Magic Frank channels the mystic powers of fear mongering

by: Eric B.

Fri Oct 16, 2009 at 10:01:52 AM EDT

Magic Frank says Michigan deserves answers on Gitmo North, which is really a very coy way of saying that what Michigan needs is a good dose of rightwing fear mongering.

Some Standish residents began raising those concerns and disputing claims of benefits this week at a pair of town hall-style meetings in Rochester Hills and Okemos.

Former Arenac County Commissioner Kelly Kimball cited a loss of the small-town lifestyle that Standish enjoys.

Restaurant owner Dave Munson warned of a loss of tourism if terrorists are housed there.

...snip...

While Standish officials like City Manager Mike Moran downplay any potential danger, (some guy named) Leitner (who no one would have ever heard of except that he says things that conform to the prejudices of Magic Frank and Peter Hoekstra) warns that "these are not thugs, they are the rock stars of international terrorism."

Leitner says the Gitmo detainees include terrorist trainers, bomb makers, Osama Bin Laden's ex-bodyguard and would-be suicide bombers. But he's just as concerned about their colleagues on the outside.

"They target for fear and the biggest impact," he said, citing the 2004 Beslan school massacre by Chechen terrorists in Russia -- where 334 hostages, including 186 children, were killed -- as a worst-case scenario Michigan could face.

"Standish would become radioactive to the rest of the world," Leitner warned.

How do we get from Gitmo to Chechnya? We get there because in order for Pistol Pete and Magic Frank to win the day, they have to rely on scaring you into believing that terrorists are more likely to blow up an American school if we incarcerate terrorist suspects on the mainland U.S. rather than on the island gulag where we're currently holding them. Naturally, there is no evidence given that this is the case, only blind assertion ... which is really, frankly all we ever get out of this.

I myself am somewhat ambivalent on Gitmo North as a tool for economic recovery, and am dubious about the job creation potential, but I do think that keeping people locked up permanently on an island gulag without prospect of trial somewhat makes us look silly when we complain about other countries committing human rights abuses. It makes no difference to me where we stick these people. We could put them all in the Super Max prison in Colorado where we're already holding the real rock stars of terrorism -- various bombers of the Twin Towers in 1993, masterminds of the 9/11 attacks and embassy bombings and other attacks that really took place and really killed real people. Or, the state of Michigan could man up, apply a little courage to basic values this country claims to cherish, and stop listening to cowards.