Is there a consensus that more aggressive action needs to be taken to clean up the comment section? I've been largely avoiding it -- or at least dreading reading it -- after the first 50-60 comments, but haven't taken action because I generally sense that people prefer that, except in the most extreme circumstances, it be left alone.

I think it's reached the point of 'extreme circumstances.' There are people writing in with insight and good information but it's just too tedious to scroll-and-click through the parallel universe that inevitably emerges.

(Not sure what action to take, however.)

And as much as I'd like to see Obama simply revert to his pre-election position on secrecy, I'd also like to see the forensics on this one. Specifically, who argued for the embrace of Bushite secrecy powers and why was it so convincing?

While I can see how Obama was drawn to the alliteration and biblical poetry of that statement, he's got it wrong.

What this is -- what this needs to be -- is a time for justice.

Justice, apparently, is intended only for the Lynndie Englands among us. But this comes as no surprise from the government that bails out the bankers and punishes the auto workers.

Just two days ago on NPR, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart lambasted the Obama Administration for easing restrictions on Cuba and stressed the need to bring an end to the Castro regime. One of the reasons he cited was that, in Cuba, prisoners are still 'tortured in the gulag.'

He wasn't talking about the Guantanamo side of the island but if one believes, as Rep. Diaz-Balart apparently does, institutionalized torture is wrong and torturers should be punished, this sort of house-cleaning needs to start at home.

Reuters, Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:53pm EDT: "Obama reprieve for CIA illegal: U.N. rapporteur"

President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA interrogators who used waterboarding on terrorism suspects amounts to a breach of international law, the U.N. rapporteur on torture said.

"The United States, like all other states that are part of the U.N. convention against torture, is committed to conducting criminal investigations of torture and to bringing all persons against whom there is sound evidence to court," U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak told the Austrian daily Der Standard.

Nowak did not think Obama would go as far as to seek an amnesty law for affected CIA personnel and therefore U.S. courts could still try torture suspects, he said on Saturday.

link in sig

Obama reprieve for CIA illegal: U.N. rapporteur

Sat Apr 18, 2009 2:53pm EDT (Reuters)

President Barack Obama's decision not to prosecute CIA interrogators who used waterboarding on terrorism suspects amounts to a breach of international law, the U.N. rapporteur on torture said.

"The United States, like all other states that are part of the U.N. convention against torture, is committed to conducting criminal investigations of torture and to bringing all persons against whom there is sound evidence to court," U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak told the Austrian daily Der Standard.

Nowak did not think Obama would go as far as to seek an amnesty law for affected CIA personnel and therefore U.S. courts could still try torture suspects, he said on Saturday.

(link in sig)

Jane Harman is the embodiment of what's wrong with Congress.

I hope this puts an end to her reign. I don't think she even knows where her district is anymore.

Corruption aside, her lack of distance on her ego is quite remarkable.

All I can say is, wouldn't waterboarding be a great tool for couples' therapy?

Within seconds, you could identify the real problems in the relationship and get to the true answers of fundamental questions like "Do you really love me?" and "Do you think I'm pretty?"

Add Brian Ross to the list of atrocities associated with the Bush Administration. He belongs there.

That's the message -- if you think you might lose, just switch parties. You don't have to espouse or embody any of the stated platform of that party so really, it's no big deal.

I think the Dems come off looking a lot worse than Specter on this one. In these tough economic times, we can forgive a man for trying to keep his job. The Democrats have enough power these days to run an actual candidate but because they're professional politicians first and a political party second, they'll simply be going with one of their own.

Time for some serious term limits.

Does this new friendship mean you're going to be doing a podcast sometime soon with Cliff Kincaid?

This one isn't going away. It's everywhere.

Even the Daily Mail is coming up with some interesting stuff: "MI5 'used Muslim 007' to turn British torture victim in Moroccan prison"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1183183/MI5-used-Muslim-007-turn-British-torture-victim-Moroccan-prison.html

Binyan Mohamed's case gets more interesting.

Ford pardons Nixon --> Bush 1 pardons Iran-Contra folk --> Clinton chooses not to pursue Iran-Contra in favor of 'looking forward' and 'working with' the Republicans on his domestic agenda --> Bush 2 welcomes back Iran-Contra folk, pursues illegal agenda --> Obama chooses not to pursue investigations because he's 'looking forward' and wants to 'build relationships' to work on his domestic agenda...

...and so on. Maybe if true accountability entered into the algorithm at some point (any point), we could break this cycle.