The Congress weighs in

The Democratic Congress has just weighed in on two important issues: President Obama's commitment to close down the terrorist detention center in Guantanamo, and his soon-to-be-unveiled peace plan for the Mideast conflict.

-- By a vote of 90-6, the Senate refused to provide any funds to close the detention center at Guantanamo, matching a similar move by the House last week. The Senate had just heard FBI Director Robert Mueller state that bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States could be risky, even if they were kept in maximum-security prisons. The Congress wants to see the whole plan up-front before they provide any funding for it.

-- Some 250 Congressmen, including 76 Senators, signed a letter stating that “that peace cannot come while terrorism continues to wrack Israel.” Maybe, among other things, they had seen the news reports about the Palestinian ambassador to Lebanon gloating that any two-state solution would lead to the demise of Israel.

Obama is discovering that setting deadlines can be tricky. He promised that the Guantanamo center would close within a year; his Mideast initiative is set to be announced in his June 4 speech to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt. He's also learning the limits of the presidential aura. (Thanks to Jihad Watch and MEMRI.)