Holder's reasonable decision By Jim Comey and Jack Goldsmith Friday, November 20, 2009 One reason commissions have not worked well is that changes in constitutional, international and military laws since they were last used, during World War II, have produced great uncertainty about the commissions' validity. This uncertainty has led to many legal challenges that will continue indefinitely -- hardly an ideal situation for the trial of the century. By contrast, there is no question a...

 

 
Palin: Crack Down On 'Iraq' To Prevent Nuclear Iran (Link)

 

Source: Huffington Post Rep. John Conyers took a broad swipe at President Obama and his chief of staff on Thursday, accusing them of "bowing down" to "nutty right-wing" health care proposals in a principle-less effort to get legislation passed. ..................... "I'm getting tired of saving Obama's can in the White House," said Conyers. "I mean, he only won by five votes in the House, and this bill wasn't anything to write home about. The public option is only available, which is the only...

Obama Must Toss the Bums Out of Treasury, End the Wars and Start Leading Submitted by dlindorff on November 19, 2009 - 1:13pm. By Dave Lindorff President Obama is on a short leash at this point. His fans, and I was one of those who was willing to give him a shot last November, are mostly giving up on him. Activists are already turning on him. My union friends are disgusted. My African-American friends just shake their heads in dismay. Liberal friends act embarrassed. A leftist friend, retired...

 
Maddow: What kind of propaganda or PR opportunity might this trial really pose? Simon: Well, I think the propaganda opportunities are all in favor of the United States. Well, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed really wanted to be tried by a military commission because if he were tried by a military commission, he would be able to portray himself as a soldier captured on the field of battle doing honorable warfare against the United States. Well, that's in fact not what he did. He was a crimi...

Source: Firedoglake Press Release: Economists and Labor Leaders Call for Fed to be Audited By: Michael Whitney Thursday November 19, 2009 10:46 am Below is a press release from Firedoglake about the Watt Amendment, which would gut the Paul-Grayson proposal to audit the Federal Reserve. Economists and Labor Leaders Call for Fed to be Audited Urge Rep. Barney Frank and Financial Services Committee to Reject Watt Amendment Richard Trumka, Andy Stern, Jamie Galbraith, Naomi Klein Say “A vote fo...

New Hampshire radio host fired after calling Dem party boss “a faggot” 11/17/09-by Paula BrooksWEMJ_logo A New Hampshire radio station has terminated a talk show after its host called that state’s Democratic Party chairman a derogatory name. Nassau Broadcasting, the owner of WEMJ 1490am in Laconia, says it terminated its contract with air conservative radio host Doug Lambert’s “Meet the New Press” show after Lambert called New Hampshire’s Democratic Party chairman Raymond Buckley, who is gay, ...

It is encouraging that Senator Reid respected the will of the American people and included a public option in the merged Senate bill. However, the addition of a state opt-out provision threatens to leave millions of Americans at the mercy of private insurance monopolies, with the federal government acting as enforcers for a product with no competition to keep prices down. . . . While people struggling with crippling health care costs and pre-existing conditions may have to wait until 2014 for re...

Retired Military Leaders Say Stop Fear-Mongering, Close Guantanamo to Ensure National Security Dozens of retired military leaders praise prosecution of Guantanamo detainees in U.S. Federal Courts (Link) ..................... We have watched with disappointment efforts to engender fear among the American people about the prospect of bringing suspected terrorists to the United States for trial. Our federal justice system has a proven track record of successfully prosecuting terrorists and i...

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1. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending 2. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices 3. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women 4. Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq 5. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB 6. Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information ...

Source: Chicago Tribune FOX rolls wrong video, heads may roll (Link) FOX executives are looking at serious disciplinary action in the control room. by Mark Silva FOX has done it again, and this time, once again, FOX says its misplay of the wrong crowd video was another regrettable mistake. Today, FOX News host Gregg Jarrett was talking about Republican Sarah Palin's book tour and the crowd she is drawing at the start of it - no small turnout, with some 1,500 people lining up early this morn...

 
From my perspective, popular opinion is a very dangerous bellwether to hold prosecutors to. … I think it gets worse when you move form popular opinion to legislative opinion. … And if there’s any way to make, it worse it’d be to allow it to be influenced by talk show opinion.

