Politics Plus

One thing can be said for Eric Holder’s decision.  It’s controversial.

The Obama administration said Friday that it would prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in a Manhattan federal courtroom, a decision that ignited a sharp political debate but took a step toward resolving one of the most pressing terrorism detention issues.

The decision, announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., could mean one of the highest-profile and highest-security terrorism trials in history would be set just blocks from where hijackers for Al Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people.

Mr. Holder said he would instruct prosecutors to seek death sentences for Mr. Mohammed and four accused Sept. 11 co-conspirators who would be tried alongside him.

But while the civilian system would handle those cases, he said five other detainees would be prosecuted before a military commission.

Those facing a military trial include Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is accused of planning Al Qaeda’s 2000 bombing of the Navy destroyer Cole in Yemen. All 10 detainees are being held at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

“Today’s announcement marks a significant step forward in our efforts to close Guantánamo and to bring to justice those individuals who have conspired to attack our nation and our interests abroad,” Mr. Holder said.

No decision has yet been made about where to hold the military trials, Mr. Holder said. But the administration’s decision to bring five Sept. 11 detainees onto United States soil for prosecution in the civilian legal system drew immediate fire from members of Congress as well as relatives of victims and neighbors of the federal courthouse.

They argued that Qaeda suspects did not deserve the protections afforded by the American criminal justice system, that bringing them into the United States would heighten the risk of another terrorist attack, that civilian trials increase the risk of disclosing classified information, and that if the detainees were acquitted they could be released into the population.

“We should not be increasing the danger of another terrorist strike against Americans at home and abroad,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York…

Inserted from <NY Times>

I support Holder’s decision.  I consider holding the trials in the neighborhood of ground zero poetic in its appropriateness.  To hold the trials of these men in a closed Military Commission, although legal, will create the appearance before the world that US justice is just a kangaroo court.  While it is true that these terrorists do not deserve the protections afforded by the US criminal justice system, look at the statement that giving them these protections anyway makes about the US before the world.  Dispensing justice in full transparency can go a long way toward undoing some of the damage that eight years of torture and abuse of prisoners under Bush and the GOP did to our world prestige.  The risk of another terrorist attack is minimal.  When we have been prepared, we have prevented such attacks well.  We have only been caught with our pants down when we have let our guard down.  The 9/11 attack could have been easily prevented had Bush and the GOP not been asleep at the switch.  We need not worry about disclosing classified information.  The GOP will task Hoekstra do that regardless of any trial.  It is on the question of a detainee being acquitted and released in the US, that I got the biggest laugh.

Here’s John Boehner’s (R-OH) reaction to the announcement that the United States government is capable of administering justice in accordance with our laws:

The Obama Administration’s irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people. The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found ‘not guilty’ due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause…

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Boner is limp with fear that a 9/11 terrorist will be released in the US.  This will not happen.  First, if the government did not already have an air-tight case, they would not be following this path.  Second, if a suspect were to be acquitted, the government would charge him with a whole new set of offenses that are being held in reserve just in case such a scenario were to occur.  But if it did happen, I have a couple satisfactory solutions.  First would be to move the terrorist next door to Boner.  That will keep him shaking in his boots to such an extent that he will have no energy left to disrupt the nation’s business.  The other solution is to move the terrorist into C-Street to live with the family.  When he discovers that he has so much in common with the residents there, he would probably convert and become a proud part of the American Taliban,  Rumor has it that Boner was only able to stand again after an emergency intervention from Pfizer.

Last night I watched NOW on PBS.  Elizabeth Warren was on, and she is well worth the time to watch it.

What exactly is going on with the economy? Stocks are up and big bonuses are back, but while they’re throwing parties on Wall Street, there’s pain on Main Street. One out of every six workers is unemployed or underemployed, according to government statistics – the highest figure since the Great Depression.

This week NOW gets answers and insight from Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren, who’s been heading up the congressional panel overseeing how the bailout money is being spent. NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa talks with Warren about how we got to this point, and where we go from here.

Inserted from <PBS>

The video is not embeddable, or I would put it here for you, but to view it, click through to the source article.