Congressional Democrats and Torture, Illegal Spying

Glenn Greenwald delves into Democratic lawmakers' motivations for blocking investigations into Bush administration lawbreaking:

As we witness not just Republicans, but also Democrats in Congress, acting repeatedly to immunize executive branch lawbreaking and to obstruct investigations, it's vital to keep that fact in mind. With regard to illegal Bush programs of torture and eavesdropping, key Congressional Democrats were contemporaneously briefed on what the administration was doing (albeit, in fairness, often in unspecific ways). The fact that they did nothing to stop that illegality, and often explicitly approved of it, obviously incentivizes them to block any investigations or judicial proceedings into those illegal programs.

...

So, of course key Congressional Democrats who were made aware of these illegal torture and surveillance programs are going to protect the Bush administration and other lawbreakers. If you were Jay Rockfeller or Nancy Pelosi, would you want there to be investigations and prosecutions for torture programs that, to one degree or another, you knew about? If you were Jane Harman, wouldn't you be extremely eager to put a stop to judicial proceedings that were likely to result in a finding that surveillance programs that you knew about, approved of, and helped to conceal were illegal and unconstitutional?

He also links to an excellent interview of Jane Mayer in Harper's Magazine:

In a new book, The Dark Side, Mayer puts together the major conclusions from her articles and fills in a number of important gaps. Most significantly, we learn the details on the torture techniques and the drama behind the fierce and lingering struggle within the administration over torture, and we learn that many within the administration recognized the potential criminal accountability they faced over these torture tactics and moved frantically to protect themselves from possible future prosecution.

Remember, these aren't just ideologically driven accusations. At this point it's difficult to find a serious legal scholar who hasn't worked for the Bush administration who thinks either the warrant-less wiretapping or "enhanced interrogation techniques" were legal. And paying a few lawyers to tell you something is okay isn't a legitimate defense in court.

Recommended Multimedia

These posts won't be as frequent as the recommended reading ones because most of my online activity is still text-based, but there are a few noteworthy exceptions.

If you've ever wanted to reach through your television screen and strangle the pedantic stooges who conduct poorly prepared interviews that rarely last more than five minutes, then you'll probably appreciate Bloggingheads.tv. In refreshing contrast to the horror of sound bite-based cable news journalism, this website features in-depth, hour-long conversations between smart, interesting people. Some diavlogs are more engaging than others, but they all contain fascinating information you're unlikely to come across elsewhere.

Also, if you like Dan Savage's sex advice column Savage Love, then you'll probably also get a kick out of his weekly Savage Lovecast, in which he answers questions aloud as opposed to in print.

Stuff like this is why I'm such an Internet evangelist. The perspectives one can hear expressed on Bloggingheads are just too nuanced to be able to fit into any mainstream media format. And of course the FCC would never put up with the frank language Dan Savage uses with abandon in his podcasts. So death to television and radio and long live the Internet!

Recommended Reading

Putting the nerdy technology stuff up front this time, Tesla Motors is now selling its bad-ass electric cars, the American military is deploying chemical-sniffing robots in Iraq and Afghanistan, and scientists have developed a device capable of sequencing individual DNA strands.

On a decidedly less impressive note, our government's terrorist watch list now apparently has a million names on it, many of them common enough to snag all sorts of random people and inconvenience them without accomplishing anything. And in another government-related fiasco, it turns out that most of what the Texas authorities told the press about the FLDS kids they took away from their parents is completely false.

On a more optimistic note, things seem to be going pretty well up in Iraqi Kurdistan:

Some of the wildcatters in the Kurdistan region have already struck oil and the KRG expects that it will have arrangements in place to start exporting oil by the end of next year (perhaps as much as a quarter of a million barrels a day). Blessed with natural resources, a governmental leadership structure that is evolutionary and visionary, a stable security environment, and developing rule of law, I'm confident that region's economy will become successful and diverse.

And what would we do without our daily insights from our favorite wackos over at Westboro Baptist Church?

If Tony Snow could have the one desire he holds at this moment – after getting a drop of cool water on his tongue – he would come to his own funeral and warn every disobedient dolt in attendance, or watching it all on the TV, to OBEY GOD AND NOT COME TO THAT AWFUL PLACE. Tony Snow is in exquisite torment at this hour; all his fruits indicate that this is true. And if there’s even a slight chance that he has an eternal sentence in hell – where the smoke of his torment will ascend up day and night, the worm will eat on him that never dies every day, and he will gnaw his tongue for pain every day, and he will experience destruction (the kind that doesn’t annihilate you, just torments you) every day from the very presence of the God who he ignored through his entire life – DON’T LIVE LIKE HIM!

If you like the above links, you can see more on my shared items page.

Re: Help Curb Obesity-It's the Law!

Welcome to the blog, Amanda.

