Foreclosures Are Driving Up Unemployment
I've written several times about how lucky I feel that I can move. We're going to take an absolute bath on selling our house (a 30% drop in value for a house bought 8 years ago). But at least we have enough money to get out of that house and…
The Six FBI Reports Treating Merton Center Anti-War Activism as Terrorism
Glenn Fine--DOJ's Inspector General--is usually one of the most credible agents of oversight in the federal government. But his last report--examining whether the FBI investigated the First Amendment activities of lefty groups as terrorism--is…
More Missing Emails at DOJ?
I'm still working on a big post on the DOJ IG Report on domestic spying. But for the moment I wanted to call attention to a footnote that seems to suggest the emails from FBI employees in Pittsburgh who had conducted surveillance of the Thomas…
The Day after Blanche Filibusters Defense Bill, Biden Rewards Her w/$$$
This is just pathetic:
Vice President Joe Biden travels to Boston Wednesday, where he's scheduled to team up with Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.
A Democratic source tells CNN that the event is a fundraiser for the two-term Democratic…
Did OLC Change the Understanding of Riot Investigations to Time w/RNC Convention?
There's an interesting detail in the IG Report on FBI's investigations of peace groups that suggests FBI was asking OLC for an interpretation of the approval required before conducting a riot-related investigation.
The Attorney General's Guidelines…
So Much for the Effort to Control Corruption
Sorry for the delay in blogging today--I got distracted with something.I should be back at this blogging thing shortly.
In the meantime, I wanted to link to this post Spencer did at Danger Room:
The Pentagon quietly announced yesterday that…
If and When Democrats Keep the House, Conyers Should Remind Holder the Import of Congressional Oversight
I realize the odds of Democrats keeping the House are not all that great. But I also know that the DCCC is far more competent than the RNCC; DCCC has managed to win just about every challenging election of late.
So let's just say Democrats…
Top Culprits for Income Inequality? Exec Pay and Educational Failures
Tim Noah's great series on the causes of income inequality got a lot less attention during its second week than its first week. So I thought it worthwhile to focus on what he concluded was causing the dangerous new income inequality in America.
Here's…
Lindsey Graham Predicts Successful Terrorist Attack Followed by Harsh Resolution of Gitmo
Josh Gerstein provides Lindsey Graham a soap box to complain that his efforts to craft a grand compromise with the Administration on Gitmo stalled in May.
“I thought we were close to getting a deal,” Graham told POLITICO last week. “I…
Six Years Later, US Still Trying to Find a Way to Keep Corrupt Contractor in Afghanistan
The most depressing part of this McClatchy article on the corrupt USAID contracting in Afghanistan by the construction company, Louis Berger, are six-year old quotes calling for an alternative to Berger.
Behind the scenes, U.S. officials…
The Real Terrorists
I've started reading through J. Edgar Hoover's files the reports a contractor developed for PA's Department of Homeland Security that describe political activism as a terrorist threat; Governor Rendell has made them publicly available here.…
Trash Talk: It Comes Out Of The Swamp Cool and Slow....
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bmazComes out of the Virginia swamps
Cool and slow with plenty of precision
With a back beat narrow and hard to master
Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance
Others, mean and ruthful of the Western dream....
I love the friends I have…
Elizabeth Warren's Soapbox
Two weeks ago, I suggested Obama would do well to hire the woman who wrote the book on the struggles of the middle class.
Today, he did that.
This afternoon, I suggested that the White House needed to get their newest employee out…
Government Continues Its Fight for Indefinite Detention
The government appealed its loss in the habeas petition of Mohamedou Ould Salahi Friday.
It's worth reviewing what this appeal is about. At the District level, Judge James Robertson ruled that while Salahi had clearly been an al Qaeda sympathizer…
Congratulations and Good Luck to Elizabeth Warren
I'm cautiously optimistic with the dual appointment of Elizabeth Warren to be Assistant to the President to work at Treasury to set up the Consumer Financial Protection Board.
Frankly, no one knows what this appointment will mean in practice…
But Who Has JSOC's Back?
Michael Hayden has another tired whine at CNN about Obama's treatment of the torture program. The entire logic of the piece is predictably silly. It goes something like this:
ACLU and CCR are suing the government for targeting American citizen…
Obama Administration Deliberates Whether to Tack to the Right of David Rivkin
Go read this entire Charlie Savage article describing the deliberations within the Administration on how to respond to ACLU/CCR's lawsuit challenging the government's ability to target American citizens for assassination with no due process.…
The NeoCons Make Unapologetic Call for McCarthyism against Muslims
One of the successors to the NeoCon organization PNAC, the Center for Security Policy, released a report the other day that makes an unapologetic call for trumped up McCarthyism targeted at Muslims.
The study rather humorously models itself…
If Blackwater Couldn't Keep Benazir Bhutto Safe, Why Is State Still Contracting with Them?
When Erik Prince testified before the Oversight Committee on October 2, 2007, he boasted that no one under Blackwater's protection had ever been seriously hurt or killed.
No individual protected by Blackwater has ever been killed or seriously…
First They Came for Women Enjoying Sex, Then They Came for Men Jacking Off
I know Democrats are thrilled that Chris Coons, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Delaware, will be running against the kook Christine O'Donnell.
But I'm a little troubled by the treatment of O'Donnell's anti-masturbation stance…
