Bush administration -- who gets to bend the rules?

By Carol Gee

George W. Bush has 133 more days at the White House; it is 57 days until the 2008 presidential election. This post is a reminder of the national garbage that will be left behind when he moves out. Just so you remember, because John McCain's election would retain 90% of it all over the floor (I think that is the figure used). I agree with this rather sweeping headline from Global Research (9/5/08): "The Bush Administration Is an Ongoing Criminal Conspiracy Under International Law and U.S. Domestic Law*."

The Forever War -- What rule covers that idea? From The Raw Story (8/31/08) comes the headline, "Bush quietly seeks to make war powers permanent, by declaring indefinite state of war.#" To quote:

As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.

Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."

This Week in Scandal Watch -- Torture is just not about to leave the headlines. This is from ProPublica, 9/5/08:

#2. Detainee Treatment

The legal advisor to the Gitmo military tribunals has been barred from yet another trial for appearing to favor the prosecution. Three Gitmo detainees were released to their home countries this week as well.

A former Canadian police commissioner blamed U.S. political interference for bungling the rendition to Syria - and subsequent alleged torture - of Canadian terror suspect Maher Arar. Condoleezza Rice admitted last October that his case had not been "handled particularly well."

And finally, in response to an ACLU lawsuit, a federal judge ruled that the government must produce its memos on abusive CIA interrogation methods or explain why it cannot.

More of the leftover garbage -- No bigger rule-breaker than our current president (OCP)'s good friend Alberto Gonzales. The news comes from TPM Muckraker (9/3/08): "OIG Report May Indicate Gonzales Perjury," by Kate Klonick. But, of course the DOJ will not press charges. There's more in the full story. To quote:

We noted yesterday that the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General issued a report on the found that former Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales had mishandled classified documents during his time in office. . .

John McCain prefers to bend the rules just like OCP. It is no coincidence that hundreds of protesters and journalists were arrested during the Republican nominating convention. These police state tactics were documented at Survival Acres "Minneapolis arrests photographed*" (9/3/08). Also
at Survival Acres (8/22/08)was this earlier post titled, "Dead Men Walking*." It is the author's fierce response to the news about the new more permissive rules for FBI investigations, about which I have recently written. To quote:

This is one of those terrible stories with insufficient details, but enough so to make your hair stand on end. . .

Of course this is terrifying and unnecessary and nothing will or can be done about any of it. This is really no different then what is being done by cops all over the country, who using their positions of paid terrorism in service of the State, can target anybody (and do) for personal gain or vendetta.

This homeland security section concludes with this entry from CQ Behind the Lines, by David C. Morrison (9/5/08) To quote (author's links):

Feds: “An influential New Jersey Muslim leader accused by DHS of having terrorist ties but praised by others as being an important ally won his fight to gain permanent U.S. residency,” The Associated Press’ Samantha Henry reports — while another AP item has a federal judge ruling that justice must either produce memos on water boarding or explain why they should be kept secret. “DHS showed some continuity and steady progress this year, and leaders took the initiative to ensure a smooth transition to a new administration,” David Silverberg weighs in a Homeland Security Today “2008 Report Card.”

George W. Bush is a lame duck president at this point, thank goodness. The next couple of months are particularly important ones for the well-being of our nation. Unless the citizenry is vigilant, the pile of national garbage left behind will smell up the next four years: John McCain and Sarah Palin's election would retain 90% of it. You cannot get a sheet of paper between Bush and McCain on national security.

Hat tip to regular contributors for the links: "*betmo" and #Jon.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Investigating in the Middle East

By Carol Gee

Difficult to discover -- It is a long way from the United States to the Middle East. The Middle East can be a very dangerous place for fact-finders. Fortunately for us, investigative journalists persist in trying to ascertain what is actually happening in the region.

