Top Items:
ACLU:
Abuse of Power: The Bush Administration's Secret Legal Memos — On April 16, 2009, the Department of Justice released four secret memos used by the Bush administration to justify torture: — A 18-page memo, dated August 1, 2002, from Jay Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, BuzzFlash.org, CBS News, CNN, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Moderate Voice, United States Senator …, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Washington Monthly, Threat Level, Hullabaloo, The Anonymous Liberal, Think Progress, Guardian, Bloomberg, PERRspectives, Taylor Marsh, Atlas Shrugs, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Political Machine, MoJo Blog Posts, NION, Firedoglake, Christy Hardin Smith, MoJo Blog Posts, The Democratic Daily, Swampland, TPMMuckraker, Cup O' Joe and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
For The Record — No mention of the torture memos appears right now on the Drudge Report (which provides news of a prank at Dominos pizza), Instapundit (which mentions the new DVD for the Lord of The Rings trilogy), Pajamas Media, or Michelle Malkin. They are reacting to the evidence …
Discussion:
Wizbang
Jeffrey Toobin In / New Yorker:
JEFFREY TOOBIN: HIDING JAY BYBEE — The newest round of “torture memos” have just been released by the Department of Justice. I'm only just beginning to go through them, but I have a preliminary thought. — The first, and very chilling memo in the group is an analysis of the various techniques …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama to release OLC torture memos; promises no prosecutions for CIA officials — [updated below - Update II -Update III (Interview w/ACLU's Jameel Jaffer - calls for a special prosecutor)] — In a just-released statement, Barack Obama announced that — in response to an ACLU FOIA lawsuit …
Spencer Ackerman / ATTACKERMAN:
Not Even Jesus Would Forgive What You Do — One of the Office of Legal Counsel memos that was released today was the famous hidden “Yoo-Bybee Two” or “Second Bybee Memo” from August 2002. Recall that the first August 2002 OLC specified that it was acceptable to apply physical pain to a detainee …
Michael Scherer / Time:
Bush Approved Use of Insects in al-Qaeda Interrogations — The Bush Administration approved the use of “insects placed in a confinement box” during the interrogation of top Al Qaeda official Abu Zubaydah, according to a 2002 document that President Obama declassified for release Thursday.
New York Times:
Interrogation Memos Detail Harsh Tactics by the C.I.A. — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department made public on Thursday detailed memos describing harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency, as President Obama said that C.I.A. operatives who carried out the techniques would not be prosecuted.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, The Daily Dish, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Caucus, QandO, RebelReports, BAGnewsNotes, ACSBlog and Unqualified Offerings
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Banality Of Evil — Perhaps you are reading these documents alongside me. I've only read the Bybee memo, as chilling an artefact as you are ever likely to read in a democratic society, the work clearly not of a lawyer assessing torture techniques in good faith, but of an administration official tasked …
Discussion:
Buck Naked Politics
New York Times:
President Obama's Statement on the Memos — Following is President Obama's statement on the release of memos by the Office of Legal Counsel, as provided by the White House. — The Department of Justice will today release certain memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005 as part of an ongoing court case.
Discussion:
MyDD, PoliGazette, Salon, UN Dispatch, The Plum Line, The Caucus, Washington Monthly and AfterDowningStreet.org
Little Green Footballs:
LGF on Glenn Beck — I still don't have a working cable TV connection in my new top-secret underground facility, so I missed Glenn Beck's show today (I wouldn't have been watching anyway, to be honest), but I understand from several lizardoid reports that Beck had some things to say about me.
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Jay / Stop The ACLU:
( Video) Glenn Beck Vs. Charles Johnson — Update: (Perhaps a coincidence or mistake, but for some reason my account at Little Green Footballs is suddenly blocked. How odd. Surely it was just a fluke; a mistake of some kind. Maybe I should have took sides?) — It's at about 7 minutes in on this video.
