Gathering Justice

Probably the best quote in an Op-Ed I've read in awhile, referring to the laughable anti-gay marriage commercial entitled "Gathering Storm":

It is justice, not a storm, that is gathering. Only those who have spread the poisons of bigotry and fear have any reason to be afraid."

Obama releases torture Memos

The biggest development today has been Barack Obama releasing various memos written by lawyers in the Bush Administration Office of Legal Counsel which supposedly gave Americans legal cover to torture. Of course, torture is not only against U.S. law (no matter what OLC lawyers say), but it is also against International Law, which is why Spain is currently investigating these OLC lawyers for war crimes. If the U.S. doesn't do it, then Spain can, and should. Regardless, there are a lot of shocking excerpts that are out there today, but I would point people to Glenn Greenwald's post specifically the updates. Legally speaking, the most dishonest argument I've seen so far comes from Jay Bybee, who, thanks to President Bush, now has a lifetime appointment to a federal court:

You would like to place [Abu] Zabaydeh in a cramped confinement box with an insect. You have informed us that he appears to have a fear of insects.

...

[T]he insect's placement in the box would not constitute a threat of severe physical pain or suffering to a reasonable person in his position. And individual placed in a box, even an individual with a fear of insects, would not reasonably feel threatened with severe physical pain or suffering if a caterpiller was placed in the box.

The lawyers also try to redefine what "pain or suffering" means, essentially saying that "pain or suffering" actually means "pain and suffering". It's honestly just unreal. There's so much legal dishonesty going on that it's impossible to document. This is basically what the lawyers have done: they take the words of the law, redefine the words in a completely dishonest and incomprehensible way, and then say "see, according to the law, it's not torture! No one can possibly fear pain or suffering from a caterpillar.... oh, wait, or suffering? Well, whoever wrote that must have made a mistake, it really means pain and suffering. You have to fear both."


UPDATE:

Looks like an emailer into Andrew Sullivan had the same take as me

Just Smile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xzkrMN9pcM

I'm a sucker.

Take A Vacation

Salon article:

"I call it the 'fuck-it phenomenon,'" said Matt Wallaert, a social psychologist with the financial advice site Thrive. "Everywhere you go the media tells you that things aren't going to get better any time soon," he said. "But if you feel like life has dealt you a bad hand, it's easy to say, 'Fuck it, I deserve this.'"

Go ahead, you deserve it.

I never liked putting lipstick on my pitbull...

So apparently Sarah Palin's daughter's baby's daddy is fighting back saying Palin is lying. What else is new?

Will this woman and her family PLEASE just fade back into the background. Stay in Alaska and out of my news. Nobody likes you.

The Man Who Helped Win Iowa

An interview in the Atlantic with the man who helped bring same sex marriage to Iowa.

Holla at'cha boy!

Not-so-critically-acclaimed, 80s sampling, boots-with-fur-loving, rapper Flo Rida (who also apparently doesn't know how to spell) gave his cell phone number out to the entire world in a CNN interview today. He says he wants to be "connected" and open with his fans. "I mean" if fans buy his albums then why shouldn't they have his personal cell phone number, right?

Flo Rida's cell is officially one of the numbers in "my circle."

Only not.

Let Them Spill Their Guts

The Daily Beast reports that Republicans may filibuster potential key Obama administration appointment nominees if they open up the Bush Administration's deep dark secrets.

It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration’s darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward...not a single Republican indicated an intention to vote for Dawn Johnsen, while Senator John Cornyn of Texas was described as “gunning for her,” specifically noting publication of the torture memos.

My call to action for the Obama camp: say "damn yous, damn yous all to hell!" and keep releasing the information anyway (bonus points: name that film). Transparency is refreshing to a country used to being left in the dark.

I Don't Think I've Ever Been That Sick

A solid reason for preventative care.

Going Green? Go All The Way

Legalize pot to diminish an aspect the drug trade in Mexico? David Sirota's opinion at Salon:

Every American concerned about Mexico's security problems should be thankful that the cartels are so dependent on marijuana and not a genuinely hazardous substance like heroin. Why? Because that means through pot legalization, we can bring the marijuana trade out of the shadows and into the safety of the regulated economy, consequently eliminating the black market that the cartels rely on. And here's the best part: We can do so without fearing any more negative consequences than we already tolerate in our keg-party culture.

That's eliminating a violent $9 billion dollar a year "import industry" and consolidating it with a $36 billion dollar domestic industry--all of which becomes new money the United States can add to its coffers. Though that may still be a while off, at least as Sirota suggests, we're heading in the right direction.

Learning to Realistically Compromise

Fred Kaplan has an interesting comparison in his Slate article concerning the international diplomatic differences between the Obama and Bush administration:

For instance, Obama will almost certainly open up talks with Syria as a means of isolating Iran and cutting off both countries' links with Hezbollah. Bush always opposed any contact—and vetoed efforts by some of his top officials to go that route—because Syria supported terrorists. By this argument, had someone with this view been president during World War II, the United States wouldn't have struck up an alliance with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany on the grounds that Stalin wasn't much less evil than Hitler—and we would have faced catastrophic defeat in our high moral dudgeon.

As previous posts suggest, it's about time we opened up diplomacy. The World War II comparison, although, is good at highlighting the error of the previous administration's "black or white" policy .

Sorry Mr. President...

But the war is lost. The Dailykos paralleling the state of Afghanistan to a theory of an guerilla war:

According to Mao's theory of guerilla war, the Taliban are now in Phase 3, the final stage of an insurgency, during which the guerilla is in a position to actually mount large scale offensives after having seized the country side and confined the government troops to the cities. An insurgency shifting from Phase 2 (conquest of the countryside, delegitimation of the government) may appear to be stalemated, while it is merely pooling its strength for the final push.

Destructive Creation

In his article in the New York Times, Thomas Friedman explains the old system in layman's terms:

The old system, which has reached its financial and environmental limits, worked like this: We built more and more stores in America to sell more and more stuff, which was made in more and more Chinese factories powered by more and more coal that earned more and more dollars to buy more and more U.S. T-bills that got recycled back to America in the form of cheap credit to build more and more stores and more and more houses that gave rise to more and more Chinese factories. ...

Google April Fools

Gmail Autopilot.

Sounds good to me. Specifically the response to "business proposals" via email...

Looking For Freedom

In the age of Facebook and a 24 hour online news cycle, a little software invention to release us from our bonds. From Salon.com:

Freedom will disable the networking, only on a Mac computer, for periods of anywhere from one minute to eight hours. No Web sites, no e-mail, no instant messaging, no online shopping, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Jezebel, no iTunes store, no streaming anything.

If you do it, I will commend you for your achievement. Although I will still bitch at you for not getting your message on Facebook and scoff at you being 8 hours behind on current affairs.

Get Outta Jail

I did the reading for you. Here is what a GM bankruptcy means.

.

Under a plan being worked out by the administration, G.M. would file for prearranged bankruptcy, according to these people. It would then use a sale authorized under Section 363 of the bankruptcy code to quickly sell off the desirable assets to a new company financed by the government. These good pieces might include Cadillac and Chevrolet, as well as assets the company needs to run the business.

Less desirable assets, brands like Hummer and underperforming factories, would be left in the old company. Proceeds from the sales, including stock in the new company, would be given to the old G.M., helping to settle claims.