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The Nation: Top Stories Coming Clean 9 Jul 2009 at 9:49am John Nichols The question is not whether Leon Panetta's admission that the CIA misled Congress under George W. Bush vindicates Nancy Pelosi, but whether the agency needs more oversight.
Real Health, Real Reform 8 Jul 2009 at 12:40pm Katrina vanden Heuvel Sen. Bernie Sanders continues the fight for progressive healthcare reform with new stories from across the nation.
Off Dead Center 2 Jul 2009 at 12:53pm Greg Grandin William Appleman Williams and the tragedy of American diplomacy. Barry Schwabsky: Hubbub and Stillness
Progressives and the President 9 Jul 2009 at 3:00pm
Sarah Palin's Irony Deficiency 8 Jul 2009 at 1:18am
Iran's Next Showdown 8 Jul 2009 at 3:51pm
Racism at the Pool 9 Jul 2009 at 3:53pm
McNamara's Evil Lives 9 Jul 2009 at 9:49am
them.ws The Nation: All Weblogs
Wrap-up:
We have a new "Think Again" column called "Conflicts by the Rich, for the Rich," here.
I also did a Daily Beast post on Palin's defenders on Sunday, which is here. (Otherwise, I've been at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake which I'll write about a bit next week.) Meanwhile: Read More ...
The Notion: Racism at the Pool by The Nation 9 Jul 2009 at 12:34pm For my daughter the moment came in kindergarten. Even though she was the only African American girl in her classroom, she made friends easily, adored her teacher, and was growing in confidence as a student. Then in May, just a few weeks from the year's end it happened. She and a little white boy were playing together at recess as they had done all year when he looked at her and said, "You know, I would like you better if you would take off your brown skin and put on some white skin." It was 2008 and we live in a liberal enclave in the Northeast. She was confused, hurt, and surprised when she told the story. She wasn't completely sure what it meant, but I could hear in her voice the creeping, sticky shame of inferiority. I sat listening with my stomach in my feet and a voice in my head screaming, "Not yet. It's only kindergarten. Not yet. Not yet." Read More ...
The Notion: Obama & Progressives (II) by The Nation 9 Jul 2009 at 9:20am This comment appeared from a reader, responding to my post about how progressives view Obama and objecting to the notion that people who approve of his overall performance may not also harbor serious disappointment. As the reader put it: If asked, I'd say that, overall, I approve of Obama's performance. However, the president has disappointed me on more than one issue since he was elected… So because I've been disappointed in some of the Obama administration's actions, I'm not supportive? If I express that disappointment and disagreement, I'm not supportive? I'm really troubled by the trend of criticizing anyone who questions and disagrees with Obama. We are abdicating one of our fundamental rights as Americans if we offer unquestioning, blind allegiance to Obama or any other government leader. Read More ...
The Beat: CIA: We Lied to Congress by John Nichols 9 Jul 2009 at 6:59am In May, at a point when congressional Republicans and their amen corner in the media were attempting to defend the Bush-Cheney administration's torture regime, their primary defense was: Pelosi knew. The spin held that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, had in 2002 been secretly briefed about the use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects. Pelosi said the Central Intelligence Agency had failed to inform her about the character and extent of the harsh interrogations. Read More ...
Editor's Cut: Real Health, Real Reform by Katrina vanden Heuvel 8 Jul 2009 at 3:33pm
With both the House and Senate looking to pass health care bills prior to the summer recess which begins August 8, now is the moment of truth for Democrats: will they offer a real public plan option to compete with private plans and drive down costs? Or will they cater to the healthcare industry which is now spending $1.4 million per day on lobbyists to protect their profits?
Throughout this debate, one Senator who has been willing to tell it like it is, with the people's interest at heart, is Bernie Sanders. This week he will publish 'The Health Care Crisis: Letters from Vermont and America'--a collection of healthcare stories sent to him from across the nation.