Fox News:
Cable Anchors, Guests Use Tea Parties as Platform for Frat House Humor — Cable anchors and guests covered the anti-tax tea party protests by cracking a litany of barely concealed sexual references. — FOXNews.com — For thousands of Americans, Tax Day was a moment to protest …
Discussion:
Sister Toldjah, TBogg, Confederate Yankee, Atlas Shrugs, Political Machine, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Althouse and Don Surber
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Gateway Pundit:
Gutter Journalism: Angry Mainstream Media Reporters Use Nasty …
Gutter Journalism: Angry Mainstream Media Reporters Use Nasty …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Fox News Anchor: We Did Public Relations For Tea Parties
Fox News Anchor: We Did Public Relations For Tea Parties
Discussion:
Tom Watson
Wall Street Journal:
Authorities Investigate Payments by Rattner — Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's auto task force, was one of the executives involved with payments under scrutiny in a probe of an alleged kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
Georgia Senate threatens to secede — What do they plan on fighting with, peaches? Mind you, this comes on yesterday's threat by the GOP governor of Texas to secede as well. — Of course, what's really going on here is that Republicans are intentionally fanning the flames of violence …
Discussion:
Liberty Street
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Jamie Larson / The Register Star Online:
Tedisco asks to be declared winner — COLUMBIA COUNTY — 20th Congressional District candidate Republican Jim Tedisco submitted a petition to the Dutchess County Supreme Court Thursday asking the judge to declare him the winner of the extremely close special election race …
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Huma Khan / Political Punch:
WH: No Religious Cover-up at Georgetown — ABC News' Karen Travers reports: — The White House is taking some heat today from conservative and Catholic bloggers who noticed that while President Obama delivered remarks on the economy at Georgetown University Tuesday, a monogram that is a symbol …
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Jim Iovino / NBC Washington:
Jesus Missing From Obama's Georgetown Speech
Jesus Missing From Obama's Georgetown Speech
Discussion:
Political Machine, Fox News, The Powers That Be, The Western Experience, Wizbang and Pharyngula
ABCNEWS:
Blind Amputee Has to Fight AIG for New Plastic Leg, Wheelchair — While Executives Get Bonuses, John Woodson Gets “Cheapest They Could Get Away With” — An Oklahoma man who lost an eye and a leg in Iraq says the giant insurance company AIG refused to provide him a new plastic leg and fought …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Go Rick! — MSNBC is now picking up on the story of Gov. Perry of Texas hinting that the Stimulus Bill may be such a blow to the constitution that Texas may have to secede from the Union. But according to MSNBC, while Perry was making the comments, the crowd started chanting, “Secede …
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Elise Hu / KVUE Political Junkie:
Perry Says He Never Called For Secession (w/ full transcript)
Perry Says He Never Called For Secession (w/ full transcript)
Discussion:
TPMDC, Think Progress, Off the Kuff, Texas Politics, The Huffington Post, D-Day, Oliver Willis, The Politico and MyDD
Chloe Albanesius / PC Magazine:
Time Warner Scraps Bandwidth Cap Testing — Time Warner Cable has shelved plans to test consumption-based billing until it can improve its “customer education process,” the company announced Thursday. — “It is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal …
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Schakowsky: Tea parties ‘despicable’ — Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) blasted “tea party” protests yesterday, labeling the activities “despicable” and shameful. “The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead …
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm, Pajamas Media, GayPatriot, Michelle Malkin, RedState and The Liberty Papers
Newsdesk / Clout St:
Burris fundraising total: $845 — U.S. Senator Roland Burris, the controversial appointee to the seat once held by President Barack Obama, is holding his first campaign fundraiser since he took office this weekend—and the financial report he filed this week shows he could use some political donations.
Discussion:
Eye on 2010, Senate Guru, The Capitol Fax Blog, Swing State Project, Scorecard's Blog and D-Day
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Awesome: Chicago tea partiers confront CNN hack after hit piece; Update: Hack did puff piece on lefty protests in January — A seamless conclusion to the smear job heard 'round the world, thanks to some amazingly fortuitous timing by Founding Bloggers. On a day when the grassroots came …
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Did the GOP in Oregon really send these PSA scripts out to be made? UPDATED — I'm in the process of verifying that the GOP in Oregon is in the process of having these new PSA's/commercials made. … I redacted the company letter head that the bids went out on. Check out these docs.