From the "Credit where it's due" file.

Yeah, yeah, stopped clocks twice a day and all that, but when he's right, he's right, even when the he in question is John McCain...

During a visit to Iraq, Republican Senator John McCain called on the US Justice Department to appeal the dismissal of all charges against the five Blackwater operatives accused of being the shooters at the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad in 2007.

File an appeal and find a path to prosecution that hasn't been poisoned by the Bushco™ Justice Department's pattern of prosecutorial misconduct that has proven suspiciously helpful to their allies in the criminal class.

Then put an end to the unconscionable use of these mercenary cowboys and crusaders once and for all.

Yes, but…

Steve Benen, on the Census Department's report of increasing poverty and declining incomes...

The economy simply didn't function as it's supposed to during the Bush era.

Yes, but I suspect it functioned the way they intended it to.

She's talking about torture…

…but I sense a more universal application. Speaker Pelosi…

So any briefing that you would get from the Bush administration on the subject is one that is probably something you're not going to agree with, and two, maybe not the whole truth anyway.

Where, of course, "probably" and "maybe" = "certainly."

Good question…

…from Steve M.

What parts of the agenda would you sacrifice to try to put Bushies in jail for torture?

Look for the Union label.

You'll find it in Marcy's rundown of the contributions of the USALPA, AFA-CWA, NATCA, SIU and IAFF to yesterday's "miracle" on the Hudson.

The "miracle," I suppose, being that after eight years of Bushco™ there are still so many trained union workers available when we need 'em.

As usual...

… reading digby is beneficial.

Stay tuned. There are a lot of trial balloons being floated and we have no idea what's real and what isn't.

The full measure of change we need won't come as quickly as we'd like, as completely as we'd like or the ideal form in every instance that we'd like. Without continued vigilance and pressure, it likely won't come at all. We still have a long way to go.

Despite all that, though, there are long-absent opportunities at hand. The most disappointing rumblings from the Obama camp are still preferable to the proudest "achievements" of Bushco™.

To paraphrase Joe Hill, "Don't panic, organize."

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wagn'nagl fhtagn.

Shrill is the new black. Howard Fineman...

If you're in this White House, you want another Republican administration to follow. You don't want a Democratic administration coming in there while the evidence is still fresh, so to speak.

New majorities and a functional Justice Department? Could be fun.

AP 0, Obama 2…

First Read...

The Obama campaign says the AP's first report this morning that Obama supports "their [faith-based organizations'] ability to hire and fire based on faith" is incorrect. In fact, Obama's plan, they say, would prevent organizations from discriminating based on faith.

Note: The second version of AP story says Obama would support "some ability to hire and fire based on faith." The change is of one word, from "their" to "some."

But the campaign says the second version is still inaccurate.

I'll trust the campaign on this one. Hotline has the transcript of Obama's remarks on federal support for programs sponsored by religious organizations or congregations. While there's no specific mention of hiring in the speech, Obama cites his background as a teacher of constitutional law and explicitly supports the separation doctrine at the outset, and does directly address proselytization and discrimination in the provision of service...

First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.

He clearly envisions something very different than the Bushco™ brand of faith-based initiatives (Included in the specific proposals the speech outlines is the closure of Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in favor of a new council with a clean slate). Doesn't sound inclined to support discriminatory hiring to me. There's further assurance here (my emphasis)...

Every house of worship that wants to run an effective program and that’s willing to abide by our constitution – from the largest mega-churches and synagogues to the smallest store-front churches and mosques – can and will have access to the information and support they need to run that program.

Hard to see how you could abide by the constitution while using a religious test for hiring. Based on what Obama said, there's just nothing to support the AP's interpretation.

She fought the law...

...and the law won. Disgraced GSA head Lurita Doan, on her resignation by Executive request, via The Gavel…

“I would rather get fired for something I believe in, and a cause I was willing to fight for, rather than to believe in nothing worth being fired for.”

She 'believes,' apparently, in breaking the law. Special Counsel Scott Bloch, who investigated Doan for Hatch Act vioaltions…

“Doan solicited the political activity of over 30 of her subordinate employees.”

Heckuva job, Doanie.

Put. The. Coffee. Down.

...or you're gonna need that towel.



Warned ya.

Tip of the 50 mission crush cap to The General.

