John Rizzo Pre-Empts the OPR Report
As we speak, the CIA--including, by all appearances, John Rizzo--is reviewing the Office of Professional Responsibility's report on OLC's torture memos.
As if on cue, the LAT has a story profiling him.
04-309: Death from Torture
Meet "04-309." He went from being healthy when he was arrested on April 2, 2004 to dying three days later, apparently from torture.
On The Rule Of Law And Crimes Of Torture
Where the law is subject to some other authority and has none of its own, the collapse of the state, in my view, is not far off; but if law is the master of the government and the government is its slave, then the situation is full of promise and men enjoy all the blessings that the gods shower on a state.And thus was stated by Plato the general theory underlying
Bill Leonard on AIPAC Trial
Bill Leonard, the former head of ISOO whose job David Addington tried to Pixie Dust out of existence because Leonard had the audacity to assume Dick Cheney was required to follow the same classification and declassification rules as everyone else in the executive branch, never got a chance to testify in the AIPAC trial.
Dana Milbank's Very Thin Folder
It was a very thin folder.
Criticizing Mr. 25% vs. Criticizing Mr. 65%
Shouldn't a responsible paper be as willing to constructively criticize someone polling at 65% as they are at 25%?
The Backstory of Sanford & Sonnets Is Dribbling Out
Well, I was just carping, in this post and comments thereto, about what a fascinating backstory must be behind the Sanford hothouse potboiler story. Ask, and ye shall receive it appears. The State from Columbia SC has a new article up on just this topic.
The IG Report Delay May Actually Be a Good Sign
Sure, the repeated delays of the IG Report have set it up to be released in a classical pre-holiday weekend document dump. But the delays actually give me hope we might get substantively new declassifications.
Jello Jay Rockefeller on the Public Option
A number of people have been expressing pleasant surprise at Jello Jay's recent comments on the public option:
"We can't count on insurance companies. They are just maximizing their profits. They are sticking it to consumers.
"I am all for letting insurance companies compete. But I want them to compete in a system that offers real health-care insurance.
Jenny Sanford Lays The Wood To Lovey Govey
Holy smoke Batman. You don't tug on Superman's cape; you don't spit into the wind. And you don't mess around with Jen.AP has, through Yahoo News, put up an interview with Jenny Sanford, and it is a doozy. Do go read the entire piece, it is totally deserving. Many key questions are addressed, and Jenny Sanford puts on a tour de force.
The WaPo's Omerta on Froomkin
OmbudAndy reports that the WaPo won't even tell him why they fired Froomkin.
Walid bin Attash to Be Denied Day in Court because al-Nashiri Was Tortured?
Dafna Linzer reports that Walid bin Attash might be a candidate for indefinite detention because al-Nashiri was tortured.
Ending Torture: Wrong Agency, Mr. President
Obama thinks he can end torture by asking the State Department for effective policies to stop torture. Instead, he needs to be asking the Justice Department to end torture.
WaPo Discovers C Street
"The Family" is trying to pretend it's not implicated in Mark Sanford's and John Ensign's moral hypocrisy.
Monica Conyers Pleads Guilty
My biggest question for months was not whether or when Monica Conyers would accept a plea deal in a pay to play bribery scandal--as she did today. But whether or not her legal problems would make her husband, John Conyers, timid in his role as House Judiciary Chair. Monica Ann Conyers beginning on a date unknown and continuing until or about December 2007, did knowingly and voluntarily conspire and agree with
Old Friends
Was hanging out with my old friend Amy Speace until late last night early this morning not long ago.
If you're in Chicago or Grand Rapids, check her out this weekend.
Posting will resume later.
A Ten-Day Nookie Run Turned Break Up?
Is it really possible that Mark Sanford booked a ten day trip to break up with his mistress?
Hayden Throwing Mudd at Bloggers
In what will not be a surprise, it turns out that Michael Hayden was actually hiding his own failures behind a recent attack on bloggers.
Ponzi Nation: Sports Talk "Webio" Edition
A Ponzi to fund a "sports talk webio." In America, everyone's got an idea.
"God's Law" and Mark Sanford's DIY Consequences
Mark Sanford wants to reinforce his "God's law" even as he breaks it by asserting the power to determine the limits of the consequences he'll pay for his adultery and hypocrisy.
