Durbin: Club Gitmo Detainees in Illinois 'A Dream Come True'

We realize Illinois Senator Dick Durbin has to somehow spin this as a positive for his state, but isn't it just a wee bit of a stretch to call importing hundreds of terrorists into your state as a dream come true? Somehow I suspect a lot of folks in Illinois think it's a nightmare.

An Illinois prison that may house terrorism suspects now at Guantanamo will be inspected by a federal team today, a day after Gov. Quinn and Sen. Dick Durbin stumped for the plan -- calling it "a dream come true."

Quinn and Durbin, who have been working quietly with the White House on the proposal to sell the nearly vacant Thomson Correctional Center to the federal government, held news conferences in Chicago, Moline and Rockford. They argued that a revived Thomson could bring in $1 billion in development and up to 3,000 jobs to the economically strapped northwest part of the state.

The proposal calls for about 100 Guantanamo detainees to be transferred to the 1,600-inmate prison, with federal prisons accounting for the rest of the population.

The Quinn and Durbin news conferences were coordinated with the White House in advance of the site visit, part of a public relations blitz to sell the public on President Obama's plan to relocate the detainees in the United States. Thomson is one of several sites under consideration. Obama has vowed to close the Cuban prison.

Durbin said opponents -- mainly Republicans -- are "unfortunately sowing the seeds of fear among people, and it's totally wrong.

Yes, sowing the seeds of fear, like calling guards at Club Gitmo Nazis and invoking images of Pol Pot and Soviet gulags.

Remember that, Dick?

Meanwhile, it seems like Obama's "public relations blitz," especially when it comes to holding 9/11 trials in Manhattan, isn't exactly winning over even his most strident supporters.

When you've lost Little Mikey Lupica, it might be time to rethink that public relations blitz.