by TChris

The Senate Judiciary Committee wants to learn about "a secret Pentagon unit that some claim identified several of the 9/11 hijackers more than a year before the attacks." (TalkLeft background here.) But Sen. Specter accuses the Pentagon of obstructing the committee's work by ordering "five key witnesses" not to testify.

Remember when the administration kept referring to Democrats as "obstructionists" for daring to oppose the president's initiatives? The true obstructionists are in the administration.

by TChris

Tony Blair's decision to use force to free two British soldiers who were arrested in Iraq hasn't endeared him to the Iraqi police.

Hundreds of Iraqi civilians and policemen, some waving pistols and AK-47s, rallied Wednesday in the southern city of Basra to denounce "British aggression" in the rescue of two British soldiers.

The Basra governor threatened to end all cooperation with British forces unless Prime Minister Tony Blair's government apologizes for the deadly clash with Iraqi police. Britain defended the raid.

by TChris

At a hearing before the presentation of evidence begins in PFC Lynndie England's trial, Judge Col. James Pohl cast doubt on the primary defense advanced by her lawyers: that England's mental incapacity made her "overly compliant toward authority figures and [that she] could not always make reasoned judgments for herself."

"You are painting a picture of a woman who cannot think for herself in almost all circumstances," Pohl told lead defense lawyer Capt. Jonathan Crisp.

The judge also reversed an earlier ruling, and will now permit prosecutors to use a statement England gave to investigators implicating herself in prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.

by Last Night in Little Rock

As TChris wrote yesterday, apparently believing that the War on Terror is sufficiently won, the FBI is now restarting an emphasis on adult porn investigations as reported in today's Washington Post.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The Wall Street Journal reports today that the GOP is using its Katrina relief efforts to support the GOP agenda.

Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy has announced he will back John Roberts for Chief Justice. Sen. Edward Kennedy said he will vote against him. John Kerry is likely to vote no as well.

Update: Excerpts from John Kerry's statement of reasons for opposing Roberts is here.

My biggest concern right now is that Justice Stevens will retire. That will mean Bush packs the court with three new conservatives.

Update (by TChris): David Corn weighs in, arguing that the Democratic leadership (such as it is) needs to stay in synch with its base rather than dividing on key issues.

by TChris

Sen. Arlen Specter today advised the president to ask Justice O'Connor to stay on the Supreme Court for the coming term. He says O'Connor is willing to do so, but the president ... not so much.

He said Bush was noncommittal on his proposal that she stay on, but that his body language was not positive.

Whether the "body language" consisted of an upraised middle finger isn't revealed in the linked story.

by TChris

An economics professor believes oil companies gouged consumers when gas prices soared in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Eight governors have asked the oil president to investigate his oily industry buddies:

"When the wholesale price of gas went up by 60 cents almost overnight, oil companies were obviously using the most devastating natural disaster in our nation's history to reap a windfall at the expense of American consumers," said the letter, which was initiated by Gov. James E. Doyle of Wisconsin and was signed by governors from Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington.

The governors would also like Congress to enact legislation requiring the oil companies to disgorge their excessive profits.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The NY Times today has an article about what the Paleo-Cons in Congress want to cut to finance Katrina relief. But, instead of eliminating current pork barrel spending, like the $250M bridge in Alaska to serve 80 people, PBS is a target:

The Bush Administration continues its policy of handing out top Administration jobs based on cronyism. Did it not learn from Michael Brown? Apparently, not.

The latest: A 36 year old Administration lawyer named Julie Myers, who has no immigration experience, has been nominated to head up ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. Let's look at Ms. Myers' credentials - the last paragraph is key:

The Buffalo Springfield:

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong

Today: Battle Lines Behind the Battle Lines

In military communities across the United States, a debate over the Iraq war is being waged by reluctant, neophyte activists. Their microphones chirp and squeak, or don't pick up their quiet voices at all. Their signs are too small. They forget the banners.

"This is my community. I don't want to offend people here. But my husband is a soldier; he can't say anything. So it's my duty as a citizen to speak up," Kara Hollingsworth, a D.C. native and Army wife at Fort Bragg whose husband served two tours in Iraq, said as she took a seat on a panel of antiwar activists last week.

1,900 dead and counting.

Arianna says PlameGate may be inching closer to John Bolton.

According to two sources, Bolton's former chief of staff, Fred Fleitz, was at least one of the sources of the classified information about Valerie Plame that flowed through the Bush administration and eventually made its way into Bob Novak's now infamous column.