via propublica.org

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/washington/08nsa.html?_r=2&ref=washington

more @ linky

WASHINGTON — A Congressional oversight panel plans to ask the National Security Agency to start an investigation into new evidence that the agency illegally wiretapped a Muslim scholar in Northern Virginia and concealed the eavesdropping during a 2005 trial in which the scholar was convicted on terrorism charges.

Representative Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, said in an interview that he planned to ask the inspector general of the N.S.A. to open what would be the first formal investigation by the agency into whether its eavesdropping program had improperly interfered with an American’s right to a fair trial.

Mr. Holt said he was responding to new evidence presented to him and other Congressional leaders by the Muslim scholar’s lawyer indicating that the Bush administration tried to hide the full extent of the government’s illegal spying in the criminal case.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003920334

or click sig

And click the linky, beeatches!

http://gopkorea.blogs.com/flyingyangban/images/2008/03/17/obeyobama.jpg

A section of the Obama change.org website now poses the question of legalizing marijuana for medical and/or recreational purposes. Folks can add their comments for or against at:

https://www.change.org/ideas/view/legalize_the_medicinal_and_recreational_use_of_marijuana

For a number of reasons, found here

https://www.change.org/ideas/faq

it's perhaps worth voting on this. To whit,

How does it work?

Anyone can submit an idea and comment and vote on others. The top 10 rated ideas will be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009 as the "Top 10 Ideas for America." We will then launch a national campaign behind each idea and mobilize the collective energy of the millions of members of Change.org, MySpace, and partner organizations to ensure that each winning idea gets the full consideration of the Obama Administration and Members of Congress.

How are the top ideas determined?

The "Top 10 Ideas for America" will be determined through two rounds of voting. In the first round, ideas will compete against other ideas in the same issue category. The first round will end on December 31, 2008, and the top 3 rated ideas from each category will make it into the second round. The second round of voting will begin on Monday, January 5, and each qualifying idea will compete against the qualifying ideas from all other categories. Second round voting will end on Thursday, January 15.

Way to go on landing the Bill Moyers, gig, Glenn. That's "big time" in my book.

...website to which I referred earlier, doesn't look to be officially affiliated w/ Obama's change.gov

http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/analysis-special-legal-immunity-for-handling-crises/#more-8383

or click sig much more @ linky

With Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., discussing what might be a For-9/11-Only rule to limit lawsuits against high government officials during crisis times, the Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed to be edging toward embracing a new form of legal immunity. A majority of Justices seemed concerned about requiring officials of Cabinet or near-Cabinet level to answer in court for the way they react in the immediate, perhaps-frenzied aftermath of a severe threat to national security. The case of Ashcroft v. Iqbal (07-1015) provided the platform for voicing those worries.

"Punish the dealers."

For effin' WHAT!?

...you're supposed to sit on the tail of your suit coat so that it pulls down the shoulders of your jacket, otherwise they will ride up and look very sloppy on the idiot box.

...might want to rethink that whole continuity meme.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/57631.html

Senate probe blames top Bush officials for detainee abuses

WASHINGTON — The Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday singled out former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, former Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, and other top aides for approving inhumane interrogation techniques that were used on detainees at Guantanamo, sites in Afghanistan and at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

U.S. abuses against detainees led to attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, according to testimony by the former general counsel of the Navy, Alberto Mora. "There are serving U.S. flag-rank officers who maintain that the first and second identifiable causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq -- as judged by their effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into combat -- are, respectively, the symbols of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo," Mora testified.

much more @ linky

Were you a little tense? It looked as if you were sittin' on your suitjacket tails or something...

Way to take it to Pelosi, Harman, and Reyes, man. That was outstanding.

Any indications as to whether/not you'll be invited back? I'm looking forward to Bill Moyers show.

And do you mind putting up a new post while you're hobnobbing w/ MSM royalty?

My wife is incredibly funny sometimes. And she has two brilliant ideas on how to resolve the issue.

1. Make the oil companies give the auto companies some of THEIR money.

or

2. Declare War on the auto companies, and start shipping them money by the palletful. Since there's already a precedent for it...

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Greenwald_Groups_fear_mongering_to_keep_1212.html

Jeez, Greenwald - you're at least as good "live" as you are in print. I can't imagine a much better format for you than Bill Moyers - since he gives his guests so much breathing room, but even so, helluva performance. No hemming or hawing, just taking it to those Rule of Law ignoring mofos.

Outstanding. Boy do I hope all kinds of people saw that. Even more so, I hope you've got a good agent who can leverage that performance into much more exposure. Hope you're feeling good, because that was excellent.

you don't read through all the comments on the previous thread - yowser, man, the Moyers segment, especially, was outstanding. You rock.