Mitt Advocates Taking Healthcare from Retirees to Give Money to Bailed Out Banks
Someone gave Mitt Romney a shovel just in time to dig shit snow in MI for the next two weeks. There's a lot that is fact-impaired in this op-ed doubling down on the "let GM go bankrupt" (starting with the lack of funding for a bankruptcy, meaning…
Will MI Democrats Champion Women's Rights as Santorum Surges through Our State?
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I noted the other day how tired I am of MI's Democrats asking women to ignore the anti-choice stance of so many of our Democrats, a stance which led to MI Democrat Bart Stupak dictating what kind of medical…
What WAS Our Sentinel Drone Surveilling in Iran?
Kevin Drum captures where the state of the reporting on the story that the MEK, backed by Israel, is responsible for the assassinations of Iranian scientists and the implication that that makes Israel a state that sponsors terrorism. Drum writes,
Are…
A Race to Get Excited About: Trevor Thomas
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I noted last week that we might have an exciting candidate--Trevor Thomas--running against Justin Amash to be my congressman.
He has officially filed his papers to run. So I now have something to officially…
"Quiet Lobbying Campaign" For SOCOM: Hollywood Movie, President's Campaign Slogan
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Coming so quickly on the heels of Lt. Col. Daniel Davis documenting the depraved level of lying that characterizes the primary mode of action for many at the top levels in our…
DOJ's Untracked Email Spying
As Wired reports, DOJ blew off the requirement that it tell Congress how many pen registers and trap and trace devices they used for the entire Bush Administration.
[...]the Justice Department was not following the law and had not provided…
The UndieBomber's Interrogators Asked Him about Anwar al-Awlaki's Death Just after He Was Put on Kill List
At least by October 4, 2011, UndieBomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had been told that Anwar al-Awlaki had been killed. During jury selection that day, he yelled out "Anwar is alive," as he had previously yelled out "Osama's alive" at a hearing…
Alan Gross and Jacob Appelbaum
This AP story describing the backstory of USAID contractor Alan Gross's imprisonment in Cuba is interesting in its own right. Past reporting had made it clear that Cuba had declared Gross a spy because he was setting up secure communications…
The Anonymous DOJ Handmaiden of Political Whim
Adam Liptak has an odd story on the increasing use of technology to pursue leaks.
I find it odd for two reasons. In spite of the fact that he nods to technology and has Lucy Dalglish relate the same story I described here, in which a national…
Honorable Military Whistleblower: Why Daniel Davis Is and Bradley Manning Is Not
One of the hottest, and most important, stories of the last week has been that broken by Scott Shane in the New York Times, on February 5th, of Army Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis' stunning report on the unmitigated duplicity and disaster that characterizes…
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis' Truth-Telling Continues: Long Report Published by Rolling Stone
Speaking truth to power is a brave act wherever it is carried out. But when that power is the strongest military force on earth and the one speaking truth is coming from within the ranks of that force to point out blatant lies promulgated at…
Why Has the Government Story about Who Ordered the UndieBomber to Attack the US Changed?
The government has told two or three slightly different stories about who directed and inspired Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's UndieBomber plot. The stories are all reconcilable (I'm not suggesting nefarious intent). But the differences in the…
Government Finally Releases Narrative of Anwar al-Awlaki's Role in UndieBombing Plot
As part of its sentencing memo asking for multiple counts of life imprisonment against Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the government has finally officially laid out how it claims Anwar al-Awlaki was involved in Abdulmutallab's plot. I've included…
Exploitation: How a "Recidivist" became a Double Agent
The Republicans are at it again: collecting lists of former Gitmo detainees they deem to have "returned to combat" and using those lists to fear-monger against transferring prisoners out of Gitmo.
Here's the report the Republicans on the…
91% Fewer Terrorist Sympathizers with Twice the Cash and 48% More Surveillance
A number of people have pointed to this report showing that the terrorist threat is grossly overblown. Not only does it show that Robert Mueller was overselling the risk of Muslim-American radicalization in the early days of of the War on Terror,…
Rohrabacher Chairs Hearing on Balochistan, Pronounces it "Balookistan"
Demonstrating the tact, cultural sensitivity and deep research skills of today's Congressional Republicans, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) chaired a hearing Wednesday for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation…
Lanny Breuer's Theory of Chatting Accountability for CEOs
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This whole video is worth watching. Eliot Spitzer, former US Attorney Mary Jo White, and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer discuss financial crimes, with SIGTARP head Neil Barofsky moderating. I was fairly…
Eric Schneiderman: Foreclosure Settlement "Down Payment"
Given that we're talking about some relief for homeowners who are so far underwater that they've completely lost the value of the down payment they paid on their homes, I thought NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's use of the phrase "down…
If Ron Wyden Hasn't Seen Awlaki Memo, There Has Been Inadequate Oversight
As MadDog noted and Ellen Nakashima reported, Ron Wyden is getting cranky that DOJ won't even show him--a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee--the OLC memo authorizing the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki.
There's one basic thing the letter…
Conferring Immunity from Justice, Barack Obama Becomes "The Great Vaccinator"
Ronald Reagan was The Great Communicator. Lyndon Johnson's anti-poverty efforts were aimed at realizing The Great Society. Barack Obama's presidency is moving toward greatness, as well, but not in a good way. At seemingly every turn, Obama has…