I can appreciate the discomfort one might feel in the proximity of a psychotic religious fanatic, but as the Not-In-My-Backyard phenomenon goes, this is pretty silly.

Send 'em to Colorado. Those folks are already used to having psychotic religious fanatics around - Dobson, anyone?

Well, I can't speak for my state as a whole, but I don't have a problem with them being imprisoned in New Jersey. If that's the price of restoring our national dignity -- and, by the way, of enhancing our security by removing an Al Qaeda recruiting bonanza -- then I think it's a patriotic duty to accept the detainees.

"We're not talking about actual supervillains with special powers."

Yes, but apparently too many conservatives watched "Heroes" this past fall (in substitution for their beloved "24" I guess) and look at Gitmo like a Level 5 where all the supervillains are about to break out. Quick, someone check for Sylar's location.

All I can say is wow these dillweeds are really stretching for an agenda now.

The actual villians are Republican politicians. They have no integrity, no honor and no patirotism. thwy are just selfserving hacks.

I grew up right across the Missouri River from Leavenworth, and we now live about half an hour away. There have ALWAYS been people jailed there that I don't especially want living in my neighborhood, but it's not like they're hanging out at the grocery store or the movie theater--THEY'RE LOCKED UP AND GUARDED. The Federal Penitentiary at Leavenworth adjoins Fort Leavenworth, plus the Military Disciplinary Barracks are on the base itself. If we can't keep track of these people in a maximum security federal prison, surrounded by a U.S. Army base, then we do have some problems. That's the kind of thing guards and soldiers get paid for! Another bogus GOP scare tactic, as far as I'm concerned.

Kit Bond was on Hardball last week, and it was truly hilarious. He was describing his concern that detainees would escape from prison and immediately go on terror rampages, like a band of super Hannibal Lecters. Just bizarre. And the GOP used to be seen as the "manly party."

I have actually been inside the wire of both the federal prison and the disciplinary barracks at Leavenworth as a healthcare worker in the federal system, and I can tell you without a moments hesitation that there are people there already that would represent a much graver threat to the average citizen than the slowest runners in Afghanistan who are currently being held at Guantanamo.

Boobus Americanus doesn't have anything to do other than scream and yell and jump up and down like the sub-lemurs they are and point at this or that "shiny object" in hopes they can get the rest of the screechers in the tree to join in so the din will at least inflict pain on the rest of us.

Is Arkham Asylum full?

Why would these people be any different that the murders, rapists, pedophiles and psociopaths that are already in these prisons?

I don't know. In my opinion, if there's even a 1% chance that these terrorists might gain super-powers between the time they leave Gitmo and the time we lock them up here, that's too big of a chance for us to take. And seeing as how we can't know what the actual odds of that happening are, I think we have no other choice than to keep them in Cuba.

And yes, it really does make sense for terrorists to risk a suicide mission to save the bad guys we're holding, rather than just use that same plane to carry out an actual terrorist attack on a soft target. That's just how these guys think and we need to stay one step ahead of them.

Steve - again you entirely miss the point!

The rethugs would be ok with them anywhere if there was a rethug president. This is just another rethugnican talking point with its usual usage of the corporate media as a 'message multiplier'.

The actual people who live in Leavenworth are fine with having them there.

Frankly, I would be a little more concerned about having Brownback or Phelps in my backyard.

Send 'em to Colorado. Those folks are already used to having psychotic religious fanatics around - Dobson, anyone? - Jennifer

Actually, I read somewhere that at least a half dozen of these terrorist types are already there. John Walker, for sure. I think the shoe bomber. Can't say whether they're being subjected to Dobson or Ted Haggard, though. I assume Bush was careful to only torture outside the 50 states.

With due respect to my feline friends, the Republicans are a bunch of scaredy cats.

I vote with Jennifer. Send the prisoners to Colorado so they can live with our religious fanatics.

Forget about "What's Wrong With" Kansas. Colorado is the way to go. We've got a nice little prison complex down in Florence and a newly minted Democratic majority.

I think that last bit is the most compelling reason. The Republicans simply can't be trusted to do more than C-their-As on terrorist detentions.

PS: "Send the prisoners to Colorado so they can live with our religious fanatics."

Now now, that's not very nice. Yes, Colorado is known for being home to Dobson and Haggard and various other religious nutters. But the hippies of Boulder, the hoipolloi of Aspen and Vail, and the sports fanatics of Denver also lay a compelling claim on the Centennial State's character. They should be included in any reductionist caricature. It's only fair.

Doctor Biobrain: "In my opinion, if there's even a 1% chance that these terrorists might gain super-powers between the time they leave Gitmo and the time we lock them up here, that's too big of a chance for us to take."

