Just when I get discouraged that the real history of the Bush Administration’s misbehavior and deceit will be lost in the fog [absent…], there’s a break in the clouds. Abu Zubaydah was the first "high value" detainee captured in the Afghanistan War. He was the one that all the Torture Memos were specifically written for. […]
Vatican Official Defends Pope’s Handling of Case New York Times By RACHEL DONADIO March 31, 2010 ROME — The head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office sought Wednesday to rebut criticism that top Vatican officials, including the man who would become Pope Benedict XVI, had mishandled the case of a Wisconsin priest who sexually abused scores […]
RNC rejects joint ‘civility’ statement POLITICO By ANDY BARR 3/26/10 The Republican National Committee has rejected a proposal from its Democratic counterpart to sign a joint “civility” statement, POLITICO has learned… Republicans see the statement as an attempt to force them to either reject the statement — allowing Democrats to say the RNC finds the incidents […]
David Corn is a Washington columnist formerly with The Nation, then Mother Jones and Politics Daily among others. I first heard of him as the person who figured out that outing Valerie Plame might have been a crime. Later he coauthored Hubris with Michael Isikoff – a gold mine of information when it was published […]
Militia Charged With Plotting to Murder Officers New York Times By NICK BUNKLEY and CHARLIE SAVAGE March 29, 2010 CLAYTON, Mich. — David B. Stone Sr. and his wife, Tina, made no secret about the fact that they were part of a militia, neighbors say. The couple frequently let visitors in military fatigues erect tents […]
Punks and Plutocrats New York Times By PAUL KRUGMAN March 29, 2010 … The only question now is whether the financial industry will pay a price for this privilege, whether Wall Street will be obliged to behave responsibly in return for government backing. And who could be against that? Well, how about John Boehner, the […]
Remembering the Goldwater Campaign Yglesias by Matthew Yglesias March 27, 2010 Edmund Andrews writes: I am tempted to think that the revulsion expressed Crittenden is part of a bigger ferment among Republicans. I’d like to think that there is a group of young Turks or moderates who agree with Frum that the GOP health-care rejectionism […]
Pope dismisses ‘petty gossip’ of sexual abuse allegations In Palm Sunday address pope says faith in God leads ‘towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated’ guardian.co.uk by Tom Kington 28 March 2010 Pope Benedict, facing the worst crisis of his papacy as a sexual abuse scandal sweeps the Catholic church, declared today […]
In case you’re either wondering why I keep reprinting emptywheel‘s posts on torture, or, for that matter, why she keeps writing them, it’s because some really awful, unlawful things happened back then that both allowed cruel torture and murder but it also then said it was actually fine. If you kill someone, but I can’t […]
With Scrutiny, Vatican Faces Test of ‘Moral Credibility’ New York Times By RACHEL DONADIO March 27, 2010 ROME — As Pope Benedict XVI faces growing pressure to address his role in the handling of sexual abuse cases over the years, the Vatican acknowledged on Saturday that its ability to handle the crisis was a crucial […]