The Perils of "Strategic Messaging"
''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality." Senior Bush aide, quoted by Ron Suskind
The WSJ has a fascinating account of how President Obama's efforts to extend our will without military intervention failed in Syria.
Early…
The Moral Rectitude Torture Cover-Up Promotion Czar
Oh hi! Are you folks still here? Missed you!
First off, thanks to bmaz and Jim and Rayne for holding down the fort while Mr EW, McCaffrey the MilleniaLab, and I explored Kentucky. There are many wonderful aspects of the state: the sandstone…
Just How Special Are Afghan Special Forces?
Because I follow the issue of training Afghan forces very closely, I clicked on an article today from TOLONews on graduation of a new group of Afghan Special Forces soldiers. One tidbit in the article caught my eye (emphasis added):
About…
Odds and Ends
First off, let's wish Marcy a big Happy Birthday! The woman is doing nothing but getting younger and smarter. Amazing.
Secondly, my fine Emptywheel friends, I'd like to apologize, I got a little sidetracked today with some work and duties…
ICRC Visits Gitmo Early in Midst of Hunger Strike, New Controversy Over Drinking Water
On Tuesday, Carol Rosenberg reported that the hunger strike at Guantanamo prison camp has become serious enough that the International Committee of the Red Cross has arrived at Guantanamo a week earlier than had previously been planned:
Two…
SIGAR: Widely Cited 352,000 ANSF Force Size Is Not Validated
The January 2013 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report has been out for some time now, but @SIGARHQ has still been tweeting about it regularly. One of their tweets yesterday brought my attention to the section of their…
DOMA's Day At The Supremes
UPDATE: HERE IS THE AUDIO OF TODAY'S ARGUMENT
HERE IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY'S ARGUMENT
I am going to do something different today and put up a post for semi-live coverage - and discussion - of the DOMA oral arguments in the Supreme Court…
The Prop 8 Oral Arguments Before the Supreme Court
A momentous morning in the Supreme Court. All the work, analysis, speculation, briefing and lobbying culminated in an oral argument in Hollingsworth v. Perry lasting nearly an hour and a half - half an hour over the scheduled time. There are…
The Case Against Marriage Equality Backlash
One of the relentless memes that keeps cropping up in the marriage equality battle is that, were the Supreme Court to grant full broad based and constitutionally protected marriage equality in the Hollingsworth v. Perry Prop 8 case, there would…
North Korea and the Bush Administration’s Toxic Legacy
Over the last several weeks there has been considerable re-evaluation of the Iraq War, launched ten years ago by the Bush Administration. Eulogies and opinions from pundits of all types ranged from “I told you so,” to “It was a qualified…
Once Again, US Pretends to Hand Over Control of Parwan Prison, Holds Back Some Prisoners
Stop me if you've heard this one before. We have headlines at multiple news outlets trumpeting that the US has ceded control of Parwan Prison (newly re-named today as the Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan!), but when we drill down…
A Path To Civil Rights History For the Supreme Court, Obama and Verrilli
Just about a month ago, in urging the Obama Administration to file a brief in favor of marriage equality in the Hollingsworth v. Perry Prop 8 case before the Supreme Court, I described the stakes:
And here we are on the cusp on the next defining…
Identity Problem: Blind Journalism, Uninformed Technology, and Cory Booker
This is an op-ed; opinion herein is mine. ~Rayne
A tweet yesterday by technology-futurism pundit and sci-fi writer Bruce Sterling hinted at the problem of technology industry and journalism, with regard to politics:
The tweet was…
Identity Problem: The Delamination of the American Left
This is an op-ed; opinion herein is mine. ~Rayne
Once upon a time, before the rise of machines — um, before corporations took over and subsumed the Democratic Party, there were people who espoused an ideology of caring for their fellow…
Bracket Busters and Odds and Ends Trash Talk
Fairly slow day yesterday on news and events, but the NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing. There are the usual 12-5 upsets that have become tradition, like Oregon over Oklahoma State (not much of an upset if you saw the Ducks play in…
Military Continues Efforts to Hide True Scope of Guantanamo Hunger Strike
[youtuber youtube='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHelLZQR_Oc']
On Monday, I asked the question of whether the cancellation of regular commercial flights to Guantanamo was part of an effort by the military to cut off coverage of…
Add Sovereign Citizens Who Have to Play by Rules HSBC Doesn't
Remember how HSBC facilitated massive money laundering, around the globe, for over a decade, but got away with a hand slap? Remember how a single check cashing store in LA got very different treatment?
Well, add sovereign citizens to the…
Gone Fishin' Hikin', Ham, and Bourbon-in'
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It's that time of year: when Mr. EW and I celebrate St. Pattys, his birthday, our anniversary, and my birthday (and, this year, our friend Catie's birthday, too).
We'll be doing it, for the next 5 days or…
The National Security Advisor Exception Under the Espionage Act
When the FBI found sensitive -- though it turned out, unclassified -- documents in Thomas Drake's basement, he was charged under the Espionage Act. When the Army found hundreds of thousands of classified -- but not Top Secret -- cables on Bradley…
Disposition Matrix: $5 Million Rewards in Lieu of Kill Lists?
Mike Rogers, perhaps bolstered by the Administration's insistence that he can say all he wants about drone targeting without it amounting to "admission" of the program for FOIA purposes, ran his mouth the other day about whether any Americans…