Obama's broken promise

Political scientists tell us we should listen up, because politicians usually do keep their promises.

But sometimes they don't. Reuters is reporting that the Obama administration is giving up on the President's promise to close the Guantanamo prison before he leaves office.

The Obama administration is not pursuing the use of an executive order to shutter the Guantanamo Bay military prison after officials concluded that it would not be a viable strategy, sources familiar with the deliberations said.

The conclusion, reached by administration officials, narrows the already slim chances that President Barack Obama can fulfill his pledge to close the notorious offshore prison before leaving office in January.

Obama is eager to fulfill his 2008 campaign pledge to close the prison and could still choose to use his commander-in-chief powers, but the option is not being actively pursued, the sources said. ... "It was just deemed too difficult to get through all of the hurdles that they would need to get through, and the level of support they were likely to receive on it was thought to be too low to generate such controversy, particularly at a sensitive (time) in an election cycle," the source said.

Sign observed in a San Francisco window.

Sometimes, as in a speech responding to Donald Trump's bullshit after the Orlando massacre, the Prez sounds like the last person remaining who truly believes this country stands for pluralism, liberty, justice and the rule of law rather than ignorance and violence. Watching him, you can believe that.

But when it comes to closing this symbol of imperial overreach, the last true believer is apparently giving up.

The best the administration can do, sources say, will be to reduce the numbers still locked up in our Cuban gulag.

Will the next President fill the place up again?