Rachel Maddow Show Transcript (11-16-09)

Read the complete transcript of the Rachel Maddow Show for 11-16-09. Excerpt below:

MADDOW: He should be tried in a military tribunal, not in federal court. Very punchy talking point, right? Awkwardness from Mr. Giuliani is that back in 1994 when the first World Trade Center bombing was prosecuted in federal court, he took the exact opposite position, saying at the time, quote, "I think it shows you put terrorism on one side, you put our legal system on the other and our legal system comes out ahead." Yes, legal system can handle it except when it can`t, and then it`s an outrage.

In the event of terrorism convictions, we have now learned that one of the places administration officials are thinking about housing prisoners is a maximum security prison in Thomson, Illinois, about 150 miles west of Chicago. It`s called the Thomson Correctional Center, a giant prison that`s been largely vacant since it was built in 2001. The prison has about 1,600 empty maximum security cells, and 200 minimum security cells which are the only ones that are being used right now.

Federal officials toured the prison today to see if it might be suitable for, say, some prisoners brought from Guantanamo. It was an idea suggested by the governor of Illinois. It has support from both of the state`s U.S. senators, and residents of Thomson appear to favor the idea since it`s expected to create around 3,000 jobs and to pump about $1 billion into the local economy there.

With all of that support, what would stop something like this from happening? Well, say hello to Republican Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois. He`s running for the United States Senate there. In one of the -- in one of those "you can`t make this up" moments, Mr. Kirk has now launched a new Web site called NoTerroristsInIllinois.com.

If you type NoTerroristInIllinois.com into your computer, you will be redirected to Congressman Kirk`s campaign Web site. And alongside the big red "contribute" button, you can read a letter to President Obama that reads in part, quote, "As home to America`s tallest building, we should not invite al Qaeda to make Illinois its number one target." We should only imprison people convicted of terrorism in places with low-slung buildings obviously.

Congressman Kirk and three of his Republican House colleagues held a press conference on the issue earlier today.