Embarrassment-Free Show Trials
The government is determined to prevent any embarrassing information from coming out at the Gitmo show trials. Too bad they have to be utter hypocrites to do so.
Author Archive for: emptywheel
Entries by emptywheel
Chertoff Keeps Waiving Laws
Michael Chertoff sure likes waiving laws, doesn’t he? We know about his waiver of Chiquita’s support for right wing terrorists. We learned today about his intent to set aside environmental laws so he can build his wall on the border. And now, Marty Lederman suggests Chertoff gave John Yoo the go-ahead to exempt the military from laws prohibiting torture.
“You can play that game when it doesn’t matter.”
Here’s a look at the proposed response to the credit crisis in the Senate; it’ll give you a sense of what Republicans think they can, and can’t, afford.
The “John Yoo, Let’s Pretend We’re Lawyers” Game
Play along at home! Because lawyering about torture is such a fun game!
Pentagon “Closing” CIFA
The Pentagon is “closing” (which probably means “burying under a different name”) CIFA, it’s contractor-friendly domestic spying program. In a remarkable coincidence, it just had to turn over to ACLU a bunch of documents showing that CIFA had abused the National Security Letters program. What a remarkable coincidence.
Acting Counsels and Torture
Daniel Dell’Orto, in his first weeks as Acting General Counsel of DOD, just exposed how John Yoo, in the first day after Jay Bybee head of OLC, authorized torture in the military.
Jane Harman v. Jello Jay: Compare and Contrast
Jane Harman explained her response to the warrantless wiretap program over at TPMCafe. I’m interested in it not so much to determine whether Eric Licthblau or she is right about whether she “switched her view” on the program (I think Harman is actually too sensitive to the charge; as she tells it, she did drastically change her view, but not because of the publicity of Lichtblau’s reporting, but because of the
It Turns Out There Was No Wolf
Siobhan Gorman reports that the White House now admits that its fear-mongering no longer works.
The DNI Is Well-Meaning. Really. Except with Those He Claims Want No IC.
The DNI wants to make nice with Democrats. But that doesn’t stop him from making baseless accusations against them.
Cell Phone Remittances
Western Union, Radio Shack, and Trumpt Mobile are teaming up to facilitate using cell phones to transfer remittances.