"In early June we sent out a letter to our email list--and we said two things," Sen. Sanders told me in an interview this week. "Number one, please sign a petition calling for a single-payer system; and two, give us some of your experiences with the private health insurance and your experience in terms of health care in general. Well, in a few weeks, we got 40,000 signatures on a single-payer petition. But, as important, we received well over 4,000 responses--from Vermont and all over the country--people telling us what's going on in their lives with regard to healthcare." Read More ...
The Notion: Does Rachel Maddow Speak for the Left? by The Nation 8 Jul 2009 at 2:43pm A few weeks ago, Rachel Maddow appeared on Charlie Rose and announced that conservatives weren't the only ones disenchanted with Barack Obama. "The President has disappointed the left," she said. Rose asked her to be more specific – on what exactly? "I would say on the war, on healthcare, on economic [policy]… on civil liberties and on civil rights," Maddow said. That's pretty deep disappointment. But if it's true, it begs the question of what, exactly, constitutes "the left." Certainly not most Democrats, 90 percent of whom approve of Obama's job performance (that's from the latest Quinnipiac survey; other polls have recorded even higher figures). Or most African-Americans, among whom Obama's approval rating is 94 percent. Or most Hispanics, 70 percent of whom think Obama is doing a fine job. Or most voters under thirty-five. Maddow, presumably, was referring to a much smaller cohort of self-identified (white) progressives: people who favor a single-payer universal health-care system, have attended antiwar demonstrations, believe catastrophic global warming is imminent, support shutting down Guantanamo immediately, champion full equality for gays and lesbians, and perhaps supported John Edwards or Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary before finally coming around to Obama. Read More ...
The Notion: The Black Funeral of Michael Jackson by The Nation 8 Jul 2009 at 11:16am Funerals tell us more about the living than the dead. It's why anthropologists often begin with rituals of death as an entry point for understanding societies and cultures. I remember watching the funeral of Princess Diana. It was a perfectly British event: the poignant, silent march of her children, the bells tolling at Westminster Abbey, the red coat pallbearers. But I remember being taken aback as the car carrying Diana's casket drove through the streets of London. I was surprised because at that moment the mourners began to applaud. They'd stood for hours lining the streets and as the casket passed they needed to grieve collectively and publicly. Stiff-upper lip British culture does not have a mechanism for such public grieving. There is no piercing death wail, no garment rending, no ceremonial dance, so instead the British applauded. Those applause revealed the missing place in English life for public mourning. Read More ...
The Dreyfuss Report: New Showdown in Iran? by Robert Dreyfuss 8 Jul 2009 at 11:02am 'UPDATE Thursday, July 9--Clashes erupted today between at least a thousand protestors in Tehran and baton-wielding security forces. Demonstrations took place all over Iran -- according to one report, in 400 cities.' In Iran, a supposed sandstorm is being used to create its own "fog of war." The Iranian opposition called for a three-day general strike to demonstrate their rejection of President Ahmadinejad, and in response the Iranian government ordered the shutdown of all banks, businesses, and universities because of a sandstorm. Read More ...
AlterNet Blogs: PEEK Democracy Now!
