Released Memos Could Lead to More Disclosures by Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane WASHINGTON - Even as President Obama urges the country to turn the page, his decision to reveal exhaustive details about interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency will likely lead to a flood of new disclosures about secret Bush administration operations against Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.
GOP to New Orleans: Liberals Did It by Betsy Reed One of the more deeply twisted--and, one would have hoped, now thoroughly discredited--right-wing storylines of the Bush era is currently enjoying a comeback: all that chaos and suffering after Hurricane Katrina, all those people stranded on rooftops, left to die in jail cells and swelter in the Superdome, that was big government's fault! Writes the Washington Legal Foundation's Daniel J. Popeo in the Washington Examiner, "From the Hurricane Katrina response, to ongoing dysfunction in providing adequate medical care to veterans, to keeping out illegal aliens, the federal government has done little to inspire public confidence."
The Torture Memos, Obama and the Banality of Evil by Richard Kim Even as President Obama acted in the name of transparency and accountabilty in releasing the Bush administration's OLC's torture memos, he made assurances that the CIA agents who used the "enhanced interrogation techniques" meticulously detailed within would not be subject to criminal prosecution. Glenn Greenwald at Salon, Jeremy Scahill on his blog, David Bromwich at Huffington Post and Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic all have good takes on why Obama's decision is wrong. I concur. However politically expedient, Obama's nearly carte blanche absolution of torture was morally wrong, and his justification of it, from a professor of constitutional law, is intellectually dishonest.
Can China Catch a Cool Breeze? by Christian Parenti On a range of seaside mountains between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, two visions of China's future development stand side by side. The slope of the mountains is busy with construction workers building roads and swank modern trophy homes, each with a two-car garage. The valley below is carpeted with acres of bright green chemical-fed golf courses, their sand traps winking up in playful floral patterns. This is the future as California-style, auto-based sprawl.
Obama in Mexico: More Rhetoric for Change by Diego Cevallos MEXICO CITY - Reiterated promises of cooperation and respect marked U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Mexico Thursday. But activists and analysts from both countries told IPS that there have been enough words and that it is time for concrete action from Washington.
Interrogation Memos Detail Harsh Tactics by the CIA by Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane WASHINGTON - The Justice Department on Thursday made public detailed memos describing brutal interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency, as President Obama sought to reassure the agency that the C.I.A. operatives involved would not be prosecuted.
Dividing America with Hate by Bob Burnett Six months after a sweeping defeat in the Presidential election, Republicans have taken on an unlikely political persona, Oscar the Grouch. And judging from their muddled "Tea Parties," the GOP has adopted their new Ideology from a familiar Sesame Street Song: We're mad. Very angry, very, very angry. Real mad. Very angry, very, very angry.
Lone Wolves and Missing Bodies: Denying the Reality of Rightwing Terrorism by RJ Eskow Mike Allen of The Politico has impeccable credentials as a mainstream journalist. So what are we to make of the statement he made the other day on Hugh Hewitt's show, after a DHS report said there was a risk of increased rightwing terrorism? "... I think some bureaucrat who wrote this report, like, misstated in a way that doesn't comport with your or my observations about the real America. I think it was somebody who, written inside the Beltway, who maybe has fantasies about what happens outside in the real America."
Home of the Barricaded, Land of the 'Fraid by David Michael Green There are few statistics as stunning as the following simple, single number: The United States spends two times more on its military than all the other countries of the world, combined.Yes, that's right. All 200 or so of them. Combined.According to GlobalSecurity.org, last year, the US dropped about $625 billion in taxpayer dollars on its military, while all the rest of the world together spent $500 billion. (The aggregate global figures come from 2004, but have been steady over the prior decade.) However, if you also add in nuclear weapons costs handled separately by the Energy Department, Veterans Affairs, interest on money borrowed to fund previous wars, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the total rises to a jaw-dropping one trillion dollars per year.
Green Shoots and Glimmers by Paul Krugman Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, sees “green shoots.” President Obama sees “glimmers of hope.” And the stock market has been on a tear.So is it time to sound the all clear? Here are four reasons to be cautious about the economic outlook.1. Things are still getting worse. Industrial production just hit a 10-year low. Housing starts remain incredibly weak. Foreclosures, which dipped as mortgage companies waited for details of the Obama administration’s housing plans, are surging again.
