My Tortured Decision  —  FOR seven years I have remained silent about the false claims magnifying the effectiveness of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding.  I have spoken only in closed government hearings, as these matters were classified.

Pelosi briefed on waterboarding in '02 [UPDATED]  —  Nancy Pelosi denies knowing U.S. officials used waterboarding — but GOP operatives are pointing to a 2007 Washington Post story which describes an hour-long 2002 briefing in which Pelosi was told about enhanced interrogation techniques in graphic detail.

Taliban advance eastward, threaten Islamabad  —  Click map for full view.  Taliban presence, by district and tribal agency, in the Northwest Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Agencies.  Information on Taliban presence obtained from open source and derived …

Larry Summers falls asleep during Obama's meeting with credit card executives.  —  Today, President Obama met with credit card industry officials at the White House.  After the meeting, he pledged to push for a law that would offer “strong and reliable” protections for credit card users in the United States.

RNC faction wants Dems branded socialists  —  A conservative faction of the Republican National Committee is urging the GOP to take a harder line against both Democrats and wayward Republicans, drafting a resolution to rename the opposition the “Democrat Socialist Party” …

King: Torture trial should spark “scorched earth”  —  New York Republican Rep. Peter King thinks his party needs to go nuke if Bush era officials are prosecuted on torture charges.  —  King, the outspoken ranking member of the House homeland security committee, said Republicans should …

U.S. Is Said to Prepare Filing for Chrysler Bankruptcy  —  By MICHELINE MAYNARD and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED  —  DETROIT — The Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler that could come as soon as next week, people with direct knowledge of the action said Thursday.

GOP Stymies Vote on Sebelius  —  President Obama will have to wait a bit longer to round out his Cabinet.  Senate Republicans refused today to allow a confirmation vote on his health secretary nominee Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.).  She is the last Cabinet member awaiting Senate approval.

Pamela Geller: Poster Girl for Eurofascists  —  Pamela Geller of “Atlas Shrugs” and Paul Belien of “Brussels Journal” have been announced as speakers at a German far right event organized by a group called “Pro Köln” — a successor to the notorious fascist group “Deutsche Liga für Volk und Heimat” …

News Bulletin  —  A Corner exclusive: How many times have you read and heard in the mainstream media that terrorists were waterboarded more than 180 times?  It turns out that's not true.  What is?  According to two sources, both of them very well-informed and reliable (but preferring to remain anonymous) …

Sources say Tedisco concession likely  —  A finish line could be in sight in the race for the 20th Congressional District.  With the numbers not looking good for Republican Jim Tedisco, sources tell Capital News 9 that Tedisco could concede to Democrat Scott Murphy as soon as Friday afternoon.

Meghan McCain to Rove & Cheney: ‘Go Away’  —  ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Meghan McCain guest-hosted ABC's “The View” Thursday and brought some blunt advice for Karl Rove and Dick Cheney: “Go away.”  —  “It's very unprecedented for someone like Karl Rove or Dick Cheney to be criticizing the president,” McCain said.

Industry Ignored Its Scientists on Climate  —  For more than a decade the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming.

Yemen Dispute Slows Closing of Guantánamo  —  The Obama administration's effort to return the largest group of Guantánamo detainees to Yemen, their home country, has stalled, creating a major new hurdle for the president's plan to close the prison camp in Cuba by next January, American and Yemeni officials say.

Liz Cheney: I'm Proud My Daddy Is the Prime Mover of Torture  —  The biggest piece of news from this exchange?  Liz Cheney's assertion that (only) two of the three detainees who were waterboarded (speaking of Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed) provided valuable intelligence.

Dems anxious about Af-Pak policy  —  Democratic fears over President Barack Obama's Afghan-Pakistan policy spilled into the open Thursday as House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey warned he is “very concerned that it is going to wind up with us stuck in a problem at nobody knows how to get out of.”

2012 President Survey  —  Is it too early to poll Barack Obama against potential opponents in 2012?  Sure.  But that doesn't mean people don't find it interesting, and it gives us something to track against moving forward so here goes:  —  On our newest national survey we looked at Obama …

BREAKING: Randi Rhodes to Return to Talk Radio  —  [Updated with Premiere's official announcement at end of article.]  —  Following a nearly two-month absence from the airwaves, Progressive radio talker Randi Rhodes is set to return, according to an announcement this afternoon from John Scott of San Francisco's Green960 (KKGN).

American Heroes  —  That's what we ought to call the men and women who interrogated the worst of the worst.  For those most committed to the ridiculous crusade for terrorist rights, “enhanced interrogation” is not only immoral and illegal, it's ineffective.  That argument, like Khalid Sheik Mohamed, doesn't hold water.

Obama Among the Dictators  —  The now-famous photograph of Barack Obama sharing a handshake and mile-wide smile with happy Hugo Chávez recalled to mind a visit years ago of Philippine strong man Ferdinand Marcos to The Wall Street Journal's offices in lower Manhattan.

Webb: Pot legalization ‘on the table’ in prison reform effort  —  The leader of a congressional effort to reform the criminal justice system said Thursday that all issues — including drug legalization — need to be on the table.  —  Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who has made criminal justice …

Holder won't selectively release terror memos  —  WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress on Thursday he won't play “hide and seek” with secret memos about harsh interrogations of terror suspects and their effectiveness.  In testimony before the House Appropriations Committee …

CNN ASKS PALIN DADDY IF SEX WAS IN THE HOUSE  —  CNN's Larry King turned horndog Wednesday night during his controversial interview with the father of Sarah Palin's grandchild.  —  KING: Where — was — did sex occur in their house?  —  LEVI JOHNSTON, EX-FIANCE OF BRISTOL PALIN …