MoJo Articles Monday kicks off the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor, and by all accounts, the event promises to be a snoozer. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will speechify about empathy and legislating from the bench. They'll demand to know what Sotomayor thinks about Roe v. Wade or probe her reasoning in the infamous Connecticut firefighters case. And like all prospective justices, her answers will be unsatisfactorily vague. Republicans are no doubt longing to take swipes at President Obama's first nominee, but they don't have the votes to block her appointment, so they'll probably pull their punches to avoid alienating Latino voters with gratuitous attacks. Sotomayor has also given them precious little material to work with. But there is one question to which Sotomayor might have to provide a straight answer—and that could trigger some drama. Her response could shed light on what kind of a justice she'll be and, at least in one respect, how she'll differ from the man she's replacing, Justice David Souter. Twenty-First-Century Colonialism in Iraq by By Michael Schwartz 9 Jul 2009 at 4:14pm Here's how reporters Steven Lee Myers and Marc Santora of the New York Times described the highly touted American withdrawal from Iraq's cities last week: "Much of the complicated work of dismantling and removing millions of dollars of equipment from the combat outposts in the city has been done during the dark of night. Gen. Ray Odierno, the overall American commander in Iraq, has ordered that an increasing number of basic operations—transport and re-supply convoys, for example—take place at night, when fewer Iraqis are likely to see that the American withdrawal is not total." Acting in the dark of night, in fact, seems to catch the nature of American plans for Iraq in a particularly striking way. Last week, despite the death of Michael Jackson, Iraq made it back into the TV news as Iraqis celebrated a highly publicized American military withdrawal from their cities. Fireworks went off; some Iraqis gathered to dance and cheer; the first military parade since Saddam Hussein's day took place (in the fortified Green Zone, the country's ordinary streets still being too dangerous for such things); the U.S. handed back many small bases and outposts; and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki proclaimed a national holiday—"sovereignty day," he called it. Brodner's Cartoon du Jour: Bob McNamara Passes Through Customs by By Steve Brodner 9 Jul 2009 at 2:59pm "Do you have anything to declare?" Here's The Fog of War, as recommended by Brian, and me: The Fog of War - Watch more Politics Videos at Vodpod .
BTW: Robert Scheer on Robert Strange McNamara +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ News Quiz Today in Pakistan, US drones killed: Greenpeace placed an Obama banner, with a plea for the G8 to act on global warming, over: A- Mount Rushmore B- Neverland Ranch C- The Society of Illustrators Later the G8: Public Option Enemy No. 1 by By Nick Baumann 9 Jul 2009 at 7:06am You've probably seen the ads. Ominous voice-overs warn you about how health care reform "could put a bureaucrat in charge of your medical decisions, not you." A massive bulldozer with "government-run insurance plan" written on the side crushes your health care "choices." Canadians and Britons relay horror stories of their experiences dealing with health care in those nightmarish socialist dystopias. The ads are the product of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign designed to derail health care reform—especially what's been dubbed the "public option," which would set up a government-run plan to compete with private insurers. The man behind this ad blitz is the person who might be Public Option Enemy No. 1: one-time hospital executive and longtime Republican donor Richard Scott. High Sierras by By Josh Harkinson 8 Jul 2009 at 9:44pm EARLY ONE MORNING in August 2005, a small team of game wardens and deputies climbed through coyote brush and manzanita in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve outside San Jose, California, searching for an illegal pot farm. As they crested a ridge, they discovered densely planted rows of cannabis stalks. Suddenly, a high-powered rifle cracked and an officer fell to the ground, shot through both legs. Seconds later, another deputy shot and killed a man wielding a sawed-off shotgun. "It was literally like a jungle firefight," recalls warden John Nores, who fired at the other shooter before he escaped into the woods. Left behind in a meadow just minutes from the heart of Silicon Valley were 22,000 marijuana plants worth some $88 million. Over the past decade, marijuana patches known as "grows" or "gardens" have sprung up on public lands across the West, including a third of California's national parks and nearly 40 percent of all national forests. Where hippies once grew just enough weed to peace out, traffickers now cultivate more than 100,000 plants at a time on 30-acre terraces irrigated by plastic pipe, laced with illegal pesticides, and guarded by men with MAC-10s and Uzis. Grows have turned up everywhere from the deepest backcountry to the edges of suburban subdivisions. Farming pot on public land can be more profitable than smuggling it across the increasingly militarized border. The 3.1 million pot plants seized in national forests in the year prior to last September had an estimated street value of $12.4 billion. "We Bring Fear" by By Charles Bowden 8 Jul 2009 at 7:09pm THERE IS A MAN DRIVING FAST down a dirt road leading to the border. A rooster tail of dust marks his passage. He is very frightened and his 15-year-old son sits beside him in silence. The boy is that way—very bright, yet very quiet. They are unusually close. The father has raised him as a single parent since he was four. The father and son are fleeing to the United States. Back in their hometown of