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Source: Wall Street Journal By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN WASHINGTON -- A key House panel voted Wednesday to give government the power to break up large financial firms whose collapse might threaten the broader economy, despite aggressive lobbying by major financial institutions to kill the measure. The amendment illustrates how some lawmakers are willing to go beyond the authority sought by the White House -- which stopped short of giving regulators power to break up healthy firms -- in the redra...

Source: McClatchy Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages By Dave Montgomery | Fort Worth Star-Telegram AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married? Maybe not. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a 22-word clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment designed to ban gay marriages erroneously endangers the legal status of all marriages in the state. The amendment, approved by the Legislature and overwhelmingly ratified by ...

 
This afternoon, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett proudly announced that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book. Take a look at — these are some of the pictures just coming into us.” But the pictures that the network chose to display on-air appeared to be old file footage of Palin rallies from the 2008 presidential campaign. Individuals in the crowd are seen holding McCain/Palin signs, and others are holding pom-poms and cheering wildly. “There’s a crow...

Source: MSNBC Breaking (Link) Of Senate Democrats Health Insurance Bill Is $849 Billion, CBO Says reduces Deficit $127 Billion 94% of American covered. Reduces number of uninsured Americans by 31 million. Read more: (Link)/ Senate Health Bill Totals $849 Billion by FOXNews.com The Senate's version of President Obama's sweeping health care plan would cost $849 billion, according to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office. The Senate's version of President Obama's sweep...

PALIN: I disagree with the Obama administration on that. I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand. WALTERS: Even if it’s (in) Palestinian areas? PALIN: I believe that the Jewish settlements sh...

Source: MSNBC Obama: Alleged 9/11 leader will be executed In NBC interview, he then backs off by saying he doesn't mean to prejudge updated 48 minutes ago WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Wednesday predicted that professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will be convicted and executed, as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified in the Senate to defend the strategy of civilian trials for the alleged Sept. 11 plotters. In an interview with NBC News, Obama said those offend...

 
That long-awaited report on the Justice Department's role in the Bush administration's torture program could finally be ready to see the light of day. During his testimony before Congress today, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the report, by the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility, is "in its last stages," and that he expects it will be released by the end of the month. (Link)

Tourist-In-Chief: Obama Visits The Great Wall Of China (Image) (Image) (Image) (Image) more: (Link)

Source: AFP Obama, brother hold brief reunion in Beijing (AFP) – 1 hour ago BEIJING — President Barack Obama had a brief but emotional reunion with half-brother Mark Obama Ndesandjo in Beijing, during the US leader's first official visit to China. "We had a big hug. And my wife and he had a big, big hug. He was very powerful, very intense, because he's my big brother," Ndesandjo said in an interview Wednesday with CNN. Ndesandjo, who lives in Shenzhen, a southern city neighboring Hong Kong,...

Giuliani: I'm Glad To See We're At War Again Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 18, 2009, 12:10PM On a conference all with reporters just now, Rudy Giuliani said there was one thing about Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to bring terror suspects to New York City he could stand fully behind. "I was glad to see Holder say 'we're at war,'" Giuliani said on the RNC-sponsored call. "I had thought we had virtually stopped being at war with the terrorists." The former New York City mayor was r...

 
During today's Judiciary Committee hearing on the 9/11 trials, terrorism and the Fort Hood shootings, Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) finally settled an old score. After Sessions cited Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in his opening remarks, Leahy said, "I must admit, Sen. Sessions, that I'm delighted to hear someone from Alabama quote, approvingly, Ulysses S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln. The world has come full circle." "And they were winners, too," Sessions responded. "Well...

Iditarod Moves Starting Spot North Due to Urban Sprawl, Global Warming Thursday, January 10, 2008 ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The modern challenges of global warming and population growth are catching up with the world's most famous sled dog race. (Link) Sarah Palin to Rush Limbaugh: ‘Are we warming or are we cooling?’ Yesterday, former Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) reminded hate radio host Rush Limbaugh that she doesn’t believe in man-made global warming. Palin, on a nationwide tour to promote her new ...

Source: Washington Independent International Justice Group Takes Aim at Bush Officials Digg Tweet By Daphne Eviatar 11/16/09 10:53 AM The International Center for Transitional Justice usually focuses on bringing to light and holding perpetrators accountable for such heinous crimes as genocide, mass murder and systematic torture, often in far-off war-torn countries with dismal human rights records. So it’s significant that today they’ve released a report calling on the United States to follow ...

"How is it that it will take 'decades' for history to judge the Bush administration yet we know already that the Obama administration is a failure?" (Link)