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
Merry Christmas
/28 Comments/in Misc/by emptywheelBut the Tapes Weren’t IN Washington
/57 Comments/in Intelligence, Unitary Executive/by emptywheelThe LAT has a story suggesting Jose Rodriguez destroyed the torture tapes against Porter Goss’ wishes, and that Goss simply didn’t punish him for the act. But two details suggest an entirely different story: that Goss gave Rodriguez very clear instructions that the tapes should not be destroyed in the US, but should be destroyed in the country they were stored in.
Immunity
/61 Comments/in Intelligence, Unitary Executive/by emptywheelI’m all in favor of holding the several people in the White House who intervened to destroy evidence responsible for their actions.
But as we begin to hear about Jose Rodriguez considering immunity it might be well to remember what I pointed out when Rodriguez was first floating the idea of immunity.
In the hands of a less than shrewd majority and a politically reliable minority leader, immunity can be counter-productive. In the case of Monica Goodling, the Dems basically gave Monica a get out of jail card for nothing in exchange. Until I see that Crazy Pete Hoekstra’s heart is in the right place on this issue (which would, frankly, astound me), then I’d suggest we want to be very careful before we give Rodriguez something for nothing.
Secret Schmoozing
/29 Comments/in Foreign Policy/by emptywheelGiven the discussions about the NIE we’ve had recently, I wanted to point out Marc Lynch’s observation that the Saudis and the Iranians have been flirting lately–under the radar of the US press. What is Dick Cheney going to say when he discovers his BFF King Abdullah is schmoozing the Iranians behind his back–during the Hajj no less?
Executive Privilege
/21 Comments/in 2008 Presidential Election, Unitary Executive/by emptywheelA number of people have pointed to Charlie Savage’s great article on the responses of Presidential candidates to a bunch of questions about executive power. Most of the questions either explicitly or implicitly ask candidates whether they repudiate certain of Bush’s acts, so I’m not sure they help Democratic voters distinguish between primary candidates. The exception is the question on Executive Privilege.
Recycling Torture Timelines
/29 Comments/in Intelligence, Timeline, Unitary Executive/by emptywheelPer Jeff’s suggestion, I took a closer look at Zelikow’s memo on how the CIA stiffed the 9/11 Commission on evidence relating to interrogations of Abu Zubaydah and al-Nashiri. I’ll come back and comment on it in more detail–but I was struck by how closely the requests coincided with the beginnings of the Abu Ghraib scandal and Tenet’s resignation.
Emptywheel’s Famous Football Trash Talk Thread – Holiday Edition
/107 Comments/in Football, Misc/by emptywheelThe weekend is upon us, which means it is time for some trashing and burning (Note: not for you folks working for Cheney at his “ceremonial” office, you have trashed and burned quite enough this week). Here is the lineup for this week. Who and what do you have on the burner? Trash it up!