Spies like us

This latest police-state action by BushCo just almost leaves me speechless.

The president summoned the publisher and the editor of The New York Times to the White House two weeks ago in order to talk them out of printing the story they held back for over a year. (Let's see, what we doing about fourteen months ago?)

thirdparty at Kos asks some questions of the Times. Kuff posits the future scenario for supporters of domestic spying without FISA court approval.

The corpulent corporate media obediently reports that Bush has been "fiery" in "vigorously defending" his right to violate the Constitution.

Speaking of the Constitution, there will very likely be a crisis associated with these events, but that's provided our nation's leadership responds to it. Don't count on any Republicans doing so, and if the Democrats are able to have hearings, you'll never know about them if you only watch the teevee.

I remember one summer in the mid-'70s when we watched Congressional hearings gradually reveal the crimes of a President and his minions; they were conducted in bipartisan fashion and without as much rancor as would be seen today on FOX News.

No chance of that happening again.

So it's a good thing there are people blogging about it.

Spreadin' it around

I posted on some of the group blogs this morning, so if you're looking for some Sunday Funnies go here, and if you want hard news, go read about the homoerotic overtones associated with this announcement.

My Texas Gubernatorial Poll

is posted here. Go vote.

The overnight results are somewhat intriguing:

Who will you vote for in the March primary?

Felix Alvarado	5%
Chris Bell	30%
Bob Gammage	32%
Not voting -- signing Kinky's petition	30%
Other	2%

Votes: 40

Moneyshot Quote of the Week #2: Jack Cafferty

CNN's resident curmudgeon has really been coming out from under the ether the past few months:

Who cares about whether the Patriot Act gets renewed? Want to abuse our civil liberties? Just do it.

Who cares about the Geneva Conventions. Want to torture prisoners? Just do it.

Who cares about rules concerning the identity of CIA agents. Want to reveal the name of a covert operative? Just do it.

Who cares about whether the intelligence concerning WMDS is accurate. Want to invade Iraq? Just do it.

Who cares about qualifications to serve on the nation's highest court. Want to nominate a personal friend with no qualifications? Just do it.

And the latest outrage, which I read about in The New York Times this morning, who cares about needing a court order to eavesdrop on American citizens. Want to wiretap their phone conversations? Just do it.

What a joke. A very cruel, very sad joke.

You can watch him say it at C&L.

Bush flip-flops; now opposed to torture

While we were out Christmas shopping yesterday afternoon, the president came around to John McCain's opinion on torture:

President Bush reversed position yesterday and endorsed a torture ban crafted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after months of White House attempts to weaken the measure, which would prohibit the "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of any detainee in U.S. custody anywhere in the world.

The announcement of a deal at the White House yesterday was a setback for the administration, which had pressed the senator to either drop the measure or modify it so that interrogators, especially with the CIA, would have the flexibility to use a range of extreme tactics on terrorism suspects.

Dick Cheney has been banished to his bunker until after the holidays, his whips, chains and waterboards removed.

Courage wins Progressive Patriot award

And along with it comes $5000 from Russ Feingold for Courage's bid to represent the 21st Congressional District. I've previously written about his challenger and the Republican incumbent in the 21st, the atrocious Lamar Smith.

I met John Courage at Camp Casey this past summer. He is everything a Progressive Patriot could be. Visit his website and introduce yourself.