You're kidding, right?

Uh, what particular super powers are we talking about here?

Pssst, don't tell the wingnuts about Operation Jericho!

Obama should play hardball with Kansas because oh, let me see, my choices are:

A). Terrorists imprisoned in a high-security facility in my state but could some day escape if they develop super-powers or are rescued by the script-writers of "Prison Break"

or

B). Losing a facility with hundreds, if not thousands of well-paying and secure Federal jobs to another state that would be glad to have the jobs.

If I was a conscientious, duly elected Kansan Congressman or Senator I would fear option B) much more than the slim chances of A) ever occurring.

I am constantly amazed by the short-sighted view of some people. Seriously, the entire Republican argument boils down to "we must violate constitutional and human rights in order to preserve them."

The hubris of this line of thinking is clear; violating people's rights may have some short term benefits (a few bad people get locked up) but it completely ignores the long term peril. By imprisoning people without charge, access to legal cousel, and subjecting them to torture, we are guaranteeing that others will do the same to us. And to those who argue the bad guys already do these things, I say, yes, but they have no moral cover...and neither do we if we allow the practice to continue. It becomes a steady race to the bottom.

Fear begets more fear. And fear is a powerful tool for getting people to make decisions by emotional reaction instead of rationality.

The only way to to win is to hold fast to the founding principles of our nation. That, and nothing else, will be the shining beacon in a choppy sea.

"Uh, what particular super powers are we talking about here?"

Well that's the point, isn't it? Since we can't rule out the possibilty that they - might - somehow gain superpowers through an unfortunate mix-up involving a feeding-tube and a top-secret bio-weapons laboratory disguised as a Taco Bell en route to Kansas, we can only look to the relevant sources and use those to responsibly calculate the colour-coded threat-level they might, theoretically, present.

For example, control over the Earth's magnetic fields are a Magneto Purple-Threat. While those who can heal from any wound should be graded either Wolverine Brown-Threat, or Wolverine Yellow and Blue-Threat, depending on what comic book you're reading.

In a world where '24' informed official US policy on torture, nothing is really that hard to believe where the Right is concerned.

I can appreciate the discomfort one might feel in the proximity of a psychotic religious fanatic,

I live in northeast Ohio; Rod Parsley is a three-hours' drive from my front door. I've got an Obama-hating Mormon across the street who boasts of his gun collection (read: arsenal), and a Jay-Dub next door who thinks my eight-year-old daughter is an evil being from the nether-regions of Satan because she dared to say no to his prophesying ooh-gah-dee-boo-gah-dee mumbo-jumbo propaganda regimen. With all these domestic "psychotic religious fanatics" that close to my home, I'm not going to get too worked up about some tortured-to-the-consistency-of-jello jihadists being imported from Cuba....

Sen. Sam Brownback (R) and three House Republicans are pushing a measure that would prohibit the transfer of any suspects from Cuba to Kansas. (We're seeing a similar response from Republicans in South Carolina over the Charleston Naval Brig and Republicans in California over Camp Pendleton.)

Yeah, good luck getting that through Congress with your overwhelming permanent Republican majority, guys.

If I was a Democratic legislator I think I'd immediately introduce a bill to mandate that Guantanamo prisoners can only be sent to Kansas and nowhere else.

Karl Rove argued over the weekend that Obama will change his mind about Gitmo because "there will be an uproar in the U.S." about detaining suspects on American soil.

Well, Karl Rove is always right about everythihg, so count down to uproar in three, two, one....

*crickets*

Huh. I kind of thought it'd be louder.

the most likely facility is the military's maximum-security prison in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas -- which, by the way, is where Candidate McCain wanted to send the detainees when he endorsed closing Gitmo

Candidate McCain does not speak for Senator McCain, and never has. Why should Senator McCain be held responsible for what Candidate McCain said when, plainly, Candidate McCain was willing to do or say practically anything in his mad quest for presidential power?

Uh, what particular super powers are we talking about here?

If there's even a 1% chance that one of them could be bitten by a genetically altered spider and develop super-strength and web-spinning ability, don't you think it's worth keeping them in Guantanamo?

(Yes, as you sensed, Doctor Biobrain was being sarcastic.)

As far as a breakout, it's much likely that Mexican drug lords would try one.

And, we should abolish Supermax prisons anyway.

And ...

FREE LEONARD PELTIER!

1/ Why do all of the "detainees" (they're prisoners, in plain English!) have to go to one facility? They could be spread as far and wide as their "records."

2/ Presumably, a number of them will be repatriated or sent to other countries if they are deemed to have been wrongfully imprisoned.

3/ Many of them may need to be in mental insitutions after the Gitmo-style hospitality, and moving them to such institutions in nations where their language is spoken may be more reasonable than keeping them in US prisons.

