- White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers will resign from her job, thus resolving the single greatest political crisis of our century. (MSNBC)
- America’s Fred Thompson woke up from a week-long nap to guffaw at Janet Napolitano’s broken ankle on the Twitters, an event which took place last Sunday. (Washington Independent)
- Here is a YouTube of Republican Sen. Judd Gregg talking about how great reconciliation is. It is from a few years ago, before Democrats were in power and that hippie Obama tried to put him in the Cabinet. (via Blue Virginia)
- Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) introduced this amendment which would make it illegal for Americans to torture people, a thing which is already illegal. But House Republicans whined about it so Democrats caved, as usual. (CNN)
- Illinoisans can go online to Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign website in the next couple weeks to see all the candidates for America’s Next Top Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, hopefully none of whom are batterers this time! (STL Post-Dispatch)
Archive for posts ‘torture’
Good-Faith Negotiations
- Bipartisan healthcare negotiator Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) will not support the result of the bipartisan healthcare negotiations, not that this should really surprise anyone. (The Plum Line)
- Disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was all excited about a DOJ investigation into whether the CIA abused prisoners but now he’s not, probably thanks to a call from Dick Cheney or something. (Washington Times)
- Something like this was bound to happen eventually. Biting people’s fingers off is just the logical next step in the healthcare debate. (KTLA)
- You know what is exactly like that time John McCain was tortured by the North Vietnamese? Cindy McCain’s migraines. They’re terrible! (People)
- Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), America’s Crankiest Senator, just does not care for Barack Obama, the SocialistPeacenikMuslimHippy President who also believes that global warming is true! (Tulsa World)
If You Want to Be a Judge, Lay Off the Burritos
- Sonia Sotomayor, who is Puerto Rican, once said that she likes Puerto Rican food, and now some Republicans are using her diet as evidence that she hates white people, or something. Whaaaaaattt??? (The Hill)
- A Republican Senate candidate admits that the GOP has no plan for improving health care which is no problem because, hey, who cares about health care? (The Plum Line/Gallup)
- Britain’s MI5 has come under fire after a former civil servant alleged that they participated in his torture by Bangladeshi authorities. Nice to know we’re not the only ones doing it these days, I suppose. Unlike in America, though, a British official (Home Secretary Jacqui Smith) is facing legal action. (The Guardian)
- In 2009, the GOP says Sonia Sotomayor is a racist for having the audacity to be Hispanic and want a seat on the Supreme Court. But in 2003, Republicans called Democrats racists for opposing President Bush’s nomination of Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, even though Estrada was also opposed by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and several Latino interest groups. (Washington Monthly)
Anyone But Yoo
Former Bush Administration lawyer John Yoo does not like President Obama’s choice of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court beacause he thinks she will be too “emotional.” Personally, I’m not inclined to take lessons in empathy from the author of the memo authorizing torture of detaines by American officials, nor do I think I should take legal advice from someone who is under investigation by the Justice Department’s ethics office or facing disbarment.
Bush Goes to Canada
- George W. Bush, who used to be our president, believe it or not, is headed to Canada to speak at a prviate event. Guess he couldn’t find any American audiences. (Dallas Morning News)
- Oh, and speaking of ex-President Bush, most Americans want investigations into whether the former administration used torture and/or warrantless wiretapping. Republicans, who have never wasted the American taxpayer’s time or money to investigate a president, are opposed. (USA Today)
- Ray LaHood used to be a Republican Congressman until Barack made him Secretary of Transportation, so now LaHood gets to call up his old Congressbuddies and make them vote for the stimulus! (The Hill)
- The NAACP is 100 years old! So now that President Obama has ended racism forever, they’ve decided that everyone should have human rights. Hooray! (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Radical activist/terrorist/presidential campaign issue Bill Ayers wants to do a talk show with Sarah Palin called “Pallin’ Around With Sarah and Bill.” No, seriously, he does. It’s on CNN and everything! Strangely, Governor Palin will not return his calls. (CNN)
Double Impeachment
- Haha, Rod Blagojevich is so corrupt that he’s been impeached twice this week. The second time would have been unanimous, except one of the new Illinois legislators is his sister-in-law. (Chicago Tribune)
- Remember all those times that George Bush and friends kept repeating that the United States does not torture? Well, turns out we tortured at least one detainee, according to the Defense Department official responsible for convening military trials at Gitmo. (Washington Post)
- The Children’s Health Insurance Program reauthorization that George Bush vetoed in 2007 because he hates kids has passed the House by a whopping 289-139, with all but two Dems and a quarter of Republican voting in favor. (MSNBC/Clerk of the House)
- UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband says the “War on Terror” was a mistake. So much for the coalition of the willing. (Guardian)
- A majority of Americans think George W. Bush is one of the five worst American presidents. (Rasmussen Reports)
Post-Turkey Update
- Oh, Bill Kristol. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why anyone even publishes anything you say anymore. Yesterday, you wrote that Still-President Bush should not only pardon torturers and NSA wiretappers, but give them the Medal of Freedom as well. Congratulations! You managed to find the complete opposite of accountability. (Weekly Standard via Andrew Sullivan)
- Meanwhile, one of the soon-to-be Medal of Freedom-winners who actually was an Air Force interrogator in Iraq says that American torture has been a successful recruiting tool for al-Qaeda in Iraq. The greatest accomplishment of America’s torture policy is that it has killed thousands of American soldiers. Hardly worthy of the Medal of Freedom. (Washington Post)
- Washington University political scientist Steven Smith notes that the Constitution places final authority over who is elected to the Senate in the hands of the Senate. That means the Senate could reverse the state canvassing board’s decision not to count disputed absentee ballots, a move that could shift the recount in Al Franken’s favor. Time to watch the “strict constructionists” freak out because something in the Constitution benefits Democrats. (UPI)
- And over in the other remaining Senate race, Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss still won’t admit that we’re in a recession. The Federal Reserve and 96% of economists surveyed by the National Association of Business Economists say we’re in a recession, but all Saxby Chambliss can come up with is a botched definition. Please, oh please, can we kick this guy out of Congress on Tuesday. (ThinkProgress/Los Angeles Times/MarketWatch)
Southern Evangelicals Support Torture
That is, as long as it’s just us doing the torturing:
A new poll finds that nearly six in 10 white Southern evangelicals believe torture is justified, but their views can shift when they consider the Christian principle of the golden rule.
The poll released Thursday, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, found that 57% of respondents said torture can be often or sometimes justified to gain important information from suspected terrorists. Thirty-eight percent said it was never or rarely justified.
But when asked if they agree that “the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers,” the percentage who said torture was rarely or never justified rose to 52%.
I wonder how many of those polled would identify themselves as “compassionate conservatives?”
Rice Lied About Torture
The newest mini-documentary from Brave New Films shows how then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice lied under oath, telling Congress the the United States did not torture, at the same time that she authorized the CIA to torture detainees.
Sign the petition calling on Rice to resign at condimustgo.com
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