These authors did considerable investigation resulting in several contrasting elements -- wonderfully personal stories of soldiers and their families, detailed facts and figures about the war termed Operation Enduring Freedom, and trends in the current Afghan war situation. The story is worth reading for a number of reasons. "500: Deadly U.S. Milestone in Afghan War," is the sad Memeorandum headline from the New York Times. To quote from the article (By KIRK SEMPLE and ANDREW W. LEHREN. Published: August 6, 2008):

. . . in June, the war in Afghanistan roared back into public view when American deaths from hostilities exceeded those in Iraq. In the face of an expanding threat from the Taliban, the conflict is becoming deadlier and much more violent for American troops, who three weeks ago reached their highest deployment levels ever, at 36,000.

June was the second deadliest month for the military in Afghanistan since the war began, with 23 American deaths from hostilities, compared with 22 in Iraq. July was less deadly, with 20 deaths, compared with six in Iraq. On July 22, nearly seven years after the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2001, the United States lost its 500th soldier in the Afghanistan war.

Trusted Middle East expert, Juan Cole of Informed Comment has been investigating the latest news from the region and gives us some of his useful (and alarming) discovery and analysis. The Iraqi Parliament adjourned for several weeks with "no provincial election law." The Arabs are threatening violence over the issue of Kirkuk. Quoting further,

The sticking point was finding an acceptable formula for holding the elections in the mixed province of Kirkuk, which is being fought over by Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs. The failure to pass the law makes it virtually impossible to hold provincial elections in 2008.

. . . Even more alarming than the Iraqi parliament's inability to arrange for provincial elections to be held over 2 years after they were first scheduled is the reason for the failure. The debate on provincial elections has revealed that the Kirkuk dispute is a volcano about to blow, and that ordinary liberal institutions of debate and compromise seem helpless before the ethno-nationalist passions boiling there. Resolving Kirkuk is not only key to social peace in northern Iraq but also in the entire eastern Mediterranean.

"State IG to probe a deal between a Texas oil firm and Iraqi Kurds," is an article taken from TPM Muckraker, known for its investigative journalism. The story goes on to quote the details of Texas' Hunt Oil Company's deal with the Kurds from the New York Times. To quote the opening :

Publicly, the U.S. State Department said it was discouraging U.S. oil companies from forging deals with Iraqi Kurds last year.

But privately, Bush administration officials may have sent different signals.

Now the State Department's Inspector General has launched an investigation into what exactly was said to whom.

Adding unique insight into a high profile expose' -- Also from Informed Comment comes additional details from Professor Cole regarding the Ron Suskind book, "The Way of the World." The book's author discloses further details about an allegedly forged Abu Nidal letter used to make the case for the war in Iraq. Cole's post is particularly valuable as it brings in facts usually known principally in the ME region.

McClatchy has the best -- Frequently Professor Cole finishes one of his posts with a summary of the latest war facts and figures taken from McClatchy's coverage. McClatchy Newspapers carries an excellent in-depth study (8 months) of the Guantanamo Bay prison entitled, "Guantanamo: Beyond the Law." (Link to Table of Contents). Before you read the entire series, I recommend Juan Cole's (6/18/08) post, "The Great Torture Scandal."

Today's post begins in Afghanistan, moves to northern Iraq, and ends in Guantanamo, Cuba, a shameful stand-in for the war-zones, and intimately connected to the Middle East. Kudos to Kirk Semple, Andrew Lehren, Juan Cole, and to The New York Times and McClatchy Newspapers, for upholding investigations it will take years to complete.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

CIVIL is as civil does

By Carol Gee

Please be civil -- Civil rights, civil liberties, civil society, civil vs. criminal, civil service, civil disobedience, all of these phrases have something to do with behaving oneself. For the past few days I have been reading a great deal of Internet material on "civil" issues, including the Hamdan trial at Guantanamo. It has been a fascinating exercise in maintaining my equilibrium despite what I have learned that is further evidence of the Bush administration's lack of ethics and frontal assault on the U.S. Constitution.

Google, move over -- In the process a happy accident happened. I discovered a very interesting new search engine named "Cuil," pronounced "cool." It returned very useful results in a brand new form. I used the search terms, "Domestic Spying," "search laptops" and got 1,538,151 results for the term "DNI Mike McConnell." One day I am sure my concentration on writing about the DNI will put me under suspicion in the NSA, but the number of "hits" make it clear that I am not the only one fascinated with the man.

