Many irresponsible liberal bloggers are now going around saying that congressional Democrats have no balls at all. Not true. They do have balls. You just need an electron microscope to see them.

Republicans have been jumping up and down in well-simulated apoplexy as they portray President Obama‘s decision to close Guantanamo as constituting a grave threat to national security. Although the American people don’t seem to care diddlysquat about these childish fulminations (or pretty much anything else Republicans say or do these days), Republicans are not really aiming to persuade the American public. All they ever hope to do is frighten congressional Democrats. And it never fails to work.

So Democrats, once again, have backed off from a sensible and necessary policy out of utterly misplaced fear that the American people will buy into Republican spin.

President Barack Obama’s allies in the Senate will not provide funds to close the Guantanamo Bay prison until the administration comes up with a satisfactory plan for transferring the detainees held there, top Democrats said Tuesday.

And in a further break with Obama, the Senate’s top Democrat said he opposes transferring any Guantanamo prisoners to the United States for their trials or to serve their sentences. …

“I can’t make it any more clear,” Reid said. “We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States.”
[...]
House Democrats also dropped funding to close Guantanamo when producing their version of the war funding bill, which easily passed last week.

*** Update, 4:30 pm ***

Harry Reid is a much bigger horse’s ass than even the quote above suggests. Here’s a more extended excerpt from the press conference from which that quote was taken:

REID: I think there’s a general feeling, as I’ve already said, that the American people, and certainly the Senate, overwhelmingly doesn’t want terrorists to be released in the United States. And I think we’re going to stick with that.

QUESTION: What about in imprisoned in the United States?

REID: If you’re…

(CROSSTALK)

REID: If people are — if terrorists are released in the United States, part of what we don’t want is them be put in prisons in the United States. We don’t want them around the United States.
[...]
REID: I’m saying that the United States Senate, Democrats and Republicans, do not want terrorists to be released in the United States. That’s very clear.

QUESTION: No one’s talking about releasing them. We’re talking about putting them in prison somewhere in the United States.

REID: Can’t put them in prison unless you release them.

QUESTION: Sir, are you going to clarify that a little bit? I mean (OFF-MIKE).

REID: I can’t — I can’t — I can’t make it any more clear than the statement I have given to you. We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States. I think the majority — I speak for the majority of the Senate.