cursory examination. Much less a basic gut check. Disliking Cheney does not equate to distrusting him on national security. The MSM and Obama-sphere exhibited its usual thoughtless glee in attacking Cheney every time he spoke. Most Americans agree with Cheney on Gitmo. It will be interesting to see how far Obama pushes the "close Gitmo" meme. One is within reason to wonder if he really ever intended to close it.

(Disclosure - I am in the minority on this issue.)

Dick and Barry ride the newscycle.

I am sick of Cheney. That's not new. I was sick of Cheney before I was born. Having said that I do wonder what he is up to. For a while now my theory has been that for the last 8 years Cheney was - in effect - President until sometime around Katrina. The man behind the curtain pulling the strings (is there another metaphor I can fit into this sentence?), perfectly content to allow Georgie to enjoy the perks of office while he ruled the roost...(Yes! A metaphor trifecta!) By the time the ill wins of Katrina blew he'd gotten most of what he wanted: The invasion of Iraq, a windfall for Haliburton, insanely expanded powers for the executive branch...Katrina hit and Cheney said "You're up, George!" Then with his security blanket gone with the wind, W's ineptitude was flapping in the wind, visible to all.

So my theories on Cheney's emergence in the early months of Obama's term are three fold - obvious, angry, or conspiratorial. I do not know which rings truest.

Obvious: The GOP has no one capable or willing to take Obama on right now. Cheney is deeply committed to and believes in the changes he wrought during his 2 terms. He felt, with clear reason, that Obama would - or might - dismantle the national security apparatus Cheney implemented. Mr. Obama certainly talked a good game on this front. There was reason to believe he might roll back the civil liberties incursions of the Bush years, and Obama did announce the closing of Gitmo early on. Granted, he had no plan so the announcement was, as per usual for Obi, all smoke and no fire.

Angry: Cheney is unpopular but he does not give a sh*t because he is angry. He is pissed off at W for not pardoning Scooter, he's pissed that he got no respect for "keeping America safe for seven years." (Though, he forgets that all W's men and women ignored the advice of the Clinton team and the warnings in the Summer of 2001.) Cheney is not going to wait for a major Obama screw up in security. (One is coming, my friends, WATCH.) The angry old man's moment is now and he is shrewd enough to know it.

Conspiratorial: In keeping my jaundiced eye trained on the MSM - I can't escape the sense that this Cheney/Obama show is concocted. Cheney yet again playing the role of bad cop and Obama the "good" cop. Cheney is out of power - but he is outflanking Obama and the Democrats. (No, I don't think polls now matter on this issue. Disliking Cheney is a national pastime. We've been trained to snort in his direction.)

Obama is pulling one of his classic stunts: talking a good game to distract his supporters, and, in actuality, not changing Bush policy much at all. The shoving match occupying the media is producing little movement in reality. The chances of Gitmo closing anytime soon are waning. Obama has blinked on military tribunals, his Justice department has shifted to the Right of Bush on civil liberties, and his administration is towing the Bush line on Abu Ghraib. Finally, no one will be prosecuted from the former administration. What is the point of this "fight"?

At the end of this tussle detainees will either be in Cuba or super ultra maximum security federal prisons in the states. Housing these people here is creepy and politically dumb, but not a substantial risk.

Frankly, I do not know why Obama has allowed himself to be sucked into this debate. His policies are not different in substance from Bush's and chances are good he'll lose the argument with Cheney anyway. One attack and Cheney wins going away. Does Obama really believe he's right? Doubtful. Obama never picks a fight on core beliefs. He flip flops if he is going to look bad. That's his pattern.

So what are we left with? Dueling politicians playing a high stakes game, with an upside for both. Cheney gets to fill the GOP vacuum - solidifying its base. Obama gets to play the "wise and moral leader" taking on the difficult issues - at least when the TelePrompTer is booted up. He gets the added bonus of taking on a media punching bag.

I don't buy Obama's posturing here. I DO buy Cheney's - which is hardly comforting.

The smart thing would have been to ignore Cheney and tell his legion of MSM lapdogs to do the same.

This is fascinating to watch. Obama, the President, is in the odd position of having to speechify scholarly explanations for his wobbles. While, quite frankly, Cheney appears more Presidential. Cheney is positioned perfectly for a large, loud TOLD YA SO if anything scary happens.

And it will.

inexperience and arrogance.

Democrats fold on Gitmo closing. Tis' true. They yanked the money set aside for the closing of Guantanamo. Obi One will play this off as something he has no control over. Don't buy that crap.

Whatever one thinks about closing Gitmo - Obama botched this. His inexperience and desire for the spotlight resulted in a foolish, thrown together press conference early in his term. He announced with great fanfare that Gitmo would be closed.

He did so without a plan in place.
This is rank inexperience and arrogance.