Why Did Reid Pull the Bill?
Senator's Dodd demonstration that he was serious about a filibuster was undoubtedly one of the things that led to Reid pulling the bill yesterday. But I suspect it also has a lot to do with plans the moderate Dems had to introduce amendments that, while perfectly reasonable, would have been poison pills for the Republicans.
WHORM and WAVES
Amid the excitement today, you may have missed the news that the White House visitor logs are public documents. I'm sure this will be in the Courts for another year and a half--at which point Dick will invite Scalia to go quail hunting again, and we'll never get the records. But for now, look at the oozing skepticism of Judge Royce Lamberth.
Leadership
As you've likely heard, Senator Reid has pulled the FISA bill. We win--for today, at least.
Noel Hillman Gets a Subpoena
Hey, remember how I asked whether, if Noel Hillman were subpoenaed in the woods but no one saw it, whether he really got subpoenaed?
Well, he did ... he did get subpoenaed.
Sheldon Whitehouse's Speech
Whitehouse is up, hitting on the same issues he hit in his speech a week ago Friday. He accuses Mukasey and McConnell are being disingenuous when they ignore the issues outstanding on the FISA debate.
These two gentlemen do know what is going on and chose to talk past the issue, ignore it's very existence.
Senator Dodd Tries to Save the Constitution
Senator Dodd says that Mike McConnell thinks "certain corporations are too rich to be sued." And that's just the start of Dodd's case to vote down telecom immunity.
Competence versus Populism
Is David Frum really calling for competence in Republican nominees and appointees? Or is he instead calling for ideological purity in the guise of competence?
Fieger Update
The government appears to have changed its explanation of how it started an investigation into Geoffrey Fieger for about the fourth time--this time claiming that the investigation started simultaneously here in Detroit and also in the Noel Hillman-led Public Integrity section. It's curious how this story keeps changing, and how every hearing the government digs itself a deeper hole.
Emptywheel's Famous Football Trash Talk Thread
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bmazHello there sports fans and fanettes. You have probably been wondering what happens to the New England Patriots if Tom Brady is injured or out. The second string is a pretty severe step down; for those scoring at home, or even if you are alone (shameless rip off from Keith Olbermann), Brady's backup is Matt Cassel, a perfectly fine chap, and by all accounts a good quarterback.
Isikoff to Congress: Make Sure You Ask for the Negroponte Memo
For all his faults, Michael Isikoff certainly allows people to reliably launder leaks through him. And today's leak offers a clear message to Congress to go after the memo recording a meeting between John Negroponte and Porter Goss, where Negroponte told Goss not to destroy the torture tapes.
Did Nacchio Lie, or Just Misunderstand?
Is the government telling different stories about whether Nacchio was asked by the NSA for access to its circuits? Or just that he expected to get other business and lost the business after he refused to tap Americans?
Someone Doesn't Want the Telecoms to Get Immunity
Because they're leaking--and leaking big--to James Risen, Eric Lichtblau (and Scott Shane) again. Almost two years to the day since their first big scoop.
Holiday Travel
In preparation for a thus-far mythical trip to Philly, I recruited someone to post for me on my driving days. It was a pretty easy decision, really. When I meet TNH/emptywheel people in person, they tend to rave about bmaz. So I thought I'd give him the keys to the front page while I'm gone.
Not Three Branches, Not Two Branches, Just One Branch of Government
Just eight years ago, I remember our country having three independent branches of government. Apparently, the Mukasey DOJ has decided that three branch thing is quaint. In addition to sending Congress snotty letters telling them to back off the torture tape destruction, they've sent a similar letter to at least one judge.
Oversight or Politics?
Michael Mukasey has engaged in a remarkable bit of sophistry with his refusal to clue Congress in on the joint DOJ/CIA IG investigation into the destruction of the torture tapes. He explains his decision as an attempt to avoid "any perception that our law enforcement decisions are subject to political influence."
Of course, the "political influence" Mukasey was asked to address during his nomination hearings was the kind exerted when a Senator or a Congresswoman called the Attorney General privately to demand that a USA either accelerate the prosecution of a political figure or be fired. In this matter, Mukasey has been asked to respond to what is an almost unparalleled degree of bipartisan support for an open inquiry into a matter that just stinks, already, of a cover-up. Leahy and Specter (and Reyes and Hoekstra and Durbin and Biden and more) called for a procedure that had oversight built in.
And Mukasey said no.
The Venezuela Bust
It's bad enough that the United States, a country that has provided election funds for its favored candidates in other countries for over fifty years (including, notably, Argentina and Venezuela), is now criminalizing the purported $800,000 donation from Hugo Chávez to Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in Argentina. It's bad enough that it stinks of yet another silly anti-Chávez campaign.
But the criminal complaint just doesn't make any sense.
Put Your Own--I Mean, Your Very Own--House in Order First
Yet another old-school journalist calls on the Toobz to clean up its acts and adopt the "ethics" of old journalism that have already failed our society. But I'm most amused by the humorous error in his own op-ed calling for accuracy and fairness. Apparently, Professor Helzinki believes that journalists are leading the fight to debunk the "Obama in the madrassa rumor," rather than propagate it themselves.
"Aspirational Terrorism" Won't Send You to Jail, But It'll Lead the News
Perhaps it's time the government tried to pursue real terrorists rather than create them among pathetic
Really Bad Gitmo Propaganda
I'm not really surprised that the Gitmo command is disseminating propaganda about the prison. But I just wish those that engage in propaganda for the government not be so pathetically bad at it.
When All EOs Are Pixie Dust, It Means Dick Can Declassify Anything He Wants
The discovery that Bush can turn his own Executive Orders into Pixie Dust provides an explanation for one of the lingering mysteries of the Plame outing: the EO governing declassification authority doesn't explicitly give the Vice President the authority to declassify information that he has not, himself, classified. But because the President always intended the Vice President to be treated as the President is in that Executive Order, it means Cheney has that authority contrary to the plan text meaning of the EO.