Some people think this is the key issue before us. Not being one to argue unnecessarily, and always pleased to join a good cause, I suggest all who agree on its importance consider voting for the following question now leading the pack at Obama’s “Change.gov” website:

"Will you appoint a Special Prosecutor - ideally Patrick Fitzgerald - to independently investigate the gravest crimes of the Bush Administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping?"

It is Bob Fertik’s question, and he has all the details here. Seems a respectably subversive sort of an effort, organizing to take control of the agenda, so please take a moment straightway before this cycle closes. Read more…

Via TFT:
Obsidian Wings:

I'm not sure it tells anything we don't already know (read, e.g., The Dark Side). But the Levin-run Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainee abuse is now out (pdf exec summary). And it deserves some press attention. Read more…

Will Obama Buy Torture-Lite?

You’ve got to hand it to them. Torture aficionados at the White House and CIA have conned key congressional leaders into insisting not only that torture-lite would be a swell idea, but advocating that the overseers of torture be kept on.

From change-you-can-believe-in, we seem to be slipping back to fear-you-can-trade-on.

It is not just Obama, or even the Intelligence Committees, it is the entire palace of moral bankruptcy that makes this possible.

Question for the group, asked in honest and open-minded interest:

What "good in the world" can the CIA claim? What, specifically, has it done that makes America safer, and/or the world a better place?

There's a lot of chatter about Obama's pick of Brennan, of whom I don't really know that much, and his experience and position on the use of torture as a valid interrogation technique. I'll leave aside that argument for now (except to say it still shocks me we even have an "arugment" about it, feh) and wonder instead about what we need, what we have and don't have, and what we might and should have, in our premier intelligence agency.

I can run down a pretty long list of CIA failures. Just off the top of my head, they were totally wrong predicting the timing and reasons for the collapse of the USSR; they propped up torturing dictators in South and Central America; they failed to provide anything useful in the criminally misguided effort in Vietnam; they've covered for drug lords and murderers and Nazis, allowing them to go unpunished and even rewarded for their crimes; Osama Bin who?; WMD and Iraq...really, it's sort of like shooting fish in a barrel.

So I have a hard time understanding why some people on the left would bother to defend practically anything or anyone associated with today's CIA. Especially after what I imagine to be the usual contamination with cronies and criminals that has been the hallmark of the Bush administration's treatment of virtually every government agency. Via CQPolitics, comes this little gem which more or less sums up how I feel about the Agency today:

"Almost anyone working at the agency since [Sept. 11] is tainted," says retired CIA veteran Milt Bearden, a former Pakistan station chief, expressing the facts of life.

"If he wants experience, get an old-timer who left before that. Or go with a completely new face, maybe someone like a [Richard] Holbrooke, though I doubt he'd take it."

I know some people who've worked in intelligence, and I'm not trying to paint with an overly large brush. I understand there is a difference between the Directorates of operations and intelligence, the people who work in them, and what they do. I know that there really are Bad Guys in the world who are on a mission to hurt and kill Americans for all the wrong reasons, and that it makes sense of a nation like ours to have eyes and ears in dangerous places, the better to anticipate groups who would bring another 9-11 to our shores.

But I'm also always most interested in results. So I'm asking: are there any that CIA can point to, and recently, that would convince a progressive like me that CIA is not in need of massive housecleaning and investigation? My mind is truly open on this, if anyone wants to step up and defend them.

My local group fighting against torture informs me that the Second Court of Appeals has, amazingly, agreed to rehear the case of Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen kidnapped and "rendered" to Syria for torture by our government using our tax dollars.

If there's any hope of turning back to the pre-Bush level of commitment to the rule of law, however imperfect, we have to account for what's been done through the justice system. We have to demand accountability. The truth is in the same "grave-like cell" that held Maher Arar for ten months, and it's up to us to bring it into the light. Read more…

I confess: I have no idea what's going on down there in TX. I do know: 1)Cheney is a monster 2)Gonzo is a liar 3)The American prison system is a horror and 4)It's a time-honored Republican tactic to muddy the waters and meddle with those seeking to prosecute them, by employing countering lawsuits and legal claims.

Anyway, this sounds like a carnival of corruption and anyone who knows more about this should chime in. Via Off the Kuff, and the local SCLM:

McALLEN — A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on state charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

There are more links at Off the Kuff, and someone else suggested that it could be useful for bloggers to peruse the SEIU's Eye on Wackenhut for related background details. Read more…

And how does that policy enhance our "moral standing," if any, in the world? AP:

Barack Obama's incoming administration is unlikely to bring criminal charges against government workers who authorized or used harsh interrogation techniques [torture] during the George W. Bush presidency. Obama, who has criticized the use of torture, is being urged by some constitutional scholars and humans rights groups to investigate possible war crimes by the Bush administration.

