Okay, I was not actually talking with the President. We were in the same room together for about 45 minutes, but it was a really big room and there were about a thousand people between us. So, we did not get a chance to discuss much in the way of law, public policy, philosophy, literature, basketball, or favorite places to eat in D.C.
But being there, so close to President Obama, I couldn't help but run through in my head what I might say to him should I get the chance, and while I am not one of those people who imagined that we were going to fix everything right away, I think one of the first things I would have had to ask President Obama is why haven't we closed Guantanamo?
There are still 198 detainees at Guantanamo. The Supreme Court has rejected every Executive Branch claim that this is a territory beyond the rule of law, and yet here we are holding people without charging them or trying them. There have been only two Millitary Commission trials, and yet (despite an initial move in the right direction) the adminstration is interested in pursuing additional Millitary Commission trials rather than regular criminal trials, which have been used to convict hundreds of terrorists.
And Guantanamo has cost taxpayers approximately $780 million, and it is far from clear that this money has bought us anything worth having.
My frustration with the last adminstration was rooted in the fear that many of the top leaders did not seem to have any idea how wrong they were, but President Obama knows that Guantanamo is wrong. He said so during his campaign, and he promised to begin the process of closing Guantanamo on his first day in office. I hope that is a promise he completes soon.