In addition to Civil, "C" also stands for Contempt. This is the headline that reports an amazing administration defiance of recent court rulings about executive privilege vs. congressional oversight powers. "Defying Subpoena, DoD Orders Sexual Assault Program Chief Not To Testify Before Congress" by Andrew Tilghman - August 1, 2008 at TPM Muckraker. To quote from the post:

The Pentagon defied a Congressional subpoena yesterday by refusing to let the head of its sexual assault program testify at an oversight hearing about sexual assault in the military.

The House panel had issued a subpoena for Dr. Kaye Whitley, the director of the Defense Department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

But Pentagon officials ordered her not to testify and instead sent her supervisor, Michael Dominguez, a principal deputy undersecretary for defense, in her place.

American Civil Liberties Union -- Blog of Rights. It is clear to me that the new FISA law will be challenged over and over again in court, perhaps for years. It is far too crucial to let it stand. A related headline says that the "Administration wants to block ACLU from wiretapping law litigation" by Andrew Tilghman (7/30/08) from TPM Muckraker. To quote:

The Department of Justice filed court papers yesterday seeking to block the ACLU -- and any other third party -- from submitting briefs to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the classified forums that will be primarily responsible for translating the federal law signed last month into practice.

. . . Peter Swire, a law professor at Ohio State University and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, supports the ACLU's position. He wrote a paper in 2004 calling for greater participation in the FISA court.

"The DOJ is taking an expansive view of executive power and narrow view of judicial power, Swire told TPMmuckraker in an interview today. "Under the government's view, the judges seem required to uphold an unconstitutional system because the judges are forbidden from getting briefing from anyone other than the executive branch."

While there is limited precedent for third-party involvement in the typically classified proceedings under the 1978 FISA law, the new technologies that prompted lawmakers to update the law law may also warrant new procedures, Swire said.

"The 1978 version of FISA targeted one individual at a time or sometime one terrorist organization. The new approach sweeps far more broadly and it looks more like an administrative system than a traditional judicial wiretap order."

Closed FISA Court? Ryan Singel at Wired: Threat Level, has another take on the same story. "Only government can argue in secret spy court, Feds say". To quote:

On July 10, the ACLU asked the secret court to let it participate when the Court was considering questions about the "scope, meaning and constitutionality" of this blanket surveillance program. The ACLU wanted to make the government file public versions of its legal briefs, allow the ACLU to file a brief and argue orally, and that the court issue public opinions (with classified info redacted). The ACLU made the request (.pdf) the same day it challenged the constitutionality of the newly passed FISA Amendments Act in federal district court.

The Bush Administration argues that the court's review of spying orders is far too secret to allow any outside party.

"The benefits of open proceedings are greatly outweighed by the potential harm that public access would cause to the national security and integrity of the FISC process," the brief (.pdf) argued. "Allowing third parties to use this Court as a general forum to present facial challenges to the Government's surveillance activities could cause a flood of litigation that would distract this Court from its important national security functions."

S/SW References -- Recently I have blogged about several of the most important civil liberties issues in the news. Links follow:

• "Why were they surprised?" -- Republicans walk out on DNI briefing
• "The kind of government we want" -- includes a segment on the recent Bush order for a national intelligence overhaul
• "Be careful what you ask for" -- The role of psychologists in the government's torture program
• "I pledge allegiance" -- Daniel Ellsberg interview on the Fourth Amendment
• "What about The Mikes?" -- Regarding news about DNI Mike McConnell and AG Mike Mukasey
• "FISA bill signing post mortem" -- a rant about the consequences of Congress caving in on FISA
• "Examining an obsession with civil liberties" -- mine!
  

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Extreme Interrogations -- Revelations Gaining Momentum

By Carol Gee

The more we learn about what happens to those whom our government takes into custody as threats to our national security, I increasingly have the urge to wash my hands more frequently. This news will set the tone to which I refer.

