It's Very Clear

Translation: It's clear it's not clear. Sen. Dick Durbin doing CYA for The One on MTP (Video here):

SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D-IL):  I think that President Obama made it clear in his speech at the National Archives that he is going to face this issue squarely and resolve it fairly.  And he said, I think very clearly, that we're not going to allow anyone who is dangerous to come to the United States. 

But suggesting someone is dangerous is apparently bogus fear-mongering. (Um, didn't Sept. 11th happen? Who did it--guys with box-cutters with some flight training.) Oh, but our President Barack Obama has a plan--apparently only his plans are secret--I think we need better intelligence in the White House. Send oh so scrupulous Speaker Pelosi in there to find the truth, or maybe Joe should come home so he can spill the beans. 

SEN. DURBIN: Now that President Obama has made it clear what his plan is, he'll bring that to Congress. We have successfully tried terrorists in the United States. As I sit here today, we have 347 convicted terrorists secure in our incarceration in our facilities. We know that they can be tried and held safely. I'm sure the president will be able to work this out with members of Congress.

MR. GREGORY: Speaker Gingrich:

FMR. REP. NEWT GINGRCH, (R-GA): Well, let, let me start with, first of all, it was Secretary of State Colin Powell who also talked about weapons of mass destruction, so this is not a Cheney problem. The fact is every member of the American government senior leadership believed in the intelligence they were getting at the time. And the question comes right down to, as Vice President Cheney said this week, what's your highest priority? Is it to defend America and protect American lives, or is it to find some way to defend terrorists and to get terrorists involved in the criminal justice system? I can't imagine--given the fact, for example, that we just picked up four terrorists in New York who had been converted in prison, I can't imagine--the director of the FBI has said don't put these terrorists in prisons because there'll be an active threat to convert other people. The fact is these, these terrorists--we're now down to the worst of the worst. These are the--the Bush administration released over 500 people. One out of every seven actually went back to war against us and is out actively trying to kill Americans today. So I would be very cautious. I think the president made a very big mistake. It was a campaign promise, it is not a national security plan. I think, frankly, they should keep Guantanamo open. Whatever the, whatever things that are wrong at Guantanamo they would fix by moving them to somewhere else, fix them at Guantanamo.

MR. GREGORY: How long should Gitmo remain open?

REP. GINGRICH: Until the war is over.

MR. GREGORY: When is that?

REP. GINGRICH: We'll--when the terrorists disappear. I mean, you're faced with...

MR. GREGORY: Well, you're talking about a pretty long-term proposition here.

REP. GINGRICH: Yes, because this is a long-term proposition. You have people out there today who want to kill Americans, who would like to set off a nuclear weapon in an American city, who would like to set off a truck bomb down the street from where we are right now. These folks are serious. They're, they're still there. They're fighting in Pakistan right now, they're fighting in Iraq right now. We just arrested four people in New York City last week. What do you do with somebody who's a dedicated, religiously-motivated terrorist? You had better keep them locked up.

The Left pushed the Bush administration to release suspected terrorists from Gitmo. Those were the ones who could supposedly be rehabilitated. As we see, a significant number of them have returned to the battlefield to engage in more Death to America. You know if we had terrorists in jails in this country the Left would push for their release here as well. And even if they were incarcerated for some time, all the more opportunity for them to gain converts to their bloody cause. That's very clear. Then there are those who are pure evil, but legally we can't convict in regular courts. After innocent people die we would have plenty of evidence, but our goal in the war on terror is to prevent terrorist atrocities. We went after them on the battlefield, we no doubt sacrificed some of our own to save their lives to gain actionable intelligence from them which saved thousands of American lives. 

Keep Gitmo. We don't want a Beslan here Sen. Durbin.

The biggest recruitment tool for terrorists would be another 9/11. Imagine the video of another clear, sunny day, another attack. Imagine the loss of life next time. It's clear we can't afford a failure of imagination now. That's what gave us 9/11. And remember, that was the second time they attacked the World Trade Center. Since it's gone, doubtless they're looking for a new target.

More: Durbin makes stuff up. Bogus talking points for a bogus position. Power Line. 

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