Reason Morning Links: New Wikileaks Dump, More Crackdowns in Syria, Why Obama Hasn't Closed Gitmo

• More than 100 dead in Syria over the weekend; government raiding homes of suspected protesters.
• New Wikileaks dump details history, abuse, mistakes of Guantanamo.
• Sens. McCain, Lieberman, Graham urge more U.S. involvement in Libya, Syria.
• Gabrielle Giffords' recovery in "top 5 percent" of patients with similar injuries; will attend her husband's shuttle launch.
• Why Obama hasn't closed Guantanamo.
• New from Reason.tv: "Ask a Mexican Already! Q&A with Gustavo Arellano"

Comments

[John]

http://theblogprof.blogspot.co.....tells.html

Liberal to people complaining about food inflation, get a better job. Must be seen to be believed.

[WTF]

Well, why not? In the liberal mind that makes perfect sense. The nation has crushing debt? Just raise taxes and get more revenue! People are hurt by rising food prices? Just get abetter job! They think 'other people's' resources are limitless.

[OO]

was reagan a lub-rahl too since he raised taxes while in deficit?

[Scruffy Nerd Herder]

Yes

[Amaroli]

Love your handle! Two balls, no cock.

[Pat D King]

These are all quotes from Radley Balko concering James O'Keefe from the last 6 months alone. I wonder why he encourages taping police, but not US Senate offices, or NPR?

?James O'Keefe bars spectators from recording his speech.
?James O'Keefe reaches new depths of despicableness. Worse, he's spawning imitators.
?James O'Keefe bars spectators from recording his speech.
?There's so much real investigative journalism conservatives could be doing on government waste, incompetence, accountability, and transparency. It's pathetic that donors on the right keep handing over money for these moronic "stings". The right needs 10 more Tim Carneys. Instead, they keep churning out James O'Keefes.
?Holding Andrew Breitbart to the same standards he holds ACORN. It's a fair point.
Joining Me Now To Discuss What James O'Keefe's Latest Video Means for Obama's Plan for Libya, Are Democratic Strategist Bob Beckell, and Republican Advisor Dick Morris (Link has babies talking, really funny stuff.

[Sorry Hope]

How come every swinging stoysich suasage gets to film police, but James O'Keefe doesn't get to film a US Senators office. Balko lost all credibility with me when he went after O'Keefe. This kid O'Keefe has changed more in a year than all the writers at this mag combined in the last 20 years. Mr. Balko you are a fake libertarian, that loves to hang out an anarchist and socialist websites.

[Fluffy]

When did Balko say that O'Keefe shouldn't get to film a Senator's office?

[Sorry Hope]

Go to theagitator.com, look what he's said about O'Keefe. It's clear he hates O'Keefe, and doesn't like his work. Balko is an Andrew Sullivan ass kiss, and he has pulled a page out of the Sullivan playbook in that he calls attempts to label himself as something other than what he is. Go to theagitator.com and look at the comments and you will see what kind of people like that site, anarchist, socialists, and liberal democrats.

[Fluffy]

I asked when he said that O'Keefe shouldn't be allowed to film a Senator's office.

Is that what Balko actually said about O'Keefe, or are you just making that up because it would take too many words for you to type your actual complaint?

[Sorry Hope]

Go read his site, I'm not your fucking intern. What kind of corrupt shit has Balko exposed? Cop beats the shit out of someone on youtube, Balko condemns. It's like being against killing kittens and car accidents.

[Fluffy]

In other words, you have no evidence Balko ever said that O'Keefe shouldn't be allowed to tape a Senator's office.

And you refuse to state any other complaint.

Something tells me that your ACTUAL complaint is "O'Keefe edited his tapes selectively in order to strengthen his point, and Balko said he shouldn't have done that, so I hate Balko, because as long as O'Keefe is working for the right cause, he should be entitled to cut corners and cheat and no one should criticize him for it."

Have I got it about right?

[Sorry Hope]

Read my comments dumb shit, I never said Balko said O'Keefe shouldn't be allowed to tape... I said Balko lost all credibility with me when he went after O'Keefe, which he did and it's on his site. You're not going back far enough on Balko's site, he clearly slams O'Keefe several times. He uses the Glenn Beck BS for cover. BTW, He and O'Keefe were on the same show last night on FOX. O'Keefe was awesome!

