The Blog

What a Difference Accountability Makes

11:41 AM, May 14, 2009 • By MICHAEL GOLDFARB
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Our Democratic Congress moves to attach restrictions to funding for the closure of Gitmo:

None of the [$50 million] could be spent until 30 days after Defense Secretary Robert Gates has provided a detailed plan for where the funds will go, according to a summary provided by a congressional source late Wednesday.

The bill would also stipulate that the money "can only be used to relocate prisoners to locations outside of the United States, and only if the Secretary has certified that prisoners transferred to other nations will remain in that nation?s custody as long as they remain a threat to the United States."

As for the 30 million dollars Obama sought for the Justice Department, the summary says, "no funds are provided in this Title to transfer, relocate, or incarcerate Guantanamo Bay detainees to or within the United States."

It's not so much that the adults are back in charge, but that the Democrats are suddenly starting to act like adults. Democrats still want to close Gitmo, but now they also have to figure out what comes next. They want to give terrorists due process, but suddenly they realize that isn't always possible. And they want transparency, but not at the cost of inflaming anti-Americanism. Democrats have become accountable, and as a result they're becoming progressively more responsible -- and less progressive.

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