This could be excellent news:

After a tense internal debate, the Obama administration this afternoon will make public a number of detailed memos describing the harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency against al Qaeda suspects in secret overseas prisons. The interrogation methods were among the Bush administration’s most closely guarded secrets, and today’s release will be the most comprehensive public accounting to date of the interrogation program that some senior Obama administration officials have said used illegal torture.

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It seems to me that the Media should start asking that question. Via Atrios, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon says they are:

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon . . . said his firm could repay U.S. government rescue funds “tomorrow.” Dimon, calling money received through the Troubled Asset Relief Program “a scarlet letter,” and “the TARP baby,” said on a conference call today that the New York-based bank is awaiting guidance from the U.S. Treasury Department. “We could pay it back tomorrow,” he said.

So pay it. Don't wait for guidance, unless the Obama Administration is prohibiting repayment. The question needs to be asked by the Media.

Speaking for me only

The New York Times has a big scoop on the warrantless NSA wiretapping program: The NSA admits it was out of control for a while and numerous Americans were tapped and had their records seized.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Diane Feinstein says the Committee will investigate.

I'm more concerned that Attorney General Eric Holder has reapproved and sought renewal of the program, saying the problems have been fixed.

As part of a periodic review of the agency’s activities, the department “detected issues that raised concerns,” it said. Justice Department officials then “took comprehensive steps to correct the situation and bring the program into compliance” with the law and court orders, the statement said. It added that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. went to the national security court to seek a renewal of the surveillance program only after new safeguards were put in place.

A bill that would overhaul Colorado's sentencing laws to reduce or eliminate prison terms for non-violent offenders was introduced yesterday by State Senators Morgan Carroll and John Morse. The full text of the bill is here (pdf.)

A bill introduced yesterday by Sens. John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, takes a sweeping approach to sentencing reform by aiming to lower the degree and penalty of most non-violent crimes.

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I consciously avoided denigrating the Tea Parties before because I thought the message, muddled as it was, as wrong as it was and as hypocritical as it was coming from Bush deadenders, it was a legitimate expression of a point of view. Texas Governor Rick Perry's secession threat changes that. Consider the comments thread of this eminently sensible post from Allah Pundit:

Howard Kieffer, the post-conviction consultant who misrepresented himself as an attorney and defended clients in numerous federal courts was convicted at his first trial yesterday in North Dakota. He faces up to 25 years in jail. The Indictment is here (pdf).

It's hard to find a balanced article on Howard, whom many of us around the country have encountered at legal seminars or through his Bureau of Prisons Listserv, but this recent article in the ABA Journal, Catch Me If You Can is one.

I don't recall ever meeting Howard in person, but he's commented on TalkLeft, sent some e-mails over the years and I thought his BOP List-Serv was helpful.

The Judge has continued Howard's bond pending sentencing with a requirement of home detention. He still has criminal charges pending in other jurisdictions.

Via DougJ, the return of Bell Curve Sully:

Charles Murray was onto something, wasn’t he?

Speaking for me only

Let's make this an Open Thread.

Glenn Greenwald gets to the heart of today's big issue - whether President Obama will release the Bush torture memos:

I want to underscore one vital point about this controversy that is continuously overlooked and will be undoubtedly distorted today in the event of non-disclosure: these documents are not intelligence documents. They are legal documents and, more specifically, they constitute what can only be described as secret law under which the U.S. has been governed during the Bush era. Thus, the question posed by the release of these OLC memos is not whether Obama will release to the public classified intelligence programs. The question is whether he will release to the public the legal doctrines under which the U.S. Government conducted itself regarding interrogation techniques he claims are no longer used.

Will President Obama have secret laws on torture? That's the issue today.

Speaking for me only

The Family Guy rules our world. Inspired by Petoria, Texas Governor Rick Perry threatens secession:

[A]nswering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that. "There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot." He said when Texas entered the union in 1845 it was with the understanding it could pull out. . . .

What an embarrassment.

Speaking for me only

this:

The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews. . . . The intelligence officials said the problems had grown out of changes enacted by Congress last July in the law that regulates the government’s wiretapping powers, and the challenges posed by enacting a new framework for collecting intelligence on terrorism and spying suspects.

(Emphasis supplied.) Well nobody could have predicted it except everyone who predicted it (See Glenn Greenwald and Digby.) But let's face it, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and all the the triangulators of your civil liberties knew exactly what they were doing. Of course, the stupidity of it all is even taking the crass and cynical view - just looking at the politics - they were wrong:

Low wattage tv tonight -- only American Idol for me. Who's going home?

Update: Matt and Lil Rounds in bottom two. I think Matt should go home. Update: Matt's at the bottom, and the Judges save him -- Simon very reluctantly. The other six cheer. Why? Now two will get sent home next week. This new "save" business is silly.

I see the Obamas filed their tax return. The White House has released it here (pdf). Aside from his high income, I find it interesting that Malia's and Sasha's tuition for the year cost $47,000. President Obama also announced plans to simply the tax code to remove the dread from April 15.

Update: We're getting 12-18 inches of snow beginning tomorrow. No spring for us.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

That's what Martin Wolf asks in a strong column over at the Financial Times.

I'd made the US/Russia comparison here recently, prompted by the Paulson/Geithner approach to the financial crisis which I believe is hobbled by a total lack of transparency and a fundamental misunderstanding of the crisis itself (Geithner and co. don't seem to believe that the banks are insolvent). Put simply, the bailout is worthy a banana republic or perhaps Russia but not a supposedly first world democracy like the U.S. [More...]