If a thing 'ain’t broke' ….
June 27, 2009

Reference. News Alert
05:28 PM EDT Friday, June 26, 2009

White House Drafts Executive Order to Hold Detainees Indefinitely
Fearing battle with Congress that could stall Guantanamo closure, administration drafts order that would embrace Bush claims that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under laws of war.
. . . On the day Obama took office, 242 men were imprisoned at Guantanamo. In his May speech, the president outlined five strategies the administration would use to deal with them: criminal trials, revamped military tribunals, transfers to other countries, releases and continued detention. (emphasis added). Since the inauguration, 11 detainees have been released or transferred, one prisoner committed suicide[1] and one was moved to New York to face terrorism charges in federal court. (emphasis added). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062603361.html

It seems clear that Obama
Would have been better off leaving well enough alone,
Rather than speaking in haste about intentions
Whose realization was not a conclusion foregone.

But he has been hubristic from the outset
Apparently believing that his words are the gospel--
That, for example, when he says “jump” folks everywhere
Themselves through the air should promptly propel.

How he came to be hubristic is simple enough:
Winning a presidential election with his resume,
He had to conclude, necessarily reflects innate superiority,
Leading naturally to his behaving in a hubristic way.

However, sooner or later he’ll likely discover
That many folks (still) have minds of their own;
And come to realize that jumps at his every command
Can’t be thought of as a conclusion foregone.

And re: Guantamo’s closing he failed to heed
An adage that his effort to do so seems clearly to fit--
One that is timeless in its applicability--
Namely, If a thing ‘ain’t broke’, don’t try to fix it.

______

[1] It has been reported on good authority that this poor fellow
Heard only about the options of being variously tried, released or transferred
And had no inkling of the option of continued detention--
Something it was said he most likely would have preferred.