Senator Kit Bond is floating something that would tell the government, what it could not do in the way of torture. Headlined, "GOP Senator Floats Compromise Torture Measure," it was written by Paul Kiel - May 8, 2008. He includes this AP quote:

Rather than prescribe what the intelligence agency is allowed to do in an interrogation, Bond wants to write into law only what the CIA cannot do: force detainees to be naked, perform sexual acts, or pose in a sexual manner; have hoods or sacks placed over their heads or duct tape over their eyes; be beaten, shocked, or burned; threatened with military dogs; exposed to extreme heat or cold; subjected to mock executions; deprived of food, water, or medical care; or waterboarded.

Fellow "handwashers" -- I am doing a little Round-up of "Torture Stories" for your reading pleasure today. I must give grateful credit to my unflagging sources in the Blogosphere, others willing to feel uncomfortable with the material contained in many of the current national security stories coming out: "mcjoan" at DailyKos, Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker, "emptywheel" at Firedoglake, Ryan Singel at Wired: Threat Level, and Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com. If I am away from the story for a few days, I can always count on one or more of these dedicated bloggers to keep their hands in.

"CNN, the Pentagon's "military analyst" program and Gitmo," is the title of a Glenn Greenwald post at Salon.com on May 9. Greenwald's source was a NYT-forced release of thousands of pages of Pentagon communications regarding the analysts program. Adding another twist to this messy scandal now coming out more fully, his comprehensive piece details how the true situation at the Guantanamo detention facility was white-washed during a Pentagon sponsored trip for the analysts to Cuba in 2005. Related to my recent "Tortured Thinking" posts Part I and Part II, I quote one of the key tidbits:

Demonstrating how controlled by the Pentagon were these "analysts," Shepperd's email to "help" was forwarded to top Rumsfeld aide Larry Di Rita, who replied (7470): "OK, but let's get him briefed on Khatani so he doesn't go too far on that one" -- referring to the so-called 20th hijacker Mohammed al-Khatani, whose Guantanamo interrogation had been particularly brutal, as he "was stripped naked, isolated, given intravenous fluids and forced to urinate on himself, and exercised to exhaustion during interrogations that lasted 18 to 20 hours a day for 48 of 54 days."

"The FBI's Hands Off Approach to Torture," was also written by TPM Muckracker's Paul Kiel - April 24, 2008. FBI Director Mueller appears to have been unable to have a hand in derailing the torture programs propelled by the DOD and DOJ attorneys' sullied legal opinions.To quote the key passage:

. . . what the FBI's reaction to the CIA's use of waterboarding and other forms of torture in 2002 had been: keep FBI agents out of trouble. But when House Democrats pressed as to why the FBI hadn't investigated the abuses, Mueller said his hands were tied. The CIA and the Defense Department had the green light. "There has to be a legal basis for us to investigate, and generally that legal basis is given to us by the Department of Justice."

Taken in hand by the TSA? The following information might be useful to you before your next airport terminal interrogation. Headlined, "Court: Government Must Reveal Watch-List Status to Constantly Detained Americans," by Ryan Singel, April 24, 2008, you should be able now to find out your watch list status. To quote from the opening of the story:

Eight Americans of south Asian and Middle Eastern descent who were repeatedly detained at the border for questioning will be able to learn if they are actually on the government's terrorist watch list, a federal court in Illinois ruled last week, marking the first time that citizens have been able to learn whether they have been added to a sprawling and error-prone list used for screening at borders and traffic stops.

The government invoked the powerful state secrets privilege in the case, arguing that letting the plaintiffs know if they are or aren't on the list would harm national security since that could alert them to the fact they have been under government scrutiny.

. . . The Terrorist Screening Center, which runs the list, says it has been pruning the list and removing errant entries, even as the list grows by an estimated 20,000 names a month. While the TSC says the majority of the names on the list are foreigners, most of the people compared against the list are Americans, who are checked against the list when they are stopped for a traffic violation, enter or leave the country or fly domestically.

