DiFi says Bush & Co. broke the law by concealing counterterrorism program from Congress

A rare display of good behavior from DiFi. How long until Obama tells the Dems to let it go? Read the rest of this post...

More homeless families

At least Wall Street is getting their bonuses money though. Isn't that what's most important during a recession? The little people are always complaining and ask for too much. Washington Post:

"Last year, we saw a 34 percent increase in homeless families and a 24 percent increase in homeless children," he said. "Why do we go beyond capacity? Because in a just society, a child should not have to sleep outside or in a car."

Gill is a frontline witness to the change in the makeup of the country's homeless. The stereotype of a homeless person as a single man no longer applies. A resident of the Bakersfield center is far more likely to be a young mother with a "good, solid job and a mortgage that she just couldn't pay."

"They're like folks you know and that you've worked with," Gill said. "Maybe the work's not there right now. Maybe they got behind on their payments. But the idea of a typical homeless person has changed. We're seeing individuals come in that have never had to access the safety net before."

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NAACP refuses to take a position on gay marriage; discounts connection between black civil rights and gay civil rights

It's pretty sickening to watch the head of the NAACP, Benjamin Todd Jealous, squirm when asked about the civil rights of gays and lesbians, as he does throughout this interview. I suspect the NAACP leadership is afraid of its own membership on this issue.

You simply do not get to be a real civil rights organization by taking polls on whether or not you're going to get criticized for recognizing the civil rights of other human beings. Would the NAACP have us take polls on whether its membership's civil rights should be recognized and accepted as equal to other civil rights struggles? Just as bad, the NAACP head seems to suggest in this interview that it may take the NAACP decades before they endorse gay marriage. He then goes on to disagree with those who equate gay civil rights with the African-American civil rights struggle (good thing that the head of the NAACP agrees with John McCain about the civil rights of gays and lesbians). Though, while agreeing with John McCain, Mr. Jealous disagrees with Coretta Scott King, who says the civil rights battles are all the same.

Definitely not your daddy's civil rights leaders.

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Cheney directed CIA to lie to Congress

This just keeps getting better. And so, those career employees at the CIA, who never ever get political, apparently got political. From the NYT:

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

Oh, and why did Panetta only learn of this program on June 23 of this year when he started as CIA director on February 13? (Hat tip, Grey Matter.) Read the rest of this post...

AG Holder might appoint criminal prosecutor to investigate torture, but Obama's "top political aides have expressed concerns"

The Attorney General could be appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate torture allegations. Prosecutors don't appoint criminal prosecutors unless they believe crimes have been committed. And, it really does appear that crimes have been committed in the name of our government. That warrants an investigation, at the very least:

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is leaning toward appointing a criminal prosecutor to investigate whether CIA personnel tortured terrorism suspects after Sept. 11, 2001, setting the stage for a conflict with administration officials who would prefer the issues remain in the past, according to three sources familiar with his thinking.

Naming a prosecutor to probe alleged abuses during the darkest period in the Bush era would run counter to President Obama's oft-repeated desire to be "looking forward and not backwards." Top political aides have expressed concern that such an investigation might spawn partisan debates that could overtake Obama's ambitious legislative agenda.

So, the AG must at least believe crimes have been committed and wants to investigate. But, "top political aides" are apparently objecting. This shouldn't be about politics. This is about the rule of law. That should preempt politics. We know craven political calculations came first in the Bush administration. We're supposed to be getting something different from the Obama administration. We'll see soon which prevails: craven politics or respect for the rule of law. Perhaps we can heed the words of Joe Biden from the the campaign, when asked about the possibility of prosecuting Bush officials over Guantanamo:

Mr Biden said at an event in Deerfield Beach, Florida: “If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued, not out of vengeance, not out of retribution, out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president - no one is above the law."

No one is above the law. That's a good operating principle -- even for Dick Cheney. And, this investigation will probably implicate Cheney. Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

There is a dominant topic, which is, of course, the Supreme Court nomination. The hearings on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation start tomorrow. For some reason, most of the worst of the worst Republicans are on the Senate Judiciary Committee -- and they're frothing at the mouth about these hearings. Several, including Sessions (R-AL) and Kyl (R-AZ), are talkers today.

Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, who was denied a federal judgeship because of his racist views, will appear on "Face the Nation." As ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, he will be leading the attack on Sotomayor for the GOP. But, he'll probably try to be on his best behavior today. That won't last.

Besides Sotomayor's confirmation, expect some health care reform talk. And, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), the new House sponsor of the legislation to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, is on CNN's State of the Union.

Full lineup after the break.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

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CNN's "State of the Union" — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Judd Gregg, R-N.H., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.

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What a wonderful talent

An American classic. Read the rest of this post...

Experts debate role of ethnic minorities in China

All is not well in China and there appears to be competing views on the heavy handed crackdown. The uneven distribution of power and opportunity comes back to strike once again. As the economy remains soft in China (Western demand isn't coming back for some time) it wouldn't come as a great surprise to see even more civil unrest. The Independent:

"Frankly, coming up to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, it gives China a bit of a black eye to have these on-going problems," said Dru Gladney, president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College in California.

The Communist Party has for decades swung between hardline policies that aim to crush dissent and weaken ethnic identity and softer approaches to make minorities feel they can have a dual identity, both Chinese and Tibetan or Uighur. Those who favour the latter approach will likely use the violence as evidence that Beijing cannot rule its vast hinterlands by coercion alone. But China has poured cash into Xinjiang and Tibet along with its troops, and many Han Chinese think that with development subsidies, the construction of schools and clinics and some affirmative action, the government has already done enough.

"In the past, there have been policies in favour of minorities, but many minorities have not been able to take advantage of these policies," said Bo Zhiyue, a China politics expert at Singapore's East Asian Institute. "I don't think there's a fundamental policy problem, but it's a fundamental governance issue." he added, expressing a view shared by much of China's elite.

Uighurs, however, say they have been left behind economically as Han Chinese dominate development opportunities, and are unhappy that they cannot practise their religion, Islam, as they wish. They also resent an inflow of migrants from the rest of China.

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UK Parliament to investigate police following News Corp hacking

This case becomes more interesting by the day, unless you are Rupert Murdoch. Who is next to be indicated in the phone hacking/spying case?

The Metropolitan Police could face a new House of Commons inquiry into whether officers are routinely paid by journalists to obtain confidential information about celebrities and suspects, in a fresh twist to the tabloid phone-hacking scandal.

The home affairs select committee will meet on Tuesday to decide whether to launch a full inquiry into how private information such as criminal and DVLA records have been obtained by private investigators, who have then sold them on to journalists.

Three Labour members of the committee - Martin Salter, Karen Buck and Ann Cryer - have written to its chairman, Keith Vaz, calling for an inquiry and for assurances that the Met's decision last week not to reopen its own inquiry into phone hacking arranged by News of the World staff was not influenced by any fear of embarrassing revelations over backhanders that were paid to police officers.

The intervention follows allegations in the Guardian about practices at the Sunday tabloid which put David Cameron's spin doctor, Andy Coulson, in a difficult position. He joined the Conservatives after resigning as editor of the News of the World following the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of his royal reporter, Clive Goodman, for intercepting phone messages.

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