Reason magazine has been covering these mandatory labeling laws for some time. Unsurprisingly, given that publication's ideological leanings, its not exactly friendly to these new regulations. But regardless of one's general political disposition, Reason's writers make some excellent points.

Steve Chapman wrote:

The belief that more facts will generate wiser decisions is appealing but, at least in the realm of food, yet to be proved. No one seems to have noticed that as nutritional labeling has expanded, so have American waistlines. The federal government first required packaged foods to carry such information in the mid-1970s, and today, we are collectively fatter than we were then.

What does that suggest? Either people don't notice what's in the food they buy, or they don't let the knowledge affect what goes in their mouths.

Jacob Sullum added:

Notably, "there was no significant difference in mean calories purchased by patrons reporting seeing but not using calorie information and patrons who reported not seeing calorie information." In other words, simply making people aware of calorie content is not enough to affect their food choices. It may be that the information's influence is limited to people who are predisposed to count calories, in which case the impact of regulations like New York's will depend on the extent to which those people are not already taking advantage of nutritional information available on fast food chains' websites and on posters, counter mats, tray liners, and brochures in restaurants.

And Radley Balko piled on, too:

Menu labeling laws mean every restaurant in a given chain needs to make every dish exactly the same way, every time. Most menu labeling laws allow for a 20 percent margin of error. This is the same variance allowed for the nutritional information on manufactured food products, where assembly-line machines cut exact portions and abide by standardized recipes using the same ingredients, every time. That's quite a bit different than having real live people making dishes from what's available in the kitchen. Yet both are held to the same standard.

Of course, the labeling of manufactured foods is another argument in favor of the futility of these menu labeling laws. We've been labeling packaged foods for decades now—the foods that make up the vast majority of our meals and snacks and where we get most of our energy. And we're still getting fatter.

Anyone advocating labeling laws needs to come up with some good responses to the above arguments. Simply asserting that maybe, possibly, hopefully such policies will help make Americans healthier isn't good enough.

Ultimately, we must keep in mind that most people's obesity is a choice. People choose to take in more calories than they expend, which inevitably leads them to get fat. And no one needs calorie counts on their menus to know if he's eating too much. If a person is getting fat, he should eat less. It's just common sense.

Lest I be accused of being ignorant of the issues involved or unable to identify with those who struggle with their weight, I'll let everyone in on something I'm not particularly proud of: I used to weigh about 75 more pounds than I do now. However, I recognized that I was living an unhealthy lifestyle, cut back on my calories, and started exercising on a regular basis.

I'm highly skeptical that mandatory menu labels will influence too many people to follow in my footsteps. Only a personal desire to live a better life can do that.

The New Yorker and Fox News

I don't have much to say about The New Yorker's controversial cover art. Sure it's kind of funny; sure it's kind of stupid. Whatever.

What I find most interesting is that Fox News is now republishing such a liberal magazine's cover art on its website. On the one hand, I think it's hilarious that Fox is happily providing free advertising to a publication that is its antithesis in almost every conceivable way. On the other hand, I wonder if The New Yorker's editors put much thought into the excuse they'd be giving organizations like Fox to print a cartoon they'd love to popularize but couldn't otherwise get away with showing.

I suppose it's really a win-win situation for Fox and The New Yorker given all the publicity the whole episode has generated. And I can't imagine this will have any significant impact on Obama's chances of winning. Therefore, the only losers here are those of us who waste so much of our time lapping up whatever vapid and venial tripe our excessively self-indulgent media spews out on any given day of the week.

Seriously, people, read more blogs--especially those written by experts in important fields such as constitutional law, global security, and climate change. Many of these sources are doing a lot of excellent original reporting these days. And they talk about themselves far less than has become standard in much of the mainstream media.

Help Curb Obesity-It's the Law!

Perhaps, it’s that time- time to put down our grease-soaked Big Macs and Big Gulp “supersize” soft drinks and really listen to what the CDC has been saying all along, which is that all across the country, both children and adults are becoming dangerously overweight. In Iowa alone, obesity rates have risen and nearly doubled. Obesity trend data compiled by the CDC reflects that while anywhere from 10-14% of the population was considered to be obese in the early 1990’s, as of 2006, 25-29% of the population was obese. Now two years later, those numbers have undoubtedly risen again.

And obesity itself is not even necessarily the issue at hand (is it even possible to imagine Santa Claus without his “bowl of jelly” belly or a skinny Homer Simpson?) The issue at hand is diabetes, high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, and a long list of other serious health complications. As a country and even as a state, obesity is killing us slowly. Yet, no cure-all, save-all solution exists. There is, however, a law that could possibly serve as the light at the end of the tunnel. New York has already taken the lead in making this proposed law a reality.