The hand writing is on the wall -- Republican Senator Kit Bond thinks a list of "not-do's" is the answer to preventing torture. Knowing this group of interrogators with seemingly limitless inventiveness, however, they might just handily circumvent the list with any number of "other measures." If Guantanamo is closed there is no telling what secret locations might be the destiny of the detainees. And it seems that the Mainstream Media will continue to rely on their "military analysts" to keep us informed. Most people will never know how many of these retired military hands are dirty with conflicts of interest because the MSM will not even report that scandal. But at least, pretty soon we should all be able to find out if we are suspected terrorists or not.

Excuse me; I'm going to wash my hands now.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

It is hard to know where to begin to tell you . . .

By Carol Gee

. . . what is happening today. -- We have never seen anything resembling what is currently going on in U.S. politics. Memeorandum is a great resource for finding out all about the current political scene. I highly recommend it. And I have news items gleaned from my friend "betmo's" in-box.

Republicans will perhaps have completely sorted themselves out by the end of the day tomorrow. More importantly a unique history is being written by the two Democratic presidential candidates, now neck and neck in the polls. I watched yesterday's spectacular Obama rally in California. Maria Shriver made a surprise appearance endorsing Barack Obama. Oprah Winfrey spoke and Michelle Obama turned in a spectacular performance as a passionate rallying speaker and advocate for "the least of these" among us. It was impressive, to say the least.

Senator Barack Obama is rising meteorically as tomorrow's big Super Tuesday elections in 20+ states are now upon us. Obama rallied support all over the nation, from the polls and from endorsements. A New York Times story cleverly headlined an article "In Democratic Families, Politics Makes for Estranged Bedfellows." It is happening all over the nation as people choose between the two best candidates we have seen in a long time. I have yet to make up my own mind. My preferences swing like a weather vane. It is a delicious dilemma.

More blog amnesty honors -- My blog buddy and in-box supplier, betmo, sent me a couple of a small blog site's good posts. It was a good tip from a fine blogger herself. This well-done blog with six contributors has some great stuff and a catchy title, "And, yes, I DO take it personally." This "little blog" just celebrated their 150,000 visitor. It was all news to me, beginning with an election and then a military story:

• "You want to read something REALLY funny?" This is a fine reflection on how it could happen here (in a New York minute), from "The List: How to Steal an Election Without Breaking a Sweat" in Foreign Policy. It has an eerily familiar ring to it, and would be a very informative read in this election year of 2008.


• "The co-optation continues," as Global Research reports that NATO is setting up bases in Bulgaria. Because I live in defense contract/military base, city I can understand why the Bulgarian city fathers would look to a military installation to shore up an ailing municipality.
  

And on the terrible down side, from my fierce friend, "betmo" came this very disheartening news -- US Military Doctors Infect Guantanamo Detainee with HIV, reports After Downing Street. To quote:

US Attorney H. Candace Gorman has revealed that her client Abdul Hamid Al-Ghizzawi has been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Al Ghizzawi believes the infection happened during medical procedures at Guantanamo in 2004 when he was given a blood test which resulted in alarm amongst the hospital staff. Al Ghizzawi was not given any explanation for the alarm at the time. As a result Al-Ghizzawi has now been told that he is suffering from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Having already been suffering from Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis (which he also acquired at Guantanamo) Al Ghizzawi has been held in severe isolation in Camp 6.

But "betmo's" last contribution to my in-box was very upbeat, a good note upon which to end today's post. It involves action and making things better by working together. It is actually like an Obama thing, in that regard. The story gives us Eight Earth-Friendly New Year's Resolutions -- to revisit this in February. Each of these strategies has a good follow-through link at this great Environmental Defense Fund website.

1. Replace my conventional light bulbs with energy efficient ones.
2. Calculate my carbon footprint.
3. Make small changes at home.
4. Drive like the earth depends on it.
5. Buy carbon offsets to help offset my emissions further.
6. Choose seafood that's good for me and the ocean.
7. Write my members of Congress demanding a strong global warming law.
8. Pass this list to my friends and family.
   