Ascensión, Chihuahua, men with assault rifles are searching for them. These men are soldiers in the Mexican Army and intend to kill the father, and perhaps the son, also. As the man drives toward the border crossing at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, he thinks the soldiers are ransacking his house. No one in the town will have the guts to speak up. The man knows this absolutely. Las Baladas Prohibidas by By William T. Vollmann 7 Jul 2009 at 8:36pm IT WAS THE GREAT LUPE VÁSQUEZ who first informed me of the existence of the baladas prohibidas. We were at the 13 Negro drinking early in the evening, which is to say that it was not yet midnight and Lupe had not yet blacked out. The jukebox exploded into another happy song, indistinguishable to my ignorance from the others, and the grim field workers at other tables nearly smiled, while the dancing couples on the metal floor grew livelier, and several men shouted along with the singer. Even Lupe, who trudged bitterly through life, cheered up when he heard this corrido, which was naturally so loud that he had to shout into my ear for me to apprehend that it dealt with the demure lady friend of a wanted drug lord who happened to be absent when two federales visited their residence, promising her that they wouldn't hurt him, so she told them to sit down and wait if so it pleased them; but while fixing refreshments she overheard their plan to liquidate her lover, so she sweetly invited them to rest just a moment longer, then strode out and blew them away! Lupe's hatred of authority exceeded even mine, and for good reason; most days he had to deal with the lordly ways of United States immigration inspectors, of foremen who might or might not offer him a job and who if they did cared about their production quotas, not about his back; of companies who didn't pay him for the hours he had to sit in buses waiting for the frost to melt off the broccoli; and whenever he got a vacation from these entities, he got to visit the know-it-alls at the employment office in Calexico. Now and then he had also enjoyed the hospitality of Northside's police and judges. That was why a few beers at the 13 Negro soothed the pain of the 13 Negro's prices, and when a certain sort of corrido came on the jukebox, Lupe even smiled. Brodner's Cartoon du Jour: Swine Flu Totem by By Steve Brodner 7 Jul 2009 at 2:18pm Apparently the swine flu is all the rage in London. This from Harper's Weekly: Officials in Britain said that the number of new cases of swine flu in that country was doubling weekly and could reach 100,000 new cases per day by the end of August; Dr. Richard Jarvis, chairman of the British Medical Association's public-health committee, cited reports of people throwing "swine flu parties" to expose themselves to the virus and build their immunity. "I don't think it is a good idea," he said. Here's my take (from The American Prospect): them.ws
them.ws WorkingForChange In These Times Daily Kos Friday punditry! Adam Ross: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States will set aside billions of dollars to pursue a vaccine for H1N1, commonly referred to as swine flu. The Obama administration has officially overreacted. First comment on WaPo site: Let me guess. The WaPo editorial writers would rather US tax dollars be spent bombing Iran than defending America, right? Seriously, are you all brain dead - or were you just dropped on your head as children? Paul Krugman: Ok, I was right about the size of the stimulus. And don't pester me with comments about what could and could not pass the Senate after 30 years of 'govt spending is bad.' What he needs, in short, is to do for economic policy what he’s already done for race relations and foreign policy — talk to Americans like adults. William Schneider: Right now, the economy is a good news/bad news story. On the one hand, during the second quarter, stocks turned in one of their best performances in years. On the other hand, it would take several more such quarters to bring the market back to where it was before last fall's crash. And consumer confidence went down last month as job losses climbed sharply. The economy has shed nearly 3 million more jobs than the Obama administration originally forecast. What to make of it all? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said last month, "These early signs of improvement are encouraging, but the global economy is still operating well below potential and we still face very acute challenges." Challenge #1: jobs Charlie Cook: Like the health care and the cap-and-trade proposals that have dominated center stage for months, another stimulus package would not be easy to move through Congress. In the June 12-15 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Americans said, by 58 percent to 35 percent, that keeping the federal budget deficit down was more important than "boosting the economy even though it may mean larger budget deficits now and in the future." Michael Kinsley: Why doesn't the president give himself a well-deserved treat and slow down a bit on health-care reform? Instead of going for a total overhaul, go for some smaller successes, or what business executives and gorillas call the "low-hanging fruit"? Pick half a dozen, get Congress to swallow them and see where we stand? More on Sarah Palin's Republican problem from the likes of Peter Wehner, Dan Schnur, and my favorite, Vin Weber: ...she has a core of supporters that will never desert her but can never elect her. This is all, of course, good news for John McCain. Except that it reflects on his poor judgment to choose her. Joe Conason: Franken's party up, Palin's party down. Matthew Continetti: Something about Sarah Palin riles people up. Hint: it's that she was not remotely qualified for the job she auditioned for. Her charisma is such that she does not need to hold an office to command attention or wield influence. See Vin Weber.