[Fluffy]

Fuck you, asshole.

You wrote this:

but James O'Keefe doesn't get to film a US Senators office.

Are you fucking going to LIE at 10:06 about something you wrote at 8:43?

Even for a Republican that's an awfully fast turnaround to expect on the whole "forget about my lies" thing. You gotta give us more time to forget than THAT.

Basically you are proving and conceding my point: you ARE, in fact, angry because Balko printed Beck's criticism of O'Keefe. And you ARE, in fact, the sort of person who believes that as long as someone is on the right "side", no one should criticize their behavior.

All you had to do in response to my 9:56 post was say, "Why, yes, Fluffy, that's it exactly! I'm glad we have reached this understanding!"

Wouldn't that have been simpler?

[affenkopf]

Balko is the best journalist reason has. You're a team red moron.

[Sorry Hope]

No I'm not, I'm a Republican. You guys are not really so much libertarians as you just hate Republicans. You can't stand to see rich Republicans get the pussy you wish you had. You blame it on the fact that you don't have money and have to steal free music, but the truth is women hate whiner, and my god do you guys whine. You sit around waiting for 7.5s like Sarah Silverman to compliment you on your pea coat, meanwhile Limbaugh is out playing golf and married to an 11. Pussies!

[Warty]

Waffles? A++, if so.

[waffles]

Nope. This one is genuine. You can tell because of the passionate defensiveness. Better to let my trolls curl up and die after a few posts. No need to fight.

[cynical]

I think it's O'Keefe.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

You guys are not really so much libertarians as you just hate Republicans.

Yeah, when they're ignorant, belligerent fuckheads. You know, sorta like ... you.

[Sorry Hope]

Ever seen Limbaugh's wife? Do a google search, she's out there, and she is an 11. I get pissed at fellow Republicans all the time, but I don't change horses because they're wrong. Just like I don't bash my country because I don't like Obama, like you sad pussies did with Bush.

[pancakes]

I can't wait to snag myself a hot wife so I can be right all the time!

[Sorry Hope]

Well it won't happen until you start acting like a man. Complaining is the number one turnoff to sexy women and I see about 9 guys on these comments that have their small stoysich sausage in one hand and some free music downloading software in the other complaining about how all the good stuff is copyrighted. Grow up now!

[Otto]

Complaining is the number one turnoff to sexy women...

Like you've done all through this thread?

[T]

Wait, I'm confused. Where did the free music downloading come in?

[AU H20]

Sorry Hope, you are a walking stereotype of every villian in an 80s teen movie.

"Sup nerd? See Trixie over there? Banged her last night. What are you doing? Using a computer? Bet your downloading illegal music like a NERD!"

[CaptainSmartass]

This is awesome, definitely one of the better trolls that have turned up here lately.

[TrickyVic]

""You're a team red moron.""

""No I'm not, I'm a Republican. ""

Funny.

[cynical]

Hmmm... hilariously moronic, Republican, initials S.H.

Could it be?

[DanD]

Seymour Hersh?

[Marshall Gill]

Mr. Balko you are a fake libertarian

Dude, Reason wouldn't do that! They wouldn't hire leftists posing as Libertarians. If they did something like that they would be "ratfuckers".

[Sorry Hope]

What do you call Dave Weigal?

[sloopyinca]

[whoosh]

Well, we can't call him Captain Obvious. You just stole that crown.

By the way, I find your spittle-flecked rants refreshing and your views intriguing. Do you have a mailing list and/or a newsletter I could subscribe to?

[Sorry Hope]

My name is Stan and I work for the city of Thornton Colorado.

[sloopyinca]

Based on your rambling, I'd guess that you were Stan's dad and lived in South Park, Colorado.

[Sandi]

I took a shit in Thornton once.

[Sorry Hope]

Let me try again, what do you call Dave Weigal?

[robc]

sigh

[SugarFree]

"YOU SUCK, MCBAIN!"

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Yeah, O'Keefe is such a great expositional "journalist" - he lost a lot of credibility with me, when Glenn Beck proved how O'Keefe selectively edited his videos involving the NPR people.

To be clear: I think the government should not fund NPR at all. But the editing of the videos was disingenuous, misleading and fraudulent. They purposely tried to make it look like the NPR guy said things in a different context than he actually said them.

