Monthly Archives: April 2009

On accountability for war crimes

by Chris   –   April 30, 2009

Former president George W. Bush in 2003:
“War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, ‘I was just following orders.’”
Versus Obama this month:
“In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the [...]

The cost of crappy education

by Chris   –   April 29, 2009

“If the United States had in recent years closed the gap between its educational achievement levels and those of better-performing nations such as Finland and Korea, GDP in 2008 could have been $1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion higher. This represents 9 to 16 percent of GDP.” – McKinsey report (@ Yglesias)
We currently spend about $800 [...]

Innovation = skimming off the top

by Chris   –   April 28, 2009

I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, but I just want to say again that the banks need to be heavily regulated. Especially if they are operating on de facto government guarantees, which shield them from the financial consequences of their foolish risk taking. You know, privatizing the profits and socializing the losses…
One argument [...]

Dubya calls for the prosecution of himself

by Chris   –   April 27, 2009

Andrew Sullivan uncovered this statement from George W. Bush circa 2003:
The United States is committed to the world-wide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture [...]

Question of the day™

by Chris   –   April 24, 2009

Why are Pop-Tarts® not individually wrapped? I only want one, not two, gods damnit!

Connecting the dots: Torture … Iraq War

by Chris   –   April 23, 2009

It’s now beginning to look like one of the big reasons we began to torture was to find a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam’s Iraq. From McClatchy:
A former senior U.S. intelligence official familiar with the interrogation issue said that Cheney and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld demanded that intelligence agencies and interrogators find [...]

More on torture

by Chris   –   April 22, 2009

Yesterday, I said that it wasn’t actually Obama’s decision whether or not to prosecute former Bush officials or CIA interrogators for torture. The Justice Department is supposed to make those decisions free from political influence. Obama now agrees that it’s the DoJs decision.
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A commenter at Andrew Sullivan’s blog has the right questions for Dick Cheney and [...]

The case for torture prosecutions

by Chris   –   April 21, 2009

On Friday when Obama authorized the release of the Bush era Justice Department memos that provided a pseudo-lega cover for torture, he said investigations (and, by extension prosecutions) for those responsible would not happen, despite the wishes of 61% of Americans:
… In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out [...]

Where the money goes, nobody knows

by Chris   –   April 20, 2009

Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, has a great discussion with Jon Stewart about where our money is going in the government’s attempt to fix the banks:

(h/t Jordan)
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As an aside, Matt Taibi has some questions for “teabaggers”:
1. If you’re so horrified by debt and spending, where were your tea parties when George Bush [...]

Excusing war crimes

by Chris   –   April 17, 2009

Obama complied with the ACLU’s request to release the Office of Legal Counsel memos that authorized the Bush administration’s “enhanced” interrogation torture techniques.
Here are the damning documents which I suggest you read:

18-page memo, dated August 1, 2002, from Jay Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA. [PDF]
46-page memo, dated May 10, 2005, [...]