4/ The idea that these guys could a/escape, b/have the resources to do anything if they were to escape - I'm thinking "The Russians are Coming!" here - those who were picked up in Iraq and Afghanistan in melees or camps or whatever, yeah, they'd just saunter into the local 7-Eleven and buy a few supplies .....this is just ridiculous!

5/ If another group of terrorists got a plane they'd get far more bang for their buck driving it into the Empire State Building or another US target than taking a kamikaze flight into a prison to rescue a bunch of tired terrorists who've been tortured for a bunch of years.

6/ hoi polloi = "the common people," not the wealthy elite.

Maybe the Republicans think that having terror suspects in the US prison system amounts to material support for terrorism. The ad writes itself:

[ominous music, black and white pseudo-security cam footage] "Times are tough in America. But Democrat politicians lavished free food, jumpsuits, toilets and the latest in metal cafeteria trays on hardened terrorists!"

I think there may be room for many, if not all of the detainees in Bernard Madoff's penthouse, which is of course the equivalent of a Federal prison. The advantage of having them there is that the media can keep a close eye on them and there are already guards in place, guards that are paid for from private funds, so the taxpayer saves money!

Uh, what particular super powers are we talking about here?

Well, I wasn't thinking about anything unrealistic, like Superman's heat-vision or anything. But I think that within the realm of possibility could be something like super-charisma, which would allow the terrorists to talk the guards into releasing them. Or if they got too close to a nuclear plant during a severe meltdown on their way to the prison, they could get big like Godzilla or possibly grow extra arms with which to subdue their captors. And then there's the very real possibility of having them catch one of the nano-robot viruses that I'm currently working on which would grant them cyborg-strength and super-intelligence. That would totally screw us over.

And are these likely scenarios? Perhaps not. But are we really willing to take this kind of chance with the fate of America during these perilous times? Remember, Ex-President Bush was able to prevent any terrorist attacks on American soil besides the ones he didn't prevent. I think we need to give him the benefit of the doubt and accept that Gitmo was the only safe place on earth for these potential super-villains to be held. I'm sure Dick Cheney would agree.

"I'm not even sure what the complaining is about, exactly. That the Gitmo detainees might break out of incarceration?".

It's just another straw man under construction by the GOP to counter the perception that they are the party of torture. It's not at all about jail breaks. It's about stoking fears of terrorist attacks on communities that may be called on to imprison Gitmo's inmates. Why do you think the GOP is singling out my hometown of San Francisco as a repository for the bastards?

"Why do you think the GOP is singling out my hometown of San Francisco as a repository for the bastards?".

By that, I meant the GOP would have people believe San Franciscans aren't patriotic Americans, and are deserving of such attacks.

"Send 'em to Colorado"

As Coloradan, I've love to see them in our SuperMax facility. We could use some more jobs. The only real danger is that those terrorists might learn some real bombing techniques from the Unabomber. Our terrorists are smarter than their terrorists. Suck on that, Muslim fanatics! The likelihood of the foreign terrorists learning from ours is very low, however. The prisoners have little contact with each other. They're on 23 hour lockdown. And if the Unabomber can't figure out how to break out, the foreign terrorists won't either.

The republicans seem hell bent on elevating terrorists to extraordinarily powerful people that we should all live in fear of. These shrieking cowards are a pure pleasure to observe in nature. Hey republicans...Boo!

Why do Republicans hate our troops? Er, I mean, our federal prison guards?

Don't they believe the hardworking people in the Bureau of Prisons know what they are doing and deserve our respect???

Well, I wasn't thinking about anything unrealistic, like Superman's heat-vision or anything. But I think that within the realm of possibility could be something like super-charisma, which would allow the terrorists to talk the guards into releasing them. Or if they got too close to a nuclear plant during a severe meltdown on their way to the prison, they could get big like Godzilla or possibly grow extra arms with which to subdue their captors. And then there's the very real possibility of having them catch one of the nano-robot viruses that I'm currently working on which would grant them cyborg-strength and super-intelligence. That would totally screw us over.

What you really want to watch out for is them developing the ability to melt through walls, a la Kitty Pryde, or being able to fly. You let them out in the yard for an hour of rec time and bam! up in the sky they go, never to be seen again.

Even more terrifying -- what if, like Rave in X-Men, they can take on someone else's appearance? Why, the entire Republican leadership could be composed of shape-shifting escaped terrorists and we'd never know it! (Though it would explain their opposition to the stimulus bill....)

