Jordan: CIA Attacker Was Pissed about Civilian Deaths
As Time admits, the story the Jordanians are telling about the CIA suicide bomber,Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawim may simply be their attempt at spin. Nevertheless, they're saying that al-Balawi was not a double agent; rather he attacked the…
BREAKING: C Street Member Says Health Care Bill Will Fail
In an article lacking some pretty important follow-up questions, Jodi Kantor tucks in this judgment, from C Street member Bart Stupak.
He is trying to pass the health care overhaul, he insists, not sabotage it, and predicts that the legislation…
The Lobbyists That Brought You Telecom Immunity
Tucked into an article on GM CEO (and former AT&T CEO) Edward Whitacre's promise that GM will return to profitability is this tidbit:
Last month, G.M. hired two former AT&T executives who had worked with Mr. Whitacre to run its Washington…
White House Still Pushing the Excise Tax Hocus Pocus
As Brian Beutler reports, Nancy Pelosi's snippy comment about Obama's campaign promises was a reference to the White House's demand that the House accept the Senate excise tax.
[Pelosi] aides say she's particularly steamed that the White House…
Blackwater at Khost
When news of the attack at the CIA based in Khost, I suggested that Blackwater contractors were likely among the victims (recall that Erik Prince boasted of being involved in such operating bases in his Vanity Fair interview).
Sure enough...…
Byron Dorgan Will Not Run for Re-Election
Just before the holiday, Democratic leaders forced Senator Byron Dorgan to forgo a key policy initiative--drug reimportation--so as to push through a stinker of a health care reform bill. And while he says his decision "does not relate to any…
MI's New Plot for World Domination: Pizza
Faced with twin crises in MI and UM's athletic program, the best anyone seems to be able to come up with is ... pizza.
DC Circuit Limits Detainee's Procedural Rights
Two of the most conservative members of the DC Circuit, Janice Rogers Brown and Brett Kavanaugh, have ruled that detainees captured on the battlefield do not have access to all the procedural habeas rights a domestic criminal would.
The case…
Fake Anthrax Attacks in Two States
Someone launched a Judy Miller-type (that is, fake) anthrax attack on a bunch of Republicans in AL--and two academics in CA. (h/t TPMM)
Envelopes containing white powder set off anthrax scares in five Alabama cities, shutting down two federal…
Back to the Land
I often joke with Californians that even as their environmental regulations make MI's main industry defunct (admittedly, largely because of the short sightedness of Michiganders), MI will take over CA's role as the lead Ag state. CA, after all,…
Subsidies
There's a lot I object to in Hendrik Hertzberg's judgment of those opposed to the Senate health bill as "pathetic." His entire piece revolves around the claim that bill critics are committing a pathetic fallacy: attributing to an inanimate object--Congress--animate…
Obama's New Classification Policy: the Good and the Bad
Obama's new EO on classification has some real improvements in it. And, it might prevent someone from willfully outing a CIA spy.
Another New Month, and Still No OPR Report
It has been almost 50 days since Eric Holder promised the OPR report would be released within days. And yet it still hasn't been released, even though Padilla's lawyers have a deadline coming up to submit a filing that the OPR report might impact.
Crazy Pete Hoekstra Called On His Efforts to Profit Off of Terrorism
I was in my holiday lull last week when the man who wants to be my Governor, Crazy Pete Hoekstra, callously tried to fundraise off of an attempted attack on a flight bound for Michigan.
My promise to you, as your governor, my first duty…
Trash Talk: Swinging In The New Year
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bmazWell, we made it through a painful decade and are into a new year, new decade and looking forward to the playoffs in the National Favre League. No Thursday Night game, no Monday Night game; they will all be swinging for the fences today.
It All Depends on Your Definition of Failure
Politico is now aiding the fear-mongerers in declaring the Obama's Administration's response to a failed terrorist attack a failure (one, two, three, four, balanced by this).
And yet, little mention of the successes the Obama Administration…
Obama's Royal Scam and The Iron Fist Of Rahm
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bmazShutting down Democratic and progressive structures that do not toe his line is exactly what Obama and his right hand man, Rahm Emanuel, have done since the election. This modus operandi was apparent even before the 2008 general election to those paying attention. Only a strong voice and accumulated power by progressive interests will be able to make headway in the face of it now.
New Year's Resolution Music Jam
Back when President Lieberman and President Bad Nelson vetoed real health care reform and instead insisted on a mandated giveaway to the insurance industry, I sat down and listened to the entire box set, Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, the…
New Year's Trash
All is good as we close the year and decade; hope for the same for all of you. And never fear, I ain't dead yet, I brought Champagne and Reefer from my friends Mick and Buddy Guy, so let's get down to it!
All Charges Against Blackwater Guards in Nisour Killings Dismissed
Judge Ricardo Urbina has dismissed all charges against the Blackwater guards involved in the Nisour Square killings. He explains he has dismissed the charges because the government violated the constitutional rights of the Blackwater guards…