In recent days, the 6th District’s Republican Congressman, Peter Roskam, has been doing his best to stimulate public hysteria over the proposed transfer of prisoners currently held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Illinois’ maximum-security Thomson Correctional Center. Those efforts have largely failed, with both major Chicago newspapers and most reality-based leaders denouncing Roskam’s fearmongering and supporting consideration of the plan. The public seems to have been largely unaffected by Roskam’s campaign.
Now Roskam is whining because U.S. Senate candidate and Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias reports having been briefed on the possible transfer by staff from the National Security Counsil (NSC):
“Given Mr. Giannoulias’ disclosure that he received a NSC briefing on possibly moving Guantanamo to Illinois, I urge the Obama Administration to eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation. Moving terrorists to Illinois will have tremendous security and economic implications, and now this situation has been tainted by the appearance of political favoritism given that a Democrat U.S. Senate candidate received a NSC briefing while elected Members of Congress have not. The people of Illinois will be best served by a process that forgoes the behind-closed-doors political approach and instead provides foropen and transparent consideration.”
Ha! We’re wondering when Peter Roskam is going to “eschew the increasingly political nature of this situation.” We suspect that Mr. Giannoulias received a briefing because he requested it and that Roskam, as a member of Congress, could have requested the same at any time. Instead, political opportunist that he is, Roskam smelled blood in the water when he heard about the propoosal and immediately launched into an attack against the administration without troubling himself to learn the facts. This, of course, is Roskam’s modus operandi.
Meanwhile, Roskam’s eminently sensible opponent, Democrat Ben Lowe of Wheaton, has released what I think is a terrific statement on the proposed transfer and the need we have as a nation to return to respect for our constitution and legal heritage:
Understandably, after 9/11, our nation developed a heightened fear of those who seek to commit acts of terror against our country. But somewhere during the Bush era, we also lost confidence in the ability of our judicial system to administer justice to those suspected of committing or supporting terrorism.
Instead of trusting that the foundational elements of our democracy are capable of withstanding this great challenge, we began to exchange many of our civil rights (including the writ of habeas corpus) for a greater sense of security. We stopped trusting our courts, our prisons, and the principles of due process and representation under the law, which are so vital to our democracy.
We can do better.
We can do better. We can replace Peter Roskam with a serious leader focused on problem-solving and not political theater. I think Ben Lowe is that kind of leader. Readers who long for things to change may want to wander over to Ben’s website and drop him a few bucks to help get his campaign up and running.
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