Imagine stepping into a fast food restaurant, say McDonald’s. McDonald’s-goers in New York will notice a major change on their menu board. The mouthwatering Big Mac still smiles back from the board, but what also haunts the image of the precious Big Mac and all other menu items at McDonald’s restaurants and other food establishments across New York is the cold, hard truth: a calorie count-540 to be exact-for McDonald’s trademark treat. By law, New York restaurants must now surrender calorie counts next to menu items displayed on price boards or pay a hefty fine of up to $2,000 for noncompliance.

With this law comes the question, is it really the government’s job to control obesity? After all, what right does the government have to interfere with the right to “eat great, even late” and to live guilt-free while doing so? Though there seems to be no definite answer to either of these questions, we say that a more informed public is a healthier public. In this case, it seems safe to say that a little truth and a dose of reality couldn’t hurt.

So what if John Doe ditches his seemingly healthy Taco Bell Border Grande beef salad (1,450 calories) for a healthier alternative like Subway’s 6 inch turkey breast sandwich (only 280 calories without condiments)? Still healthy and mobile as a senior citizen, John Doe may end up thanking the government for making this information readily available. Sure, it may be emotionally crippling to surrender the most grease-filled, deep-fried fast food concoctions after learning the truth, but when the health benefits outweigh the power of the “happy” chemicals released in the brain after biting into a Big Mac, a little information might not be so bad.

As customers, we should not have to scavenge for nutritional information. When inquiring about the number of calories in a Wendy’s bacon and cheese potato, John Doe shouldn’t have to be passed from employee to employee then finally to a manager, only to discover that nutritional information can only be found online. To assist customers in making healthier choices and with respect to a customer’s decision to lead a healthy lifestyle, restaurants everywhere, not just in New York, should make an effort to give customers the information they deserve. After this information is available, it’s up to the person consuming the food what he or she will choose to do with this information. The truth may not completely solve the obesity epidemic, but it may be the first step toward a solution.

Myanmar

I have no idea if I am doing this right. I hope so.

Anyway. I just wanted to say that I am really upset with the Myanmar government for not allowing the aid to be distributed evenly after the cyclone that killed so many people. Today on CNN, they had a reporter who had to be smuggled into the zone that got hit the worst and there are still corpses just laying around on the ground and in the rice patties. The people are so poor there they have no more places to put the bodies and are unable to afford the manpower to take care of the bodies. They are trying to get on with their lives, but how can you with no help? Speaking from the point of view of a person who has been displaced due to a disaster, I feel for these people who don't even have a place to live. I at least have somewhere to stay, but they are trying so hard to get food and shelter and I feel like the government there needs some serious overworking and to get this taken care of. If they can't do it or won't do it, someone needs to get in there and do it for them by force. You can't just let your own people starve and die and just not care.

Hope that was a good start.
M

The Red Cross on American Interrogation Techniques

(Via Common Iowan.)

Recommended Reading

In international news, global development and security expert Thomas P.M. Barnett discusses his concern that Israel may bomb Iran before the American presidential election later this year:

Looming behind the most crucial dynamics is the possible presidency of Barack Obama, suggesting that war may become inevitable due to the fear of peace. After eight years of Bush-Cheney, such is the state of our world.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency has been a disaster for the Iranian people. Despite all the oil wealth, inflation is raging, and the economy goes nowhere. Add in a stunning birth dearth, the world's worst brain drain, plus Iranian prostitutes headlining European brothels, and this is clearly a society in a death spiral.

With restless students chanting in public for Ahmadinejad's death, little wonder the man pines for a splendid little war.

The Sunday Times also reports on the looming possibility of Israeli air strikes against Iran. (Via Sullivan.)

On the domestic front, electronic rights activist Cory Doctorow expresses enthusiasm over efforts to fight against the new FISA bill in court:

Yee-HAW! EFF, the ACLU and others are suing the government -- in multiple suits! -- over the new spy bill that "legalizes" warrantless bulk surveillance and immunizes the telcos from civil prosecution for their past bad deeds in cooperating with the President in wiretapping the whole nation.

Zooming in yet further to Iowa, Bleeding Heartland updates us on Rob Hubler's uphill battle against incumbent Representative Steve King.

On the Christopher-thinks-technology-can-solve-all-our-problems front, it looks like Internet-ready electronic parking meters may soon allow us to pay with our smart phones instead of digging around in our pockets for change. (Via Slashdot.)

However, not everyone might be quite ready to adopt such new-fangled techmology.

More opportunities for reading over my shoulder abound on my shared items page.

Headline of the Day

From CNN.com:

100 snakes seized; pastor arrested

More than 100 snakes, many of them deadly, were confiscated in the undercover sting after Thursday's arrests, said Col. Bob Milligan, director of law enforcement for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife.

Handling snakes is practiced in a handful of fundamentalist churches across Appalachia, based on the interpretation of Bible verses saying true believers can take up serpents without being harmed.

