January 22, 2009

Dear John...

Hatched by Dafydd

Dear John Hinderaker;

You close your otherwise excellent blogpost on the Obamic executive orders today with the following:

Today's executive order can charitably be described as meaningless, but it illuminates the least attractive side of Barack Obama: his tendency to combine self-righteousness with lack of seriousness.

Now, you're a real lawyer, while I only occasionally play sea-lawyer in the blogosphere; I am not even up to the level of an egg on legal matters; yet still, if the New York Times is accurate that the executive order says that the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility “shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order" -- then doesn't the order mean that, notwithstanding whether or not the administration has figured out what to do with the terrorist detainees, if the order is not countermanded by a later order, by congressional legislation, or by judicial decision, Gitmo must close as of January 22nd, 2010?

Even if that means transferring the detainees into civilian prisons or even just dumping them onto the streets of some city in the United States?

I don't understand how an executive order signed by the president can legally be ignored by the federal agencies and departments that run the facility. Please help me out!

Thanks, John.

Sincerely,

Dafydd

Hatched by Dafydd on this day, January 22, 2009, at the time of 5:21 PM

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Comments

The following hissed in response by: snochasr

Apparently this EO is incomplete, since it does not address the very real question of where these reptiles are to be sent, and under what circumstance. I propose a very fair compromise between turning them loose in the USA and returning them to their home countries. I say we fly them halfway back.

The above hissed in response by: snochasr [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 22, 2009 7:25 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dick E

Dafydd-

I like snochasr's idea, but I have another:
Just open the gates of Guantánamo and let Raúl and Fidel deal with the b*****ds.

The above hissed in response by: Dick E [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 22, 2009 8:23 PM

The following hissed in response by: LarryD

The odds of this EO remaining unchanged for a year is minute.

A lot can happen in a year, including rescinding the EO. Quietly.

The above hissed in response by: LarryD [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 23, 2009 2:37 PM

The following hissed in response by: Bob Hawkins

Of course it can be ignored. Happens all the time. The key word is "enforcement."

The above hissed in response by: Bob Hawkins [TypeKey Profile Page] at January 25, 2009 11:23 AM

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