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

How can we reclaim a sense of security in this climate?

By Carol Gee

Several forces conspire to steal our sense of security. They are man-made, not natural forces. These forces, however are not conspiring with each other to steal from us. I say that to allay any suspicion that I am a conspiracy theorist or that I am paranoid. I am sane and rational, though not always perfectly so. But these are truly dark times.

Today I am relieved that one of the conspirators, Rudy Giuliani, will no longer be as active among us. His endorsement of another of the current players of the "fear card," Senator John McCain, reminded me that they do not want us to relax. The forces of aggression that set in motion the loss of a million Iraqis, are now supported by McCain's seeming commitment to a "forever war." Because our nation is an integral part of such violence, his candidacy does not allow us normal folks to feel at ease.

Other maladaptive psychological traits in and out of our current administration tend to keep us agitated. Let me give you another example example. You could see much agitation on C-SPAN yesterday when Attorney General Michael Mukasey (the 3rd member of Mr. Bush's Tough Guy Triumvirate that includes Mike McConnell-DNI and Michael Hayden-CIA Director) testified before the Senate yesterday. The most prevalent questions from Senators to our nation's most senior legal official, were about water boarding. Mukasey, seemingly in absolute psychological denial, refused to rule it out, at the same time as he termed it "repugnant." How are we to feel he will staunchly defend the rule of law? He will not, according to the New York Times story on 1/31/08. To quote:

The legality of waterboarding, in which a prisoner experiences a sensation of drowning, has been come under fierce debate since the acknowledgment by Bush administration officials that a small number of prisoners who were members of Al Qaeda had been subjected to it after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Mukasey said in a letter delivered to the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday night that he had been authorized by the White House to reveal that waterboarding was no longer being carried out and, for now, was considered an unapproved interrogation technique within the C.I.A. He repeated that assurance in his testimony Wednesday.

Legislative leaders formulate the laws that are then to be executed by another branch of government. The U.S. Constitution assures us of those basics. It does not make me feel more secure to suspect that the CIA sees itself as above the law. How am I to believe that my civil liberties and those of others will be protected as the agency goes about its business? The following story is another example of ignoring the basic rules of evidence. The headline reads, "Detainee's Lawyers Rebut C.I.A. on Tapes" -- NYT 1/19/08. To quote:

Lawyers for Majid Khan, a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have challenged the Central Intelligence Agency’s assertion that videotaping of interrogations stopped in 2002, saying that Mr. Khan’s interrogations after that time were recorded on videotape.

In papers filed Jan. 4, Mr. Khan’s lawyers challenged a Dec. 6 statement by the C.I.A. director, Gen. Michael V. Hayden. General Hayden, addressing agency employees after being told that The New York Times was about to publish an article about the tapes, wrote that the taping stopped in 2002.

Having a responsible position and years of experience does not necessarily endow a man with integrity or the ability to do well by his subordinates. General Mike Hayden's predecessor, Porter Goss was a high ranking legislator just prior to his appointment to head the CIA. And he left his staff member hanging out to dry with a decision on the side of the law, that should have been his own to make. We should have been able to trust him to do the right thing. Goss chaired the House Intelligence Committee; Rep. Jane Harman was the Democratic ranking Member. Headlined Porter Goss and the tapes (1/17/08), the story came from the AP. To quote:

Former CIA Director Porter Goss never criticized plans to destroy interrogation videotapes, a lawyer said Thursday as the investigation began shaping up as a matter of competing storylines.

Jose Rodriguez, the CIA official who gave the order to destroy the tapes, is at the center of Justice Department and congressional investigations into who approved the plan and whether it was illegal. His attorney, Robert Bennett, said Goss and Rodriquez met several times to discuss the tapes and Goss was never critical of Rodriquez' decision.

Many of us began to feel more secure back in December when Congress sought to ban torture altogether. The NYT headline read, "House Votes to Ban Harsh C.I.A. Methods." It was by AP from December 13, 2007. To quote:

The House approved an intelligence bill Thursday that would prohibit the CIA from using waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods.