Green Diary Rescue & Open Thread: Driving Less by Meteor Blades 10 Jul 2009 at 1:31am John Petro of the Drum Major Institute writes: Last month, Senators John D. Rockefeller and Frank Lautenberg introduced a bill that would establish performance-based goals for our surface transportation system. The bill would, according to Senator Lautenberg, "establish a national policy that improves safety, reduces congestion, creates jobs, and protects our environment." Among these goals is to reduce the amount Americans drive, or more specifically, to "reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis." Basically, Americans should be driving less—fewer trips over shorter distances. This has as much to do with the way we use our land as it does with transportation policy. Where we choose to live and work and get the groceries largely determines how much we drive. We are driving longer distances to work and to complete all the other little errands that populate our days. However, Gabriel Roth argues in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that reducing the amount we drive should not be a policy goal of the federal government. Roth’s claim of coercion is absurd. = = = The rescue begins below and continues in the jump. With this edition, the Green Diary Rescue departs for a two-week vacation. The next GDR will appear on July 26. If you haven’t yet joined DK GreenRoots, you’re missing out on a dynamic group of eco-blogger advocates. = = = Haole in Hawaii posted Another Random Photo Diary from his island retreat. This is a shot from last winter off Laie Point. Bruce Nilles announced a Milestone: 100th Coal Plant Stopped: "As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush. Late yesterday, news came down that Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency is abandoning plans for a third coal-fired generator in the state. This news comes as President Obama is at the G8 summit in Italy discussing action on global warming. As other countries like China say they will not act until the U.S. does, these 100 stopped plants are a sign from Americans. We are taking action against global warming, and it's time to join us." = = = The Overnight News Digest is posted. Included is the story Panetta orders internal probe of secret spy program after some members of Congress say CIA misled them.
Open Thread and Diary Rescue by Diary Rescue 10 Jul 2009 at 12:18am Please enjoy reading these outstanding, ranger-selected diaries: Gabacha reports on the latest unpleasant surprise from Congress: Senate Requires Mexico Border Wall Be Completed By 2010. (taylormattd)arodb claims he's too old to be an activist, but he sure seems like one as he becomes enmeshed in challenging the recent police overreaction at a Francine Busby fundraiser: Just back from speaking at City Council. (ItsJessMe) ShadowSD analyzes Progressive vs. Moderate Voters: The Conservadem and GOP Myth. (ybruti) First-time diarist snaxattack explains the importance of the insurance exchange model in The future of health insurance portability? (dadanation) jimluce discusses one way to obtain an affordable, high-quality college education in Fall Pick: American University of Nigeria. (taylormattd) BenGoshi reports that India Hikes Science Budget, Hard Times Notwithstanding. (ybruti) greendem highlights how, in retaliation for losing a lawsuit to the residents of Richmond, California, Chevron gets busted, fires workers, attacks local tax laws. (dadanation) Nulwee discusses an innovative scientist who radicalized conservation and re-branded it as a potent force for change: Richard Jenkins and Thinking Through Your Environmentalism! (taylormattd) jotter has High Impact Diaries: July 8, 2009. va dare has Top Comments 7.9.09 - Coal Country Film finds new WV venue. Please feel free to promote your favorite diaries in this open thread.
