Guest blogged by David Edwards

We aren't suggesting that this is a sign from God {note from Brad: I am!} but there may be, at the very least, some irony involved.

A part of the Supreme Court's marble facade located underneath the words "equal justice" have broken off and fallen to the steps below. We are pleased to report that no one was hurt by the falling debris. {another note from Brad: no one was hurt literally, but thousands have been hurt, maimed and killed by the metaphorical collapse of "equal justice" from the Supreme Court. But most of you all knew that.}

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UPDATE: Chunk that collapsed was just above a statue representing "Order". Photo here...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

by Steve Bell
The Guardian

Guest blogged by David Edwards

On Wednesday, Downing Street threatened The Daily Mirror with prosecution under the Britain's Official Secrets act for the disclosing a memo that indicated Blair had convinced Bush not to bomb the Arab language news network al-Jazeera.

News organizations in the U.K. can no longer report the contents of the memo but a report from London's Channel 4 News questions this first and historic use of the Official Secrets Act against the press. Their reporting concludes that White House pressure led to the threat of legal action against The Daily Mirror.

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Higher quality video available for download from Channel 4.

In related column printed in Daily Telegraph , MP Boris Johnson proclaims "I'll go to jail to print the truth about Bush and al-Jazeera"

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Approval statistics by Survey USA
(thanks to kpete for the graphic)

UPDATE FROM BRAD:
Or...if we were less generous, and as cynical as Republicans, perhaps we would best put it this way:

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Democrats are further honing their message on the misuse of intelligence by the White House during its' attempts to sell the Iraq invasion to the American people. Accusations of war critics with the phrases "lied us into war", "twisted the intelligence" and "manipulated the intelligence" are being slowly replaced with more moderate arguments.

Ray McGovern uses the term "corrupted intelligence" in this recent article. Former Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) chooses an even milder criticism by saying that the administration engaged in a "selective use of intelligence" to garner support from Congress and the American people.

Regardless of the PC-ness of the allegations used, the truth remains... The Bush Administration engaged in immoral, unethical and most probably illegal tactics to achieve the unnecessary goal of a pre-emptive war on an invented enemy. Let's hope that future intelligence can be "selected" (misused or twisted) to help us invent a victory.

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Guest blogged by David Edwards
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Guest blogged by David Edwards

Representative John Murtha (D-PA), a Vietnam veteran, is known for support of the Pentagon and the Iraq war. Today, he called for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Murtha is the top Democrat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He explained that the American people are ahead of congress on this issue. Murtha choked back tears as he explained the failures of the Iraq war that lead him to call for the immediate withdrawal of troops.

AP reports on Murtha's speech:

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UPDATE: Stakeholder has the full text transcript of Murtha's speech, along with the text of his resolution. Right here...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

The Daily Show's Rob Corddry reports on the President's Veterans Day speech. Bush attacked Democrats for "re-writing" history and sending "mixed messages" to the troops. The Democrats and others have been critical of the Administration for misusing intelligence and misleading the country into the Iraq war.

Corddry reports that "getting us out of Iraq is going to require tremendous misleadership..." He continues by saying:

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Guest blogged by David Edwards

On Friday, George W. Bush departed from traditional Veteran's Day Presidential speeches by using his speech as a platform to attack Democrats and others who have criticized the misuse of intelligence to justify the Iraq war.

Today, the White House continues its efforts to rewrite history and deny charges that intelligence was cherry-picked to sell an unpopular war to the American public.

Senator Levin was interviewed on CNN this morning where he attempted to correct the record and counter the White House spin.

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Guest blogged by David Edwards

From today's edition of NBC's Meet the Press: Video in Windows Media format... Video in QuickTime format...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

From today's edition of Fox News Sunday: Video in Windows Media format... Video in QuickTime format...

Guest blogged by David Edwards

While we are not certain of Representative Weldon's motives, he does manage to keep the "Able Danger" story in the news. In this interview with CNN's Lou Dobbs, Weldon asserts that intelligence from the "Able Danger" group could have prevented the bombing of the USS Cole and the attacks that took place on September 11, 2001.

Weldon was also quoted in an article published earlier today by Eric Rosenberg of Hearst Newspapers:

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Guest blogged by David Edwards

As we reported on Monday, President Bush categorically denied that the United States uses torture while implying that interrogators would use any means necessary in the name of protecting Americans. Meanwhile, John McCain has been advocating a bill, recently passed 90 to 9 in the Senate, outlawing torture in all cases.

Already, President Bush has threatened to veto the bill but that may not be possible given Bush's waning popularity. Vice President Cheney is now arguing to exempt the CIA from the torture legislation. So, how does the GOP explain this position to the American people... "We're against torture and we're against outlawing it (wink, wink, nod, nod)."

John Gibson hosts Fox News' Big Story. In this video clip Gibson interviews Reagan's National Security Advisor, Robert McFarland, who seems to agree with the new torture law. Of course, Gibson offers his own contrary yet confusing opinion about the torture bill. He starts by saying "I'm with John McCain on this..." and then goes on to confound his audience by saying: It has been revealed that the U.S. maintains a string of secret prisons (well, they're not secret now) in Eastern Europe where we have stashed captured Al Qaeda guys and I'm not in favor of telling these guys what we won't do to them. ... In my way of thinking, the benefit gained from telling the world that we have a law that forbids torture is outweighed by the bad guys knowing that we have a law that forbids torture. ... For the record, I'm against torture. I'm also against outlawing it. These are not mutually exclusive concepts. It may take a nimble mind to manage both ideas but I assure you, it's worth the effort. A nimble mind, indeed. Video in Windows Media format... Video in QuickTime format...

The White House press corps seemed to also pick up on the discrepancy between President Bush's torture denial and Vice President Cheney's desire for an exemption allowing torture by the CIA. MSNBC's Countdown put together this clip of reporters trying to get an explanation from White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. Howard Fineman of Newsweek calls McClellan's attack on reporters "Nixonian". Video in Windows Media format... Video in QuickTime format...

Jon Stewart acknowledges the torture confusion. He asks Ed Helms about the "ticking time bomb" scenario. TV Shows like the Fox series 24 depict torture as the the dramatic solution while most experts believe that torture provides dubious intelligence under any circumstance. Who are you going to believe? Kiefer Sutherland's character, Special Agent Jack Bauer or "the experts"? Video in Windows Media format... Video in QuickTime format...

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Guest blogged by David Edwards

President Bush took a few questions while speaking today in Panama.

While campaigning in October of 2000, Bush said "We will ask not only what is legal but what is right. Not what the lawyers allow but what the public deserves." Today Bush was asked if he had upheld this promise to the American people. Instead of offering a straightforward answer, the president stonewalled with the familiar "We are cooperating with the investigation..." deflection.

Bush was also asked if the Red Cross would be allowed to inspect the "secret prisons" which have been recently reported in the Washington Post and other publications. While the president didn't answer this question directly, he took the opportunity to strongly imply that he supported torture as long as it was conducted via legal methods and loopholes. He seemed to give the impression that torture was necessary tool when used to protect the American people.

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Guest blogged by David Edwards

Over the weekend, Warren Beatty and his wife, Annette Bening, followed Gov. Schwarzenegger to several rallies. It was an attempt to bring attention to some negative aspects of the Governor's "reform" agenda.

Warren Beatty is troubled that the Governor will not debate anyone on the issues. Beatty says, "As near as I can tell, the broken system that he wants to change is called 'democracy'".

Since Schwarzenegger is not willing to debate anyone on his "reform" agenda, CNN put together a short virtual debate between Warren Beatty and the Governor.

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