[Sorry Hope]

That is the biggest bunch of bull shit, the editing had nothing to do with what was going on, it only made the NPR people look more stupid. Why did all those people get fired or resign form NPR. No there is intense envy form reporters that should have been able to expose NPR and ACORN. Many want NPR around so they can work there. There is no true conservative or libertarian that isn't happy with what JOK did.

[affenkopf]

And there is no true libertarian who isn't happy with the work Balko has been doing for years.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Everyone! Everyone!! Look! Listen up!!

THE GUY who is the THE ARBITER of who and what is "convervative" or "libertarian" finally has arrived!!

He is here!! He is here!!

O Joyous Day!!

Please, o great arbiter of what makes a "TRUE" conservative or libertarian, please enlighten us! O great one!

[Marshall Gill]

THE GUY who is the THE ARBITER of who and what is "convervative" or "libertarian" finally has arrived!!

Come on BSR, isn't this what half of the posters on this site claim to be?

[waffles]

Booh! Fake Libertarian ALERT!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Nah, I wouldn't say half.

But pretty much any time someone offers up what clearly is their own opinion and then says "no TRUE [conservative/libertarian/etc.] would ...", my bullshit radar goes off pretty loudly.

[Marshall Gill]

any time someone offers up what clearly is their own opinion and then says "no TRUE [conservative/libertarian/etc.] would ...", my bullshit radar goes off pretty loudly.

Yeah, half is an exaggeration. I wasn't defending Sorry Hope, just thinking how many threads there were about what makes a Libertarian. It isn't like he is the first, or will be last, to make that claim.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

the editing had nothing to do with what was going on, it only made the NPR people look more stupid.

And hence it was completely unnecessary and served only to hurt his own credibility. It proved that he is not so much interested in getting at actual truth as he is in making "the other side" look as bad as possible.

[R C Dean]

I thought O'Keefe released unedited videos. So what's the beef?

[Sorry Hope]

He did, it's a red herring, makes liars like Sullivan and Balko feel better.

[Fluffy]

Hit the bricks, collectivist.

Your entire routine of "O'Keefe is struggling for the cause and we must therefore defend his actions no matter what" might fly at a Red Brigades meeting, but it doesn't fly with me.

[60 Minutes]

Outrageous!

[Dateline]

Unheard of!

[48 Hours]

Unprofessional!

[Sorry Hope]

Amen Brother!

[robc]

And this why 60 minutes, 48 hours, and dateline are a bunch of hacks too.

[Sorry Hope]

God c'mon! Everyone that ever did an undercover report is a hack? Because O'Keefe did one? Is that the best you could do? Did you go to college? Do you call people from China Asian? Stossel does reports like that is he a hack?

[Wally B.]

He's from FitChink.com.

Coincidence?

[Warty]

I like Marie Obama telling the guy with 10 kids to get a hybrid van. I challenge you to come up with a better modern equivalent of "Let them eat cake".

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Yeah, I heard that one a while back and I had to get out the duct tape to wrap around my skull.

I was screaming at my radio when I heard that one. How about the fact that most of us can't afford simply running out and buying a new car, you fucking elitist asshole? Excuse me, I mean, "Mr. President."

[Fatty Obama]

Didn't Obama say that the people who lost their jobs due to the drilling moratorium could just go on unemployment?

Not quite "Let them eat cake" but it all comes from a similar place.

[Fatty Bolger]

Mixed the names there, lol.

[In media res]

...The zombies stood in a circle. From his vantage point, Gregory Smith
could not fully see what was going on. He only heard the soft
moans of the zombies. He crouched back down behind the
garbage cans. Whatever they were doing was keeping them
occupied. He was pretty sure he could dart around them and
be out of the alley before they even noticed him. He stood up,
ready to run when he saw the ladder bolted to the wall. The
ladder led up to a balcony on the second floor. He turned and
looked at the zombies again. They continued to moan. More
had joined the circle. There had to be at least thirty of them
gathered around. As he scanned the zombies he noticed a
couple looking at him. They stared at him and bared their
teeth. He prepared for the onslaught but it was all for naught.
The zombies ignored him and looked back down towards the
ground. In the hours since the outbreak this was the first time
he had seen them not advance on the living. What was holding
their attention? What were they staring at? He had to know.
He turned and grabbed a hold of the ladder and began climbing
up. The sound of his wet shoes making contact with the metal
squeaked loudly. He raced up expecting to feel dead hands
pulling at his legs. When he reached the second floor landing
he looked down and none had moved. Many more had joined
the circle. He stretched to look into the circle of zombies but
couldn't see anything. Another ladder led to the third floor. He
began to climb it. It now was more than curiosity for him. This
could be a way to end the outbreak. If something could hold
their attention then they could be easily grouped together and
destroyed. He reached the third floor and turned around.
There was a woman kneeling in the center of the circle. Her
back was facing towards Greg.