Polling and Political Wrap-Up, 7/9/09 by Steve Singiser 9 Jul 2009 at 11:42pm While John Ensign looks for his checkbook, and Tom Coburn gives relocation advice, the political and polling axis continues to turn. MN-Gov: Coleman Bruised Badly By Electoral Contest, Says New Poll The Money Chase: Lots of New Figures, And Several Impressive Ones TX-Gov: Perry Has Double Digit Lead in GOP Primary, Says UT NJ-Gov: Christie Loses Ground, But Maintains Lead, According to Rasmussen Incidentally, Corzine's troubles, as well as sagging poll numbers for many incumbent Democratic governors, will be the topic of my essay this Sunday during Sunday Kos. NY-State Senate: Espada Returning To Dems?
A new kind of purity troll by Jed Lewison 9 Jul 2009 at 11:02pm Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson discusses the results of study conducted in Finland and Sweden showing married individuals are less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimers...which prompts her sidekick Brian Kilmeade to launch into a stream of science-babble that would make a eugenicist blush: KILMEADE: We keep marrying other species and other ethnics. CARLSON: Are you sure you're not suffering from some of the causes of dementia now? KILMEADE: You see, the problem with, uh. The Swedes have pure genes because they marry other Swedes because that's the rule. Finland, Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society. In America, we marry everybody, Italians, Irish. MORRIS: So the study does not apply to us? KILMEADE: The study does not apply to us. The most charitable explanation for Kilmeade's comments is that he was saying that he doesn't think the study applies to the 'mutts' in America (who marry "other species" and "other ethnics") because it was conducted in Finland and Sweden (who have "pure genes" and "pure society"). When that's the most charitable explanation, you know you've said something really loony -- a special kind of ignorance right up there with "the Earth is 6,000 years old." Apparently, Kilmeade is so hung up on his belief that people of different colors belong to different "species" that he failed to grasp that even if his views were right, this study measured the influence of a lifestyle choice (i.e., the environment) on Alzheimer's and dementia. In other words, even if you accept Kilmeade's demented predicate, the conclusion he's drawing is moronic. The larger point is that even though there are some diseases that plague certain ethnic groups more than others, it does not necessarily follow that the reason for the difference is genetic in nature. In fact, it usually doesn't. Take, for example, Alzheimer's: research shows that the genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease is the same among African-Americans and whites. You wouldn't expect Kilmeade to know that, however. He's too busy fantasizing about the "pure society" of Finland. Also see Stroszek's recommended diary, "Fox and Friends" Host Argues for Racially "Pure Society".
