Republican Pushes Alcatraz As The New Guantanamo

[babylonsister]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/25/gop-officials-push-alcatr_n_160675.html

GOP Officials Push Alcatraz As The New Guantanamo
Sam Stein
January 25, 2009


Last week, Congressman Bill Young suggested that as the Obama administration closes Guantanamo Bay, it could send some of the detainees in need of a holding facility to Alcatraz, the famous former prison off the San Francisco coast.

On Sunday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi reminded Young that his statement makes no sense.

"Perhaps he has not visited Alcatraz," said the San Francisco Democrat, appearing on ABC's This Week. "And let me say, Bill Young is a great member of Congress and I have a great deal of respect for his opinion. Alcatraz is a tourist attraction. It's a prison that is now sort of like a national park."

Indeed, Robert Kennedy (as Attorney General) shut down Alcatraz as a federal prison in 1963. The site was turned into a national recreation area in 1972 and became a national historic landmark in 1986.

One can easily imagine an ambitious Hollywood producer turning Young's suggestion into a sequel to The Rock -- Guantanamo detainees, dropped off at Alcatraz, hold tourists visiting the prison hostage as they demand Habeas rights.

[Mz Pip]

1. We do have another

famous prison out here, San Quentin, which houses some of the baddest of the bad. And as a local resident, I'm not the least bit concerned about housing a few more over here.

The GOP's NIMBY is laughable. Our criminal justice system deals with some pretty dispicable characters. We've managed so far and I think we can continue to do so if need be.

[alsame]

2. Yep, I've heard this several times already. On Tweety's show

on Friday, some repuke (I think it was Kit Bond) mentioned that since 'liberals' are in favor of closing Gitmo, the 'terrorists' should be sent to Alcatraz.

Heard someone else mention it on one of the morning shows today.

Apparently, they are going to continue trying to polarize the country.

[NYC_SKP]

3. So, Congressman Bill Young is a first class Idiot!

Alcatraz is in no condition to hold prisoners.

It would be extremely costly to upgrade or build new there (if one was stupid enough to do it.)

It's now a tourist destination making money.

It's in a beautiful location.

What a stupid fool this Florida congressman is.

[Oregone]

4. Dumbest idea ever

The value of Gitmo is that it is not on US soil. It is a constitution free zone where torture was permissible and rights can be ignored. Putting them in Alcatraz would be no more valuable than putting them in any other prison at all. They would have rights, lawyers and the full works. Its just stupid and pointless. They are evoking a historic name to sound smart and get well known.

[sandnsea]

5. Lefty Bleeding Heart San Fran should jump on it

I would love love love for San Francisco to save the country from the scary terrorists. Too funny.

[EFerrari]

8. Lefty bleeding heart San Francisco?

You mean, the San Francisco where Mark Bingham made his home?



Mark Kendall Bingham (May 22, 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona – September 11, 2001 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania) was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. He died at age 31 in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on board United Airlines Flight 93.

Bingham is believed to have been among the passengers who attempted to storm the cockpit to try to prevent the hijackers from using the plane to kill hundreds or thousands of additional victims. He made a brief airphone call to his mother, Alice Hoglan, shortly before the plane went down. This phone call has been subject to much controversy however, as Mark refers to himself during the phone call as "Mark Bingham", something most people are unlikely to do when talking to their own mother. Hoglan, a former flight attendant with United Airlines, later left a voice mail message on his cell phone, instructing Bingham to reclaim the aircraft after it became apparent that Flight 93 was to be used in a suicide mission.

Bingham was survived by his former boyfriend of six years, Paul Holm, who says this was not the first time Bingham risked his life to protect the lives of others. He had twice successfully protected Holm from attempted muggings, one of which was at gunpoint. Holm describes Bingham as a brave, competitive man, saying, "He hated to lose — at anything." He was even known to proudly display a scar he received after being gored at the running of the bulls in Pamplona.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Bingham

Yeah, we could never handle terrorists out here.

You are "too funny".

[sandnsea]

9. Don't get a joke?

Good lord.

Do you not think it would be funny if San Francisco told red America they would be happy to incarcerate the terrorists since red America is too scared?

[backscatter712]

6. Gov. Bill Ritter from my state had a better idea.

Send them to the modern-day Alcatraz: the Federal Supermax prison in Florence, CO.

FAR more secure than the original Alcatraz. And far more modern - it's a modern, operational facility that already has experience in locking up the worst of the worst.

[Jack Sprat]

7. I'm pushing Alcatraz for Republicans myself

Especially this bunch of crooks that just vacated Washington.

[Downtown Hound]

10. Let me explain something to you about San Franciscans Mr. Young

When your party launched its war of aggression in 2003, they shut the city down by taking to the streets in protest. Thousands of people were arrested. I was one of them. If you even try and bring your fascist bullshit to that city you're in for quite a rude awakening.

[shraby]

11. The republicans say if one Gitmo is closed, just open

another one, because that's what they mean.

[stillcool]

12. They sure jumped out of the gate..

with this shit. Not even considering what legal framework can be constructed between now and what is it a year from now the place is going to close? They're squawking their fear shit, like these people are walking out of there tomorrow. Poor little chickens.

[razors edge]

13. Fine,

as long as they put the bulk of the * administration in there with them.

Just rename it the Fletcher Memorial Home for Incurable Wasters of Life and Limb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLH5mCIGcvc

[annabanana]

14. What the hell ever happened to "keep your enemies closer"??

Khalid Sheik Muhammed can stay on the fold out couch in my living room.

What a pantload of sissies.

[lunatica]

15. As a Californian I think it would be patriotic to encarcerate them in San Quentin

Because Alcatraz is a tourist attraction and in profound disrepair.

They would probably have to be held in a segregated area though, since their lives would be in jeopardy among the general population. There are some really horrid criminals there.

***************
http://sanfrancisco.lovetoknow.com/wiki/San_Quentin_State_Prison

A large part of San Quentin’s fame is due to its famous inmates who have done time at the facility:

* Charles Manson - The head of the famous murdering Manson family lived at San Quentin until he received a transfer in the late 1980s.
* Stanley Tookie Williams - A notorious leader of the Crips gang, he was a resident of San Quentin, and was executed there in 2005.
* Wallace Fard Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam
* Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy
* Merle Haggard, the country singer

Current inmates include:

* Richard Allen Davis, who became famous for kidnapping Polly Klaas
* Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife Laci Peterson
* Morris Solomon Jr., who became famous for murdering a string of prostitutes in the Sacramento region

[Still Sensible]

16. Really?

Just figure out where to put them, period. Put the ones on trial that there is enough evidence to have a trial for... and set those where there is not real evidence free, back to where we got them. It's time to bring this to a close.

But Alcatraz? Please.