Posted on 11/16/2009 5:06:45 PM PST by Libloather
Ill. town would rather get Gitmo prisoners
By Deanna Bellandi, Associated Press Writer – 42 mins ago
THOMSON, Ill. – Some folks in this dying Mississippi River town would rather take their chances with suspected terrorists in their backyard than watch their neighbors continue to move away in despair over the lack of jobs.
**SNIP**
"This town is slowly but surely dying off, and I mean that literally because the people that are retired are dying off and there's no young people coming back in to take their place. There's nothing here to draw them," said Richard Groharing, a 68-year-old retired Florida corrections officer who was born in Thomson, a farming community about 150 miles west of Chicago.
The prison was built in 2001 with the promise of thousands of jobs. But because of state budget problems, it has been largely vacant since its completion. It has 1,600 cells, but only about 200 minimum-security inmates are held there, and there are only 82 staff members, according to the state.
The Obama administration wants to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer some terrorism suspects to the U.S. for trial. On Monday, federal officials were at the Thomson prison to inspect it and meet with state and local authorities.
While Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin, both Democrats, welcomed the possibility of locking up Guantanamo detainees at Thomson, several other Illinois lawmakers objected, warning that it would make the Chicago area a terrorist target.
But some folks who live in the shadow of the prison don't buy that.
If Chicago is a target, they say, it's because it is a big city, not because detainees are held elsewhere in Illinois.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
New job - making sure terrorists don't make it off the bus.
Wake me up when someone comes up with a reason that would be so bad... Might be just the ticket to shake up the foundations of "Chicago Politics".
But I am at a loss as to why a town would actually want terrorists... I understand desperation for jobs. But it sounds to me like a town that would be better off just dying...
Then move the town to Cuba and be done with it.
What could possibly go wrong right here, in bucolic central Illinois?
The terrorists may actually want to stay at Gitmo. There’s no sandy beaches in Thomson. No tropical breezes off the Mississippi River. And probably no Lemon Chicken on the menu. This is torture!
By the way, Pat Quinn and Dick Durbin can take a long walk off a short pier.
We in SC don’t want these homo erectus scum within our borders and are more than happy to lose this contest to IL.
I wouldn’t count on those jobs. The locals may want to talk to the folks in Standish Michigan about all the jobs that would supposedly be created.
Mr. niteowl77
Tell 'em that there's only three clear cable channels during any seven inch snow storm and they'll be BEGGING for Gitmo.
Imagine the thousands of jihadis who will move there to be close to their imprisoned brethren.
“We in SC don’t want these homo erectus scum within our borders and are more than happy to lose this contest to IL.”
Ditto for VA. Better those vermin go to the state that force-fed us 0bama.
The place is not at all prepared to deal with a suicide truck bomb intending free the inmates out in the exercise yard. Even though it is a nearly new facility, millions of $ will need to be spent to upgrade the place for the greatly increased outside threat.
Why does it require 3,000 employees? 1,000 per shift = giant sucking sound of taxpayer dollars inhaled.
Save a dying town? The prison won’t save Thomsen. It’s too close to much larger communities that would provide the bulk of the potential employees, who will continue to use the shopping centers in those communities.
True, what could happen there, in a town vulnerable to a massacre by scores of well-placed, armed-to-the-teeth jihadis over a few hours in a night? Of course, it would never happen... especially with all the restrictions the current administration is placing on terror activity. The muslims haven't a chance.
“millions of $ will need to be spent to upgrade the place for the greatly increased outside threat.”
Watch for many hundreds of application from Chicago-area muslims for guard positions at the prison. Perfect bribe opportunities for the “guests.”
“Watch for many hundreds of application from Chicago-area muslims for guard positions at the prison”
And also watch for a surge in purchases of vacant properties in the area as well. Perfect opportunity for terror training grounds. And because the country seems to be in a state abject submission to muslim wishes, nothing will stop them.
I live near the Thomson prison. It is located in Carroll County, Il. Which is in the northwestern part of the state about 25 miles south of Wisconsin and bordered on the west by the Mississippi River.
The short version history of the area in economic terms is we had a federal facility (bomb manufacturing testing, and storage etc.) which hired over ten thousand people in it’s hey day. This base was shut down, I believe around the year 2000, but it had dwindled down employment wise to under two thousand by then.
This left the county with a huge hole economically. We have had to consolidate school districts and being a rural area in a democrat state is no fun. We are ignored by Springfield pretty much and most folks realize that it will not matter what we think in determining what they do with the prison. We have been actively pursuing opening of the prison for years with little to nothing to show for the effort.
The prison is a state of the art, maximum security facility. I have toured the prison with state reps and senators trying to bring more awareness to those in Springfield. The prison is the second most costly facility built in Illinois history at a whopping 160 million dollars and the taxpayers have been paying a few million per year for years to keep up on minimal maintenance of the facility. It had begun a very limited opening housing a few prisoners (a small fraction of what it is designed to hold) with a few dozen employees to watch over things.
The local economy is mostly agricultural and the population is about 16,000 although it has been shrinking for years. It is an absolutely beautiful part of the state with hills, forests, rivers and limestone bluffs jutting up hundreds of feet in the sky. On average the people are not sophisticated, but very very good people. Very little racial prejudice, very little rude behavior. It is a place where it can take you over a half hour to drive three miles to town because of having to stop and chat with your neighbors on the way.
These good people deserve better than what our government is proposing, but like I stated earlier...we really will not have any say in the matter. That article is simply for helping out the democrats in justifying the decision.
I have spoken to a couple of local leaders today about this and we agreed that the 3,000 jobs creation and 1 billion dollars into the economy is pure fiction. If they use the facility to house federal prisoners other than terrorists as well to it’s full capacity we hope to get around 1,100 jobs here. But, one has to consider that we only have about 9,000 jobs or so (I haven’t checked in a while so it is give or take a thousand on that figure). Personally, while I am against bringing the terrorists into the US federal court system or into the US itself, if it is going to happen I think we are as good as any other place. We would probably be a very low target. I don’t believe that the terrorists would try to break their brethren out of the prison, it is literally like a fort. I think that they would more likely do harm to Chicago...a city made almost entirely of democrats and home to Obama...the little dictator.
So, like I said...while I am against the move to bring them to the US in general terms...I am for them coming here for the economic pump we will get.
BTW, most folks around here have guns...and we are a Mecca for bikers in warm weather weekends.
It is a delicious irony, is it not, that Obama will deliver dangerous enemies to his “home state?” One must wonder what he does to states he doesn’t like.
I guess this is Chicago’s consolation prize for not getting the Olympics....
hh
Hopenchange.
Anyone who would willingly lock themselves in with criminals and terrorists is not exactly Ivy League college material.
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