Obama wants to move the inmates currently housed in Guantanamo Bay to Illinois. He’s got the support of the governor and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin. The plan is to buy an unoccupied state prison in a rural part of the state and turn it into a federal facility. Unfortunately, several Illinois Republicans are bedwetting cowards.
But leading Republicans in the state — including Representatives Donald Manzullo, whose district includes Thomson, and Mark Kirk, who is running for the United States Senate seat once held by Mr. Obama — signed a letter to the president on Sunday strongly opposing any such move.
“As home to America’s tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its No. 1 target,” the letter said, referring to the Sears Tower in Chicago. “The United States spent more than $50 million to build the Guantánamo Bay detention facility to keep terrorists away from U.S. soil. Al Qaeda terrorists should stay where they cannot endanger American citizens.”
Why must everything be political? I’d be less disgusted with this cowardice if it were confined to the GOP. But, last I checked, there are a number of Democrats who are also afraid of their own shadows.
