The Imperial Overlords Giveth, the Imperial Overlords Taketh Away
In the US yesterday, the big press outlets were reporting on a big push to give Egypt "aid" to get its economy back on track. (WaPo, NYT) Though the NYT's URL (and original title, I think) used the word "aid," what we're really planning on doing…
Mess at DHS: The ICE Lady Goeth and Thoughts On The Real Story
As Marcy appropriately pointed out, there was a LOT of news dumped in the waning moments and bustling milieu of a Friday afternoon; not just pending a holiday weekend, but with a press corps still hung over from, and yammering about, the empty…
Remember, the Question Is "Are YOU Better Off?" Not "Is Your Boss Better Off?"
The Romney campaign has started asking the snitch, Ronald Reagan's question, "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?" And partly because Obama's advisors don't have a ready answer, and partly because Democrats are misconstruing who's…
Maybe Republicans Didn't Want Hologram Reagan Because They Didn't Want a Snitch at Their Convention?
Last week, before we learned Mitt's surprise speaker at the RNC was an actor speaking to an invisible President, there were rumors that the speaker would be a half-visible actor-President, hologram Reagan. But unlike Clint Eastwood's invisible…
Immunizing Crimes: Blankfein, Zirbel, and Arpaio, but Whither Corzine?
DOJ has been doing a lot of immunizing of late. There's Lloyd Blankfein, who not only ripped off his clients with "one shitty deal," he then lied to Congress about it. There's Matt Zirbel,* the CIA officer who had Gul Rahman doused with water…
Special Forces Suspend Training of Afghans in Program Petraeus Started
In the biggest fallout yet from the massive increase in green on blue deaths in Afghanistan, US Special Operations forces have suspended training of Afghan Local Police and Afghan special forces until all members of these forces have been…
Did Mitt Romney Make Clint Eastwood Lie Cry?
A number of outlets responded to Clint Eastwood's bizarre speech the other night by fact-checking the legend.
CNN:
"I haven't cried that hard since I found out that there are 23 million unemployed people in this country," Eastwood said.…
The Democrats' "Diversity Problem"
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There was a bit of a stink after Chuck Todd suggested the Democrats wish they had the diversity the GOP showed at the RNC this week. Josh Marshall said it was, "one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard…
Laborious Trash Talk
It is Labor Day weekend. Shockingly, my dictation program, Nuance Dictate for Mac, has gone beyond its normal complete worthlessness and now exists in the temporal-intellectual worthlessness of time and space. Seriously, for an application that…
DOD to Give Penguin the WikiLeaks Treatment?
As a number of outlets have reported, DOD has written a threatening letter to Matt Bissonnette, the Navy SEAL whose memoir comes out next week.
But I think they're misunderstanding part of the nature of the threat (though Mark Zaid, a lawyer…
Did Clint Get Cold Feet?
There was a moment in Clint Eastwood's rant last night that struck me then and strikes me even more now, when he explained that there are people of all ideologies in Hollywood.
I know what you are thinking. You are thinking, what’s a movie…
The Quarter Billionaire's $9 Jobs
Fairly early in Mitt's speech last night he said this:
But today, four years from the excitement of the last election, for the first time, the majority of Americans now doubt that our children will have a better future.
It is not what we…
Fear-Mongering Over New IAEA Iran Report Falls Flat
Try as they might, those who are pushing hard for a military attack on Iran under the guise of preventing Iran obtaining nuclear weapons are finding it impossible to whip up enough fear to overcome the media frenzy surrounding the home stretch…
After Making Bank Fraud Legal, Eric Holder's DOJ Makes Torture Legal
DOJ has announced that the two ongoing investigations it had into torture have been closed for lack of admissible evidence.
The Attorney General announced today the closure of the criminal investigations into the death of two individuals while…
Walt Kowalski to Speak at the RNC?
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Remember this ad? It played during the Super Bowl, Chrysler's second great Super Bowl ad in a row. When it played, Republicans immediately accused Chrysler of running the ad as a sop to Obama for bailing the…
They Should Have Just Called It a Poll Tax
I'm grateful that a 3-judge panel just unanimously held that Texas' Voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act. (See Ari Berman for background and Rick Hasen for analysis.)
But given this language of the decision (as cited by Berman), couldn't…
One Truth the GOP Did Tell: They Want You To Work For Yourself
Amid a flood of lies being uttered at the Republican National Convention this week, there is one truth the GOP has told.
They want you to work for yourself.
The Republican obsession with working for yourself stems from a campaign strategy--to…
Increased Rate of Green on Blue Deaths Not Due to Increased Afghan Force Size
Now that Ramadan is over, General John Allen and the rest of NATO will have to come up with additional explanations for why the rate of green on blue deaths is accelerating so rapidly. Besides the recent discussion of Taliban infiltration and…
Appeals Court Grants Zimmerman Judge Disqualification Motion
I have long maintained the George Zimmerman criminal case ongoing in Florida, and the nature of Florida law and procedure, is far different than most in the media and blogosphere understand. The initial investigation was not particularly "botched"…
Did the CIA Agents in Mexico Shoot at Their Pursuers?
The NYT's story on the CIA officers shot at in Mexico--and possibly the WaPo one as well--appear to be partly a response to the publication of the CIA connection in Mexico's lefty La Jornada, which published a series of stories on the event…