Not only do the millions of Obama supporters realize that he didn't promise to close Gitmo quickly, they were and still are intelligent enough to know that the effort isn't a two hour job. They know this in spite of the fact that many of them didn't attend Harvard.
Barack Obama has been accused by many of being "elite", almost too smart to be president. Witness the letter writer's statement that the people to whom she listens "didn't go to Harvard". While it doesn't take attendance at Harvard or Yale to legitimize one's educational background, the writer, like so many conservatives, seems to be proud of the fact that she knows people who didn't attend Harvard. The writer, like so many conservatives, pushes the idea that too much intelligence precludes possessing "common sense" and is generally not a desirable trait. The last eight years have demonstrated what the writer and her "blue collar" friends consider the degree of intelligence a president should possess.
I have no doubt that Barack Obama will make mistakes during his presidency. After all, he's only human. His supporters, I'm certain, also believe that and hope that any mistake he makes will not be catastrophic for the nation or the world.
I would ask those who didn't support him during the presidential campaign to at least wait until he makes a mistake before criticizing him. I would ask those people to wait, but, seriously, I just don't believe that they possess the degree of maturity and/or tolerance to enable them to do so.
Addendum: The news about the released Gitmo detainee who became the leader of an Al Qaeda cell in Yemen was published after I had completed the above article. Many on the right have used this instance as an opportunity to reinforce the idea that the gulag at Guantánamo Bay should remain open indefinitely.
There is one obvious response to those who posit this notion and several incidental responses.
The incidental responses are:
the person who has signed the executive order to close Gitmo was not in office when the detainee was released. The Regime was in power.
detainees have been held for a very long time without the benefit of being charged, offered legal counsel and tried. Possibly if this detainee was tried in an American court under American rules of jurisprudence, his guilt may have been exposed.
to paraphrase Keith Olbermann, is it not possible that, after being held under the above mentioned conditions and possibly tortured, we turned what may have been an innocent man into a Jihadist against The US?
Here's the killer reasoning, though.
- A detainee is held for years under the above mentioned conditions
- If he isn't tortured, he's at least not treated humanely.
- He's released without a criminal trial.
- He becomes involved with Al Qaeda.
- Conclusion: Obviously, Gitmo does not work!
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