Karl Rove has an op-ed in the Wall St. Journal taking issue with President Obama's view that one of the reasons Guantanamo should be closed is that it serves as a training ground for terrorists. Rove argues that al Qaeda doesn't view Guantanamo as a significant issue, and that trying detainees in federal court will play into al Qaeda's hands by making them martyrs.

It's the second point, the "martyr" issue, where Rove's argument falls far short of the mark and also weakens his first point.

New York juries in the past have beaten al Qaeda at the martyr game, by rejecting the death penalty and returning verdicts of life in prison. Once the terror defendants are whisked away to Supermax for life, we rarely hear from them again. No martyrdom, just decades of isolation. What have you heard from Zacarias Moussaoui or Richard Reid since they began serving their life sentences? Zip. They have been silenced, except for their occasional pro se court pleadings, which get little if any coverage. Any chance for martyrdom has been effectively eliminated. [More...]

Discussing E.J. Dionne's column today, Booman makes some good points:

Considering that [the column] is supposed to be about [Dems] regaining the initiative, it's pretty weak to lecture the White House about its tendency to defend itself and "the left" about never being satisfied. Those things aren't going to change. We can be critical of that reality, but we ought not offer it up as something to fix so that we can get our mojo back.

In fact it is not something to fix. The White House should tout its accomplishments. They are in the politics business after all. And people dissatisfied with what the White House is doing should say so and work to make them do what they want. That's how it works. But both Booman and Dionne miss the connection between the political problems Dems have and the economic policies of the Obama Administration. More . . .

President Obama named six recess appointments yesterday, including James Cole as Deputy Attorney General.

A few windbag Republicans like Peter King of NY are outraged...."shocked" they say. Why? Cole had the common sense (audacity in their view) to suggest terrorism is a crime that should be tried in our federal courts.

I'm outraged and shocked that someone like Peter King is an elected representative in our government. And good on Obama for giving King and his ilk a little pin prick. One of Cole's duties will be to sign off on the secret FISA wiretaps.

Via Twitter, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is seeking input for the first sentence of his book.

Here's what I came up with.

As the cell door closed behind me and I faced the cold, dank space, I began to contemplate the brunt of the awesome power of government, once it has descended to unleash its wrath.

Guess I better not give up my day job. What are your ideas?

Glenn Greenwald:

Over the years, Wired has repeatedly -- and always approvingly -- cited to, quoted from, and otherwise used my work. [. . .] But now that I've written critically about Wired, I'm suddenly converted into a dishonest, ethics-free, unreliable hack. That's par for the course. That's why so few people in this profession are willing to criticize other media outlets. Journalists react as poorly as anyone to public criticism; it doesn't make you popular to do it; it can terminate career opportunities and relationships; it's certain your credibility will be publicly impugned. But journalists need scrutiny and accountability as much as anyone -- especially when, as here, they are shaping public perceptions about a vital story while withholding important information -- and I'd vastly prefer to be the one to provide it even if it means that the targets of the criticism don't like it and lash out.

Via Atrios, HAMP'd:

U.S. home foreclosures jumped in the third quarter and banks' efforts to keep borrowers in their homes dropped as the housing market continues to struggle, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday. [. . .] HAMP loan modifications fell by almost 46 percent in the third quarter, according to the report.

There is an untold story in this - homeowners have come to realize that HAMP modifications are a scam that only work for the banks. You will see uncontested foreclosures increase as a result, as homeowners realize that walking away is the better deal.

Heck of a job, Timmie!

Speaking for me only

Joan McCarter and David Dayen both highlight this Elizabeth Warren Op-ed on foreclosure fraud and her notion that the new Consumer Financial Protection Board. Warren writes:

[T]his mess might well have been avoided if the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau had been in place just a few years ago.

Excuse me, but this is simply not true. The main reason why this is not true is because Tim Geithner is the Treasury Secretary. To this day, Geithner has been against any and every measure that would assist homeowners and trouble banks in any way. It is hopelessly naive to believe that this Administration will do anything to help homeowners that would involve any pain for the banks so long as Tim Geithner has anything to sday about it..

Geithner is a corrupt incompetent who should be immediately fired.

Speaking for me only

Denver is finally about to get snow and a blast of arctic weather:

Snow is expected to fall in Denver by mid-morning Thursday, and temperatures will plunge to levels not seen so far this winter.

Temperatures will drop from the 50's to zero. Which means I have to get to a lot of places today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Danish police have arrested five men with alleged Islamic terrorist ties they say were planning an imminent shooting spree inside the newspaper offices of Jyllands Posten, the paper that published the 2005 cartoons that derided Muhammad.

Four of the five men reside in Sweden.

Danish media described the suspects arrested in Denmark as: a 44-year-old Tunisian national; a 29-year-old Lebanese-born Swedish national; a 30-year-old Swedish citizen of unknown ancestry; and a 26-year-old Iraqi seeking asylum in Denmark. A 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin was also arrested in Stockholm.

[More...]

Top ten lists for 2010 are beginning to appear. I'm doing a list of the top ten most annoying things on the internet -- things that are so annoying they are worthy of boycotting the offending sites.

1. News sites that automatically play videos with sound when you click on them. ABC News, are you listening? I won't even click on your news articles anymore. Sound should be an option you click on, it should not play automatically.In addition to people like me who find it an offensive intrusion into my consciousness, there are millions of people who read at work and don't want other people knowing. Sound prevents that by alerting any nearby co-workers and bosses that they're not working.

2. Videos from media sites and even You Tube that make you watch an ad before you get to the video clip. Put the ad on the side, or underneath, but don't force us to watch commercials. Vevo, are you listening? Not only won't I watch, I won't link to you or embed your videos. Five second ads are bad enough, but some sites now make you watch 30 second ads. I click off as soon as I see how long the ad is, and I don't return to the site. [More...]

The U.S. Attorney's office in Michigan is asking a federal judge to force the state's Department of Community Health to comply with a subpoena and turn over the medical marijuana records of 7 people under investigation by the DEA. Michigan law protects the confidentiality of those granted medical marijuana cards and makes disclosure a misdemeanor. The DEA subpoena seeks:

“copies of any and all documents, records, applications, payment method of any application for Medical Marijuana Patient Cards and Medical Marijuana Caregiver cards and copies of front and back of any cards located for the seven named individuals.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bruha says:

a “state-created confidentiality provision … must yield to the enforcement power of the federal agency.”

[More...]

A judge in Delaware has ruled police may not use GPS devices to track a suspect 24/7 without a warrant. The ruling is based on Delaware's state constitution, which like those in many states, provides greater protection than the federal counterpart. In suppressing the evidence obtained from the surveillance, the Judge wrote:

"The advance of technology will continue ad infinitum....An Orwellian state is now technologically feasible. Without adequate judicial preservation of privacy, there is nothing to protect our citizens from being tracked 24/7."

Though police can follow a suspect in public, there are limits to how long officers can keep up the tail, whereas a GPS device never sleeps and "provides more information than one reasonably expects to be 'exposed to the public,' " the judge wrote....

....if no warrant is required for such surveillance, "any individual could be tracked indefinitely without suspicion of any crime. ... No one should be subject to such scrutiny by police without probable cause,"

There is a split among courts on the issue. While the decision may be appealed, for now Delaware joins New York, Oregon and Massachusetts which say a warrant is required.