But two Obama advisers said there's little — if any — chance that the incoming president's Justice Department will go after anyone involved in authorizing or carrying out interrogations that provoked worldwide outrage.

The advisers spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are still tentative. A spokesman for Obama's transition team did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Chnage! Read more…

Invictus has the details, but the "Camp Delta" torture policy from Guantanamo Bay has been posted online now. It's breathtakingly unadorned, and if a USAF commanding officer is willing to put a signature on this ... silk-wrapped excrement ... then impeachment is far too mild a fate for Bush, Cheney and their cohort of criminals, for not only have they destroyed our armed forces with their calumny, they have dishonored our officers and enlisted corps with their viciousness. Read more…

I know other people have written on the Interior Department scandal, but so far I have yet to see anyone, anywhere, use the one word which is correct. Gregory W. Smith didn't just engage in "sex" with a subordinate, he's accused of behavior by one that is rape.

There's got to be a metaphor in here someplace, really, for the the Republican way of life, rape everything. The people, the environment, the constitution, the treasury. Every thing. Let me pull out the relevant paragraphs from the here, in the government report on all of this. Read more…

[Welcome, Crooks and Liars readers!]

Reuters:

The Polish prosecutor's office is investigating allegations that there was a CIA prison in Poland where al Qaeda suspects were questioned and guards might have used methods close to torture, the prime minister's top adviser said on Friday.

I suppose this is happening now because the Bush administration has, er, disposed of the prisoners? Because the birds have all flown? One more little problem cleaned up before the perps enter the dreaded private sector? Read more…

Police Magazine:

S.C. Sheriff's Department Armored Vehicle with Belt-Fed Machine Gun
The Richland County (S.C.) Sheriff's Department has acquired an armored personnel carrier complete with a turret-mounted .50-caliber belt-fed machine gun for its Special Response Team.

Sheriff Leon Lott told the Columbia State newspaper that he hoped the vehicle, named "The Peacemaker," would let the bad guys know that his officers are serious. Read more…

So it's been bothering me for a long time now: what is it going to take? This country has tolerated the travesty that is the "Drug War" for decades; ok, I grok that as it's "only" brown and black and poor people who suffer AIDS and rape and death as a result of imprisonment. This country has also come to sleep in and miss the fact that we're bombing/shooting/raping/killing brown non-xtians in a war of choice; again, I sort of understand as that war is far away and not often on teevee, from which most people construct their 'reality.' Obama, unlike MLK, felt the need to surround himself with 000s of "security" folk in a mass grouping of fellow democracts; I guess that's a statement on how far we've (not) come since the glory days of the Civil Rights movement. But St. Paul? MN? Some of you do/have lived there; you must know how gentle and "neighborly" most of MN really is, and how infrequently it's upset by security theatre. Amy Goodman got arrested. I guess that's not surprising or worthy news to most people. But gosh, I really do wonder what it will take. Armed camps? Mass arrest of suburbanites? Shooting xtian babies and their moms? Wake up America. Or rather, how do we wake up America? That whole logic of "I was not a [x], so I didn't speak up when they came for [x]" is starting to seem like so much more than distant memory. Is it just me? Video (one of many from the links)  Read more…

[Bonjour, mon general! --lambert]

An imminent threat

So, yesterday morning, a 16-year-old boy in Ozark, Missouri fell off a 30-foot I-65 overpass for unknown reasons. When the police arrived on the scene, they promptly administered first aid Tased him 19 times because he wouldn't "comply" with their orders to stand up. (Thank god for Tasers, otherwise they'd have had to put him down like a broken racehorse, eh?)

Mace ended up in intensive care at a hospital. His parents believe the actions of Ozark police officers contributed to his injuries and slowed doctors’ abilities to speed his recovery.

The official explanation:

“He refused to comply with the officers and so the officers had to deploy their Tasers in order to subdue him. He is making incoherent statements; he's also making statements such as, ‘Shoot cops, kill cops,’ things like that. So there was cause for concern to the officers,” said Ozark Police Capt. Thomas Rousset.

Yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what he said after falling off a fucking bridge. They must have felt very threatened indeed by a possibly-paraplegic child. No word on whether he announced to the world that he was high on crack and PCP yet.

