Supreme Court: What? Where? Who?
Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Supreme Court refuses to hear CIA kidnapping allegation ~CNN



CLICK IMAGE for background.

"El-Masri alleged he was abducted in Macedonia on New Year's Eve 2003 and taken to a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan as part of a secret program aimed at suspected terrorists.

"I was humiliated, I was beaten, I was drugged," the Lebanese-born man told CNN last year. "After five months, they simply took me back and dropped me like a piece of luggage in the woods of Albania."

U.S. officials told CNN the Bush administration privately has confirmed to Germany the man was captured by mistake, but it has not made a public admission."

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Now that's an ugly baby
Sunday, May 06, 2007

Last week ten (TEN!) candidates for the Republican 2008 presidential nomination gathered to introduce themselves to the American people. It was damn ugly.

A lot of attention has been paid to the who does not believe in evolution question, and rightfully so (it's not a litmus test of faith, it's a litmus test of the capacity for rational thought), but the questions I most wanted answered were never asked.

As a former New England Republican myself I view GOP debates through a lens of fiscal conservatism mixed with a tinge of libertarian sensibility. I would have liked to have heard the candidates views on the difficult questions which threaten the very fabric of our nation today. Specifically their stances on habeas corpus, posse comitatus, and the Cheneyite School of the Unitary Executive. While the candidates did comment on abortion, tax policy, stem cell research, and the possibility of a national identity card - for immigrants and guest workers - they were not asked for their thoughts on signing statements, warrantless wiretaps, extraordinary rendition, or the use of private contractors to perform military duties.

The answers to these questions are vitally important for candidates from both parties to answer, but particularly so for Republicans. Since 2000 the Bush Administration has consistently reinterpreted the Constitution of the United States in such a way that diminishes individual liberties and circumvents traditional checks on tyranny while maximizing its own authority. These are not soundbite issues. These are fundamental questions that will define American character for generations to come.

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Operation Lockbox: March Madness
Friday, March 02, 2007

As I write this, the Extra Bold Sumatra is flowing and Ballroom Blitz (The Ark cover, thanks Ajay!) is pumping. Al Gore won a frikin' Oscar and is on track to pick up a Nobel Prize later this year. Congress has issued it's first round of subpoenas regarding "corruption and mismanagement allegations on everything from pre-war Iraq intelligence to the mishandling of the response to Hurricane Katrina."

Spring is coming to America, and not a moment too soon. From 9/11 fear mongering, to the dilution of American civil liberties, to the utter squandering of world-wide good will towards America, to lying to Congress and the American people, to unprecedented and unwarranted expansion of executive power to the detriment of our democratic system, to the criminal bungling and incompetence of the Katrina (NSFW) disaster, to illegal wiretapping, to government sponsored kidnapping, detainment, and torture of civilians around the globe without regard for human rights, due process, international or Constitutional law, this Administration has set the stage for the most significant social, cultural, and political change our nation has yet to experience.

Hold on to your hats kids, 'cause our country is barreling towards the looking glass, the hatter is at the switch, and the rails are greased. What happens when the richest, most technologically advanced nation the world has ever known wakes up, takes a swig of the morning brew and realizes just how surreal our world has become under the sway of fear, uncertainty and doubt?

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John Le Carré It Ain't
Friday, February 16, 2007

A 22-year veteran CIA analyst known only as 'Doe' won a minor legal victory this week when U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that his/her/its case could proceed against the CIA. Doe's suit alleges CIA officials pressured and later terminated the decorated agent in the agency's counter-proliferation department for gathering evidence contrary to the Bush Administration's official line with regard to Iraq's pre-war WMD programs. Shocking. I know.

I say minor victory because this is probably the last you will ever hear of it. First, because the U.S. media would rather cover the NASCAR 'scandal' and Anna Nicole Smith (I refuse to link either on principle) than high crimes and misdemeanors. Second, because the story has been essentially Googlebombed out of existence by the CIA/extraordinary rendition proceedings in Italy (try and Google the CIA this week and see if you can find this story). And last, but not least, because U.S.District Judge Gladys Kessler, has been promoted and is being replaced by "former White House insider Dabney Friedrich."

I give credit where credit is due. No one plays the shell game better than this Administration. They've fired or forced-out seven U.S. Attorneys since march, and now this. It's like watching Cheney and Rove channeling Penn and Teller. If that image does haunt your dreams...

Special thanks to Matt for pointing this story out. Viva La Revolution!

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Secret prisons in Eastern Europe? You ain't seen nothing yet!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006

While media attention has been focused on the ongoing Washington soap opera starring CIA personalities Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, Mary McCarthy, and Porter Goss, defense contractor Brent Wilkes, and disgraced U.S. Representative Duke Cunningham, little analysis has been devoted to an important piece of legislation recently passed in the U.S. House: H.R. 5020, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

What could be more boring and unsexy than that? No wonder this one came and went without a peep from the pantheon of talking heads who are "lookin' out for" us little guys. Sponsored by our friend Rep. Peter Hoekstra [R-MI], the bill passed in the House on May 28th, 327 to 96, with 9 abstentions. This legislation authorizes appropriations for our nation's various intelligence activities for the coming year. Oh, and it grants powers of arrest to agents of the CIA and NSA.

Ah nostalgia. Not since the days of the Soviet KGB could a government agency monitor citizens without judicial oversight, hold them without habeas corpus, and deny it all because of 'national security.'

Specifically, section 423, “Additional Functions and Authorities for the Protective Personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency,” proposes that:

(a) The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency may issue regulations to allow personnel designated to carry out executive protection functions...to, while engaged in such protective functions, make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the presence of such personnel, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States, if such personnel have probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing that felony offense.


Thankfully the authors put in this provision:

(b) The powers granted under subsection (a) may be exercised only in accordance with guidelines approved by the Attorney General.


Phew! Good thing they won't be able to anything the Attorney General wouldn't approve of...erm...yeah.

But hey, at least we've got leakers and whistle blowers inside the agencies to disclose abuses of these new powers, right? Why worry? Oh wait...section 413 of this bill is titled "Study On Revoking Pensions Of Persons Who Commit Unauthorized Disclosures Of Classified Information."

So when considering whether active duty Air Force General Michael Hayden is the right person to head the CIA just remember this: This isn't your father's CIA. Rep. Hoekstra, the honorable gentleman from Michigan, sponsored this bill and knows the powers it grants. If he says General Hayden is the "wrong person" at the "wrong time" for this position, I'm inclined to agree.

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"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it."

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