[waffles]

uh, GREGOOOOO!?

[rather]

B O R I N G Me

[Cy Nickelfuque]

"We should encourage the democratic movement in Syria, but at the same time avoid anything like an open-ended commitment."

Gimme a "D"! Gimme a "E"! Gimme a "M"!

[OO]

u know who else supported open-ended commitments?

[Fatty Bolger]

Eisenhower?

[OO]

sasha grey

[R C Dean]

My ex-wife's divorce lawyer sure as fuck supported open-ended commitments.

[John]

I love it how Palin is the supposed village idiot of American politics but she along with Ron Paul were the only two political figures to my knowledge who called bullshit on qualitative easing and said that Bernake was a lunatic.

http://www.nysun.com/editorial.....fed/87317/

And I love this letter to instapundit trying to defend Bernarke.

"If you need to blame someone, blame the President and former Speaker Pelosi who utterly wasted $800 billion on a rushed, ill-conceived, politically-driven stimulus package. Spending on public goods can be very beneficial when they complement the private sector, rather than focusing on consumption spending or social engineering."

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/119186/

Yeah if we could have just had the right people in charge the whole thing would have worked.

[Trespassers W]

Stopped clock, etc. etc. Is that so inconceivable?

[John]

Except that it seems to be right a lot more than twice a day.

[Brett L]

Too rich, too cold, or too stupid. Every Republican star must fall into at least one of these pre-approved categories. The Narrative requires it. I don't have any particular love for Palin, but she pisses the right people off and seems to be smart enough to pick smart advisors. If only Obama were that smart.

[Cyto]

She's not smart enough to have a bunch of fanboy defenders in all of the media outlets like the great uniter. Seems like the great one is pretty smart on that front to me...

[Fatty Bolger]

I'm not a huge fan but she does seem to have a knack for seeing through the bullshit, and zeroing right in with stinging criticism that hits home. (That's what Paul just can't do, unfortunately.)

[Solanum]

Las Vegas man beaten, arrested for filming police

Bonus: this was the same officer who shot and killed a mentally ill 15 year old boy in front of his mother in 2009.

[WTF]

Bonus: this was the same officer who shot and killed a mentally ill 15 year old boy in front of his mother in 2009.

Sounds like it's time for some medals!

[pancakes]

win-the-future!

[John]

Crooks asks for paramedics. Colling tells him to shut up and follow orders.

"If you fight again, dude Hey, if you (expletive) fight again, dude, you're in a world of hurt. You hear me?

"You're not in charge here, buddy. You hear me?"

Colling mocks Crooks' labored breathing.

"Oh yeah, buddy. Hey, when you don't do what I ask you to do, then you're in a world of hurt. Then you're in a world of hurt. Aren't ya? Huh?"

Crooks was later diagnosed with a deviated septum and a chest wall injury. Crooks believes his ribs were broken, but never got X-rays that could prove it.

Sadistic fuck.

[TrickyVic]

""Sadistic fuck.""

No shit. The cop planned on kicking the dude's ass from the begining. He keeps walking towards him and without pausing a step walks up starts kicking the shit out of him.

[Rich]

Another nasty beating for your perusal. Thank goodness it doesn't involve the cops! 8-(

[Fluffy]

What is sometimes funny to me is the sheer amount of anti-cop rage that these stories bring out in the comments, essentially everywhere but at that DA asshole's blog.

Cops don't seem to be very popular, but they still seem to get away with a lot of shit.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I was just reading this via Drudge and came over here to see if anyone had posted it yet.

My favorite line in the article:

"Shut up!" Colling yells. "Stop resisting!"

[Ted S.]

