[Spain and Pinochet.] When Scott Horton interviewed Jane Mayer this exchange for me thinking:

[HORTON] Reports have circulated for some time that the Red Cross examination of the CIA’s highly coercive interrogation regime—what President Bush likes to call “The Program”—concluded that it was “tantamount to torture.” But you write that the Red Cross categorically described the program as “torture.” The Red Cross is notoriously tight-lipped about its reports, and you do not cite your source or even note that you examined the report. Do you believe that the threat of criminal prosecution drove the Bush Administration’s crafting of the Military Commissions Act?

[MAYER] Whether anyone involved in the Bush Administration’s interrogation and detention program will be prosecuted is as much a political question as a legal one. Right now in Italy the CIA agents involved in the rendition of Abu Omar are facing criminal charges, which is obviously an unmitigated nightmare for the Bush Administration. But to get that far it took an extraordinarily independent and politically fearless local prosecutor, Armando Spataro. I may be wrong, but I personally doubt there will be large-scale legal repercussions inside America for those who devised and implemented “The Program.” Activists will be angry at me for saying this, but as someone who has covered politics in Washington, D.C., for two decades, I would be surprised if there is the political appetite for going after public servants who convinced themselves that they were acting in the best interests of the country, and had legal authority to do so*. An additional complicating factor is that key members of Congress sanctioned this program, so many of those who might ordinarily be counted on to lead the charge are themselves compromised.

Yeppers. The Gang of Eight is indeed bipartisan.

But am I the only one who noticed how Mayer slipped that “inside America” qualifer in?

Which makes this little tidbit about Kucinich’s impeachment hearing all the more tantalizing:  Read more 

The House of Representatives voted to refer Kucinich’s Motion to impeach the president.

Wow, I thought it would go nowhere.

Members of the Judiciary Committee

The significance of this is that an impeached President cannot issue pardons, amongst other things.

These videos were taken at the hearing for HRH 676. See our friends in action.

HR 676 - The Single Payer Solution, Part 1 of 4

HR 676 - The Single Payer Solution, Part 2 of 4

HR 676 - The Single Payer Solution, Part 3 of 4

HR 676 - The Single Payer Solution, Part 4 of 4

This is an incomplete list of all the cosponsors of HR 676. The remainder will be posted when I have a chance. There are 90 cosponsors, so this is clearly a popular approach.

Dennis Kucinich

John Conyers

Neil Abercrombie
Joe Baca
Tammy Baldwin
Xavier Becerra  Read more 

In the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries two of the lowest vote getters were Rudy Giuliani and Dennis Kucinich.

After each of their poor showings, Giuliani’s and Kucinich’s campaign spending choices and comments about them were quite telling.  Read more 

Fuck Dennis Kucinch for taking up space (not much space, but still).

Fuck him for wanting to restore law and order.

Fuck him for wanting to put an end to America’s greatest policy blunder.

Fuck him for wanting every American to have health care.

Fuck him for promoting the values held by the majority of Americans.

He’s short, I tell ya. And he’s an idealist.

Do you want to have a beer with a twerp like that? Hell, no!

So, fuck him!