Quote of the Day

post from Ezra Klein on 10 June 2007 06:31:00 PM. © Ezra Klein

Mark Kleiman: Just as a child is unlikely to be impressed with a highly efficient engine because it fails to make a satisfyingly loud noise or a medicine that doesn't taste bitter, a political journalist is unlikely to be impressed...[...]

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On Racism

post from Crooks and Liars on 10 June 2007 06:29:32 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Arthur Silber elaborates on racism and Coulter….

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Evening Thread

post from Eschaton on 10 June 2007 06:26:00 PM. © Eschaton

Enjoy.

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Colin Powell Goodness

post from All Spin Zone on 10 June 2007 06:23:00 PM. © All Spin Zone

Evidently Colin Powell has had a busy time lately, and part of that was revealed on the morning talk shows today. Seems he’s not happy with the Bushies, or Bush in particular. And regardless of what he’s saying, he may stiff the GOP entirely in the next election. First, he claims Gitmo [...]

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Arrivederci, Sopranos

post from Connecting.the.Dots on 10 June 2007 06:23:00 PM. © Connecting.the.Dots

With neither a bang nor a whimper, David Chase just pulls the plug.

OK, as in other season enders, the family is having dinner, this time in a diner, Meadow is having trouble parking the car, there is talk of a turncoat going over to the Feds, a shifty character goes to the men?s room and...Silence and darkness. It?s over.

Traditionally, gang bosses end up in pools of their own blood.

In 1931?s ?Little Caesar,? a bullet-ridden Edward G. Robinson breathed, ?Mother of Mercy, is this the end of Rico??

In 1949, James Cagney, a mother-loving psychopath in ?White Heat,? went out atop a burning oil refinery, screaming, ?Made it, Ma! Top of the world.?

In 1983?s ?Scarface,? Tony Montana walked into a storm of bullets with a machine gun, yelling ?Say hello to my little friend!?

Not our Tony. Is his creator (small ?c?) telling us that ?The Sopranos? level of art does not call for melodrama? Is Uncle Junior?s Alzheimer the metaphor for real life swallowing eight years of our involvement with these people? Do we turn off the set and fuggedaboutit?

Arrivederci, Sopranos. It was great while it lasted, even though a little weird how it ended.

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http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2007/06/arrivederci-sopranos.html

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FLIP FLOP MITT JUST WANTS EVERYBODY TO LOVE HIM--
SO HE'LL TELL CHRISTIANS JESUS IS COMIN' BACK IN JERUSALEM AND MORMONS THAT HE'S COMIN' TO MISSOURI

post from DownWithTyranny! on 10 June 2007 06:22:00 PM. © DownWithTyranny!

We all know that most politicians will say anything to get elected. And among the lot running for president... OMG! They include some of the biggest liars in the history of contemporary politics: Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Fred Thompson, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden. Be real, whatever your political persuasion is. Could you ever believe any of these people said to you when they wanted something-- like a vote or a buck? OK, maybe Hillary... but those other 4? It would be really, really hard to go lower. And-- you knew this was comin'-- the Republicans have managed to dig something lower up. Meet Mitt Romney. Even Mormons cringe when he opens his yap.

Romney, who wasn't born with the nickname "Flip Flop Mitt," but earned it the old fashioned way, is widely considered a man who will say whatever it takes to please the audience in front of him. He has absolutely no moral backbone and is generally considered a political opportunist who stands for absolutely nothing beyond a lust for office-- not that unlike Giuliani as a matter of fact. But Romney's campaign has been largely fueled by members of his cult or "church," the Mormons. His campaign contributions come from Mormons as though it were a tithe which allowed a 4th rate candidate with virtually no following to rake in more money than front runners Giuliani and McCain.

But Mormons, as eager as they are to see one of their own grab the levers of power, have been aghast at Romney's inability to be straightforward. John Dehlin a 37 year old from Utah who produces a Mormon podcast, is disappointed. "I had the hope that Romney would be steadfast, be up front and have integrity and consistency, but I?ve been disillusioned. It makes me a lot less proud than I otherwise would have been.?

