New York City Major Michael Bloomberg says get the terror trials out of New York! Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder thought it would be a good idea to take the terrorists who planned the attacks of 9/11 out of military courts and give them the privilege of a civilian trial, with all the accoutrements of an American citizen on trial for a crime. At first a lot of high-profile people voiced support for the plan, even if the support was a tad tepid. But now that Obama’s political cache is dropping faster than the Waterford crystal ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve, the rat are jumping ship and support for having the terror trials in New York City is pretty much nil.
Its just been one thing after the other for this President. He can’t seem to win for losing. There was that embarrassing attempt to get the Olympics for his adopted hometown of Chicago. The Olympic committee not only said now, they said ‘hell no’ and put Chicago dead last on their list. Then there was Obama’s trip to Copenhagen to boost support for the Global Warming summit there. That didn’t work out so well for him. Of course, there was the loss of democrats in elections in Virginia and New Jersey and the uber-loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat to a Republican. And that’s just the beginning. He couldn’t even win a battle with fans of the sci-fi television series LOST. He was going to have his State of the Union address on the night that Lost was scheduled to premier its final season. After an outcry from fans, Obama changed the date of his SOTU speech to pacify the outraged fans. That is truly pathetic.
Now, after all the blustering and carrying-on, what little verbal support he had for criminalizing the terrorists who attacked the United States in an act of war has dwindled. Even some of the most liberal politicians are voicing second thoughts about it. Charles Schumer, Senator from New York, who once supported having the trials in the city, now says its not such a good idea. So does Diane Feinstein, Senator from California. In particular, Bloomberg singles out the trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the horrific attacks that killed 3,000 Americans and other nationals. In particular, New York’s major and other New York public figures have raised concerns about the astronomical cost and security problems these trials would be to the citizens of New York.
It seems that whenever Obama is faced with a controversy or fight, he immediately backs down. This is no different. His administration has signaled they are willing to consider moving the trials out of New York City due to mounting public pressure to do so.
So what is the Obama Administration to do? If they act on what they say they truly believe to be the right thing to do, they will go ahead with their plans to try the admitted terrorists in Lower Manhattan, within what would have been the shadow of the World Trade Center, if the terrorists had not knocked them down. Will they move the trials to another city somewhere within the United States? I can’t see that happening. No other city is going to want Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his cohorts in their jurisdiction either. They’ll have the same complaints, cost and security.
It seems that the only alternative will be for Obama to undo what he did when he took the 9/11 terrorists out of the military tribunal system. He will have to put them back into it and have them placed on trial before a military commission in Guantanamo Bay or some other military base. Although, I think it will have to be Gitmo. No one wants them on US soil other than Obama and Eric Holder. To put them back into the military system and have them tried as enemy combatants, as was happening before Obama interfered, will mean they will have to start over from the beginning of the process and have all of their cases re-opened. Prolonging the whole process.
Obama’s Administration has not been able to implement any of the numerous changes they have attempted. With a super majority in both Houses, he should have been able to do whatever he wanted. Any opposition would have been ineffective as there was a filibuster proof majority in both the House and the Senate. Even with that, it has been a failure. The disorganization and leadership vacuum has been staggering. The edges have frayed and the center isn’t holding.
You can watch a video below about Bloomberg’s request to move the terror trials out of New York.
Bloomberg, Terror Trials Out of New York – Video