Find the cost of "freedom"…

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, via Alterman...

"Because the administration actually cut taxes as we went to war, when we were already running huge deficits, this war has, effectively, been entirely financed by deficits. The national debt has increased by some $2.5 trillion since the beginning of the war, and of this, almost $1 trillion is due directly to the war itself ... By 2017, we estimate that the national debt will have increased, just because of the war, by some $2 trillion."

Finding freedom, of course, is another matter entirely.

More of this, please.

Via CNN…

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday requested that a federal grand jury be appointed to investigate whether a top White House official and former official should be prosecuted for contempt of Congress.

Of course, it's a sad thing that this is the only way to get the Bushco™ 'Justice' Department to act, but they've been purged, trimmed and managed to into the virtual role of mob lawyers for the criminal enterprises of the administration.

Sic 'em, Madam Speaker.

If I've said it once…

…I've said it 935 times.

You think it's gotten better since last year?

It hasn't. Via TRex…

“I believe that we, as a nation, are at risk of mission failure should our Army be called to deploy to an emerging threat,” Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, chairman of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee, said last year, basing his assessment on classified Army readiness reports.

"Mission failure." Helluva a way to put "Can't defend our borders," isn't it?

Really. If, say, a division of Chinese infantry was airdropped onto the Pacific coast, our only real option would be to evacuate the civilian population and try to bomb the invaders into submission. Shock and awe on our own soil, as it were. (Of course, if San Francisco slid into the sea in the process some would even see it as a side benefit. Kind of like the Bushco™ urban renewal/voter relocation program down on the Delta.)

That's all we've got. Everything else is broken.

Have I mentioned lately that I hate what they've done to my Army?

The American Intelligence Establishment...

On ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos told his audience,“You should know that I invited the CIA director, the director of national intelligence, and President Bush’s national securityadviser to join us today. They all declined.”

Hat tip to Think Progress.

It's redundant, I know…

…but Digby's right.

No member of the Bush administration should ever be set out to represent this country abroad again.

Certainly, maybe especially, that one.

Random notes...

...on the Vegas debate. First, it seems everyone has found a chance to take a shot at Bushco™'s lawlessness and neglect, and everyone's found the target. I like that in a Democratic debate.

First notable quote (though I joined the party a bit late...) to Hillary...

"NAFTA did not do what many hoped…"

Perhaps not, Senator, but it's done exactly what many of us warned. Pretty much the same stuff we've been saying about Peru...

More...I didn't get the exact wording, but my ears perked up when Joe Biden used the I word regarding the Bush push for war with Iran.

Ya know, Barack, I really don't want to hear anymore about all your fine Republican friends. Oh well, at least he didn't invoke the bigot from Oklahoma this time.

Richardson's cheap shot at the Democratic Congress sounded like something straight out of a GOP briefing book. Your state needs you, Governor, and the Senate is beckoning. Time to fold this tent.

Gag me with a diamond and pearl (I want both, too) encrusted spoon.

I dunno. I guess I missed the early fireworks show, but I suspect this event won't noticably reshape the campaign.

John fixed it. He had some tough lines for the frontrunner, but I wonder if Hillary is overplaying the victim card. And of course she's playing the gender card (what's the whole 'comfortable in the kitchen' bit supposed to invoke?), but so what. You play the cards you're dealt, after all.

Credit to Obama, by the way, for admitting that missing the vote on Kyl-Lieberman was a mistake, and for taking the hit for that mistake rather than passing it off to leadership or a staff bungle. "It was a mistake," without equivocation, is the model for straight talk.

Déjà vu.

Karen Hughes, one of President Bush’s longest-serving advisers, is stepping down from her position...

Good riddance again.

From the "Wish I'd said that" file.

Juan Cole...

The privatization of war fighting, a major step back to the 18th century favored by the Bush administration as a way of throwing money to its friends, has the disadvantage of roiling diplomatic relations.

Yes. Exactly.

Wrecks the Army, too.

Patience.

It's hard, but it's necessary. John Dean's right...

"I do feel strongly that the Republicans have so abused the law and embedded so many people within the system, within the executive branch, that's it's going to take a couple of terms of Democratic presidents before you have people there who are representing the American people."

So buck up, America. Don't bitch. Organize.