Jello Jay Advocates Illegal Spying on Americans
In his opposition to a Feingold FISA amendment designed to remove any incentive the government has to abuse the new FISA program, Jello Jay sanctions the illegal collection of US person data.
More Cable News
John Robb comments on the telecommunications outages in the Middle East.
Russ Feingold: We Need to Protect Americans from John Bolton
Russ Feingold made a pretty good argument today. We need to add protections for American privacy to the FISA bill to protect them from John Bolton's "intellectual curiosity."
On What Terms Will this Administration Spy on Americans?
You all are chatty and I'm tired, so I'm going to leave you here with this great YouTube that Selise made.
FISA Liveblog
Reid is on the floor talking about what votes we'll have tomorrow:ImmunitySubstitutionExclusivityArgh. This means we won't have 60 there for exclusivity.
FISA Fight Reconvenes at 2
You've got just under an hour to convince your Senator to vote the right way on FISA.
Dick's Big Stick and the Democratic Alpha Male
In his rush to find a problem with the manly men Democrats have been electing of late, Ryan Lizza seems to have forgotten a number of long-serving Congressmen.
The Next Mujahadeen?
Walter Pincus finds a troubling appropriation in the Defense Appropriation this year: $75 million dollars for what sounds like early Special Forces intervention in Pakistan's tribal lands.
Cable News
This is a thread for speculating wildly why Egypt and Pakistan have lost much of their connectivity.
Ground Game
The story still missing from almost all coverage of the election is the ground game.
Don't Worry, Isikoff Says, DC Is Not Corrupt and Dishonest
Because Isikoff is not part of that corrupt and dishonest culture at all!!
The Watchdog's Watchdog
The CIA Director has conjured up a brilliant way to prevent the CIA's Inspector General from actually effecting any good: requiring him to report to CIA officers the process and results of investigations.
Doolittle's Payoff
How much money do you think Republican Congressmen had to pay John Doolittle to encourage the scandal-plagued Congressman to retire after this term?
All the News That's Not Fit to Print
Two stories the NYT didn't print are in the news this week.
Richard Clarke to Bush: Stop Fear-Monger to Take Away Civil Liberties
Richard Clarke slams Bush for his fear-mongering. And then he reminds that Bush refused to take precautions when it would have mattered--before 9/11.
FISA Update
Apparently, Reid has brokered a Unanimous Consent agreement that everyone, from Feingold and Dodd to Jeff "Mutual Defense" Sessions, have bought off on.
Using cboldt's rough draft of what we've got, here are which amendments remain under consideration and how many votes they need to pass:Four amendments will pass automatically, with the adoption of the Unanimous Consent agreement.
Feingold 3909 as modified
Emptywheel's Famous Football Trash Talk* Super Bowl XLII Edition
Show Time Baby! The big one is upon us. Whats up with Tom's boot? That Giselle is kinda cute. Michael Strahan is a hoot. It is all happening right here in the Valley of the Sun; and currently Valley of the unusually cold. But the sun is shining, the stars are all here and everybody is working to the weekend. Beer thirty is going to start now and go until the fat lady is done singing. Crack open a cool one and start trashing up the joint.
Dick's Evolving Demands for Immunity
Thanks to Faiz, who watches Rush, so I don't have to.
Once again, the Administration has trotted out Dick to lobby for immunity for himself telecom immunity. All the things I said last week about the inappropriateness of sending the guy who would most directly benefit from immunity out to lobby for it still hold.
AG Claims Clear Evidence of Legal Liability Does Not Constitute a Basis for Investigation
AG Mukasey claims that DOJ has never gotten any facts that would warrant an investigation. But that's not true. We know DOJ received the results of the CIA IG's report in 2004, showing that the interrogation techniques depicted on the torture tapes constituted cruel and inhuman treatment in violation of the International Convention against Torture.
Did Eric Edelman Lie to the Plame Grand Jury?
This filing I stumbled across in Prettyman courthouse suggests there were big contradictions between Eric Edelman (then Libby's deputy, and currently the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy)'s testimony, and that of other witnesses in the case. If Edelman is lying, it might corroborate my theory that Dick learned of Plame's identity from having been shown--via an illicity channel--the emails Valerie wrote relating to Joe's trip.
