Apparently this is becoming an ongoing monthly feature.^[1] Here’s this month’s. You may recall back around fall 2010, a lot of voting Progressives were passing around links to a site called WhatTheFuckHasObamaDone.com. When I went to the website, some cosmic force decided that this is the first thing the random number generator would throw at me:

And I closed the browser window, because, well, what else can I ask for after that? To be sure, Obama did sign an executive order to close the prison at Guantanamo in January 2009. And with that piece of paper under his belt, Obama went on to keep the prison at Guantanamo open and running for the next year and a half while voting Progressives were marking that one up as a win. Now, in March 2011, after two years of running the prison at Guantanamo, the Hopester’s got this to serve up:

NEW YORK – President Obama today issued an executive order that permits ongoing indefinite detention of Guantánamo detainees while establishing a periodic administrative review process for them. The administration also announced it will lift the ban on bringing new military commissions charges against detainees that don't already have ongoing cases in the substandard system.

The American Civil Liberties Union has long called for Guantánamo to be shut down and opposes the indefinite detention of prisoners there, some of whom have been imprisoned by the U.S. without charge or trial for nine years. The ACLU has also long called for an end to the illegitimate military commissions and for the government to prosecute terrorism suspects in the federal criminal courts.

— ACLU (7 March 2011), President Obama Issues Executive Order Institutionalizing Indefinite Detention

The more things Change….

(Link thanks to Cheryl Cline 2011-03-08.)

1. ^[1]Here’s January 2011; here’s February 2011.↩

• “The Eastern Regions of Libya Are Now Free Regions” Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-02-18). Col. Qaddafi has an eccentric habit of periodically declaring that he has abolished the Libyan government. His subjects suddenly seem interested in taking him up on the idea. Amid reports of severe repression, claims are coming in that the city of Benghazi is now "out of the control of the Gaddafi… (Linked Friday 2011-02-18.)

• And Just Across the Strait from Yemen… Jesse Walker, Jesse Walker: Reason Magazine articles and blog posts. (2011-02-18). The BBC reports: Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Djibouti to call for President Ismael Omar Guelleh to step down. The demonstrators were reportedly monitored closely by security forces in riot gear. Mr Guelleh's family has governed the Red Sea city state since independence from France in… (Linked Friday 2011-02-18.)

• When rape is Your Tax Dollars at Work. Obsidian Wings (2011-02-19). Men in Uniform (Cont’d). (Linked Saturday 2011-02-19.)

• ST(O) : If all stories were written like science fiction stories. www.shrovetuesdayobserved.com (2011-02-19). (Linked Saturday 2011-02-19.)

• the basic problem with the notion of government is displayed in. Captain Capitulation, eye of the storm (2011-02-20). the basic problem with the notion of government is displayed in the "massive show of force." only it can do that. but even worse than that, only it can subject you to the indignity of using your own resources to intimidate and/or shoot you. surely it is occurring to someone this evening in… (Linked Monday 2011-02-21.)