When I saw the link above, I was going to make a "Stop resisting!" joke, but then I saw that the pig actually used that line.

[cynical]

Stop Resisting!

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Did you read the article? He actually said that. Too ironic.

[cynical]

Read it yesterday. Fucking pathetic.

[JW]

Ya know, if they just made Contempt of Cop a real crime, it'd be a real time saver.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

"We're charging you with failure to display significant deference to the authoritai of a uniformed law enforcement officer. The officer also reported that you failed to avert your gaze from his visage, so that should be good for unlawful eyeballing of a law enforcement officer - and don't you ever eyeball me, boy. Also, we're charging you for being mouthy. We're working on additional charges, too, so if you want to open your mouth and complain, go ahead, we'll just add more."

[Restoras]

Doom!!

[Tim]

"Reporting from Washington ? A trio of U.S. senators redoubled calls on the Obama administration Sunday to step up U.S support for Libyan rebels in their battle against the regime of Moammar Kadafi, even targeting Kadafi directly if necessary."

Can't we just hand them some rifles and grenades and let them go conquer Libya themselves?

[Rich]

Can't we just hand them some rifles and grenades and let them go conquer Libya themselves?

Come on, Tim. These are *old* dudes.

Let 'em foot the bill with their own money.

[Tim]

Some fully armored Rascals with flamethrowers maybe. Or Hover rounds.

[[J[o]h[nn]y] L[[o][n]]gt[o]rs[]

Oh No They Didn't! - Golden Girls Go Erotic

[[J[o]h[nn]y] L[[o][n]]gt[o]rs[]

'We will sacrifice quality if necessary'
The newly elected president of the National Union of Students (NUS), Liam Burns, spelt this out very clearly. Speaking to the Scottish Herald before his election, he said we should put aside the archaic idea that universities should encourage the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of truth, and welcome the fact that unis are now training grounds for youngsters who want to have brighter career prospects.

'I think we should be honest about our priorities', he said. 'At the end of the day, the point of the university has changed. If you look at when only five per cent of the population went, that was about knowledge, discovery, pushing boundaries, people talked about the cr?me de la cr?me. [Now], it is about social mobility and people changing their lives. The reality is you need that bit of paper [a degree] to get into better jobs with greater earning potential and influence. So we want as many people to get one as possible, at the expense of quality if necessary.'...

Why I Detest the State
...You should know it is because I love my country that I loathe its government, in all its forms, for a host of reasons. How I don't just despise government because it is wasteful, arrogant and immoral. I don't hate it solely because it is coercive and legally steals for its livelihood. It is true that I abhor government because it cloaks its crimes with euphemisms: It robs, but calls it taxation; it defrauds, but calls it "social security; it kidnaps, but calls it "busing"; it enslaves, but calls it "conscription; and it counterfeits, but calls it inflation. It does the very things I cannot do without committing crimes, but do you know why I really detest government? (I thought you would never ask.)

It is because of what government has done to my friends, and has much to do with what Karl Hess has termed the most pernicious institution in the United States today: the public school system, how he didn't just say that because so many high school seniors read at a fourth grade level, have difficulty filling out a job application, or trouble making simple change in the market place. He said that because there is where government transforms fine, young, mental timber into petrified, apologetic tools of the state: so that they will stand mindlessly and pledge allegiance to a piece of cloth, with 50 stars for 50 percent taxation, and think they are free; so that they will lend their lives as cannon fodder around the globe whenever El Presidente goes on the warpath, all in the name of peace, you understand; so that they will lock step behind officials of state in a myriad of assaults on human liberty, and cry out with the multitude, Crucify! Crucify! That's why I loathe government because of what it has done to my friends!...

[[J[o]h[nn]y] L[[o][n]]gt[o]rs[]

Children sing the praises of environmental activism for Earth Day

5 Scientific Reasons Powerful People Will Always Suck

[[J[o]h[nn]y] L[[o][n]]gt[o]rs[]

In case you missed it Friday, your history lesson for the day:

On This Day: Iron Workers Bomb Los Angeles Times Building
On Oct. 1, 1910, dynamite set by union member J.B. McNamara exploded and set the Los Angeles Times building ablaze, killing 21 and injuring more than 100....

...The International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers, a national union headquartered in Indianapolis, was determined to unionize the workers in Los Angeles. They often resorted to violent measures, bombing upward of 70 factories, bridges and railroad tracks between 1907 and 1911....

