State Department's Crowley Condemns Treatment of Bradley Manning: "Counterproductive and Stupid"
When PJ Crowley tweeted this the other day:
These are not #Twitter or #Wikileaks revolutions. They belong to the people, but technology can expand and accelerate the pace of change.
I was going to tweet back that he had to say that, given…
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The Folks Who Run Our Economy Believe in the Easter Bunny
The folks at the Fed who run our economy apparently believe in the Easter Bunny. And Casper the Friendly Ghost. And Santa Claus.
I mean, I can only conclude the folks over there are completely unhinged from reality given their claim that…
Playing God with Bradley Manning
Back in 2002, Gitmo's Standard Operating Procedures advocated stripping detainees of clothing as a way of demonstrating the omnipotence of the captors.
In addition to degradation of the detainee, stripping can be used to demonstrate the omnipotence…
Keith Ellison Salutes Mohammed Salman Hamdani
As I predicted in my liveblog, the most emotional moment of Peter King's MUAC Hearing came when Keith Ellison saluted the sacrifice of Mohammed Salman Hamdani.
Every American, including Muslim Americans, suffered on 9/11.
29 Muslims…
Peter King McCarthyist Hearing LiveBlog
You can watch here or here.
Bennie Thompson gets permission for Andre Carson and two other Reps to sit on the hearing. People often forget that Carson, like Keith Ellison, is Muslim.
King accuses those who oppose the form of this hearing…
Court Denies Scott Bloch & DOJ Collusive Attempt To Withdraw Plea
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bmazJudge Deborah Robinson of the District of Columbia District Court has denied the collusive attempt by Scott Bloch and the DOJ to withdraw the plea agreement that would give him jail time for contempt of Congress.
On Eve of Peter King's Anti-Muslim Hearings, FBI Arrest White Supremacist Alleged Terrorist
The FBI has made an arrest in the MLK Day Spokane bombing. And the alleged culprit is--not surprisingly--a white supremacist.
An FBI source in Washington, D.C., said one man was arrested east of Spokane. Agents, including a bomb expert from…
We Didn't Need Lone Wolf Provision to Catch Lone Wolf
A few weeks ago, I wondered whether Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, a Saudi citizen arrested in Texas for purchasing the ingredients to build picric acid, would be our first Lone Wolf. Here was a non-US person, seemingly unconnected to any known terrorist…
Peter King Needs to Be Object Lesson in Our Failed Counter-Terrorism Approach
Back in January, I suggested that Peter King ought not be hailed for his role in the Irish peace process, but rather called out for his hypocrisy on terrorism.
Peter King would still be in prison if the US had treated his material support…
They Won't Even Create Jobs in the Military-Industrial Complex Anymore
You know how I have argued that our country does have an industrial plan, one that is commonly called the Military-Industrial Complex? The government dumps seemingly unlimited amount of money into selected projects. Defense companies make sure…
DOD Promises to Defend the Networks They Failed to Defend after 2008
There's something hysterical about the promise a Quantico spokesperson made that DOD would take any threats to its IT networks--in this case, threats made by Anonymous--seriously.
A Quantico spokesman, Lieutenant Agustin Solivan, said officials…
A Grammar Lesson: Obama's Executive Order on Indefinite Detention
I hate to be pedantic, but a number of people are misreading Obama's Executive Order on indefinite detention, with the result that they present the order as much less troublesome than it actually is. Here's one example, from Ken Gude:
There…
What about Indefinite Detention in Afghanistan?
I made my two most critical points about Obama's Executive Order on indefinite detention in my snarky post yesterday. First, even assuming the idea of institutionalizing indefinite detention weren't bad on its face, Obama's EO doesn't provide…
A Modest Proposal: Indefinitely Detain the Banksters
Obama has declared that he has the authority under the 2001 AUMF to indefinitely hold anyone "if it is necessary to protect against a significant threat to the security of the United States."
He doesn't say that person has to be a terrorist,…
With David Kris Gone, Obama Rolls Out "New and Improved" Military Commissions
I think I'll do a series of posts over the next few days all starting with the phrase, "with David Kris gone," showing how Obama has finally gone off the deep end (the "Dark Side") in his War on Terror and the Constitution.
This edition has…
With David Kris Gone, DOJ Tries to Vacate Vaughn Walker's FISA Opinion
There's an interesting tidbit in the government's mediation questionnaire in anticipation of their appeal of Vaughn Walker's decision that al-Haramain had been illegally wiretapped and was entitled to damages.
The government is willing to…
John McCain and iPhone's Sick Chinese Workers
The buzz today focuses on John McCain's latest gaff: in his weekly Sunday show appearance with Christiane Amanpour yesterday, he claimed that iPhones and iPads are made in the US.
Host Christiane Amanpour spoke about her network's project…
DOJ Bigfoots Over A Bridge Too Far On Loughner Indictment
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bmazOn Friday afternoon, the DOJ released a superseding indictment of Jared Loughner in the Giffords shooting incident occurring on January 8 in Tucson, Arizona. It is a stunning overreach and contorted power grab by the federal government for which the Obama DOJ should be ashamed.
A Narrative Chronology of Bradley Manning's Alleged Leaks
In January, I did a timeline of the key dates revealed in Manning's July 6, 2010 charging document. I wanted to put the timeline laid out in yesterday's charging document side-by-side with the earlier one to identify what new details there are,…