While many Mormons hope Romney's image as "clean cut" will help dispel widesspread belief among Christians that Mormonism is a satanic cult, others worry that whenever Romney screws up, it will be a bad reflection on Mormonism and they wish he'd just leave well enough alone and go back to making more billions of dollars as a financial speculator.

Some Mormons have watched with concern how Mr. Romney has responded to grilling by interviewers about his church?s distinctive doctrines.

Mr. Romney has been questioned about the Mormon definition of God, polygamy, the location of Jesus?s arrival when he returns to earth, and even a mysterious saying attributed to Joseph Smith Jr. called the ?White Horse Prophecy,? which some interpret as a prediction that when the American Constitution is hanging ?by a thread,? a Mormon will rescue the nation.

Mr. Romney?s tendency to gloss over Mormonism?s history and distinctive tenets has upset some fellow Mormons. Some said they cringed when Mr. Romney said on ?60 Minutes,? ?I can?t imagine anything more awful than polygamy.?

Tom Grover, 26, a Mormon who is the host of a weekday talk show on politics on radio station KVNU here, said that while he thinks Mr. Romney has handled the scrutiny admirably, some of his callers were incensed about Mr. Romney?s repudiation of his own ancestors? polygamy. The church outlawed the practice a century ago, but members are taught to understand that polygamy had a theological and historical context in the church, which Mr. Romney?s remark ignored.

?That really left a bad taste in people?s mouths,? Mr. Grover said. ?That?s a tough thing for people to hear when their ancestors sacrificed a lot to live that life. They probably wouldn?t bring polygamy back, but they honor the place of it in church history.?

Audrey M. Godfrey, a historian who has written books with her husband, Kenneth, said of Mr. Romney, ?If I were one of his relatives, I would be upset with him.?

Another case arose when George Stephanopoulos of ABC News asked Mr. Romney about a Mormon teaching that Jesus will come to the United States when he returns to reign on earth. Mr. Romney responded that the Messiah will return to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, ?the same as the other Christian tradition.?

Mr. Grover said some of his radio listeners were astounded.

?They were just in disbelief, saying that?s not true, Jesus is coming back to Missouri,? Mr. Grover said. ?It?s the L.D.S. Church?s 10th article of faith that Zion will be built upon the American continent.?

Romney's September 11 may be coming in August when the film September Dawn is released and will show the Mormons in a light that is said to reflect savagely on their insular and secretive culture. Even staunch Republicans who have seen advances say it could hurt Romney's campaign.

video details and more

Something tells me Romney can write off Arkansas.

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Torture Flights Still Land In UK, Despite
Official Denial

post from The Newshoggers on 10 June 2007 06:21:00 PM. © The Newshoggers

By Cernig
The picture above is of a plane that has been identified by the European Parliament as involved in 'ghost flights' to smuggle terrorist suspects to shadowy interrogation centres abroad. It is in the process of landing at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk last weekend. Immediately upon landing, it was surrounded by armed guards, say witnesses.

This despite the official claim by UK police chiefs just the other day that there is no evidence CIA rendition flights have ever used UK airports. That's because, as the director of Liberty revealed, the Association of Chief Police Officers limited themselves to a review of media reports in a deliberate attempt to spin the evidence.

The Daily Mail followed up on the plane's ownership and other details. Can you guess who it belongs to?

A report last November by a European Parliament committee placed the plane - registration number N964BW - on a list of "companies and aircraft used by the CIA for extraordinary rendition flights". The plane was previously registered with the Bolivian army, and has been pictured on the ground in the Afghan capital Kabul within the past year.

The American Federal Aviation Authority lists the plane as being operated by two companies, Aviation World Wide Services and a sister company, Presidential Airways.

The European Parliament report describes these as shell companies operating as subsidiaries of Blackwater USA, "an important contractor for the CIA and the US military" which bases the planes in Malta.

Research by a further group, The American Centre for Media and Democracy, claims that flight-tracking internet technology shows the plane landed at least twice in the first six months of 2006 at Camp Peary, the U.S. naval reservation in Virginia known as The Farm and widely alleged to be a CIA training facility.

Tracking technology shows that the plane was en route from Canada to Greenland two days before it was sighted at Mildenhall: the internet software does not extend beyond American airspace, but the expert explained that its route would be consistent with a refuelling stop in the Arctic - it only has a range of about 2,000 miles - followed by a further refuel in East Anglia, before heading to Malta.