[Warty]

Fucking teabaggers and their violence.

[OO]

take it ez ok. 1910 dude

[wffls]

yea dude, ancent histori is ancent man!

[Ezra Klein]

its practically the 18th century, lol

[Fist of Etiquette]

For more than two years, the White House's plans had been undermined by political miscalculations, confusion and timidity in the face of mounting congressional opposition, according to some inside the administration as well as on Capitol Hill.

If nothing attempted to stand in his way, closing Gitmo would not be that laudable an accomplishment.

[John]

If you read those reports, what you find is a bunch of people that are obviously dangerous but whom it is also very difficult to win a court case against. So what do you do? The easy answer is to just turn them loose. But that was never a political option. The day someone Obama let go from GUITMO kills American citizens is probably the end of the Democratic Party.

The entire GUITMO task force was nothing but one long on the job training exercise for the Obama administration. Through they learned that Bush created GUITMO not out of some evil intent but as a least lousy of a set of horrible options.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Personally, I found the whole push to close the base a PR stunt. The focus wasn't the procedures but the place. Closing it, the detainees were going to be moved elsewhere, and operations would continue there.

But if you're going to make such a big deal about it on the campaign trail and then completely reverse position once in power, before you were either woefully naive, lying or both.

My problem is don't blame the failure to close it on opposition you knew was there. If everyone agreed it should be closed then doing so would be easy.

[John]

It was a total PR stunt And if you are not going to close it, why not give an honest answer why? Don't you owe that to your supporters? If he got up and said "look, I thought we could close it but now that I know the whole situation, it is clear we can't and here is why", you could at least respect his honestly. As it is, he is basically telling his supporters to fuck off.

[Fluffy]

So basically what you're saying is that you endorse extrajudicial detention of anyone who might commit a crime and by so doing politically embarrass whoever happens to be in office at any moment in time?

[John]

That is reality fluffy. You can cry and whine about it all you want. But there is no way we are winning a case in federal court against most of those guys. If you don't believe me, go read the reports. But there is no way any politician is going to let them go. So what do you do? The answer is have military commissions with loser rules of evidence but are fundementally fair and ensure we keep the right people. But no, we can't do that. So instead we just keep people forever without any due process. Civil libertarians because of their total refusal to face reality and desire to live in a fantasy world where the federal government releases KSM to prove it is better than the terrorists have done a lot to create this situation. They should have bought on to military commissions from the start as the best of a set of bad options. But instead they fought them and now we have people stuck in jail with no due process for decades.

[OO]

its a bitch that lil w's "enhanced interrogation" really was torture & therefore inadmissable.

[John]

It is. And there is a lot more than that that is inadmissible. And everyone knew that when Obama was saying he was going to close GUITMO. He just bet on people like you being stupid enough to believe him, which considering how stupid you actually are was a pretty smart bet.

[OO]

i dont support closing gitmo sherlock

[Fluffy]

Yet another John rationalization that, with the words tweaked a little, could be employed in the defense of every last policy John doesn't like.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, John's a big Obama supporter and goes out on a limb to defend his policies.

Wait, what?

[John]

Bullshit fluffy. It is the truth. You just don't like it. So you call names rather than give a real response. What would you do with the guys at GUITMO? Try them in federal court? Unless you are willing to live with KSM walking a free man in Manhanhatan, they are nothing but show trials. And don't tell me you are because even if you really are willing to live with that no one else is. So it is not an option.

[Fluffy]

KSM is falling all over himself waiting to be allowed to confess and get the death penalty.

He'd barely have to be in NYC long enough for an arraignment.

A significant part of the Congress' objection to US-based trials for Gitmo suspects has nothing to do with the possibility of acquittal: they explicitly state that they're afraid terrorists will try to attack the trial sites.

So that means that you're siding with people who are too afraid to do the one thing they're actually Constitutionally charged with doing: provide a secure environment for the functioning of the courts of the United States.

[T]

Frankly, I'm baffled we didn't rendition these guys to some place like Russia or Egypt with the implicit understanding that they suffer some sort of accident. We close GITMO, the prisoners get disappeared to some horribly brutal hole, and we wash our hands of the whole mess.

