The Political Left – Dissed By Dems

This one I did not see coming at all. The Democrats in Congress have blocked all funding to close the terrorist detention facility at Guantánamo Bay.

In an abrupt shift, Senate Democratic leaders said on Tuesday that they would not provide the $80 million that President Obama requested to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Mr. Obama, who on Thursday is scheduled to outline his plans for the 240 detainees still held in the prison, has faced growing pressure from lawmakers, particularly Republicans, to find a solution that does not involve moving the prisoners to the United States.

While Democrats generally have been supportive of Mr. Obama’s plan to close the detention center by Jan. 22, 2010, lawmakers have not stepped forward to offer to accept detainees in their home states or districts. When the tiny town of Hardin, Mont., offered to put the terrorism suspects in the town’s empty jail, both Montana senators and its Congressional representative quickly voiced strong opposition.

So, after all the posturing worrying about the “rights” of the terrorists, it suddenly occurs to the Democrats that they might actually have to face the prospect of these illegal combatants running loose in the US.

Well, duh.

Bonus here is that the left finds out that polls matter more to their chosen party than the principles of the left do. Because the issue of importing these detainees into the US must have polled very, very badly indeed for the Democrats to have shifted this hard, this fast, on this issue.

Well, double duh. 

Welcome to the sudden realization that Bush just might have made the right call on these illegal combatants – which is what the Geneva Conventions call them.

Hsu’s Sorry Now?

Closing the loop on a story from last year. Norman Hsu, the former Hillary Clinton/Democratic party fundraiser, was convicted today on Federal charges of violating election law. It took the jury an hour to reach a verdict.

Norman Hsu — a fundraiser for top Democrats, including Hillary Rodham Clinton — was convicted this morning in New York of violating federal campaign finance laws.

The federal jury began deliberating late Monday afternoon and returned a guilty verdict on all counts after an hour of deliberation this morning, it was announced. Sentencing for the former financier and fugitive, who is already serving time in connection with California fraud charges, was set for Aug. 19.

The federal trial began May 12, just days after Hsu pleaded guilty to 10 counts of wire and mail fraud, admitting he had cheated investors of at least $20 million in a Ponzi scheme.

The current campaign violation charges accuse Hsu of using clients’ names as fake donors to Democrats’ campaigns to avoid federal rules that limit contributions to candidates.

The question is, did all of the money Hsu gave to Democrats (especially Clinton) get refunded/returned/donated to charity?  We will probably never get a complete accounting of that. Unless Hsu bargains for a lighter sentence by naming some names.

Bet there are still some political folks nervous about just that.