Earlier we reported on President Obama's decision to move the Guantanamo detainees to Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois.

Also today, a senior administration official told the Chicago Tribune and others on a conference call the administration plans to conduct the military tribunals of the detainees at that facility.

So those going to Thomson will be those tried by military commissions -- and those who, like at Gitmo, are being held indefinitely without charges or trials. (The others will be released to their home or other countries.)

Is this any more than a change in zip code? The ACLU has more on Gitmo, Illinois.

Bumped: This is the month that many bloggers balance the ledger sheet and reassess their time commitment to blogging. There's no question blogging is a financial drain -- time that could be spent making real money at our day jobs. Whether blogging is an act of love or a means of keeping one's sanity in these uncertain times, we could all use a little boost.

For TalkLeft fans, we do have a line of gifts that bear our message. My favorites: The no-snitch teddy bear, the people-powered politics mousepad and of course, the 4th Amendment subway tote. [More...]

I've vented my spleen so much, there is no bile left. Don't worry about a thing, every little thing is gonna be allright:

This is an Open Thread.

Howard Dean is exhorting Democrats to kill the bill because it doesn't have a Medicare buy-in proposal. Sigh. [. . ] In the end, this isn't about them, and though their states and their pet issues might benefit if they tried to make it about them, the process, and thus the result, would be endangered.

What an a**hole. Ezra can not imagine that Howard Dean just might effin' disagree with him on thinking passing this bill is good policy. Listen to your Village Wonk Blogger Very Serious People and just STFU. He's no better than Tom Friedman.

Speaking for me only

. . . and go to reconciliation. If it can be done, I'm all for it. I think it is as likely as Wyden/Bennett or single payer at this point.

We live in the world we live in and have to make choices based on that. So like Atrios, I am not sure if I support a Yes vote on the Lieberman Bill. Still have to go through the Ben Nelson negotiations first.

One thing for sure, it is nothing to cheer about. Certainly not the "most progressive legislation since LBJ." That honor goes to Bill Clinton's 1993 Tax Act. (Good place to make this point - all that money for the 30 million new insured in 2014? It depends on funding by the Congresses of 2013-2014, 2015-2016, and so on.)

Speaking for me only

Josh Marshall writes:

The best argument I've heard from people who say the emerging bill isn't just insufficient but just bad law is this: If you're going to force people to buy coverage (mandates), you need to provide them an alternative to buying private sector health insurance to prevent them from getting gouged by the insurance companies. In the abstract that makes a lot of sense. And it even makes a decent amount of sense in the non-abstract, real world. [. . .] My point though is that if you are worried about mandates now (and I think that's a very legitimate worry) you should have been worried about them with a Public Option too.

(Emphasis supplied.) Heh. Apparently Josh missed that whole months long debate. Pretty sure I posted on it a few times. Pretty sure I saw other people do so too. But hey, we're not Very Serious People so . ..

Speaking for me only

This Greg Sargent post explains precisely why I am trying hard to coin the new phrase "Village Bloggers" --

There’s a debate raging in the blogosphere about whether the Senate bill has been so watered down that it’s time to try to kill it, and one thing that’s interesting is how cleanly it breaks down as a disagreement between operatives and wonks. The bloggers who are focused on political organizing and pulling Dems to the left mostly seem to want to kill the bill, while the wonkier types want to salvage it because they think it contains real reform and can act as a foundation for further achievements.

[. . .] In the latter camp are wunder-wonk types like Ezra Klein, Jonathan Cohn, and Nate Silver.

(Emphasis supplied.) You see. The new Very Serious People. Our very own Tom Friedmans. BTW, NATE SILVER is now a health care "wonk"?!? Sheesh. And why no Kevin Drum or Matt Yglesias? I wonder if feelings have been hurt.

Speaking for me only

Apparently, the only person who was wrong about Obama was me, judging from this Balloon Juice thread. I knew that his policy positions were like Hillary Clinton's (or any mainstream Dem, as Kos puts it). But I thought, despite my disagreements with his political style, that the historic opportunity he was presented coupled with his immense political talent would lead him to become our FDR (who did not change politics, he changed how we think about government, much more important.) I wrote that a lot here, especially after the financial meltdown in September 2008.

It seems pretty clear that I was wrong. Apparently, I was the only one. Everyone else knew what they were getting -- small bore, incrementalist, Beltway centrism. Of course this is "better than Bush." But I thought we would get something bigger and better. Yes, I am pretty darn disappointed.

Speaking for me only

Donald Gates was convicted of rape and murder in 1981. After 28 years, DNA testing has exonerated him. A judge ordered him released today. Formal hearings to clear Gates will follow. The judge also criticized the Government for relying on an FBI analyst whose findings contributed to Gates' conviction:

Senior Judge Fred B. Ugast angrily criticized government officials who relied heavily on the testimony of an FBI analyst during Gates's trial. The analyst incorrectly linked Gates to two hairs from an African American male, found on the body of white college student Catherine Schilling, who was slain in 1981.

That FBI analyst, Michael P. Malone, was discredited in a 1997 review by the Justice Department along with 13 other analysts for making false reports and inaccurate tests.

What is the 58 year old getting?

He'll be given a bus ticket to Ohio, where he's from, winter clothes and $75.

I'm off to court for the afternoon. BTD has many posts up this morning on health care and politics, just scroll down for them.

Via the ACLU: The 9th Circuit held oral argument today in the Boeing-Jeppeson Ghost Air/states secret case.

"To this day, not a single victim of the Bush administration's torture policies has had his day in court. Across the board, the administration is taking positions that deny torture victims any chance for justice," said ACLU staff attorney Ben Wizner. "It is no longer credible to claim that extraordinary rendition is a state secret. This case should be allowed to move forward without further delay."

The ACLU also testified before Congress today, warning that the war on terror must not infringe on constitutionally protected liberties.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Today is Bill of Rights day. Tim Lynch at Cato provides a brief tour around the essential provisions and notes:

while we ought to be alarmed by the various ways in which the government is attempting to go under, over, and around our Bill of Rights, the battle will never be “won.” The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

President Obama will announce today that the Guantanamo detainees will be moved to Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois. (Background here.)

That's a good thing. As the Constitution Project reminds us though, the move must not be used as an excuse for indefinite definitions without charges.

“There is broad bipartisan support for the use of federal prisons to hold Guantanamo detainees who are facing charges or have been convicted in federal court,” said Virginia Sloan, president of the Constitution Project. “Former members of Congress and U.S. Attorneys from Illinois, a former federal judge and influential conservatives all agree that U.S. prisons have the proven track record to successfully hold these men and protect the surrounding communities.

But that support quickly evaporates if the administration’s plan is to hold suspected terrorists under a ‘prolonged detention’ policy that runs counter to our most basic constitutional principles.”

Here is a bi-partisan declaration supporting the trial of Gitmo detainees in federal court and opposing indefinite detention without charges. [Update below..]