Political Bloviation

Senate caves, votes to give telecoms retroactive immunity
In an all to common display of craven gutlessness the Senate once again rolled over and gave the White House what it wanted like a prison punk ass bitch. The only hope is that the House finds it’s balls in that other pair of pant in the laundry [...]

Negotiating Our Future in Iraq | The American Prospect
Bush would like to negotiate a long term agreement with Iraq, including security and training assurances without going to the Senate for ratification of a formal treaty between the nations. Why would he want to do that (other than a long standing hatred of anything that smells [...]

Heckofajob Bushie:
U.S. war costs in Iraq up: report - Yahoo! News
“Funding for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and other activities in the war on terrorism expanded significantly in 2007,” the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released on Wednesday.
War funding, which averaged about $93 billion a year from 2003 through 2005, rose to [...]

How long will I, my child and grandchildren be paying for the worst security and foreign policy error in American history. Bush doesn’t care as long has he can leave office and dump the mess on whoever wins the White House in November.  Whatever happened to the idea that Iraq would pay for itself? Disappeared [...]

This was an old article that I had never seen before. It has a definite illuminating effect. I read it and thought, “This is what’s wrong with the White House”. The certainty of a true-believer leaves no room for doubt, argument, questions, or has become painfully obvious, facts.
The New York Times > Magazine > In [...]

US Appellate Court, DC circuit holds that innocent people held as prisoners and tortured in US custody are essentialy a sort of judicial unperson.
McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/11/2008 | In voiding suit, appellate court says torture is to be expected
The detainees allege that they were held in stress positions, interrogated for sessions lasting 24 [...]

The New York Times reports:
One former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said there had been “vigorous sentiment” among some top White House officials to destroy the tapes. The former official did not specify which White House officials took this position, but he said that some believed in 2005 that any disclosure [...]

Way to go Chris!!
Dodd’s Filibuster Threat Stalls Wiretap Bill - Politics on The Huffington Post
Senator Chris Dodd won a temporary victory today after his threats of a filibuster forced Democratic leadership to push back consideration of a measure that would grant immunity to telecom companies that were complicit in warrantless surveillance.

White House hints, but won’t say, that waterboarding is legal - The Carpetbagger Report

A CIA employee says they used waterboarding on a prisoner.
The US uses only legal methods of interrogation.
Therefore waterboarding is legal.

Seems pretty straight forward, but the White House spokesperson Dana Perino refuses to say if it’s legal or not. Why might that [...]

Apparently all are “quaint” notions. Has widely reported all over the place:
Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry - New York Times
But the battle is really about something much bigger. At stake is the federal government’s extensive but uneasy partnership with industry to conduct a wide range of secret surveillance operations in fighting terrorism [...]

Coming soon, to a shredder near you - The Carpetbagger Report
Exactly why is there so much paper they never want anyone to see? “The Wonkette says You better get crackin’, Dick — that evidence won’t destroy itself!”

Ezra Klein: “Time to Talk to Iran”
A salivating ultra-hawk admits that the recent Iran NIE makes the chances of a strike against Iran extremely unlikely. Thank God.

McClellan points finger at Bush, Rove - Mike Allen and Michael Calderone - Politico.com

The only thing notable about this is that Sweaty Scott blames his masters for feeding him lies. I wonder, does he blame his parents for his excessive credulity  and gullibility?

Iran wants Western “apology” after IAEA report - Yahoo! News
Iran called on its Western foes on Friday to apologize to the Islamic Republic after the release of a U.N. nuclear agency report which Tehran said showed it had been telling the truth about its atomic plans, according to state media.
I think the past shows that [...]

Reid may hold pro forma Senate sessions to block Bush recess appointments - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth
From Roll Call by way of Americablog, senate majority leader Harry Reid is going to block Bush recess appointments by not going into recess. He also calls into question the Chuck Schumer’s contention that he *had* [...]

‘Hidden Costs’ Double Price Of Two Wars, Democrats Say - washingtonpost.com
Did $1.5 trillion get us more secure? Buy an awe-inspiring display of American military might? Cheaper oil? A sound dollar? Exactly what did we purchase for so high a price? A generation of hatred? Worldwide disdain? A near total loss of moral authority on the [...]

Talking Points Memo | Inside the Bush Bubble
“By almost all accounts, this Administration has done more to improve government effectiveness than any previous Administration, ever.”
–Clay Johnson, Bush buddy turned deputy director of OMB who also chairs the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, which oversees all government inspectors general.
Exactly how does he define “by most [...]

Intelligence deputy to America: Rethink privacy - CNN.com
Anyone who would trust the government on this is a deluded fool

House Democrats Press Bush on Subpoenas - washingtonpost.com
House Democrats threatened Monday to hold President Bush’s key confidants in contempt of Congress unless they comply with subpoenas for information on the Justice Department’s purge of federal prosecutors last winter.
The White House shrugged off the ultimatum, saying the information is off-limits under executive privilege and that the [...]

Keith on the significance of the Daniel Levin story. It was revealed that Levin, an Assistant Attorney General had himself water boarded to determine that it was ethically, legally and morally torture:
The presidency of George W. Bush is a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.
Levin was fired for daring to not [...]