New Al Haramain Filing by mcjoan 9 Jul 2009 at 10:20pm In response to Judge Vaughan Walker's order from a hearing in early June commanding the attorney for plaintiffs al-Haramain et. al to file a motion for summary judgment, the attorneys filed that motion [pdf] today. The motion opens with a bang: "Warrantless surveillance of American citizens, in defiance of FISA, is unlawful and unconstitutional." "We owe the American people a reckoning." This lawsuit challenges the federal government’s warrantless electronic surveillance of plaintiffs Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. and two ofits lawyers, plaintiffs Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor. By this motion, plaintiffs seek this Court’s determination of plaintiffs’ Article III standing and defendants’ liability under FISA’s civil liability provision, 50 U.S.C. section 1810. With this motion, plaintiffs submit non-classified evidence that this Court has already determined constitutes prima facie proof that plaintiffs were subjected to electronic surveillance within the meaning of FISA. Defendants have the burden of proving the existence of a FISA warrant for that surveillance. Unless, in opposition to this motion, defendants demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact with regard to plaintiffs’ electronic surveillance, or prove the existence of a FISA warrant, plaintiffs will be entitled to a summary determination that they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance and thus have Article III standing. On the question of defendants’ liability under section 1810, there cannot be a genuine issue of material fact, because the liability issues require no fact-finding at all, but are purely legal in nature: May the President disregard the requirements of FISA based on Congress’s 2001 STATEMENT OF ISSUES Does non-classified evidence demonstrate plaintiffs’ warrantless electronic surveillance and thus their Article III standing? May the President disregard the requirements of FISA based on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force or inherent presidential power?After all the strum and drung of the past three and a half years since we learned about the illegal spying of the Bush administration, it does come down to that second question--does the executive have the authority to disregard the law? The filing, as Spencer argues, "presents a dare to the Obama administration: embrace the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance claims, invoke a secrecy doctrine that Attorney General Eric Holder has pledged to overhaul, or allow a case challenging the merits of warrantless surveillance to win." "This is the culmination of three and a half years of work, over repeated attempts by the government" to shut the case down, said Jon Eisenberg, the lead attorney for al-Haramain. "There have been shenanigans by the Bush Justice Department, which were no surprise, but also by the Obama Justice Department, which has been a shock." In March, lawyers for the Obama administration followed its predecessor’s lead in the al-Haramain case, attempting to void the proceedings by invoking the "state secrets" privilege, which instructs judges to stop court proceedings because of potential national security concerns created by the airing of sensitive information. The original basis for al-Haramain’s case is a classified phone surveillance log that the government accidentally disclosed to al-Haramain’s lawyers and has since been recovered by the FBI. But Walker allowed the case to go forward after al-Haramain’s lawyers constructed a case using non-classified information — making no use of the so-called "Secret Document" — indicating that the Oregon-based charity was subject to surveillance.... Eisenberg said he is curious to see whether the Obama administration would actually defend the warrantless surveillance activities of its predecessor. The motion seeks to put the administration in a bind by citing numerous statements from senior officials denouncing the Terrorist Surveillance Program as illegal and the constitutional arguments for it to be dubious.... "What does Obama do?" Eisenberg said. "This is not just a question of hypocrisy. It’s a big constitutional mistake if he endorses [former Vice President Dick] Cheney’s theory of executive power." That the program was illegal isn't in question. Given that al Haramain's lawyers have seen the proof--in that classified memo that was inadvertantely provided to them by the government--it's also not in question that al Haramain was included in that illegal wiretapping, and as bmaz points out was being surveilled during the period within the Bush administration that almost broke the Justice Department--the period punctuated by the dramatic confrontation at John Ashcroft's hospital bedside. This information has been well known for years. The question now is whether Obama's Justice Department is going to continue to defend it. It hasn't commented yet on the filing. Walker will hear arguments on this filing on September 1.
Coburn's dizzying spin on Ensign affair by Jed Lewison 9 Jul 2009 at 9:46pm June 16: Tom Coburn praises John Ensign's "corrective force" for going public with his affair, and asks for forgiveness on Ensign's behalf: Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Ensign could use forgiveness. "If you look at it in the light of everybody makes errors, at least he fessed up and resolved the problem with his family; so I think it speaks well of his corrective force." July 8: Tom Coburn's office attacks Ensign for not having followed Coburn's advice to go public sooner: "Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage. Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago." July 9: Tom Coburn claims doctor-patient privilege, refusing to reveal his dicussions with Ensign about the affair, even though a day earlier, his office had done just that: "I was counseling him as a physician and as an ordained deacon. ... That is privileged communication that I will never reveal to anybody. Not to the Ethics Committee, not to a court of law, not to anybody," Coburn said. July 9: Despite his claim to have doctor-patient privilege, Tom Coburn goes into detail on what he says he did not discuss with John Ensign: "I was never present when a letter was written, never made any assessment of paying anybody anything. Those are untruths. Those are absolute untruths." What we have here is another example of a "Godlier than thou" Republican whose first reaction was to lie, providing political cover to a political ally. Then his lies changed to protect himself. That's certainly within the realm of normal behavior by politicians, but Tom Coburn has always claimed he was different than normal politicians. Time and time again, Republicans like Tom Coburn prove that they can't walk the talk. Maybe it's time they start talking the walk.
