The Republicans really think that America is a nation of cowards. They really think people are so scared of the terrorists that we are holding in Cuba that they’ll revolt if they are moved to America.
GOP pollster Glen Bolger called the strategy a homerun for a minority party that has had difficulty finding a potent issue to play off of.
“Gitmo is NIMBY on steroids,” Bolger said. “All in favor of having Gitmo terrorists housed in your Congressional District raise your hand. Whoa — no hands go up!”
“This issue is at the intersection of good policy and good politics. That’s been a rarity for the GOP over the last few years,” Bolger said.
As I wrote yesterday, the ADX Florence Supermax facilty in Colorado already holds some of the worst terrorists in the world. And how did the people in the area feel about building that facility?
ADX Florence opened in November 1994. The residents in Florence’s surrounding area, Fremont County, welcomed the prison as a source of employment in a time of economic hardship. At the time, the county was already home to nine existing prisons. However, the lure of between 750 to 900 permanent jobs, in addition to another 1,000 temporary jobs during the prison’s construction, led residents in the area to raise $160,000 to purchase 600 acres (2.4 km2) for the new prison. Hundreds of people attended the groundbreaking construction of ADX Florence, which cost over $60 million.
My community could use 900 permanent and 1,000 temporary jobs. Why not give us a $60 million contract to build a supermax facility right here in Chester Co., Pennsylvania. We’d be proud to take the Gitmo prisoners, provided they get due process and a fair trial.