I don't even know what to say anymore. It really is a gaslight scenario. I wish I could at least attribute this to racism or something, but it appears these cops are bona fide sociopaths. _{Subliminal Stanley Milgram: No, they're not! Subliminal me: Harumph...}

I can't say I'll be surprised with they start Tasing motorcycle crash victims. We Are All Violently High On Crack And PCP Now. Read more…

Ok, I may use profanity every once in a while but I usually do not get really angry.

I should have known better than click on that link that Lambert posted (I won't reproduce it here). And I definitely should have known better than read the comments.

It started with the usual stuff that makes Lambert's title so right on target: If you don't support Obama, go fuck yourself or any variation of that theme, traitors, etc.

And then I read this and I thought I was going to lose it. Like my title says, I'm still trembling with rage:  Read more…

How many will it take before we can agree? There is no way one can defend tasering at this point. I mean, I can barely keep up with all the national news, and so I'm sure for every taser-death story like this one I read, I'm not reading 10 others. Other nations don't give tasers to their police officers and still manage to keep crime down. There are better ways to enforce the law.

A teenager died after police used a Taser on him inside a grocery store in northeast Charlotte.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police homicide detectives said they will investigate why police used the Taser on 17-year-old Darryl Turner Thursday afternoon. Read more…

H/t the Good Dr. Barmpot. People who contract work with passports:

The next time you have to renew your U.S. passport ? assuming it’s not already in process or due in the next month or two ? it most likely will be mailed to you from right here in Tucson.

Stanley Inc., a provider of systems integration and professional services to the United States government, announced Dec. 10 it will open a passport production facility in what was the Gateway Ice Center, 7333 E. Rosewood St., near East Speedway and Kolb Road on the eastside. Stanley will use about 52,000 square-feet of the 80,000 square-foot facility but has an option to expand, if necessary, Eric Wolking, a senior vice president, said in a telephone interview.

A passport ready to be mailed from Stanley’s production facility in Arkansas.
The Tucson facility will be Stanley’s second production facility, after one it opened in March in Hot Springs, Ark. Stanley, based in Arlington, Va., produces passports under a $164 million, 10-year-contract with the Department of State.

The company plans to "ramp up fairly quickly" once it opens mid-April, said Paul Belanger, another senior vice president at Stanley. He who said he anticipates the company will begin hiring soon after the new year. He said the plant will open with one shift but move up to two shifts by the end of summer.

Between 150 and 200 employees will be hired from the local workforce, about 85 percent of whom will be processing clerk associates whose salaries will range from $10 to $13.50 per hour, plus "a generous benefits package that is not insignificant," Belanger said. The remainder of the workforce will be made up of varying salaried management positions that will be paid from $30,000 to $70,000 per year.

Wolking said the State Department is expecting even more demand for passports as a result of new travel requirements and, as older passports are due for renewal. In the last year, the State Department issued 18 million passports and the new Tucson facility will significantly increase that ability. Read more…

I'll just let Diane say it:

Last week I posted on FBI Director Robert Mueller's attempt to defuse the impact of a pending Inspector General's report on the agency's improper use of "national security letters" to obtain records. He pointed out in testimony to Congress that the report covers a period before the FBI instituted reforms to stop the improprieties. Well, the report is now out, and I can see why Mr. Mueller made the effort. From an AP report published in today's NY Times:

Top-level FBI counterterrorism executives issued improper blanket demands in 2006 for records of 3,860 telephone lines to justify the fact that agents already had obtained the data using an illegal procedure that is now prohibited, the Justice Department inspector general reported Thursday.

Glenn A. Fine also reported that in one case FBI anti-terrorism agents circumvented a federal court which twice had refused a warrant for personal records because the judges believed the agents were investigating conduct protected by the First Amendment. Fine said the agents got the records using national security letters, which do not require a judge's approval, without altering or re-examining the basis of their suspicions -- the target's association with others under investigation. [Emphasis added] Read more…

As if the PGA needed more bad publicity, Tripp Isenhour provides living proof that sports stars and stupidity go hand-in-hand. I hope they put this sucker in jail.

(Updated with a post that totally proves my point) She of 18-hour support wonders, along with the Mighty Glenn:

At last, Glenn Greenwald has gotten down to the nitty-gritty and discussed what no one is saying about the original FISA legislation that was introduced in 1977 - that it was an outrageous ceding to government of the power to violate our Constitutional right to privacy (yes, privacy) as clearly spelled out in the 4th Amendment.
...
Indeed; the most liberal position in the public discourse is this: that it's okay to take our time on constructing a new, more invasive FISA law, because the original law will cover us adequately in the meantime. But virtually no one is arguing that no updating at all of the original law has ever been necessary (except me and a few security geeks), and no one at all is pointing out that FISA itself is and always was a bridge too far. When the authorities violate the 4th Amendment, they should be put in jail, not given greater latitude to spy on us under a legal fiction of national security.