OFA Pushes, Reid Backtracks, Wyden Dithers by mcjoan 9 Jul 2009 at 9:00pm Healthcare reform is nothing if not a wild ride these days. First, conflicting with the supposed message President Obama sent to liberal groups to lay off the pressure on Senators, Organizing for America is organizing members to pressure their Senators. Late yesterday, Organizing for America, or OFA, blasted out an email calling on supporters to deluge their Senators and members of Congress, Democrats included, with calls demanding that they support Obama’s "three principles for real health care reform": Reduce costs Guarantee a choice of plans and doctors — including the choice of a robust public insurance option Ensure quality, affordable care for every AmericanObama is reported to have said this about liberal groups: "We shouldn’t be focusing resources on each other." If this is true, it raises the question of why his own political operation should do this, but outside groups shouldn’t.... OFA’s activities make the meme that Obama wants the groups to muzzle themselves seem pretty far fetched. Go OFA, SEIU, DFA, FDL--the whole alphabet soup of progressive organizations and activists coalescing around health care, because it's becoming increasingly clear that nothing but sustained, progressive pressure on the Senate can make a dent in the bubble that surrounds them, making them think that somehow bipartisanship and feeding their own and each other's egos matters more than passing the real health care reform their constituents are demanding. Case in point, after Harry Reid's brief display of backbone, telling Baucus to abandon his fool's errand of getting Grassley on board, he's put bipartisanship back on the table. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised Wednesday not to leave Republicans out while shaping the health care bill, GOP senators said. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine said Reid met privately with her and three other Republicans [Grassley, Enzi, and Hatch] and assured them that the GOP would be included in negotiations with the House on a final version of the legislation. "He said it would be a bipartisan, open conference" committee, Snowe said after the meeting. Finally, health care reform stalwart Sen. Ron Wyden--who I know from a long association with him has been committed to the goal of universal health care from the beginning of his political career--is reinforcing that bipartisan pipe dream. In an interview this week with the Huffington Post, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) maintained that there was still "great interest in the Finance Committee for a bipartisan bill on both sides of the aisle" and he urged lawmakers to continue to pursue a collaborative path. He would not comment directly on news that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had urged the Committee's Chairman, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to drop efforts to attract Republican support. But he also didn't hide his own preferences. "I'm committed to the priority that the president laid out," said Wyden. "I think the president got it right. He said 'I want to get it done this year' and he also indicated that his first choice is to have a bipartisan bill because he recognizes that a bipartisan bill allows the country to come together." Wyden deserves a lot of credit for keeping health care reform at the forefront in the last few years with his Healthy Americans Act, a bill that has garnered Republican support. Utah Sen. Bob Bennett was, and is, a cosponsor, and in the last Congress, Ron was able to get the support of more Republicans and a wide array of private stakeholders. It's arguable that without his efforts, there wouldn't have been as many trade associations and business organizations willing to come to the table for President Obama. That said, the changes that the Wyden bill becomes the solution--slim to none. Which is probably one of the reasons that there is bipartisan support for it--it's a lot easier for a Republican to sign up for a bill they know doesn't have a chance of passing. I don't believe that Wyden would ever stand in the way of real health care reform, or a robust public option, but I can only hope that he's using his very good relationship with the Republicans on his bill to try to bring them over to real reform. But the reality is Republicans aren't going to be falling over themselves to allow the Democrats to pass this massive, historic accomplishment. That's a reality that Wyden and the rest of the Democrats are just going to have to come to terms with.
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