January 11, 2020, Age of Majority
It seems fitting that my first post of the new decade will be GTMO related. For those who still care (which I hope is you), today marks 18 years since the opening of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, still home to forty men (some of whom were captured as boys). All Muslim. All foreign nationals. As usual, there will be a protest across the street from the White House. God willing, I will be there, as I have for the past several years. Andy will be there; hopefully, the Stately DogMobile will do the job along the various turnpikes, parkways, etc.
In an age of Donald Trump, where thousands of children are being ripped away from their parents often after being thrown in cages for months or years, with immigrant bashing, and assorted hate crimes up off the chart (especially anti-Semitism), with income/wealth inequality soaring, with environmental, health and safety regulations trashed, etc., etc., why is Guantanamo still important? Because it remains "the grand daddy of them all": the symbol of detached power. If we can do it to these men, we can do it to you, or to me, or to anyone.
Again, God willing ("Inshallah"), by this time next year, I will have published something like "Guantanamo at 18," giving it my particular treatment (akin to "Donald J. Putin on American Exceptionalism"). And maybe we will all understand just how important this is.
For those able to join us, see you at the White House! For everyone else, happy January 11th.