NIMBY/NIMFYE

So Obama held up one promise so far: he closed down the Guantanamo Prison at GITMO. Just so we are clear, the base isn’t closing just the prison portion of it, the one that we were given a tour of in the movie SiCKO. Yet there is one thing that the liberals, socialists, and leftist Democrats forgot to think about when they were clamoring for this for the last few years: what to do with the prisoners.

I occupy that middle zone of people that had no problem with the camp as long as the prisoners were given trials, charges, and access to their attorneys. I could forsee that just closing the base wasn’t good enough, moving them from one place to another doesn’t do any good if they are just going to be held indefinitely somewhere else. Now we are going to hear the familiar debate more well known to people that pay attention to the criminal justice system. WE NEED A PLACE TO PUT THESE PEOPLE AS LONG AS IT’S SOMEWHERE ELSE.

This is NIMBY, the “Not In My BackYard,” and NIMFYE, the “NOT IN MY FRONT YARD EITHER.” They can’t go to a regular prison for reasons including but not limited to: they didn’t commit regular crimes, some are not actually charged with anything and thus haven’t been convicted of anything. Is it fair to them to be placed in a prison with convicted murderers, drug dealers, and rapists? Conversely is it fair to those who have been committed “normal crimes” to be housed in the same facility as those who have attacked U.S. soldiers? Or are either of these choices moot, because really, who gives a shit?

Military prison is obviously the best solution since these people are considerred enemy combatants and were mostly captured by US Soldiers, how that doesn’t make them POWs is a technicality of law exploited by the previous administration. That legal techinicality has now been expunged by the new President, but logistical questions still remain.

So that’s one day, one promise kept. So far that’s pretty good for a politician.