State Department Secrecy: What a Bunch of Crap!
Since the issue of State Department secrecy -- breached by the WikiLeaks cable dump -- has been a topic of discussion, I thought it worthwhile to point to this National Security Archive post describing a particular FOIA appeal.
Eleven years…
Is the Government Alleging Bradley Manning Loaded Encryption Software onto DOD Computers?
I've been revisiting the timeline revealed in Bradley Manning's charging document. Here's a short version of what that shows:
November 1, 2009: Earliest date for which government subpoenas Wikileaks related twitter accounts
November 19,…
"Our" Terrorist Goes on Trial
Today, Luis Posada Carrilles goes on trial. Posada is, of course, the Cuban-American who was a CIA asset for at least the Bay of Pigs era and almost certainly for years after. Among other things, he orchestrated the bombing of a Cuban plane…
Our (We) Working Class Pundits
Digby has a righteous rant about a discussion between Wolf Blitzer, Mary Matalin, and Paul Begala in which they revealed their utter divorce from the reality lived by most Americans as they discuss whether the $172,000 Robert Gibbs made as Press…
Wildcard Weekend Trash
bmaz was going to put Trash together, but got distracted by the tragic craziness happening in his state. So until he does something more substantive, here's what I've picked in this weekend's games:
NO-SEA: I'm gonna be stupid and pick the…
What the Government Might Be After with Its Twitter Subpoena
After a member of Iceland's Parliament and former Wikileaks volunteer, Birgitta Jónsdóttir, revealed on Twitter yesterday that Twitter has been subpoenaed for details on her Twitter account, Glenn got a copy of the subpoena. The subpoena was…
A Day After Reading Constitution, Republicans Abolish Civil Liberties, Civil Liberties Bits of It
I sort of expected the Republicans to abolish labor--or at least its named inclusion among the business of Congressional committees. After all, the GOP really doesn't like tough things like physical work or the people who do it.
But it wasn't…
Obama Signs Non-Signing Statement
Obama has signed the Defense Authorization Act that barred funding for closing Gitmo. And his signing statement--really more of a complaint than an actual signing statement--reads in part:
Section 1032 bars the use of funds authorized to be…
IRA Attack Survivor on Peter "Material Support for Terror" King's Hypocrisy
Tom Parker, Amnesty International's Policy Director for Terrorism, Counterterrorism and Human Rights and himself a survivor of an IRA bomb attack, has this to say about Peter King's hypocrisy about terrorism. (h/t Susie)
That problem is simple:…
MA Court: Banks Must Own a House to Foreclose on It
A radical thought, I know.
But still only definitively true in Massachusetts.
At issue is a Massachusetts case, U.S. Bank v. Ibanez, which challenged a foreclosure because of processes banks have widely used in securitizing a bunch of…
On Gate-Keepers and Pragmatists
At the beginning of Obama's term, when he talked about governing as a pragmatist, I perhaps foolishly believed he meant not pragmatism as DC understands it--as a principle-less squishy middle--but as the Pragmatist school of philosophers…
Did John Brennan Have a Role in DOJ's Decision to Prosecute Jeffrey Sterling?
John Brennan apparently plays an interesting role in the events surrounding Jeffrey Sterling, whom DOJ indicted for allegedly leaking details of the MERLIN program to James Risen.
James Risen first wrote about Sterling--profiling his employment…
Did NYT's Editors Alert the Government to Risen's Source?
Let me start by pointing to two data points about the case of Jeffrey Alexander Sterling--the apparent (and alleged) source for James Risen's reporting on MERLIN.
First, as DOJ's press release alleges, Sterling first contacted Risen in February…
CIA Doesn't Want You To Know It Gave Iran Nuclear Blueprints
Here's what I think happened with Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, the former CIA officer who just got arrested for leaking classified information to James Risen.
As I noted in the timeline, Sterling was assigned to an operation in November 1998.…
James Risen's MERLIN Source Arrested
DOJ has announced the arrest of James Risen's source for the MERLIN story (though they don't admit Risen and MERLIN are the leaks in question).
Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, 43, of O’Fallon, Mo., was charged in a 10-count indictment returned…
If POTUS Can Order Assassination of US Citizen w/No Due Process, Can He Order Torture, Too?
Glenn Greenwald and Mark Mazzetti tell the story of 19-year old American citizen Gulet Mohamed who was taken into custody by the Kuwaitis after the US, while Mohamed was staying with an uncle in Kuwait, put him on the no-fly list. In the two…
What a GOP-Managed Reading of the Constitution Looks Like
Bob Goodlatte is the guy the GOP put in charge of today's reading of the Constitution. He apparently chose to read the 10th Amendment--the foundation of state's rights--himself. The 10th Amendment is supposed to read:
The powers not delegated…
David Ignatius Confuses Joe McCarthy and Dan Burton
David Ignatius got it wrong, IMO, when he asked whether Darrell Issa is going to be the next Joe McCarthy.
When you see the righteous gleam in Issa's eye, recall other zealous congressional investigators who claimed to be doing the public's…
Excluding Atheists from the Military Just as You Let Gays Openly Serve
Let me try this one out on you. The guy whose "Learned Helplessness" theories made it possible for Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell to make a killing (heh) on torturing detainees has figured out a way to make a killing--$31 million in sole source…
They Don't Even Use the "Time with the Family" Excuse Anymore
Apparently, the White House has decided it had one too many adults on its economic recovery board, so now Paul Volcker has been decided to step down.
I realize that "has been decided" is not proper grammar, but look at how Reuters refers…