Once again, people are talking nonsense about a 2-state solution. That window closed for at a generation or two due to the radicalization of Hamas and Hezbollah. The time to get this done was back in the 90's prior to the rise of extremists on both sides. The current rank and file have to grow old and weary first before there will be serious movement in this area. And there is no great sense of urgency either. Obama will be overtaken by events in Pakistan and Afghanistan and time will just melt away.

In 4 months time, Obama is becoming the conservative that GWB was not. Of course this will drive the Salonistas nuts but this is how he is "covering his butt" in the event there is a new attack. The lefties have to get real on the this issue and let go.

Let's be clear: if Obama dismantles all of GWB's security apparatus as the hard left wants done by yesterday, and there is a new attack on his watch, Obama is "toast" and the Repubs are back in power for the next 25 years. This happened once before with Jimmy Carter so everybody is forewarned.

Obama wants it both ways because he knows that if there is a terrorist attack on his watch, he is simply toast. I have said this numerous times in the past, but nothing seems to register in the brains of leftists that there is real risk to the lefty agenda if Obama flames out on national security. Obama is scared to death of being on the wrong side of this issue when the next 9/11 goes down, and it will some day. Bush raised the stakes in his last year in office and Cheney reminded both Obama and the nation of his vulnerability on this issue. Obama does not want any of these 240 or so detainees to make their way back to al-Qaeda and be implicated again in a 9/11 attack. Lefties like Conason should cut Obama some slack on this but they don't because they won't rest until all of the Bushies are handed over to the Hague and tried as war criminals.

Hey Glenn,

But one day all the terrorists must leave prison and then they will more likely to seek revenge in any manner or form against the US. Will they necessarily leave US soil after leaving prison? I can't know for sure. Who is going to take them back? Al-Qaeda and Yemen would like them all back because they would become "useful idiots" in planning the next attack. Your lack of understanding beyond the niceties of the law is appalling. Obama is trying to strike a middle ground and people like you are doing him and the country a major disservice.

I want to see Obama stick it directly to the liberal left who don't have a clue about matters of national security other than some vague notion of the "rule of law". What good is the "rule of law" if 3,000 or so citizens die once again to please the consciences of the far left? Obama understands this because it is now his watch and he does not want to be a sucker at the hands of either the right or the left.

I could see this day coming 12 months ago and I have the posts to prove it. Everyone else seems to be in a state of shock or are whining and complaining about their darling president who is becoming the conservative that GWB wanted to be.

People around the world are impressed with our overall system of justice, not something called the "rule of law". All governments claim to abide by the "rule of law" just like all governments claim to be democratic. Some even claim to follow international law to a "T". We all know that this to be meaningless cliches and platitudes.

A better indicator of the strength of a democracy or its respect for human rights is how the justice systems treats property rights. Now you are getting into the nitty gritty and closer to the answer you are looking for.

I get the sense that her Catholic roots will guide her more than Joan wants to admit. That's because she will be on the court for the next 30 years and she doesn't have to please anybody. She only has to please her own conscience, which has a way of nagging Catholics to do the right things. I am surprised that liberals are so thrilled with so many Catholics stacking the SCOTUS. Then again everybody seems to be Catholic these days-Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi included. Even Joan claims to be Catholic for the moment when she is on Hardball and surrounded by Pat Buchanan and Chris Matthews. When she faces the Salon crowd she is a feminist.

Like Souter betrayed HW Bush, Sotomayor will betray the trust of the liberals who are getting behind her.

Joan,

Will you sleep easy when Sotomayor is found to be leaning pro-life? Obama never asked for her views so he has not fully vetted her. As a result, there is the hint of drama as she could screw the left really badly in the years ahead. There will be 6 Catholics on the bench. That alone doesn't bode well for the lefties.

The military has been remarkably restrained in its overall operations against the Islamo-fascists. Leftists are only interested in a weakened US military in order to promote a borderless world controlled by a One-World Government run by a leftist dictator. The good news is that Obama is having nothing to do with it.

Both sides on this debate are missing an essential point. Why would a woman seek an abortion in the sixth month? It is probably because there is a real medical necessity, that's why. But the debate is colored too much by the millions of abortions that have occurred for non-medical reasons and are, for sure, inexecusable.