Barack Obama, Harry Reid and John Boehner claim that they have averted a government shut down by arriving at a special legislative deal. Yet, it’s now been revealed that the deal involves the continued shut down of the Constitution of the United States of America.

The deal includes a policy rider that the Republicans insisted on, and Obama and Reid agreed to, that prohibits the closure of the unconstitutional prisons of Guantanamo Bay.

The Constitution is the highest law of the land. It applies to all places where the U.S. government is in force, whether that’s inside or outside U.S. borders. So, the prisons of Guantanamo are under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of the United States, but the Bush Administration and Obama Administration have pretended that the Constitution doesn’t apply at Guantanamo, instituting cruel and unusual punishments without trial, or with trials that defy constitutional standards for fair trial.

The deal that supposedly averted a government shut down has perpetuated a constitutional shut down. It’s the Constitution that establishes the government, however. So, when the legal provisions of the Constitution are shut down, the activities of the government may not be shut down, but its legality is.

This deal is a victory for bureaucracy. It’s a victory for those who want the power of big government to expand, regardless of the Constitution. For those who value the rule of law, it’s no victory.