The 222-199 vote sent the measure to the Senate, which still must act before it can go to President Bush. The White House has threatened a veto.

The bill, a House-Senate compromise to authorize intelligence operations in 2008, also blocks spending 70 percent of the intelligence budget until the House and Senate intelligence committees are briefed on Israel's Sept. 6 air strike on an alleged nuclear site in Syria.

The 2008 intelligence budget is classified, but it is more than the $43 billion approved for 2007.

The New York Times editorialized at about the same time with this headline: "In Arrogant defense of torture."

According to GovTrack.us, HR. 2082 has not been signed by the president. So, despite passing laws, an active opposition from a leading newspaper, and with yesterday's AG refusal to disavow torture, we cannot yet feel secure that our government is operating under the rule of law.

Update: Senator Whitehouse told us -- during his very effective C-SPAN call-in this morning -- that the Conference Report on the Intelligence bill must still be accepted by the Senate. So it is not yet on the President's desk, to be fair.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

"Neither Congress nor the president has the power to repeal the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirements"

By Creature

Gitmo lawyers stand up for our rights so the Democrats in Congress don't have to. From ThinkProgress:

Yesterday, lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees asked a federal judge in San Francisco to invalidate the recently-passed FISA law that lets the Bush administration conduct warrantless surveillance on suspected terrorists without first getting court-approved warrants. [...]

Anthony Coppolino, a special counsel to the Justice Department, refused to rebut the challenge to the new law. Copppolino offered this defense: “It’s possible that their clients were and it’s possible that their clients were not” spied on.

The courts are the only check and balance the American people have left. Let's hope after six-plus years of Bush appointments there are a few honest judges left.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)

Guantánamo

By Capt Fogg

O dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, Irrecoverably dark! total eclipse, Without all hope of day.
-John Milton, Sampson Agonistes-

The worst of the worst, scum de la scum; they're bad, evil, terrible people we are holding in Guantánamo, or so we have been told all along. Don't feel bad for the men in cages, we're only torturing them a little bit and after all, if someone has information about a terrible terrorist plot, wouldn't you torture them to find out?

Try to reconcile that official rationale for dehumanizing a group of people picked up or kidnapped under widely varying circumstances from many different places and sometimes only because somebody accused them, or they had a name similar to somebody who might have known somebody; try to reconcile it with the steady trickle of prisoners who after 5 years of duress and investigation have been released as not being dangerous or knowing nothing and being not guilty of doing anything.

Isa Murbati, a 41-year-old father of five who had been a Guantánamo prisoner for more than five years without having been charged with anything, arrived in Bahrain last night. Oops, never mind. He's the sixth and last Bahraini to be released and all the men had been in coveralls and cages since 2002. At lease one had attempted suicide repeatedly. If it had not been for the persistent efforts of the government of Bahrain and King Hamad Bin Isa al Khalifa, whose kingdom is considered to be "pro-American" and allows the US to base the Fifth Fleet there, who knows what would have happened to these wretches? Many other prisoners have no place to go because no country will take them. No money, no clothes, no country and most assuredly nearly or fully demented from half a decade of no sleep and waterboarding. The worst of the worst.

The government of Bahrain will seek compensation and perhaps they will succeed. After all they do have leverage, but paying damages would be an admission of having done something wrong and admissions of wrong doing do not escape the iron curtain around the White House any more easily that light will exit any other black hole. I'm sure something will be worked out to save the smiling face of our delusional dictator, but what amount of money can restore a ruined life, a ruined mind?

As far as anyone knows, the amount of valuable information extracted from the torture rooms is about nil. Of course the black hole doesn't emit much light and what it does emit tends to be disinformation or denial, but what can a man who has been in a dog cage for 5 years tell us about? Not much about Osama perhaps, but he can tell us a lot about the United States of America.

Nothing short of impeachment can restore our ruined reputation and bring back the light to the dark and secret nightmare cellars of our nation.

(Cross-posted at Human Voices.)