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For President Obama, the day of reckoning for his Guantanamo decision is at hand
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It's started…
The inevitable, and embarrassing walk-back from Obama's impetuous decision to close Guantanamo by next January has begun. After having been dealt a stinging rebuke by members of his own party in the Senate who, in accord with the decision of Democratic leaders in the House, made it clear that no appropriations would be forthcoming for closing the detention facility, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was forced yesterday to admit the obvious in his daily press briefing: closing the prison was a "hasty decision."
Gibbs is simply paving the way for another one of President Obama's many flip-flops. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put the final nail in Obama's coffin on this issue when he proclaimed that he would not countenance terrorists on American soil. When leaders from your own party issue these kinds of unequivocal statements about the perils of your previously stated policy, you are in political trouble.
For many conservatives, watching Obama squirm on this issue is an exquisite moment to savor. For, the Guantanamo imbroglio is a situation wholly of Obama's own making. During the campaign, Obama relentlessly and shamelessly demagogued the Guantanamo issue, much to the delight of his party's rabid left wing. He made it a central showpiece during his recent trip to Europe insuring the adulation of the throngs of cheering and enthusiastic crowds. Yet, for all his serial apologizing overseas for the supposed ills of the nation he now leads, what did he receive in return from the Europeans? The answer is next to nothing.
In short, the ensuing scorn and disapprobation on the part of his party's left wing, as well as that of the "international community" that will result from his reversal on Guantanamo, will be richly deserved.
As Karl Rove notes in today's Wall Street Journal, campaigning and governing are two separate and distinct tasks:
Making adjustments in office is one thing. Constantly governing in direct opposition to what you said as a candidate is something else…
He ran hard to the left on national security to win the nomination, only to discover the campaign commitments he made were shallow and at odds with America's security interests.
Mr. Obama ran hard to the center on economic issues to win the general election. He has since discovered his campaign commitments were obstacles to ramming through the most ideologically liberal economic agenda since the Great Society.
Obama's supporters can count on additional flip-flops in the future, but for the moment, the abrupt and stunning about-face on Guantanamo is sure to induce whiplash in many of his true believers. To add insult to injury for the aspirations of the left, Obama's revisiting the idea of military tribunals, his decision not to release photographs of alleged detainee abuse, and his military strategy in both Iraq and Afghanistan sure looks an awful lot like a continuation of the policies of the loathsome Bush Administration.
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