We’ll probably not get to know what, if anything, the after-life will hold for the Rev. Jerry Falwell, who passed away today at 73. Falwell’s legacy will be… conroversial. He was extremely instrumental in helping to forge the [toxic] alliance between right-wing religious extremism and right-wing business extremism that has become “the base” of the modern Republican Party. Extreme… is a pretty good description of him, love him or hate him, whether attacking purple purse-carrying children’s character Tinky Winky of the Teletubbies for being, you know, gay, or for blaming America first (he and his fellow Virginia-based toxic-religio-extremist Pat Robertson...

While the American Constitution doesn’t officially have a “liquidate the enemies of the State” provision, nor does it have a suspension clause when politically expedient… apparently, the “spirit” of the Constitution is such that, Vietnam War style, we must destroy our civil liberties in order to save them. Hence, we give you exhibit A, as the opening statements were given in the “new and improved” trial of former “enemy combatant” and alleged “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla in Miami. You will recall that U.S. citizen Padilla found himself in a Kafkaesque conundrum, held in solitary confinement and psychologically tortured and abused...

That, of course, is retired Army General John Batiste, profiled here by the Grey Lady. Batiste, commander of over 22,000 soldiers in the First Infantry Division in Iraq, left the Army after that experience, and has been quite critical of the Bush Administration’s handling of the war. After previously joining the (thereby safer) near unanimous chorus of calls for the ouster of former SecDef Rumsfeld (a chorus so loud that eventually, even George W. Bush heard it), the former General is now playing with fire, by appearing in an ad by VoteVets.Org that is (heavens) actually critical of Our SaviorTM,...

Although it is still not backing off from efforts to vilify the courageous men and women who have undertaken representation of the so-called “worst of the worst” now held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (around half of whom have already been released, and over 80 of the 380 or so left have been declared completely innocent by the military itself, and only ten of whom have ever been charged with anything)… the Justice Department withdrew its demands to limit attorneys to three visits with their clients. In some sense, I take this as a personal affront, on any number of levels....

Dick Cheney seems to be making up for what some might argue was a lack of personal courage in his younger days when he had “other priorities” than serving in his nation’s war in Vietnam (by obtaining five deferments, some in legendary fashion). Cheney tops his trip to Afghanistan earlier this year (in which Bagram Airbase was attacked while he was there) with a trip to Baghdad (the U.S. Embassy was attacked while he was there). Interestingly, while his second was off in Iraq, risking death either from insurgent attacks or from his own ticker giving out during insurgent attacks,...

Happy birthday to TD Dad, who turns three score and ten today. And happy birthday to TD-Niece IV, who turns two days old today.

Such is the famous response of former SecDef Rumsfeld when pressed by a deployed soldier about why he and so many like him were supplied with inadequate body and vehicle armor, resulting in countless avoidable combat deaths and injuries. It seems that besides a cavalier attitude toward adequately equipping troops in the field (as opposed to lining the pockets of Halliburton, Bechtel, Blackwater, et al.), the former SecDef’s cavalier attitude toward treating local populaces with dignity and respect and with humanely treating those captured has, in turn, also filtered down to the troops, with some pretty alarming survey results as...

Paris Hilton, that is, who takes back the headlines with a 45-day jail sentence for violating the terms of her probation for wreckless driving.

Many of you know that I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time discussing matters of American detention policy with an emphasis on the tropical resort we have consigned our military to run at the Eastern tip of Cuba; I do this because that particular facility, from an information standpoint, is relatively accessible. The guests of that resort have attorneys who have e-mail addresses and phone numbers and are sometimes willing to talk to me; some former soldiers have written books, and journalists have visited from time to time. Regular readers are well aware that the United States also...

I’m kind of disappointed by the mealy-mouthed comments coming from Democratic leaders prior to what was inevitable, to wit, the President vetoed the Iraq war funding bill that contained time-tables for troop withdrawals. E-mails I keep getting from John Edwards suggest that the Democrats continue to send the President the same bill, until he signs it. My view is that the Democrats should now move on to their legislative priorities, minimum wage increases, expanding health insurance to the working poor and all children, restoring low income housing subsidies cut by the President’s mean-spiritedness, combatting global warming, and… you know. An...