Author Archive for: emptywheel
About emptywheel
Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
Entries by emptywheel
GM, TARP and Traveling Down the Road
/55 Comments/in automobiles/by emptywheelOkay, a couple of folks have been pining for a post on GM and the TARP announcement yesterday. The story was when the decision was made to make GMAC a bank holding company, and that was over a week ago. Once that was made what was announced yesterday about the injection of TARP funds was a foregone conclusion.
Turnabout Would Be Fair Play: US Seeks 147 Year Torture Sentence
/15 Comments/in Bush Administration, emptywheel, Law, Torture/by emptywheelThis report from MSNBC is almost sublimely ironic: U.S. prosecutors want a Miami judge to sentence the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to 147 years in prison for torturing people. Huh. Go figure. I wonder who will prosecute the denizens of the Bush Administration for the same acts?
The Gray Lady Calls for a Gas Tax
/102 Comments/in automobiles/by emptywheelThe NYT has done some really crappy ass reporting on the auto crisis. But, credit where it’s due, they’re now calling for a gas tax (h/t Atrios). And their editorial not only advocates for what I consider a smart policy, but they hit the key issues: that it’s not enough to force manufacturers to build energy efficient cars.
Yet for all the conditions attached to it, the multibillion-dollar aid package for Detroit’s
Hot Rails To Hades
/93 Comments/in emptywheel/by emptywheelIt has been quite the rage on teh progressive internets to discuss trains, trans and super trains. Atrios is the King of all Train Media. Yglesias has climbed on board, and now even a dyed in the wool California suburban guy like Kevin Drum is jawing about them, although he seems to have differing views on short haul commuter (for) than long haul passenger (against for financial reasons).
Did McCain/Palin Obstruct Justice in the Johnston Case?
/85 Comments/in 2008 Presidential Election, automobiles, Law/by emptywheelIt seems that Sarah Palin has a newsworthy scandalette for every holiday. For Thanksgiving she was preening in front of a turkey slaughter; for Christmas, she is smack dab in the middle of a felony controlled substances investigation. It appears that the narcotics investigation of Sherry Johnston was delayed to protect the GOP Presidential ticket during the election