Emanuel, Graham Hammering Gitmo Deal

And appears no closer to closure than it was 2 years ago

(NEWSER) - Today is a birthday, but probably not one you want to celebrate: Guantanamo Bay is turning 10, an anniversary that will be marked by protests here and abroad. Ten years ago, the first 20 detainees were flown to the detention facility in chains. Several of those 20 remain at Gitmo today, NPR notes. Of the 171 detainees still held at Guantanamo, just 36 will likely be given a military trial. Another 48 will, seemingly, be detained indefinitely; the US lacks a sufficient amount of evidence to try them, but insists they are too dangerous to release. More»

Focus on jobs hit the right note, pundits say

(NEWSER) - President Obama's second State of the Union address probably won't win over many critics from the left or right, but he did an impressive—at times even Reaganesque—job of pitching to the center, pundits say.

• "The point wasn't soaring rhetoric or soothing the nation," notes Joshua Green at the Atlantic . The speech seem designed to recast the president's image "as someone who has finally gotten the message that he should be focused on jobs, jobs, jobs."

When it comes to resettling prisoners, others want US to go first

(NEWSER) - Two years ago yesterday, President Obama pledged to close the prison camps at Guantánamo Bay within one year. So why are they still open? Much of the blame falls on Congress, the Miami Herald reports. Because Congress won’t allow any of the captives—even those considered low-risk—to resettle in the US, other countries are similarly unwilling, the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables reveal. That, coupled with Obama's resurrection of Gitmo military trials , makes it seem unlikely the prison will close any time soon. More»

Move an admission that detention center is here to stay

(NEWSER) - President Obama has given Robert Gates the go-ahead to initiate new military commissions against Guantanamo detainees—something Obama originally banned on the first day of his presidency. Within weeks one or more detainees may face new charges—the Justice Department has already designated some prisoners for military tribunal, including suspected US Cole attack mastermind Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the New York Times reports. More»

There's a lot that both parties agree on in education reform

(NEWSER) - The new Congress is set to update No Child Left Behind, and it’s a chance to get both sides of the aisle behind real change, writes Arne Duncan in the Washington Post . Both parties share similar concerns about NCLB—its way of labeling schools “failures,” its bubble tests, its flawed teacher standards. And both parties support the act’s transparency measures and some of its data methods, notes the education secretary. More»