Vacationers Are Apparently Acceptable, Part II

As I mentioned in my previous posting, various Republican members of Congress are criticizing President Obama's plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Through their remarks, these individuals are creating a perception that the facility is bulging at the seams with terrorists anxious to be released so that they continue the horrors of September 11th. Or those terrorists will be placed into minimum security prisons within the United States with access to all types of weapons. Or, even worse, allowed to freely roam our streets without any sort of supervision. All of those are extremely inaccurate. However, certain Republicans from Kansas (Sen. Samuel Brownback, Sen. Patrick Roberts and Rep. Todd Tiahrt) are contributing to this ridiculous chatter about these "dangerous criminals".

What is amazing about these three politicians from the Midwest is that, while they openly speak out against closing Guantanamo Bay, they seem to forget about the inmates currently incarcerated in their own state. Take a look at the following list and let me know which group you are more scared of:

• Scott Roeder has been charged with first degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault for shooting and killing George Tiller just three days ago. Before he was assassinated during Sunday morning's service at his church, Tiller was the Medical Director of the Women's Health Care Services clinic, which provides abortions to consenting women.
• Previously named "Man of the Year" by a local charity, John Robinson is currently on death row for murdering six women. Nicknamed the "Slave Master", Robinson met some of his victims through the Internet.
• Once the President of the Congregation Council at his church and a Cub Scout leader, Dennis Rader is serving a life sentence for murdering ten people, including four in the same family. The "BTK Killer" received his nickname from his method of binding, torturing and killing his victims.
• Sentenced to five life prison terms, Don Nemechek was convicted in February of 1977 for killing five individuals (including a 2-year-old boy) within a twenty month period.
• Gary Beach was convicted of first degree murder after investigators discovered the bodies of five victims (including his step-nephew) decomposing in his house.

Plus someone should remind the right wing that we are currently and safely imprisoning these domestic terrorists within our borders:

• Terry Nichols, a veteran of the U.S. Army who conspired with Timothy McVeigh in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. Nichols is serving 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for this horrendous event, which claimed the lives of 168 people.
• Eric Rudolph, serving five consecutive life sentences for committing a series of bombings (including during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, GA) which killed two people and more than 150 others.
• Theodore Kaczynski, the "Unabomber", who carried out a campaign of mail bombings which killed three people and injured twenty-three others.
• Richard Reid, convicted on charges of terrorism and serving a life sentence for attempting to destroy a commercial aircraft by detonating explosives hidden in his shoes.