Am I the only one who thinks that we really don't live in a nation of laws anymore? That this whole discussion is mostly one for wonks who love detail? Because it seems to me that between the AG refusing to do his job, and the "Constitutional scholar" and "experienced lawyer-stateswoman" both wimping out on major Senate debates about the Constitution, talk like this misses the point. I'm not harshing on A or GG, christ no. But I'm asking for a better way to frame the question. Right now the Constitution is a beautiful dream, but it's clearly not "in force." The law of the land is: who is closer to the security-military-contractor-prison complex, me or thee? If I am, I win. If you are, you win. This rule applies in confrontation, business, "the economy," and across most elements of the social environment. And if you have enough of a connection to the MIC, you can get away with anything, anything at all... Read more…

From Congressional Daily (subscription only, no link, sorry)

To break an impasse over legislation overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, House Democratic leaders are considering the option of taking up a Senate-passed FISA bill in stages, congressional sources said today. Under the plan, the House would vote separately on the first title of the bill, which authorizes surveillance activities, and then on the bill's second title, which grants retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that aided the Bush administration's warrantless electronic surveillance activities. The two would be recombined, assuming passage of both titles. In this way, Democratic leaders believe they can give an out to lawmakers opposed to the retroactive immunity provision. Republican leadership sources said their caucus would back such a plan because not only would it give Democratic leaders the out they need, it would provide a political win for the GOP. It remains to be seen if such a move will placate liberal Democrats who adamantly oppose giving in to the Bush administration on the immunity issue. Read more…

This is good to hear, I wish them luck. As SI notes, it's stupid because it just encourages people to make mirror sites. Stupid suits, still too dense to understand how the intertubes operate as they War on Freedom. Lots of livelinks in the original.

Note to Bank: Don't Wage War With the Internets

If you follow the political blogs, you probably know about the Wikileaks case. In a nutshell, last week a district court judge ruled in favor of Swiss Bank Julius Baer and ordered the Wikileaks domain name shut down because a former bank employee allegedly used the site to post proof that the bank is involved in a money laundering scheme. Wired's Threat Level gives an excellent, thorough run-down of the story.

Last night the ACLU, the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a motion to intervene in that lawsuit. Read more…

Just because they're my favorite people today, let's review how much the Saudi government sucks. At least she didn't turn him into a newt.

In a letter to King Abdullah, the rights group described the trial and conviction of Fawza Falih as a miscarriage of justice.

The illiterate woman was detained by religious police in 2005 and allegedly beaten and forced to fingerprint a confession that she could not read.

Among her accusers was a man who alleged she made him impotent.

Human Rights Watch said that Ms Falih had exhausted all her chances of appealing against her death sentence and she could only now be saved if King Abdullah intervened. Read more…

In a sane world, this would be explosive news that would lead to world governments coming together in a massive judicial and law enforcement effort. Can I call their BFFs "traitors" now, please? Wild-eyed conspiracy foilsheet The Guardian

Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday.

Previously secret files describe how investigators were told they faced "another 7/7" and the loss of "British lives on British streets" if they pressed on with their inquiries and the Saudis carried out their threat to cut off intelligence.

Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE. Read more…

Southern Beale beats me to it:

Just to remind everyone about what’s at stake in November, we have these pearls of wisdom from Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia:

“Is it really so easy to determine that smacking someone in the face to determine where he has hidden the bomb that is about to blow up Los Angeles is prohibited in the constitution?" he asked.

“It would be absurd to say you couldn't do that. And once you acknowledge that, we're into a different game."

Oh wow! I saw that episode of “24,” too! Yeah, that was so cool how Jack Bauer saved Los Angeles by smacking that .... oh, wait. That was a TV show.

Never mind. Read more…

Via Digby:

Delahunt: You said if an opinion was rendered, that would insulate him from any consequences.

[Mike Mukasey, Attorney General of the United States, before the House Judiciary Committee today]: We could not investigate or prosecute somebody for acting in reliance on a justice department opinion.

...

Delahunt: If that opinion was inaccurate and in fact violated a section of US Criminal Code, that reliance is in effect an immunity from any criminal culpability.

MM: Immunity connoted culpability. [Well, is anyone culpable? -scar]

...

Delahunt: I find that a new legal doctrine. The law is the law. Read more…