saturday reads

What is up with bu$h's veto of the military policy bill?


Ray McGovern - Creeping Fascism: From Nazi Germany to Post 9/11 America


A group in Brattleboro is petitioning to put an item on a town meeting agenda in March that would make Bush and Vice President Cheney subject to arrest and indictment if they visit the southeastern Vermont community.


Scott Horton: All the King’s Men, Reloaded


Quiet as a mouse. There certainly have been gaffes, softballs, and missed opportunities. And the most obvious are found in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security—the Senate's version of Rep. Henry Waxman's Oversight Committee in the House. Unlike Waxman's enthusiastic probing, the Senate chair conducted zero proactive investigations into Bush administration malfeasance. It's chairman? Connecticut's Joseph Lieberman.


The New York Times Magazine has a tribute to Steve Gilliard


The Pope has ordered his bishops to set up exorcism squads to tackle the rise of Satanism.

friday reads

Juan Cole: With Bhutto gone, does Bush have a Plan B?

The Bush administration backed military dictator Musharraf to the hilt as a way of dealing with U.S. security and al-Qaida on the cheap while it poured hundreds of billions into Baghdad. George W. Bush was entirely willing to let the Pakistani judiciary, the rule of law, and any real democracy be gutted by an ambitious general. For Washington, allowing Bhutto to return to Pakistan was simply a way to shore up Musharraf's legitimacy. Now Pakistan faces new turmoil, and Bush appears to have no Plan B. Since Pakistan is a nuclear power and al-Qaida extremists still use it as a base to plot against the West, this failure is inexcusable and threatens U.S. security in a way Iraq never did.

Benazir Bhutto - A Warning To Us All


Ron Paul's Friends -- in Black and White


Jon Swift has the Best Blog Posts of 2007


Sadly, No!: It's like the blind leading the really, really blind

thursday reads

The former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today, the Pakistani interior ministry has confirmed.


The FCC's Christmas Gift to Big Media


In 1946, the United States prosecuted two Justice Department lawyers for a peculiar crime. They had written memoranda which, in disregard of international law, facilitated the torture and abuse of prisoners. They were sentenced to ten years in prison, less time served. That was in the days when the Justice Department lived up to its name. The case is called United States v. Altstoetter. It would be a good case for Michael Mukasey to read; his underlings could benefit from a reading, too, since the time is approaching when it’s going to have some direct impact in their own lives.


There's nothing quite like pounding your chicken in a room full of naked men to get the old heterosexual juices flowing.

monday reads

CIA chief to drag White House into torture cover-up storm

THE CIA chief who ordered the destruction of secret videotapes recording the harsh interrogation of two top Al-Qaeda suspects has indicated he may seek immunity from prosecution in exchange for testifying before the House intelligence committee.

Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA’s clandestine service, is determined not to become the fall guy in the controversy over the CIA’s use of torture, according to intelligence sources.

It has emerged that at least four White House staff were approached for advice about the tapes, including David Addington, a senior aide to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, but none has admitted to recommending their destruction.

After the United States has spent more than $5 billion in a largely failed effort to bolster the Pakistani military effort against Al Qaeda and the Taliban, some American officials now acknowledge that there were too few controls over the money. The strategy to improve the Pakistani military, they said, needs to be completely revamped.


Bill Moyers: America on Steroids


Scott Horton: An Update on the Trial of Bilal Hussein


Paul Krugman: State of the Unions