Russ Feingold Was Proved Fucking Right
A number of you have been asking for my intro of Russ Feingold last Thursday. Here it is. Now that I've had a chance to see it I realize I had a number of misstatements (and a number of places where I glossed necessary detail--I guess I…
Still Fishing
If you haven't already figured this out, after Netroots Nation I dragged bmaz up to northern Minnesota to count lakes, counting backwards from 10,000. We only got down to 9,976, but I understand there are actually far more than 10,000 lakes…
Obama War Powers Treachery and The Founders' Remedies
If our society and political discourse cannot seriously discuss impeachment for the type of executive perfidy demonstrated by Barack Obama in relation to Libya and the War Powers Resolution, and could not discuss it during the Bush/Cheney crimes, then the impeachment provision of the Constitution has no meaning and should be stricken.
Going Astray - Obama and Nato Bombings in Libya
EW and probably bmaz as well will likely have more to say on this one when they free up.
Charlie Savage reported on Friday that Obama rejected advice from both Jeh Johnson (Pentagon general counsel) and, even more significantly, Caroline Krass…
Netroots Nation Recap: Saving the Middle Class
Sorry to be AWOL for most of Netroots Nation. bmaz says I've been offline for the last few days because we've been drunk and busy, but it seems to me I've just been incredibly busy for five days straight. There were a lot of conversations, but…
Feingold For Governor: Scott Walker & WI GOP's War On Good Beer
Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans are declaring war on quality craft beer, and that is why I am supporting Russ Feingold in a recall election against Walker, and you should too.
Another NSA-Private Sector Partnership
Ellen Nakashima reports on a partnership between the NSA, defense contractors, and their Internet service providers to find hackers before they hack.
The National Security Agency is working with Internet service providers to deploy a new generation…
Netroots Nation: Marcy Wheeler Introduces Guest of Honor Russell Feingold
Please join me, Firedoglake, Netroots Nation, and the progressive enterprise as Marcy Wheeler welcomes one of us: Senator Russell Feingold.
DOJ: Calling Out Government Lies Would Endanger National Security
No matter how you look at this attempt to suppress and ignore the WikiLeaks material, it is bizarre and somewhat comical. The WikiLeaks Gitmo Detainee files genie is out of the bottle; it would behoove the US government to join the battle and arguments on the merits and facts instead of trying to cram the genie back in and play hide the bottle.
Investigating Juan Cole Rather than Ahmed Chalabi
James Risen reports that Glen Carle, a former CIA officer, says the Bush Administration was looking for dirt on Juan Cole in 2005. In one incident, Carle's supervisor asked whether the CIA had anything on Cole.
Mr. Carle said that sometime…
Hassan Ghul's World Travels
Adam Goldman significantly fleshes out the story of what happened to Hassan Ghul after he was picked up in Iraq in 2004. It appears that Ghul may have been freed by the Pakistanis sometime after January 2007 because of his ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba,…
Jon Tester: Get Out of My Trash
Jon Tester is, to the best of my knowledge, the first member of Congress to complain about FBI's new investigative guidelines allowing agents to--among other thing--search potential informants' trash.
As a strong believer in government accountability…
Robert Mueller: Civil Liberties Don't Need a "Fresh" Review
This exchange last Thursday between Senator Al Franken and FBI Director Robert Mueller was frustrating enough--Senator Franken's questions were the only ones on civil liberties Mueller faced, and the Director seemed pretty miffed to be questioned…
China Is Hiding Its Counterfeit Electronics Parts
The Senate Armed Services Committee is trying to investigate how allegedly counterfeit parts get into the military supply chain. But China won't give visas--or promise freedom of movement without minders--to its investigators.
Two key US senators…
CIA Inspector General Reopens Khalid El-Masri Abduction
The AP reports that, in addition to the grand jury investigation of Manadel al-Janabi's death, the CIA Inspector General has reopened its investigation of Khalid el-Masri's abduction.
Forgive me for my cynicism, but this investigation--and…
More Security Theater as Play
Some weeks back, I posted on a Disney ride that offers riders the opportunity to be "verbally accosted by a security droid." Now, kids can play at being a TSA-worker themselves with a security wand:
There's nothing cooler than being a TSA agent…
IMF Blames State Actor for Hack
Over the weekend, I expressed some curiosity over who hacked the IMF. They at least say it was a state actor.
Security experts said the source seemed to be a "nation state" aiming to gain a "digital insider presence" on the network of the…
The "Purported" Detainee Assessments
When I posted on the new guidelines the government has given Gitmo lawyers on how they can use the Gitmo Detainee Assessment Briefs released by WikiLeaks, I had not yet seen the guidelines. Here they are.
What's most interesting to me about…
Durham Targeting More Contractors?
Time reports that John Durham has sent out recent subpoenas for grand jury testimony pertaining to torture and war crimes, specifically as it relates to Manadel al-Jamadi, the dead Iraqi depicted in one of the most graphic Abu Ghraib photo.
It…
FBI Aspires to Be the Stasi
Charlie Savage describes changes the FBI is making to its Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide. On its face, the changes he describes are downright bad. The changes allow FBI agents to:
Make a database "assessment" search of a group…