An Illinois Prison Isn’t The Same As Giving A Terrorist A Bomb
November 16, 2009
Perhaps during the last few months of campaign season attacking Democrats advocates by saying bringing terrorists to a maximum security prison in Illinois of which no inmate has ever escaped might fly but right now, in this economy, I predict that Congressman Mark Kirk and Co.’s claim that by transferring Gitmo prisoners to the Thomson maximum security prison in Illinois will mean endangering Americans and letting the terrorists into “America’s heartland” (because us Americans are so dumb, we think that when you’re in a maximum security prison you’re allowed to wander around the state, daily, without any kind of supervision) will fall flat. Strangely enough, Rich Miller rounds up all the facts and is still skeptical:
- Prisons bring in revenue by employing people to build the prison and run it and I’m not just talking about security. Prisons need people to do the laundry, people to cook the food, people to drive trucks in and out of the facility and a whole bunch of other things. It’s a stimulating. That’s all in addition to the people who actually build the prison.
- Nobody has ever escaped from a maximum security prison. Ever.
- Again, let me stress, these terrorists won’t be taking that seat next to you at the local bar. They will be in a maximum security prison of which nobody has ever escaped. There is no security concern that these terrorists will escape. Hell, I’ve got a hunch that they’ll even be more secure there than in Cuba.
- Also, there are already terrorists in American prisons, 340 to be precise. Surprise!
- As Miller notes, the locals actually SUPPORT bringing the terrorists to the Thomson prison.
Well, I’m not skeptical. So not only is Kirk endangering his candidacy by making an attack that is largely false, it’s also famously false. People are aware of what the real story is which makes Kirk look like a partisan liar.
UPDATE: And now The New York Times has a story up on this whole thing and Kirk sounds even more foolish in it:
“As home to America’s tallest building, we should not invite Al Qaeda to make Illinois its No. 1 target,” the letter said, referring to the Willis Tower in Chicago, formerly the Sears Tower. “The United States spent more than $50 million to build the Guantánamo Bay detention facility to keep terrorists away from U.S. soil. Al Qaeda terrorists should stay where they cannot endanger American citizens.”
This is nonsensical. Where at the prison will the terrorists have access to planes or Willis Tower? What Kirk is doing is really just trying to get a “death panel” situation going here where everyone thinks a rumor is fact.
SECOND UPDATE: Christina Bellantoni reports that now some prominent conservatives including Grover Norquist are calling Republicans against moving the terrorists to Thomson (like Kirk) guilty of scaremongering. This will further make Kirk look like the moderate nobody wants.
All they need to do is drive a car bomb into town to make their political point.
Remember we are going to have a media circus going on with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial which Obama and Holder have told us can only result in conviction. That sounds like a show-trial to me, and it will turn into a Jihadi recruiting event. All it will accomplish is give KSM a soap box to defend himself, and if it seems like he could be acquitted –recall Goring’s self-defense at Nuremburg– the administration will be stuck with an embarrassing need to hald the trial.
So we’ll have energized Jihadists and a perfect symbolic target right down the road from us.
A perfect mess.
No sham civil-show-trials, just Military Tribuals to adjudicate Crimes of War; and keep them off shore were Americans don’t become easy targets.
Regarding your last bullet point, I wouldn’t be surprised if, a few years ago, locals would have been pretty opposed to this idea. It’s amazing how much perceptions can change during a recession. Ohio voters just passed a constitutional amendment to allow casinos in the state. Despite being a generally conservative (moderate) state that has overwhelmingly voted down casinos in the past, the promise of a few thousand construction jobs and a few more minimum wage jobs was enough to push the issue over the brink.
The question is… when (or if) the local economy improves, will the locals still be happy with their decision? Or will they start feeling a little buyers remorse? Things like prisons are casinos employ people, no doubt; but they’re not the kinds of things that drive long-term growth.
Well I do think the support is exclusive to the state of the economy. When do people (in terms of prosperity) say “hey, you know what this town needs? A prison!” And I suppose you raise a point, prisons are eyesores that can hinder long term growth. Perhaps it will prove a burden in the long run. But the economy is bad and Gitmo needs to be closed.
You know Rob, the more I think about it the more I wonder if the economy went back to the way it was, pre-Great Recession- the area of Thomson would still be better off with a prison. It’s been experiencing economic troubles for a while and perhaps given that this prison would be a good idea regardless of the economy.
I don’t know much about the town in question, but I happen to think that when a city looks to something like a prison because that’s the best they can do, pre-recession or not… that’s pretty much putting up a white flag and giving up hope on any future prosperity.
Why not send the terrorists to Texas, they’ll blend right in.
Heh.
U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin calls Mark Kirk the “Crybaby Candidate” for senator
Martin says Kirk’s pandering to public fears about bringing Al-Qaeda prisoners to Illinois is “nauseating”
NEWS FROM:
ANDY MARTIN /2010
“The name you can trust”
Republican for U. S. Senator
30 E. Huron Street, Suite 4406
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
(312) 440-4124
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.blogspot.com
http://www.AndyforUSSenator.wordpress.com
http://www.MarkKirk.us
http://www.IllinoisHighSpeedTrains.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Andy Martin says Kirk is using his usual campaign tactic of pandering to public fears to win votes in the senate primary
Martin ridicules Mark Kirk for suggesting that “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” is about to move its offices to “Al-Qaeda in Illinois”
Martin says the last thing Illinois needs is “Crybaby Kirk” in Washington
(CHICAGO)(November 16, 2009) One of the downsides, or condign punishments if you will, of being a candidate for office is that you have to listen to your opponents’ speeches, over and over again. Sunday I was nauseated by Mark Kirk’s crybaby appeal to public fear over incarcerating Al-Qaeda prisoners in Illinois.
There are two aspects to the Al-Qaeda-prisoner-in-Illinois issue.
First, bringing Al-Qaeda prisoners to a vacant Illinois prison would create 1,000 new high-paying federal jobs. Northwest Illinois is starved for quality employment. Federal jobs come with goods salaries, excellent benefits and outstanding retirement payments. Where’s the problem with that?
The second issue is whether these dangerous prisoners can be handled properly. Guess what? Illinois has been handling the “worse of the worst” for decades. The nation’s successor to Alcatraz Penitentiary was built in Marion, Illinois. Have you heard any southern Illinoisans crying lately that desperate criminals are housed in their midst? No, they are too busy cashing their paychecks.