Comments on: Levin: Send Those Terrorists to My Backyard

By: Rayne

Rayne — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:23:46 +0000

I imagine the people of Muskegon wouldn’t be happy with that concept; beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, after all. I’d rather stick it in Rep. Fred Upton’s backyard as payback for the beachfront taken from the people of Benton Harbor so he could walk to a lakeside golf course.

The UP facilities I mentioned already exist and have been there for decades (or 100-plus years, in the case of the Marquette prison). Very little change to the UP required; far less damage than the proposed nickel sulfide and uranium mines now in early study and development stages.

If you’re going to point to a more urban setting in the lower peninsula, why not find a brownfield site — maybe a now-closed GM plant and refurb it as a new SuperMax? It’d simply use an existing footprint.

By: SparklestheIguana

SparklestheIguana — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:49:08 +0000

Let’s not spoil the beauty of the UP. Put it in Muskegon.

By: Rayne

Rayne — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:45:42 +0000

No problem IMO, make them into Yoopers. There’s a state prison in Marquette that’s likely under-utilized; it was long intended from the day it was first constructed in the late 1800’s to be used for the most difficult of prisoners. It hasn’t marred the scenery of Marquette, either; there will only be a narrow window of time to escape such a place, too, seeing as it can snow as late as June and as early as September. (My dad said they almost canceled his weekly golf league yesterday in Marquette as it was only 40 deg. and threatening to snow.)

Could put it on/near the former Newberry state hospital facility as well, way out in the middle of nowhere, nothing but peat bogs, forest and prairie for miles and miles. Would merely restore the size of the facility which used to be there; part of it is already used for corrections.

By: phred

phred — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:18:57 +0000

It would be hard for the UP (or WI for that matter) to be anything but beautiful, even with a supermax ; )

By: freepatriot

freepatriot — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:14:21 +0000

the mayor of Hardin Montana says “send them here” (Ron Addams ???)

a guy named Greg Smith appeared on Olberman from “Two Rivers Detention Center”, a 464 bed prison that is empty, and ready to use

F T R

By: emptywheel

emptywheel — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:14:12 +0000

Nuh uh. I’m just hoping it stays beautiful up there, with all the high security and whatnot.

By: phred

phred — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:01:47 +0000

EW, you and I both know that Michigan sending anyone to the UP is the equivalent of sending someone to Siberia. Or worse, Wisconsin ; )

By: Leen

Leen — Thu, 21 May 2009 02:00:20 +0000

Phillipe Sands ask this question why does Cheney get so much ‘air” time?

Heard this announced on the MSM tonight that when Obama and Cheney speak tomorrow there will be a split screen. What the fuck is up with that?

Why is Cable TV airing Cheney’s speech opposite of President Obama’s?
http://crooksandliars.com/john.....peech-oppo

By: Leen

Leen — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:50:43 +0000

DELAYING THE DAY OF RECKONING
this interview is well worth the listening
JANE MAYER: Yeah, I mean, he has a—you know, it depends who you talk to—a mixed reputation. Some people think he’s fantastic. I think what happened was, he changed his view on some of these things. And so, after Abu Ghraib, everybody sort of pulled back from using really abusive tactics in Iraq, as they had used before the pictures of Abu Ghraib came out. And McChrystal, though, was overseeing Special Forces. And a lot of very bad things happened in the hands of the Special Forces in Iraq in around 2003, during the insurgency. People were just rounded up and subjected to awful abuse. And it’s been described; I describe it in my book. It upset some very good officers who tried to stop it. And so, you know, there’s a lot to hide.

And I think the problem for Obama here is, by not opening up the worst stuff from the Bush years, he may be in danger of becoming part of a cover-up. And he really—I don’t think he really wants to be in that position politically. At the same time, I understand—I’ve talked to people in the White House. They do not want to be distracted by this forever. They’ve got a very positive agenda that they want to push forward. They see this as Bush’s problems. They don’t want to be tied up in it forever.

AMY GOODMAN: Or they’re tying themselves in it forever.

JANE MAYER: You know, they really don’t want—they have inherited this mess. So I have a certain amount of sympathy for them, in that they want this to go away.

AMY GOODMAN: Philippe Sands, do you have the same sympathy?

PHILIPPE SANDS: It’s not going to go away. I mean, history tells you, in Chile, in Argentina, in other parts of the world—

AMY GOODMAN: You worked on the Augusto Pinochet case.

PHILIPPE SANDS: —these cases do not go away. That’s what history teaches you. You can’t bury your head in the sand and hope that you will draw a line and no one will talk about it anymore. It will go on and on.

And my fear with these photographs is that they are taking steps which will inevitably delay the day of reckoning. It’s the same thing in relation to investigations. What’s significant about these photographs—and I think this has not been fully appreciated—

AMY GOODMAN: And we’re talking about—they’re talking abo

By: DWBartoo

DWBartoo — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:44:56 +0000

I agree, freep, totally.

I recently read part of a judge’s report on prisons in Texas, of all places.

Absolutely appalling.

(And if torture is ‘okay’ for foreigners, doubtless some, in what used to be called ‘human development’, will likely soon see the ‘need’ of a general domestic ‘application’. Of course ‘it’ will have to be ‘applied’ before those being ‘ministered to’ actually go to prison, so as not to confuse ‘it’ with ‘punishment’.)