Cutting and Pasting the Rulebook

Full control of the Executive and Legislative Branches means that not only is it your ball and your field, but you also get to move the goal posts before the game's outcome can be determined:

A Pentagon review of conditions at the Guantanamo Bay military prison has concluded that the treatment of detainees meets the requirements of the Geneva Conventions. The report, which President Obama ordered, was prepared by Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, the vice chief of naval operations, and has been delivered to the White House.

So now Guantanamo Bay is OK?

Walsh's report was a broad endorsement of the Pentagon's management of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and it urged prison authorities to continue efforts across the system to maximize the ability of the detainees to socialize and practice their religion, according to the government official.

But during the campaign, they told me it was the American Gulag. I guess dissension is no longer the highest form of patriotism now that Someone Else is in the Oval Office. I sure hope no one remembers all the politically-charged promises made not too long ago:

During the campaign, Obama, while eschewing details, appeared to favor federal prosecution of terrorism suspects. Under this proposal, the new administration would shutter military commissions, review the files at Guantanamo Bay to send as many cases as possible to federal court for prosecution, and release the balance of detainees for prosecution or resettlement in their home country or other nations.

The new administration expects that European countries and Persian Gulf states that previously resisted accepting Guantanamo Bay prisoners will be more open to resettling some who are cleared for release or who cannot be sent home because of the risk of torture.

Good luck with all that.