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Via the now indispensable Bill of Rights Defense Committee, we give you these snippets from… torture news. We’ll start with this item from ABC News noting that in the sort of released (though heavily redacted) CIA inspector general report, the redacted portions show details of at least three deaths in CIA custody, as well as note that a number of detainees in CIA custody “can’t be accounted for”… wtf? And it accounts some of the waterboarding of KSM that came close to killing him (prior to the opportunity to stage his show trial). Also re the CIA IG redacted report,...

The situation in Iraq has apparently improved dramatically via the expedient of the American press by and large refusing to report news from it. Not so the situation in Afghanistan: the American press, alas, is quite interested in it. Not that you want to roll out a new product in August or anything, but it seems that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said to CNN: I think it is serious and it is deteriorating, and I’ve said that over the past couple of years, that the Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated, in their...

Although most political journalism in my adult life has been, to put it politely, execrable, one thing I do like is the use of the term “Gang of __” to describe groups of legislators, usually a “bipartisan” agglomeration of senators, to stand in the way of some major piece of legislation or at least legislative action, such as “the gang of 14” who aligned to prevent filibusters of extremist judges… and now, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich discusses “the gang of six” that will keep us from getting meaningful health care reform. Although these six senators represent six per cent...

It does seem “disingenuous” for Republicans, such as House Minority Leader John Boehnert to rail against “death panels” in the Obama/Democratic health care reform package when they are similar to something he himself voted for way back in 2003. Admittedly, in 2003, we were still in the pendency of Newt Gingrich’s thousand year twelve year reich, but it wasn’t that long ago, and if the government funding counseling the terminally ill on “end of life services” is o.k. then, it should be o.k. now. Frankly, I despise the “town hall format”– the horrible “permanent campaign” more or less perfected by...

No matter what else we say about my college classmate President Barack Obama, he will always be credited with nominating America’s first Latino U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, confirmed by the Senate today, with 68 votes yes, and 31 Republicans voting no and basically circling their wagons (and writing off their own future chances among Latino voters, America’s fastest growing demographic, rather than risk alienating what’s left of their reactionary, racist aging rural and exurban White base.) Though hardly the “activist judge” or the “scary liberal” (or even “the wise Latina”) she has been pitched as, Judge Sotomayor has...

Happy birthday to my college classmate, President Barack Hussein Obama, who turns 48. (Wherever it was he was actually born! Hey birthers… three words for you: GET. OVER. IT.) Helen Thomas, who turns 89 , joined in the birthday revelries with the President. Enough of this: Mr. President, I never want to hear the word “bipartisan” or any variant thereof during the rest of your Presidency. You have enough votes in both houses of Congress to treat the Republicans as what they are: an irrelevance. (Indeed, given the tendency of GOP Senators from Latino heavy states to announce their opposition...

Blogging lighter than usual here at Casa TD; a number of reasons for this. That day job that pays for the kibble has stepped up its demands (those slave-drivers!), I have some great interviews in the works (just as soon as I finish typing them!) and a coupla weeks ago… Mrs. TD brought home a pair of kittens… and let’s face it… blogging… or kittens? Blogging… or playing with kittens? Blogging is usually not gonna win, people. In coming to the realization that part of kittens’ appeal is that they just live in the moment (and make those around them...

The question almost comes down to “why didn’t Bush go ahead and accept Cheney’s pleadings to deploy the military to make domestic arrests of the so-called “Lackawanna Six” terrorist suspects near Buffalo, NY in 2002? As usual, another crazy-ass idea was backed up with a memo written by the always obliging John Yoo (man, he must type like 3,000 words a minute) and Robert Delahunty… but evidently, in this case, for some reason, “cooler heads” prevailed and convinced Dubya not to do it. Thing is, of course, that this was ultimately a political decision that had nothing to do with...

It seems the Senate isn’t having the President’s arbitrary healthcare bill deadline of August 7th (Barack’s birthday is August 4th, for those keeping track, whether in Hawaii or Kenya or Mars…) Anyway… when your opening message is “We’re going to reduce your coverage, increase your costs, and mess with something 85% of you have and are generally satisfied with… and still manage not to insure millions of people”… it comes as no surprise that when a majority of people favor single-payer health care … and its not even part of the first offer… you’ll end up with a wholly unsatisfactory...

This WaPo op ed by former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin observes that while we went to the moon 40 years ago (today), we couldn’t do it again… largely, because we dismantled the implements of the lunar landing program. Griffin suggests its because of the loss of “the vision thing.” I think it’s much more serious than that. I think we’re now largely a nation of actual-underachieving-children, maniacally good at little else besides playing with our asininely complex toys and padding our resumes (17-year olds now generally must have published novels, perfect SATs and grade point averages, multiple varsity letters and...