From the article I saw:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/ap_on_go_ot/guantanamo_detainees

Judge Leon actually voted against these detainees being able to get review in federal courts just two years ago, which the Supreme Court overturned in Boumediene. This case was before him as a result of Boumediene. Finally, one of the detainees ordered to be released is Mr. Boumediene himself, which I think is a powerful reminder that there are very real consequences for individual lives behind all this legal manuvering. Leon also asked the government not to appeal, and emphasized that this is an exceptional case, at least in terms of the amazing lack of evidence presented by the government - one unnamed source. Apparently, the decision won't result in scores of other detainees being sent home, but its good to see some movement in the right direction.

will have to answer for it for the rest of their lives. While I'm willing to accept a GENUINE mea culpa by someone who initially supported and even voted for it but eventually saw the error of their ways and now deeply regrets it--and has offered a detailed and sincere-sounding enough articulation of this to make it believable--this is not one of those things that you can just brush off by saying "Oops, I guess I was wrong on that one, sorry!". These people have to either take back and adequately explain and apologize for their support of this and similar stains on our society, or else forever be condemned and held accountable for it.

And I absolutely AM condoning a policy of what the Broderite Villagers disparagingly call a "witch hunt" and "demonization" of high-level politicians and other public figures, be it in government, academia or the media, because these people are, as I see it, symbolically at least, demonic and witch-like. What part of "these people supported and voted for evil" do these dimwits not understand, or disagree with? Or do they themselves support such policies (which, of course, many did, and probably still do), and if so, why don't they have the guts to just say so?

This is also, I believe, part of why Hillary Clinton lost the nomination--and deservedly so--and why I didn't support her bid for the Democratic nomination (although I would have voted for her in the general, in a lesser of two evils at a time when we just can't afford the greater of those evil way), and don't support her bid for Secretary of State (and, frankly, cannot fathom why Obama offered it to her unless he knew from the start that she'd never be able to accept it, and it was a fake-out from the start). Our political, policy and opinion leaders have to be held to standards, and if they fail them, they must pay a price, and not be rewarded for it.

Massive pressure will be applied to Obama to just sweep this all under the carpet in the spirit of "bipartisanship" and "just moving on"--in many if not most instances by the very people in whose interest it is to not hold the people responsible for such moral atrocities accountable for them--i.e. themselves, and their friends and allies. I sincerely hope that he resists such pressure. It's not just a matter of doing what's morally right, but about doing what's practically right, as these people do not deserve to be entrusted with the faith that the public might still have in them. They're not fit to lead, and the public has a right, and need, to find out why.

Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

This is incredibly important coverage of the horrible misdeeds done in our name.

I can't wait until January 21st.

(I guess I need to change my screen name now that the kleptocrats are leaving the building...)

A very hard word to spell. However, the article brings up the subject of the uighurs, who I believe were ordered 'released' earlier this year or last year. China won't let them come home, and no other country seems to want to patriate them.

China uses the Uighurs politically, I think, much like the US uses al qaeda, exagerating their threat level to justify extra-legal activities. Given the near civil war currently raging in Algeria, I wonder if these prisoners will actually ever be released at all, or if they will be languishing in their freedom in other cells, waiting for some country to agree to take them.

Guantanamo will be a self-sustaining shit storm for such reasons long after it is closed, or its operations moved to less infamous digs.

linked to...

deserving of a special BONUS

link at sig

centers and black sites are not closed, is that the moment that Obama becomes a war criminal?

...although IIRC she said she was in favor (I think she was attending a funeral, it's not that she dodged the vote).

To those who would not have us prosecute crimes committed by this administration in the interest of "bipartisanship": Spend 7 years in a cage, isolated, with the lights on 24/7. Then come back and tell us if you don't want to prosecute the bastards who did this.

Bipartisanship: The means by which the Right has made us all accomplices in their vile crimes.

Bipartisanship: The means the Right will use to perpetuate these crimes and to block their redress.

I'll believe that Change Is Here when high government officials go to jail over this.

I have read for decades how the empire treats its prisoners both foreign and domestic. It is always this ugly and there are always "credible experts" that say it is necessary to "protect" me.

I have grown weary of reading about these men and those who caged them, tortured them, and ruined their lives and families. I am also angry at the president elect who has indicated that he will hold no one responsible for these present crimes against humanity.

Very angry.

What possible rationale do they have for keeping him in the cell with the lights on, etc., after it has become clear he is innocent?

The collection of scientific data obtained by human experimentation.