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They are definitely executive inventions. The problem is that Obama didn’t invent those, he inherited a mess from the last guy. Yes this could have all been avo

They are definitely executive inventions. The problem is that Obama didn’t invent those, he inherited a mess from the last guy. Yes this could have all been avoided by simply not keeping people in Guantanamo. But yes, if Obama couldn’t untangle the least messy part of Bush, he didn’t have much hope of untangling the messier parts of bush, which didn’t happen either. The whole Bush legacy is just one train wreck after another that are still haunting us. I shudder to think what damage Trump could have done if he was as competent in his execution as Bush. We are (mostly) computer scientists, and should realize that reversing something isn’t always feasible with the same amount of energy, or even any amount of energy. Some things are just broken and are going to stay that way (well, the prisoners will eventually age out).

vundercind 3y ago
Yeah, amicable disagreement on some fine points there but bigger picture I’d say we’re not too far apart. Agree that it seems everyone’s decided we’re just gonna wait until they all die. I can’t recall the last time I encountered a story about the “detainees”, even—it’s on nobody’s radar, which, to be fair, there’s been some other stuff going on. Christ, I hope all the ones left are actually-really-bad, what an absolute nightmare if they’re not, and I guess the public will never really find out for sure. For that matter, how depressing must it be to be to work in that prison complex? Guarding prisoners we’ve dragged halfway around the world just to stick in cages, spending way more on each (capture, transportation, indefinite detention) than they’d probably collectively have made in their lives, who’ve already been there for many years, who’ve been forgotten and will never see justice anywhere near the standard we usually expect, just waiting for the poor souls to kick the bucket so we can finish entirely forgetting about them. Oof. Must be demoralizing as hell. Good exchange, thanks for the perspective.

vundercind 3y ago

Yeah, amicable disagreement on some fine points there but bigger picture I’d say we’re not too far apart. Agree that it seems everyone’s decided we’re just gonna wait until they all die. I can’t recall the last time I encountered a story about the “detainees”, even—it’s on nobody’s radar, which, to be fair, there’s been some other stuff going on. Christ, I hope all the ones left are actually-really-bad, what an absolute nightmare if they’re not, and I guess the public will never really find out for sure. For that matter, how depressing must it be to be to work in that prison complex? Guarding prisoners we’ve dragged halfway around the world just to stick in cages, spending way more on each (capture, transportation, indefinite detention) than they’d probably collectively have made in their lives, who’ve already been there for many years, who’ve been forgotten and will never see justice anywhere near the standard we usually expect, just waiting for the poor souls to kick the bucket so we can finish entirely forgetting about them. Oof. Must be demoralizing as hell. Good exchange, thanks for the perspective.