Obama and Gitmo.

In June, 2008, during the height of the Presidential campaign, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case Boumediene v. Bush, declaring that the detainees at the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba have the right of habeas corpus and cannot be detained indefinitely, without being charged.

I noted in a post at the time [What's Wrong with Habeas Corpus?] that my candidate of choice, pro-life Libertarian, Bob Barr, was in agreement with the Supreme Court decision. Barr stated,

"The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the importance of the ancient writ of habeas corpus, one of the bedrock guarantees of American liberty."

The Supreme Court decision came before the 2008 Democratic convention - I can't recalled how then candidate Hillary Clinton reacted to the ruling, but I remember that Barack Obama was in agreement with the majority on the Court.

This is the only time that Obama and I have agreed on anything. His view on Guantanamo was, however, not enough to get my vote. His views on abortion completely eliminate him from any consideration.

After he was elected, I expected him to take action on the detainees.....I actually thought he would close Guantanamo. Now, nearly three years after Boumediene v. Bush, Obama hasn’t fulfilled his promise to close the facility. The Washington Post article linked to above states, "Only a small fraction of detainees can be prosecuted, President Obama has been told. In many cases, court-worthy evidence is lacking."

"Court-worthy evidence is lacking" and we continue to hold the prisoners.

In the cartoon above (snatched from arabamericannews.com) we see Obama opening the door for Human Rights. A more accurate and up to date cartoon would show him closing the door.