It is not as though their families will relocate to the area. Don't know whether this prison was ever built, but, a few years back the Feds were considering building a worst of the worst type pen in upstate Wisconsin. Only economic activity for the area came from hunters and fishermen. The local mayor of the nearest town was asked on TV about his thoughts - He said he thought it would good for the local economy because of the inmates' families moving to the area. "Hello, we're the Lechters; Son of Sam? Oh, they're just around the corner."

Brownback is worried about Ft Leavenworth? Just to the south is Lansing, the Kansas State Pen. They have had and still have more than a few real sweethearts. Remember "In Cold Blood" by Capote?

We all can agree that these Gitmo prisoners are experts in goofing up a job because they got caught, or did they want to get caught? All the while contending to be on the right side of God? Or Allah?

Let’s see what Allha is doing “Over There in America Abdul�.

Anyway they are thee primer ex defacto cream of the crop top of the line always thinking about martyrdom, and those seventy five maidens. Sheesh where is the diversity if everyone is cousin to Abdul.

So America can be presented with self sacrificing leadership of the Islamic world order. You can participate too. Here the media has a chance to really do something good in humanity. But likely the Neo-Con’s will be obstructionist. What in the hell am I driving at?

Simple and two fold, a very interesting proposal. Tour the prisoners around the country under guard “With Security Practice Intentions�. What in the heck is that? Well it means taking these prisoners to various small town gatherings they answer questions from the citizens, grade schoolers, High Schoolers, College Types, Think Tanks, Book reviews, C-Span interviews or just good old ma and pop parlor visits with translators. Having it all recorded for debate and Judgement lets see what America thinks about this stuff. Let’s learn about these people and teach them about Americans.

All the while put in practice security methods and systems top down from the CIA, FBI, FISA, NSA, federal Marshalls, or any other agency then locals state and city police. Let’s see where America needs to beef up intelligence and the ability to coordinate or even flush out serious problems here in America. All the while teaching our citizens about, safety, Islam and showing Islam America.

Whats wrong with that, are we embarrassed about America? No, then do it. This just might be part of the healing needed to complete the end of the war.

Isn't there more danger of these guys escaping out of Guantnamo, where their buddies might be able to whisk them away in boats? That's a lot harder to do in Kansas or Colorado.

Republicans are so brain dead it boggles the mind.

Still trying to cultivate the ignorant among us republicans have shown themselves despicable fear mongerers. Next it will be judges "palin' around with terrorists etc.

McCain and Boehner are petty little men interested only in political gain. They would let the economy collapse if it meant they could stay in power. They would aid a terrorist attack for the same reason. They have no business being in government as everything they have done has brought disaster and failed miserably.

We should recoil from republicans like a hot flame on a stove. Wrong on everything and lying about it.

Did it ever occur to anyone that some of these Republican Senators might not want Gitmo grads in prisons that might be their own homes some day? Especially after the roles they played in putting them there.

Meglomania..."...We all can agree that these Gitmo prisoners are experts in goofing up a job because they got caught, or did they want to get caught? All the while contending to be on the right side of God? Or Allah?..."

That's lumping them all together in some fantasy category since for most there are no files or documented evidence. What will be most embarrassing to supporters of Gitmo is the mess they've made of everything and their sadistic experimentations. These weren't trials or even justified incarcerations but the US citizen has been pressured to lump them all together as evil warlords. Straight out of the background for some DC comic book but painfully and shamefully real. For them to become Americanized now after years of torment by our government is asking a lot.

Now that republicans are proven disasters and have no place in government we might eventually get a representative government where this would not even be an issue.

Hope got a boost when I learned that Bill Kristol got fired by the NYT. Now if Rush and Hannity were removed from the airwaves...just imagine 20% of the population forgetting who it is they are supposed to hate.

But you liberals just don't understand! We're fighting terrorists who have been breaking out of Guantanamo in droves, these are monsters who can take any amount of torture and then still have the nerve to want to attack Americans. Besides, even if they were totally innocent when we shipped them to Cuba, they are now super finely trained in terrorist tactics and weapons systems and can never be released into the world again.

Another possibility would be for the League of Extraordinary Terrorists to use electromagnetism to suck iron out of the guards' blood. Just wait until they mutate and acquire unusual powers, and then train to control them, and then train to hide them, and THEN who'll be laughing?

The point of putting them all in GTMO was never that it was somehow more secure than prisons here in the US, but rather that it was easier to keep them from anything that might resemble civil rights or due process of law. You know, that messy stuff in the Bill of Rights. Once we have decided to actually afford them some rights to a real trial with real procedural protections, the rationale for keeping them offshore disappears. There are lots of places here in the US that are more secure than GTMO.

This just proves what cowards the republicans are. They're all sooooooo afraid of a few terrorists. It's a good thing that we didn't have to depend on this bunch of whining cry-babies during WWII.