From there it could 'leapfrog' from US bases in the the former Soviet states bordering Afghanistan on to Kabul.

A recent book on Blackwater by Jeremy Scahill, an American author, described the company as the world's "most secretive and powerful mercenary firm", carrying out quasi-military operations on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq, Afghanistan and within the U.S.

It was founded in 1997 by Erik Prince, a former elite Navy Seal and fundamentalist Christian millionaire who bankrolls far-Right causes.

That just figures. That a supposed Christian (Bush) could hand another supposed Christian (Scahill) a contract to profit from carting people around the globe to be tortured. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Hat tip on this story goes to WW at The Agonist, who has the link to a full hour long BBC documentary on the CIA illegal rendition program in Europe.

Nearly every second is compelling. Eyewitness accounts with airport personnel in Poland, tracking of CIA Aircraft N379P, accounts of attempts to frame Padilla, face time with Dick Marty, interview with former head of the CIA in Europe Tyler Drumheller, details of the Masri rendition and more, much more, compiled into typical BBC style.

It's simply the most strikingly undeniable report I've ever seen to date. You probably already know the story of CIA renditions in Europe is blowing open. Denials all over the place, lawsuits, reports that the program has simply moved to Ethiopia, Morocco, Kyrgyzstan, elsewhere.

As WW says, you won't see anything like this from the tame US media.

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http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot.com/2007/06/torture-flights-still-land-in-uk.html

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Here Klein Goes Again: His Opinion Is NOT a Fact

post from TalkLeft on 10 June 2007 06:05:00 PM. © TalkLeft

Joe Klein just asks for it. Now he blathers on the Scooter Libby sentence:

I have a different feeling about Libby. His "perjury" . . .[why in quotes joe? He was convicted of 2 counts of perjury and two counts of obstruction of justice] would never be considered significant enough to reach trial, much less sentencing, much less time in stir if he weren't Dick Cheney's hatchet man.

Joe Klein's basis for this statement? Why nothing but his own imagination. Lying to a grand jury and obstruction of justice are considered serious crimes by every prosecutor I know. They are often prosecuted. See here:

A federal jury yesterday found Allegheny County Sheriff's Capt. Frank Schiralli guilty of perjury for telling a grand jury that he never kept lists of deputies who bought tickets to fund-raisers for Sheriff Pete DeFazio. . . . The two-week trial was the first to develop out of a federal investigation of macing, abuse of power and other illegal activity in DeFazio's office, a probe that began in January.

And here:

Paul K. Charlton, United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, and Eileen J. O’Connor, Assistant Attorney General, United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, announced that defendant CHERL A. CULLY, aka CHEY CULLY, 39 years old, of`Scottsdale, Arizona, entered a plea of guilty on December 23, 2003, to the charge that she provided false testimony before a federal grand jury.

And here. And here. and here</a. And here.

The facts seems to be that charges of lying to a grand jury are brought fairly regularly.

A decent journalist would know this. A decent journalist would find out before writing what Klein wrote. The conclusions one can draw are then, Klein is noit a decent journalist or on this matter, Klein has decide that he need not follow the most basic rules of journalism.

I wonder if Joe remembers this one?

The trial of Julie Hiatt Steele, the only person to be charged with a crime in connection with the Monica Lewinsky investigation by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, opened May 3 in US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia. Steele, a 52-year-old single mother, faces three counts of obstruction of justice and one count of making false statements, charges that could send her to prison for up to 35 years if convicted.

Oh by the way, Starr's prosecution FAILED. I don't recall Joe Klein bitching about THAT abuse by Ken Starr.

Does Time Magazine need an Ombudsman? Based on this, the answer is yes.

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TP migrated servers

and we’re still experiencing a few technical issues, including delays in comments showing up. We hope to have everything fixed shortly. Thanks for your patience.

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Pre-Sopranos Blogging

I keep meaning to mention this, but the study that caused Dr. Melfi to drop Tony seemed absurdly poorly done. As it was explained in the show, sociopaths who engaged in talk therapy had a slightly higher rate of recidivism,...[...]

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