Obama's Secret Cyberwars
I sort of get the feeling that the entire legislative effort on cyberwar is going on in a classified annex.
Nevertheless, even from what we can see, we've got a dispute. As I noted a few weeks back, The House Armed Services Committee included…
Obama Issues Veto Threat on Forever War
The Administration just issued its official position on the House Armed Services Committee Defense Authorization bill. In it, Obama issues veto threats on several issues, including an extra engine for the Joint Strike Fighter and limits on START…
Republicans Would Rather Red-Staters Die than Pay for Externalities Related to Oil
We're on our second near-record tornado this year and summer hasn't even started. Joplin, MO and Birmingham, AL have been especially hard hit, but much of flyover country is set to spend the summer hunkering down to hide from truly horrifying…
Dear DNC: Automotive "I Told You Sos" Need to Be Directed Down-Ticket, Too
The DNC and Midwestern state Democratic Parties are rolling out an extravaganza today, using the occasion of Chrysler paying back some of its federal loans to mock GOP presidential candidates for opposing the auto bailout.
The DNC had a press…
Government Subpoenas James Risen for the Third Time
The government appears to hope three time's a charm. The last two times they subpoenaed James Risen in the case of Jeffrey Sterling, Judge Leonie Brinkema quashed the subpoena. But they're trying again, this time to get him to testify at Sterling's…
Why Didn't FBI Investigate AFIP's Role in Starting the Iraq-Anthrax Rumors?
I've been reading the National Academy of Sciences Anthrax Report and noted something odd in follow-up to the McClatchy report of the other day describing unexplained tin and silicon in one of the anthrax samples. (Here's Jim White's post on…
Did Thomas Drake Include Privacy Concerns in His Complaints to DOD's Inspector General?
I've been reviewing the docket on Thomas Drake's case to see whether it touches on the privacy concerns Drake had about NSA's post-9/11 activities.
It appears it doesn't, even while there was an ongoing dispute about whether or not Drake…
Thomas Drake Complained about Michael Hayden Spending $1B to Do What $3M Could Do
Thomas Drake, the NSA whistleblower, was on 60 Minutes this evening. I'll have more to say about his appearance and case going forward, but I just wanted to highlight a critical detail revealed by 60 Minutes: the relative cost of Trailblazer--the…
First Mickey Donned Night Vision Goggles, Now Mickey Embraces GateGrope
I'll admit, I was merely disgusted when Mickey Mouse tried to trademark Seal Team 6. But Mickey's seeming embrace of GateGrope is far more disturbing. (h/t Bruce Schneier) In a press release boasting about changes to Walt Disney World's Star…
NSA Twice Chose to Forgo Privacy Protections in Domestic Data Mining Programs
While Jane Mayer's profile on NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake has generated a lot of attention for the way Obama's DOJ is senselessly prosecuting him, there has been less focus on the key revelation that Drake and others went on the record to…
War, Intelligence, Law and Forever
There are a number of oddly coinciding legal issues that I wanted to pull together into one post.
The Administration Fudges the War Powers Act
First and most obviously, today is the day the 60-day grace period for Libya under the War Powers…
Karl Rove, Bankster Bailer
I'm not surprised that Karl Rove has weighed in on the foreclosure fraud scandal with an erroneous op-ed in the WSJ. I'm just a bit baffled why he did so now.
The overall gist of the op-ed is that a $20 billion settlement of the robosigning…
If Only They Had Listened to Thomas Drake, They Might Have Prevented CableGate
I'm in the process of reading all the Siobhan Gorman stories for which Thomas Drake might have served as an anonymous source. And one of the ten or so articles for which he's a possible source exposes the NSA's failure on an issue at the heart…
Reid and Republicans Tee Up Another PATRIOT Extension
This is the disrespect in which our Congress holds our Constitution: they will continue to chip away at the Fourth Amendment, by passing yet another extension of the PATRIOT Act without addressing the clear abuses identified since the last extension.
US…
Obama's Middle East Speech: Applause Lines for Democracy
Obama gave an inspirational speech advocating for change in MENA--"Prosperity also requires tearing down walls that stand in the way of progress – the corruption of elites who steal from their people"--that I wish he'd advocate in the US.…
As the Arab Spring Gives Way to the Sunni Summer
The AP has a interesting--and interestingly timed--story on the help we're giving Saudi Arabia to build a "facilities security force" to protect, among other things, its oil fields and planned civilian nuclear sites. The story is based, in part,…
Jared Bernstein's Glorious Diarrhea of Quashed Ideas
I rarely post solely to recommend you follow a blog or twitter feed. But I am here.
You see, Joe Biden's economic advisor, Jared Bernstein, was recently liberated from the White House.
And, as part of that liberation process, it seems,…
Report on Entrapment Describes Pattern of Informant-Created "Terrorism"
We've been writing a bit about Mohamed Osman Mohamud, the young Oregon man charged on WMD charges for allegedly trying to detonate an inert bomb the FBI helped him get. His attorneys are preparing an aggressive entrapment defense (those defenses…
DHS' Top Cybersecurity Officer Resigns
As Marc Ambinder reports, the top cybersecurity guy at DHS, Phil Reitinger, announced his resignation today. Which is pretty odd, given that Obama just rolled out his cybersecurity strategy a few days ago. Though that's the excuse that Reitinger…
Larry Thompson: From Rendering Maher Arar to Pushing Pop to Teaching Lawyers
Oh is Mary going to love this.
As she has tirelessly reminded us over the years, Larry Thompson, the former Deputy Attorney General who signed off on Maher Arar's rendition to Syria to be tortured, has spent the last 7 years at PepsiCo serving…