As this post's title suggests, I was drawn to this story by the sheer hilarity of the headline. The rest of the article is pretty interesting, too. However, it leaves us hanging as to what sort of odd interpretation of Bible verses could possibly lead good religious folk to play with poisonous reptiles.

Due to my fundamentalist Baptist upbringing, I know exactly what verses are at issue. Although the church I grew up in doesn't do anything as facially crazy as handling snakes, I did learn the Bible well enough to know the basis of most Christian doctrine. And the truth is that there's a lot of trippy shit in the Bible.

In fact, the New Testament actually quotes Jesus as saying that his followers will be immune from all sorts of harmful things, including those sinister snakes Biblical authors love to slander.

Mark 16:14-20 reads as follows:

Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.

Later on in the New Testament, there's even an example of this happening.

Acts 28:3-6 reads as follows:

Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live." But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Thus, the fundamentalist contention that true believers should be able to safely handle snakes is quite well-supported by the text. Frankly, I don't see any reason to try to stop these people from putting their beliefs into practice. Someone has to provide material for the Darwin Awards.

Iowa GOP Convention Coverage

If you want a short and uninteresting summary of what happened at Iowa's state-level GOP convention today, read about it in a mainstream media, dead-tree publication.

However, if you prefer more detailed analysis, check out Jason Hancock's coverage of the event for Iowa Independent.

And, if you're a real political junkie, you'll love John Deeth's extensive liveblog of the entire day's proceedings.

The Death of Tony Snow

Fox News has of course already created a tribute page.

Hopefully, we won't now be subject to the same self-indulgent barrage of news about those who deliver the news that we got after Tim Russert died. But we probably will. And people wonder why I don't watch television.

It's not that I'm criticizing journalists for becoming part of the story. My real complaint is that most of them are just too boring to pull it off. Hunter S. Thompson was famously self-indulgent, but at least he was also entertaining--and an excellent writer.

Of course it's sad when anyone dies, but I just don't think Russert and Snow are as newsworthy of people as their colleagues think they are. Let's be honest: neither of them was all that great of a journalist.

In any case, out of sheer irreverence, I'm posting some of what Westboro Baptist Church had to say about Snow on their always entertaining blog:

Tony Snow was a rebel against God and he had NO cause. He could read and he could have used all the positions that he was put into by the Lord his God (he and YOU had/have NOTHING except what you all receive from the hand of the Lord your God!) to speak truth about the standards of God and HIS righteousness, and encourage his fellow countrymen to put away their idols, their false gods and their FILTHY, disobedient and rebellious manner of life. Tony Snow was an unfaithful steward!

1Co 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

God killed Tony Snow - first he smote him with cancer, and yet Tony Snow would NOT repent and serve his God in truth! That God that held the very breath of his life in HIS hands gave Tony Snow space to repent, and he would not!

Now that's a perspective you won't find represented in the mainstream media. God bless the Internet and all of the weirdos it gives voice to.

Recommended Reading

This is the first in what I plan to make a daily series of posts where I link to some of the most interesting things I find online. Enjoy!

Glenn Greenwald, a fierce advocate of civil liberties and Salon.com writer, argues the United States is abandoning the rule of law at a frightening rate, through both torture and illegal wiretapping.

However, Orin Kerr argues on The Volokh Conspiracy, a prominent law blog, that the FISA bill Congress just passed isn't as bad as many are making it out to be.

And the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan also sees a major distinction between wiretapping and torture.

To end on a lighter (higher?) note, I'll bring your attention to Reason's coverage of a marijuana decriminalization initiative in Massachusetts.

If you'd like to read more interesting things I find online, go here. I update that page almost constantly.

Information Revolutions

My column this week attempts to put newspapers' current problems into a broader historical context.

Those working in the newspaper business are well aware that major changes are afoot. Advertising revenue is collapsing, newsrooms are hemorrhaging staff members, and the quality of the journalism being done at most publications is sinking to a depressingly low common denominator. These developments are causing many reporters to despair and resign themselves to slowly sinking into the sea as the battered and broken organizations they work for take on water like the Titanic.

Not me. I see plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

The seismic shifts going on in today's media industry are not unprecedented. They're just bigger and coming faster than the changes most people are accustomed to. The media isn't the only aspect of society being affected by the increasing pace of change in today's world, but it does happen to be an area that is undergoing a fundamental reorganization.

Check out the rest of my column on the DI's main site.

Jon deals with not being able to moderate comments

Noooo...it takes the precious away! Nasty mean Nate Whitney steals it from us!

We misses the precious. Make commentses appear and disappear, we could! If they was wise and laughsie, we puts them through so everyone could see. If they tries to sells us viagra, we smashes them to pieces. How we laughs!

Now cruel Nate takes it! We hates it; nasty, cruel opinions editor, *gollum*, *gollum*...