Throughout his tenure as Attorney General, John Ashcroft made press conferences announcing the arrest of a major terror group connected to al Qaeda....only to have the case falter and sputter out by the time it was over. He got some pleas from some bumbling holy warriors, like those in Buffalo and Portland, in exchange for not sending them to Guantanamo or removing them from federal court and charging them as enemy combatants, but that's about it. And, he inflated the Department's statistics.

Now, on the eve of his departure, it happens once again. Step back to March, 2003.

Attorney General John Ashcroft personally announced to Congress that federal prosecutors had filed terrorism-financing charges against a Yemeni sheik and his aide. Law enforcement officials indicated that the sheik, Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, had used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to Al Qaeda and had boasted that he had personally delivered $20 million to Osama bin Laden.

With jury selection underway, there is no longer any mention of Osama bin Laden or millions to al Qaeda. There is only that the defendant, a Yemeni Sheik, sent money to Hamas.

Television is already unwatchable with wall to wall Bush inauguration coverage. So what ary your plans for tomorrow evening?

Unless I get a better idea, I think I'll watch the videotape I made of MTV's 1993 Inaugural Ball for Clinton. It opened with Don Henley singing "Dirty Laundry" and Leonard Cohen's "Democracy." ("Democracy is coming, to the U.S.A.") He also sang, if i recall correctly, Bob Dylan's "The Times, They Are a Changing."

Ok, so the last two were not great predictions. We can either say "wake me up in 2008" or "let's start working on 2006." I'll think about it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, check out some of the headlines of the foreign press. How's this for confidence in the direction our leader is taking us: World Fears New Bush Era. Here at home, Salon outlines 34 scandals of the first Bush Administration, "every one of them worse than Whitewater."

A Washington, DC judge has rejected a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by seven Guantanamo detainees. According to the New York Times, the judge ruled that while the detainees had the right to request the petition for the writ, they did not have the right to obtain one.

He also ruled that the Geneva Convention protections did not apply to the Guantanamo detainees. Another judge in D.C. has a similar case pending, and may or may not rule differently.

I was going to answer Hugh Hewitt, but August at World o'Crap does it so well, I won't bother.

The F.B.I. is searching for four Chinese nationals in Boston in connection with a possible terror threat.

State, federal and local authorities were seeking four Chinese nationals wanted for questioning in connection with a possible terrorist threat to the Boston, Massachusetts, area Wednesday, but they said the source of the information was "unknown and uncorroborated....The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office identified the subjects of the search as Zengrong Lin, Guozhi Lin, Wen Quin Zheng and Xiujin Chen. None have appeared on government "watch lists," according to a joint statement.

Shocking images as a trial of British soldiers begins on charges of abusing Iraqi prisoners. Disgusting acts. Like this:

...a grimacing Iraqi who had been strung up in a cargo net made from thick rope which had been hung from a forklift truck.

[You can view the photos here.] Here's a sample:

Just as shocking is that the allegations only became known because of a camera store that developed the photos for a solder --the prisoners never told:

The abused Iraqis pictured never came forward and the allegations only came to light when another fusilier, Gary Bartlam, 20, took his film to be processed at a shop in his home town of Tamworth. Police were called and the soldier was arrested.

And later convicted. In the trial that began this week,

The New York Times reports that military officials are becoming mroe vocal in their criticism of the war in Iraq, and telling Rumsfeld we need more troops there.

US military officials are becoming increasingly vocal in their criticism of the war in Iraq, telling Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that more troops are needed to prevail over the insurgents. Moreover, recruitment is down and more reservists and members of the National Guard are being sent to Baghdad.

The number of deserters is increasing...many are going to Canada and applying for political asylum, as we wrote about here. The Times continues:

In the truth can be stranger than fiction department:

Defense attorney Leslie Ballin called it the "jury pool from hell." The group of prospective jurors was summoned to listen to a case of Tennessee trailer park violence. Right after jury selection began last week, one man got up and left, announcing, "I'm on morphine and I'm higher than a kite."

When the prosecutor asked if anyone had been convicted of a crime, a prospective juror said that he had been arrested and taken to a mental hospital after he almost shot his nephew. He said he was provoked because his nephew just would not come out from under the bed.

Ken Mehlman assumed his position today as head of the Republican National Committee. I don't think the differences between the parties have ever been clearer.

We can deepen the GOP by identifying and turning out Americans who vote for president but who often miss off-year elections and agree with our work on behalf of a culture of life, our promoting marriage, and a belief in our Second Amendment heritage," Mehlman said, referring to the party's opposition to abortion, gay marriage and gun control.

Mehlman outlined a four-part plan.

Markos of Daily Kos:

I don't care if someone is a moderate, liberal or conservative Democrat. You could be any of those things and still be a partisan Democrat. The DNC chairmanship is a partisan position. As such, Martin Frost is grossly unqualified for the position.

...To be clear, I don't care what Democrats might have to say to get elected in deep red districts. But if you spend a year distancing yourself from the Democratic Party and sucking up to Bush, Hastert and Hutchinson, then you have no business trying to run the Democratic Party.

He's right. Martin Frost ran for re-election in his Texas District by praising Republicans, as if he were one of them, and hiding his Democratic party affiliation. You can watch this CBS newspiece , featuring one such ad, thanks to Ana at Anatopia. Note that the word "Democrat" is nowhere to be found.

Here are the ad stills, courtesy of Daily Kos.

The vote on Alberto Gonzales confirmation as Attorney General has been postponed until next week. Democrats say he hasn't finished answering their questions. In related news, the latest documents disclosed by the White House show that Gonzales signed off on memos that said:

Officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and other nonmilitary personnel fall outside the bounds of a 2002 directive issued by President Bush that pledged the humane treatment of prisoners in American custody.

and,

... a separate Congressional ban on cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment had "a limited reach" and did not apply in all cases to "aliens overseas."

Presumably, "overseas" includes Guantanamo. Here's the import of the new disclosures:

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