The Uncleansable Stain

post from TalkLeft on 03 October 2007 11:58:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Has there ever been a more disgraceful Attorney General than Alberto Gonzales? Has there ever been a more disgraceful Administration than the Bush Administration? No:

When the Justice Department publicly declared torture “abhorrent” in a legal opinion in December 2004, the Bush administration appeared to have abandoned its assertion of nearly unlimited presidential authority to order brutal interrogations.
But soon after Alberto R. Gonzales’s arrival as attorney general in February 2005, the Justice Department issued another opinion, this one in secret. It was a very different document, according to officials briefed on it, an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency.

The new opinion, the officials said, for the first time provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.
Mr. Gonzales approved the legal memorandum on “combined effects” over the objections of James B. Comey, the deputy attorney general, who was leaving his job after bruising clashes with the White House. Disagreeing with what he viewed as the opinion’s overreaching legal reasoning, Mr. Comey told colleagues at the department that they would all be “ashamed” when the world eventually learned of it.

The nation may never recover from the damage done by these scoundrels.

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Deutsche Bank writes off $3.12 billion from US
mortgage problems

post from AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth on 03 October 2007 11:37:00 PM. © AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth

Ouch. That's gotta hurt, even with the positive help from other divisions. DB joins fellow European bank UBS who were also caught up in the mortgage mess and let's not forget about the nearly collapsed Northern Rock in the UK. Who will be next?

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312-billion.html

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Weird Philly Moments

post from Eschaton on 03 October 2007 11:20:00 PM. © Eschaton

Midori almost being run over by another musician riding a bike.

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C&Ls Late Nite Music Club with Deckard

post from Crooks and Liars on 03 October 2007 11:03:01 PM. © Crooks and Liars

When Reprise’s head of A&R brought me this tape from a Scottish band called Deckard he wanted to sign, I was so happy. Their songs sounded like hits. Unfortunately, radio stations didn’t feel the same way. We brought the songs to the producers of the TV series Friends and they got it immediately and “What [...]

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http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/03/cls-late-nite-music-club-with-deckard/

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Late Nite FDL: Back Off, Brock

post from Firedoglake on 03 October 2007 11:00:51 PM. © Firedoglake

(Graphic by Jesus’ General)Dear David Brock-Hello, I hope this letter finds you well. I know that we’ve never met or spoken and all, but I need to have a word with you about something.I was reading this piece at Media Matters where Bill[...]

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http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/10/03/late-nite-fdl-back-off-brock/

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Teamsters Come Out for Net Neutrality

post from Open Left - Front Page on 03 October 2007 10:50:52 PM. © Open Left - Front Page

This is significant."But today these rights are under attack. Decisions by the Federal[...]

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Zzzzzzzzzz

post from Daily Kos on 03 October 2007 10:50:34 PM. © Daily Kos

Ouch.

Twenty-four minutes after he began speaking in a small restaurant the other day, Fred Thompson brought his remarks to a close with a nod of his head and an expression of thanks to Iowans for allowing him to “give my thoughts about some things.”

Then he stood face to a face with a silent audience.

“Can I have a round of applause?” Mr. Thompson said, drawing a rustle of clapping and some laughter.

“Well, I had to drag that out of you,” he said.

Crickets and a lonely tumbleweed bouncing by in the distance. That's what Grandpa Fred's stump speech gets. It really us hard to get more pathetic than that. But is it any surprise? Fred barely looks like he can keep himself awake.

Poor Fred, this isn't Hollywood. They don't script applause lines.

[A]s Mr. Thompson campaigned across Iowa this week, he was something other than the dynamic presence that some in his party have been yearning for. Iowans saw a candidate who is subdued and sonorous, a laconic presence who spoke in soft monotone, threw few elbows and displayed little drive to distinguish himself from his opponents.

But at least he has the right message, right?

“On prosperity, I have a real novel approach, a real creative approach,” he said in Coralville the other night. “Let’s continue doing what works and quit doing what doesn’t work in this country. Tax cuts work.”

Ha ha ha ha ha. So much for being a savior...

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Ashamed

I do not think they are wired up to feel that emotion, and not many of the Villagers seem to care either.

But let's not let the man in charge off the hook. It's Bushism. Has been all along.

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A New Mexican on Drafting Tom Udall and Turning
NM 100% Blue

With the news today that Senator Pete Domenichi would be retiring I'm hearing that the very political establishment of New Mexico is abuzz with the retirement of New Mexico's longest serving senator. Jonathan has already done a great job highlighting[...]

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From cleavage to "cackle" Media find new focus
in coverage of Hillary Clinton

Following her appearance on all five Sunday political talk shows on September 23 -- NBC's Meet the Press, CBS' Face the Nation, ABC's This Week, Fox News Sunday and CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer -- political reporters and other media personalities have seized on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) laugh as a new subject of attention. In his October 2 column -- headlined "Chucklegate" -- Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz contended that "Jon Stewart is now[...]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/rss/200710040003

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