A Sputnik Moment without the Moon
I laughed yesterday when I first saw the SOTU excerpts with Obama's description of a Sputnik moment. Mind you, he had already used--or rather, cribbed--the language before. So the language itself wasn't funny.
Rather, it was that he planned…
The NYT's "Heads Up" Meeting with the FBI on Wikileaks
The NYT has a very long profile on their interactions with Wikileaks, about which I will have more to say.
But I wanted to point to this meeting, which Bill Keller describes as the NYT's effort to give the government a "heads up" on the diplomatic…
Visa: WikiLeaks Guilty until Proven (Twice) Innocent
The AP reports that a Swedish company Visa Europe hired to study whether WikiLeaks was breaking the law or Visa's own rules has "found no proof the group's fundraising arm is breaking the law in its home base of Iceland." But, the AP goes on,…
The Sun Belt Needs a Killer App
Fresh off Obama imploring the country to "win the [vaguely defined, and definitely not defined as preventing climate change] future," Calculated Risk has a new chart, showing the decline in unemployment by state. It's useful to show not just…
Rahm's Ballot Eligibility Case Appeal and White House Interference
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bmazPresident barack Obama and his White House have interjected themselves into the state and local ballot litigation in an attempt to influence the pending determination by the Illinois Supreme Court, and have coordinated and conspired with Rahm Emanuel to do so.
Did Manning Zerofill His Computers? Or Did the Military?
Wired has a post on MSNBC's report that "there is apparently no evidence he passed the files directly to [Julian] Assange, or had any direct contact with the controversial WikiLeaks figure." In it, Kim Zetter looks to the chat logs to try to…
CNN: Military Investigating Why Brig Commander Put Bradley Manning on Suicide Watch [Update: Or Maybe Not]
CNN elaborates on something MSNBC reported last night. Not only did Quantico Brig Commander James Averhart improperly put Bradley Manning on suicide watch for two days last week, but the military is now investigating why he did so.
The U.S.…
Rove and the (Escape) Hatch Act
When Michael Mukasey announced in 2008 no one would be charged for politicizing DOJ, I had this to say.
Understand: Mukasey has turned into a terrible shill for the Administration. But it has been clear for over a year that the Administration…
Government Admits Brig Commander Improperly Put Bradley Manning on Suicide Watch
The government has admitted to MSNBC that the Brig Commander at Quantico improperly put Bradley Manning on suicide watch last week.
The officials told NBC News, however, that a U.S. Marine commander did violate procedure when he placed…
Did DOJ Subpoena Ex-Spook's Lawyer to Discredit Any Whistleblower Motive?
Via Jeff Stein, the St. Louis Beacon reports that DOJ not only (unsuccessfully) subpoenaed James Risen in their pursuit of alleged MERLIN source Jeffrey Sterling, but they successfully subpoenaed Sterling's one-time lawyer, Mark Zaid.
Mark…
Peter King's "Danger from Within"
As Adam Serwer notes, one of the most interesting things about this long story on how Peter King came to split with a Muslim community close to his district as he increasingly attacked Muslims in general after 9/11 is the description of the…
Is That Why We Bombed the Chinese Embassy?
As soon as I read the news that the new Chinese stealth fighter might have been reverse-engineered from an F-117 Nighthawk shot down during the NATO bombing of Serbia, I wondered the same thing implied (though not explicitly stated) in this…
The Final Countdown: Championship Sunday NFL Trash Talk
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bmazYep, that's right folks, it's the Final Countdown. No, I am not talking about the sudden exit of the narcissistic scold Keith Olbermann from MSNBC, the news will go on just fine without him, and MSNBC will undoubtedly continue to funnel an…
Who Is Paying for Dewey Clarridge's Old Spy Novels?
Update: I'm wrong about this being buried--it will be in tomorrow's NYT, so big coverage.
When Jeff Stein reported that Mullah Omar was rushed to a hospital for heart treatment, I was pretty sure the real story was about Dewey Clarridge's…
"Competitiveness" Is Peace
I spent much of the day yesterday pointing out how stupid it was for Obama to put outsourcer, China nut, and TBTF bankster Jeff Immelt in charge of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Meanwhile, Paul Krugman and Robert Reich have been focusing…
Jeff Immelt's GE: The Too Biggest To Fail
In my first post on how stupid it was for Obama to pick Jeff Immelt for his election season commission to appear focused on jobs, I looked mostly at how much GE has been outsourcing manufacturing and technology. Though I mentioned GE's status…
Sanders: I hope Immelt changes his mind, focuses on rebuilding manufacturing in the US
As I noted earlier, President Obama just named Jeff "Nut on China" Immelt to head his election season effort to appear serious about jobs in the US.
I asked for a statement from Senator Bernie Sanders--who has been critical of the way…
Cheney/Obama Justice: 3 Detainees + 1 Jailed Whistleblower = 19,000 Rich Tax Cheats
As a July 1, 2009 Wikileak cable released by Norway's Aftenposten makes clear, the US and Switzerland included the acceptance of three Gitmo detainees and a settlement in a suit accusing UBS of harboring tax cheats--along with an effort…
Gulet Mohamed's Interrogation without Counsel: Is this the New Miranda Policy?
Gulet Mohamed, the teen held in Kuwait, allegedly beaten, and interrogated by the FBI while in custody, is finally back in the United States. But before he reunited with his family, he was subjected to one more interrogation without his lawyer.
FBI…
Obama's Kabuki Jobs Council, Brought to You By "Nut on China" Jeff Immelt
When Google announced that Eric Schmidt was stepping down yesterday, I joked that Schmidt must be leaving to lead Obama's campaign economy -- the one he'll use to get re-elected with. After all, Schmidt is one of the Obama's closest CEO…
