I'm a little perturbed that you said Mr. Al-Zaidi fears he'd be "hunted down and murdered by U.S. intelligence agents".

"Murder" at the hands of U.S. agents can not happen. We do not murder. Just two days ago, I read in the NYTimes that "two Afghan detainees died in 2002 after being beaten by American soldiers and hung by their arms from the ceilings of isolation cells".

(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/world/asia/13detain.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=hung%20by%20&st=cse )

You see, they weren't "murdered". They were beaten and hung by their arms. Then later, they died. Passive tense.

Perhaps Mr Al-Zaidi is afraid that U.S. agents might find him, abduct him, harshly interrogate him, and then finally a bullet might leave one of their guns, pierce his skull, and disrupt his brain tissue. After which, he might die in custody. Things like that happen, but only in the passive sense. But the U.S. does not murder people. Please don't be so shrill.

A key motive for torture is to elicit confessions. From the Inquisition to the Japanese -- waterboarding was used to elicit confessions.

This is a serious motive which needs to be investigated in regards to the Cheney/Bush torture program. Especially with the Bush/Cheney history of using illegal propaganda, the motive to gain confessions, to use at politically key moments, needs to be thoroughly investigated.

Bush and Cheney were warned that torture is not effective for intelligence purposes. However, they were told that waterboarding created "100% compliance". Compliance is not the same as effective intelligence. It means the person being tortured will tell you whatever you want.

If the President can break any law during "war" than surely he can torture prisoners to create war propaganda. Purely legal, in Cheney's mind.

What talking heads will excuse torture for propaganda purposes?

What strikes me with all of this, is that the endemic corruption in our "elite" class is not confined to government. It's also highly evident in corporations and the business world, although it takes some time to realize it.

After working for years at one of the biggest internet companies (and Silicon Valley is supposed to be a meritocracy) I couldn't help but notice the same clubby insider game at the highest levels. A string of "heavy hitters" with long resumes rotate through the top jobs (VP, SVP, COO, CEO, etc.), earning millions, and destroying entire parts of the company in their wake. They don't get fired, they lay people off. When they leave, they get a similar job somewhere else. They have a distinct (upper class) style of dress, they went to school at Harvard or Stanford, they have long resumes with other high-level positions. Their track records are consistently poor. Yet they have the top jobs and the top pay and are never held to account.

What will happen when they run out of companies to destroy? Oh yeah... that's what "bailouts" are for.

Ana Marie Cox is a symptom. There are probably thousands of people who'd gladly take a six or seven-figure job to be "journalists" and spout all kinds of nonsense. So if we got rid of an idiot like Cox, she'd just be replaced with another "journalist" spouting the Establishment line.

The real problem is that, in her management chain.. editor, publisher, whoever.. there needs to be someone who reads the articles or interviews she does, then calls her into the office and fires her. "Sorry Ana Marie Cox, what you said just doesn't make any sense. You aren't paid by this magazine to propagandize and spin for candidates. You're fired."

I'll be holding my breath waiting.

Now that McCain has to back off his hate-mongering due to the resounding backfire, he's going to alienate the hate-filled "base" he's arousing.

As the base gets discourages and McCain dips more into the polls, his campaign will get nasty again.

Then they'll try and play nice right before the election, maybe on the eve of it, so that Tom Brokaw can can say, "He looks to be in for a historic defeat, but John McCain... if he goes out... is going to go out in class. What a speech tonight. Looking back, if he does lose, clearly it was the economy that did him in. Had nothing to do with Barack Obama or the overall situation with America. An out of control economic crisis overwhelmed McCain and his VP choice, the Superstar Sarah Palin. Can they beat a 13-point poll deficit on election night? We'll ask Luke Russert, standing by from McCain headquarters with Ana Marie Cox..."

If the Democrats and Obama let Bush and the Republicans rip off the American people with only week left in session, immediately before an election... really people ought to just stop paying taxes.

Taking to the streets doesn't work. The only thing these people care about is money.

It's quite amazing that it's publicly documented that the President and his underlings were clearly committing felonies for years, and yet there's been no investigation, no outcry from the media. Only cover-ups aided by Democrats.

The silence of the press and the complicity of the Dems is as disgusting as Bush and Cheney's illegal activities.

Thanks for getting to MN and covering these attacks on innocent US citizens for even *daring* to protest the Republican convention.

I think it's actually pretty pathetic that the Republicans have to use the full force of the US federal (and local) security apparatus to brutalize and intimidate a few hundred college-age peace activists.

Think about that. Who are these people? They're nice, 'hippie' kids who probably have jobs like "social worker" and "community organizer" and "teacher". Their neighbors have said they're nice, peaceful kids. THIS is who the Republicans have to harass and intimidate? Pathetic.

It'd also be nice if we heard something from Barack Obama about this, especially as it relates to freedom of speech.