Just two days ago, Yves Smith wrote of the "move to clip the wings of TARP overseer Elizabeth Warren."

Smith linked to a Politico piece piece about Warren which had some absurd anti-Warren quotes like "a number of people wonder if this is the new Warren commission or the congressional oversight panel."

Predictably, Joe Weisenthal at Clusterstock joins the anti-Warren chorus with a post titled "TARP Watchdog Elizabeth Warren Blowing Her Credibility, Overstepping Her Bounds." [More...]

I watched some of Secretary of State Clinton's testimony before a House committee today. She was good. TPM has her exchange with Mike Pence (R-IN):

WSJ:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressed the case for creation of a special “truth commission” to investigate the interrogation of terror suspects during the Bush administration. The California Democrat said several House committees already are examining the issue amid concerns that brutal tactics were used. But in a roundtable meeting Wednesday with reporters, she suggested “it might be further useful to have such a commission so that it removes all doubt that how we protect the American people is in a values-based way.”

Good on speaker Pelosi. Speaking for me only

The other day I wrote about President Obama's exhortation to Cuba to move towards democratic reforms. My conclusion was "[w]ill it happen? No. Will the embargo be lifted? No. I could be wrong of course." the first evidence is that, via Dylan Matthews, I am not wrong:

. . . Obama called on Cuba to release political prisoners and reduce taxes on remittances from the U.S. That appeared to enrage Fidel Castro, 82, who wrote in an essay published Wednesday that Obama "without a doubt misinterpreted Raul's declarations." The former president appeared to be throwing a dose of cold water on growing expectations for improved bilateral relations — suggesting Obama had no right to dare suggest that Cuba make even small concessions. He also seemed to suggest too much was being made of Raul's comments about discussing "everything" with U.S. authorities.

Speaking for me only

ABC:

Sen. Patrick Leahy pledged today that if he cannot get the votes to create a bipartisan commission to investigate U.S. torture policy under former President George W. Bush -- and regardless of calls by President Obama that any inquiry be bipartisan -- he'll conduct his own partisan inquiry in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Good on Leahy.

speaking for me only

From my perspective, this is good news:

The Obama administration and trade advocates in Congress are trying to put a series of long-delayed trade pacts back on the front burner, despite widespread skepticism on Capitol Hill about the benefits of expanded international commerce. On the heels of the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Monday that a delegation from Panama will visit Washington this week to try to resolve disputes over the U.S.-Panama trade deal. Kirk added that President Obama hopes to clear remaining obstacles to a separate pact with Colombia.

[MORE . . .]

Your turn.

This is an Open Thread.

You know it is bizarre to see Dan Burton, the Republican representative from Indiana, who devoted agreat deal of time in the 90s accusing Hillary Clinton of being behind the "murder" of Vince Foster, questioning Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. You can watch the proceedings on C-Span 3 or at C-span.com. Here is Hillary zinging Cheney on torture.

Greg Sargent and Steve Benen do some incredible contortions to try and spin Obama Administration Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair's inaccurate and inexcusable rationalization for torture. Blair wrote a memo that states:

“High value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qa’ida organization that was attacking this country,” Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the intelligence director, wrote in a memo to his staff last Thursday.

. . . “I like to think I would not have approved those methods in the past,” he wrote, “but I do not fault those who made the decisions at that time, and I will absolutely defend those who carried out the interrogations within the orders they were given.”

(Emphasis supplied.) Blair becomes the first witness for the defense of those who enacted the torture policies, and Sargent and Benen can not wish that away. For Blair, the use of torture is just a "policy difference," proving John Hinderaker of Powerline right. The fact is Blair is unfit to serve. He should resign. More . . .

The CIA wasn't the only agency involved in torture of detainees. A newly declassified report by the Senate Armed Services Committee shows that high level Bush officials approved the brutal interrogation techniques used by the military at overseas prisons. So now there's confirmation that the military, not just the CIA CIA were involved, and that Rumsfeld's denials were full of it.

The Senate report documented how some of the techniques used by the military at prisons in Afghanistan and at the naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, as well as in Iraq — stripping detainees, placing them in “stress positions” or depriving them of sleep — originated in a military program known as Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape, or SERE, intended to train American troops to resist abusive enemy interrogations. [More...]

Here is the complaint (pdf) filed against Abduwali Abukhadir Muse, the accused teen-aged Somali pirate. The primary charge is Piracy Under the Law of Nations which carries mandatory life...no parole.

The Government now says he was the ringleader of the pirate attack. Did Captain Phillips tell them that? How else would they prove that when the others are dead? [Added: Answer is it came from interviews with the Captain and other crew members.]

He cried in court today. He is being represented by the Federal Defenders office in New York. The Court ruled him to be an adult today even though his father says he's 15 years old. [More...]

Who gets kicked off American Idol and Dancing With Stars tonight?

Biggest Loser is narrowing down to the final few. Who should win?

I'll be watching TV tonight. If you are, let us know what you're watching.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome, whether you are watching tv or not.

The Supreme Court today decided Arizona v. Gant, the case many defense lawyers have anxiously been awaiting. And, it's good news.

The Supreme Court today sharply limited the power of police to search a suspect's car after making an arrest, acknowledging that the decision changes a rule that law enforcement has relied on for nearly 30 years.

In a decision written by Justice John Paul Stevens, an unusual five-member majority said police may search a vehicle without a warrant only when the suspect could reach for a weapon or try to destroy evidence or when it is "reasonable to believe" there is evidence in the car supporting the crime at hand.

The Court didn't completely overrule Belton v. New York, but said it has been misapplied by courts. [More...]