WTF Tuesday

Why is Bill Kristol's immediate response to anything to bomb it? What is his problem?

Will Cheney really get away with trying to declare that the Iraq war actually saved lives (SAVED lives? Like the almost 5000 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis?) and blaming 9/11 on one of the only people who was running about yelling about al-Qaeda months before, Richard Clarke? And now confesses that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11?!

Why is no one paying attention to more than 40 law clerks who have signed their names to a letter supporting Judge Sonia Sotomayor?

Why are we surprised at the end result? When we pay cash to impoverished young tribesmen every time they drop a GPS device to mark the Taliban hideouts for a CIA drone strike, they start dropping them all over the place just for the money?

Will anyone listen to the generals... especially when one of them calls for a truth commission?

Why is Norm Coleman destroying his legacy with idiot behavior?

WTF?

And the floodgates open

Over objections from the U.S. intelligence community, the White House is moving to declassify—and publicly release—three internal memos that will lay out, for the first time, details of the "enhanced" interrogation techniques approved by the Bush administration for use against "high value" Qaeda detainees. The memos, written by Justice Department lawyers in May 2005, provide the legal rationale for waterboarding, head slapping and other rough tactics used by the CIA. One senior Obama official, who like others interviewed for this story requested anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity, said the memos were "ugly" and could embarrass the CIA. Other officials predicted they would fuel demands for a "truth commission" on torture.

Because of an executive order signed by President Obama on Jan. 22 banning such aggressive tactics, deputies to Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. concluded there was no longer any reason to keep the interrogation memos classified. But current and former intel officials pushed back, arguing that any public release might still compromise "sources and methods." According to the administration official, ex-CIA director Michael Hayden was "furious" about the prospect of disclosure and tried to intervene directly with Obama officials. But the White House has sided with Holder. Faced with a court deadline in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit regarding the memos filed by the ACLU, Justice lawyers asked for a two-week extension "because the memoranda are being reviewed for possible release." (White House, Justice and CIA spokesmen all declined to comment.)

I'm ready... I think

Senator Patrick Leahy:



As long as we can string them up afterwards.....