This revelation is unsurprising:

The Central Intelligence Agency secretly detained a suspected member of Al Qaeda for at least six months beginning last summer as part of a program in which C.I.A. officers have been authorized by President Bush to use harsh interrogation techniques, American officials said Friday. ... The C.I.A. emptied its secret prisons in the fall of 2006, when it moved 14 prisoners to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but made clear that the facilities could be used in the future to house high-level terrorism suspects.

How is it possible that a country founded on the belief that individuals must be protected from the unreviewable actions of a powerful government could condone clandestine confinement in secret prisons? Despotism in action:

Mr. Bush has defended the use of the secret prisons as a vital tool in American counterterrorism efforts, and last July he signed an executive order that formally reiterated the C.I.A.’s authority to use interrogation techniques more coercive than those permitted by the Pentagon.

It may be extreme but not entirely unfair to make this comparison.

The Iowa County Assemblies are today. The 99 counties will select delegates to the state convention.

The pledged delegates from the caucuses are allowed to change their mind. In addition, it's unknown what John Edwards' delegates will decide to do: stay with Edwards as his Iowa campaign heads are urging or switch to Obama or Hillary.

Obama has been pitching Edwards' delegates in Iowa for two weeks. Hillary began this week.

By Big Tent Democrat

NYTimes:

Democrats in Michigan and Florida struggled Friday to resolve the impasse over their disputed January primaries, coming up with a plan to hold a June primary in Michigan while remaining deadlocked in Florida.

. . . Pushing to seat the Florida delegates, at least one top Clinton fund-raiser, Paul Cejas, a Miami businessman who has given the Democratic National Committee $63,500 since 2003, has demanded Democratic officials return his 2007 contribution of $28,500, which they have agreed to do. “If you’re not going to count my vote, I’m not going to give you my money,” said Mr. Cejas, who was the United States ambassador to Belgium from 1998 to 2001.

. . . MORE

In addition to being interviewed by the Chicago Tribune this week about Tony Rezko, Barack Obama also sat down for an interview with the Chicago Sun Times. More statements by Obama from the Sun Times interview:

Is Rezko still a friend?

"Yes,'' Obama said, "with the caveat if it turns out the allegations are true, then he's not who I thought he was, and I'd be very disappointed with that.''

And it's that friendship, Obama said, that probably kept him from realizing it was a mistake to enter into a real estate deal with Rezko.

"Probably because I'd known him for a long time, and he'd acted in an aboveboard manner with me," he said. "And I considered him a friend. ... It's further evidence that I'm not perfect.''

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kaas writes today about Obama's latest statements, "It's almost believable. As in, almost, but not quite.

The audio of the 80 minute Sun Times interview is here. The transcript is here (pdf).

In a just published interview with Sen. Barack Obama, the Chicago Tribune reports:

Indicted Chicago businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko was a more significant fundraiser for presidential candidate Barack Obama's earlier political campaigns than previously known. Rezko raised as much as $250,000 for the first three offices Obama sought, the senator told the Tribune on Friday.

Obama also said for the first time that his private real estate transactions with Rezko involved repeated lapses of judgment. The mistake, Obama said, was not simply that Rezko was under grand jury investigation at the time of their 2005 and 2006 dealings. "The mistake was he had been a contributor and somebody involved in politics," he said.

Repeated lapses of judgment. The Tribune says that's how Obama views it.

The interview raises another question: Obama's naivite.

Obama said that when he questioned Rezko about news reports of his questionable political dealings, his friend assured him there was nothing wrong. "My instinct was to believe him," he said.

He relied on his "instinct" and didn't do anything to verify it. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

As expected:

Michigan Democrats agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June to give them a say in the close presidential race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Amid talks with the two campaigns, the four Michigan Democrats said in a statement they were "focusing on the possibility of a state-run primary in early June which would not use any state funding." Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, one of the Democratic participants, said a likely date is June 3.

Update (TL): The Michigan Democrats agreed but the campaigns still need to approve. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

Good news:

On this presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton can agree: They sometimes disagree with their trash-talking supporters and will try to cool it. Advisers to the Democratic candidates shed some light Friday on the private chat the two candidates had Thursday on the Senate floor. The talk lasted three or four minutes in full view of reporters watching on the balcony above who could see them talking, but not hear what they said.

More...

By Big Tent Democrat

Chris Bowers could not be more wrong on this:

I have long been opposed to any re-write of FISA granting additional powers to conduct electronic surveillance. FISA's not broke, it doesn't need fixing and it certainly doesn't need weakening at the expense of the Fourth Amendment.

This is a bill, as the Washington Post says, that "would update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to expand the powers of intelligence agencies and keep pace with ever-changing communications technologies."

The good news, as I see it, is this:

The House's action ensures that Bush will not receive surveillance legislation for several weeks. But some lawmakers from both parties said the impasse is now so deep that the issue may not be resolved until a new president takes office next year.

Bush and Republican lawmakers have shown no desire to move further toward the House Democratic leaders' position, and the Democrats are showing no sign of buckling under the mounting political pressure.

Maybe we won't get a FISA re-write after all.

ABC News has picked up on a matter reported by a Denver local news station last week involving a Colorado federal judge. I've obviously been aware of it since then.

I have many cases in front of this Judge, including some coming up for sentencing.

There will be no posts about this matter here, no comments about it allowed on any thread, including open threads, and no reference to it on TalkLeft. I hope someone e-mails me if I miss one so I can delete it.

Other blogs will discuss it and you can express your opinions there.

Thank you all for understanding. Comments have been disabled for this post.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

This is rich:

In a crowded room in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Florida's Democratic House members met late into the evening but agreed on only two things: Any do-over election is unacceptable, and they're frustrated with Dean. Asked about his leadership before the meeting, Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa joked, "Who?"

(Emphasis supplied.) The House Dems, whose plan is NO plan and who are actively working to stymie the only viable plan on the table, are mad at Dean? Let me clue them in, Florida Dems are going to be mad at THEM when they found out the real obstacle to solving this problem, the group who is doing nothing to get Florida real representation at the Democratic Convention, and giving Florida Dems their voice back is THEM, the Florida Dem House delegation.

You know the old saying "lead, follow or get out of the way?" Someone needs to remind the Florida Dem House delegation about that one.

Mississippi lawyer Dickie Scruggs, brother-in-law of former Sen. Trent Lott, pleaded guilty today to corruption charges.

Powerful plaintiffs' attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and a co-defendant pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving legal fees from a post-Hurricane Katrina lawsuit.

....One of the best-known trial lawyers in the country, Scruggs was indicted along with his son and three associates in November. They were accused of conspiring to pay a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge $50,000 for a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina cases.

Scruggs pleaded to a five year count. There are no sentence concessions, each side can argue for the sentence they deem appropriate. The Government may ask for the 5 years. The plea agreement is here (pdf) and factual basis for the plea here (pdf).

The AP says it was a surprise plea. Trial was set at the end of the month. I don't think Scruggs had much choice. [More...]