Sen. Orin Hatch: Guantanamo Bay > Illinois

By Staff in News on Feb 3, 2010 8:40PM

At yesterday's Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on the sell of Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government, Sen. Orin Hatch (R-UT) raised the issue of a prison on U.S. Soil as a recruiting tool for al Qaeda. And to make his point, he remarked how much nicer Guantanamo Bay was than Illinois.

"I've been to Guantanamo. It's pretty nice compared to Illinois -- the place in Illinois where they want to put them. It'd be nice and cold in the winter time and... all I can say is that I imagine there'll be a hue and a cry that we're not fair by bringing them here.''

So, Sen. Hatch, you're saying Cuba is nicer than Thomson, Illinois during the winter? Well, you're right. As much as we normally get riled up with our inferiority complex, this time, Hatch is right. But come on, Senator. Illinois in January is the perfect deterrent. Even you admitted, "I think it's easy to see... that no matter what we do, they're going to criticize us." So why not? Prison can be a cold, drafty place, that level of cold that's not dangerous to one's long-term health but the kind of cold that's uncomfortable, that makes you need an extra layer of clothing even if you're just sitting around. Or, better yet, they could do that thing that lots of office buildings do: turn up the heat really high so that you sweat in your extra layers and then you have to go outside for something and all the sweat freezes to your skin and makes you even more uncomfortable. We're just saying...