Not that I endorse this approach, mind you, but it's what I would expect from our national security apparatus if it were being run by competent ruthless people.

[The Ingenious Hidalgo]

I'm just going to put this out there, apparently controversial though it is: if you can't prove someone's guilt in a court of law, you don't get to hold them prisoner.

[TrickyVic]

I agree. The next thing is they will hold Americans they want to call terrorist without trial, then Americans with special crimes. Once the feds get their foot in the door they want to kick it open.

Remember, the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act was sold as something that was to be used against terrorist. Shorty after it passed, they were giving siminars about how to apply it to law enforcement.

Me today, you tomorrow.

[TrickyVic]

""They should have bought on to military commissions from the start as the best of a set of bad options.""

John, they probably could have if the Bush admin didn't try to rewrite military tribunals for his own ends. The tribuanal process as it had been was not enough to get convictions, the Bush admin watered the the process down to something less of a military tribunal.

[RyanXXX]

Why not just treat them as POWs and hold them until hostilities have ceased? It would still basically amount to indefinite detention unless peace was negotiated with the Taliban and Al Qaeda was defeated

[Chinny Chin Chin]

what you find is a bunch of people that are obviously dangerous

hmm, I could swear I read something about a 14 year old kid and a guy with dementia...

But you're vouching for the fact that they're all cold-blooded baby killers?

[Les]

If you read those reports, what you find is a bunch of people that are obviously dangerous...

Except for the ones who are innocent. I know it's crazy to think our government would suspect innocent people to be guilty of something they didn't do. No, wait, I forgot, the government has a long, documented history of prosecuting innocent people. Except they aren't even prosecuting these people. They're just imprisoning them.

Oh, well. At least they aren't Americans, right?

[Mike Laursen]

So, they are "obviously dangerous" but it wouldn't be possible to convict them of anything. They are guilty-ish until sort of proven guilty.

[TrickyVic]

No, they were guilty from the start which is why the gov wants to avoid any court, military or civilian that might prove otherwise.

[West Texas]

Sens. McCain, Liberman, Graham urge more U.S. involvement in Libya, Syria.

I detest these two unprincipled assholes.

[affenkopf]

So what about the third one? A principled asshole?

[West Texas]

Ahh, I just saw McCain and Graham and missed Lieberman.

I guess I respect him a little bit more, but not much.

McCain is an egomaniac.

Graham is stupid.

Lieberman is mendacious.

[Tim]

Let's find a three seat attack bomber for them. McCain can fly it, Lieberman can drop the bombs and Graham can stick his head out the window and bark at the other dogs.

[SugarFree]

Cut out the middlemen... Strap bombs to them and drop them on Libya.

[Bingo]

Is "War 24/7" considered a principle?

[Military industrial complex]

abso effing lutely

[Military industrial complex]

abso effing lutely

[rather]

I have a feeling 'top 5 percent" is not what we are led to believe.

[Bingo]

Congolese hipsters!

[pancakes]

I dig their style. Very dug. Checking out deck threads in darkest 'frica. This is rad beyond rad, so trick it's kilt. and whoah, overload.

Could you direct me to the nearest Goodwill?

[SugarFree]

A Fullerton man faces up to a year in jail when he is scheduled to be sentenced today for secretly ejaculating twice into a co- worker's water bottle -- that she later drank from.

[Bingo]

I thought it was this guy but apparently theres more than one guy out there covertly feeding co-workers seminal fluids.

[John]

Why?

[SugarFree]

Lallana was initially evasive, but eventually told detectives he put his semen in the water bottle because "her lips had touched" it.

"I saw her water bottle and I did it," Lallana says on a tape of the police interview. "For me, it's a release. I think about my wife."

Lallana also said in the interview that he found Tiffany attractive.

"It was the closest I could ever get to someone as good looking as that without tampering with my marriage or hurting anyone," Lallana said.

[John]

That is one of the most disturbing things I have ever read. And most disturbing of all, that dude is married. Wow.

[West Texas]

It would be somewhat less disturbing had he just said something like, "Ha! I thought it would be funny to give that bitch what she deserved!" or something like that.

His stated explanation is much much weirder. Wow.

[Amakudari]

Note how his explanation makes it clear he's totally not cheating or anything.

[Mrs. Lallana]

I thought it was very sweet of him.

[R C Dean]

I thought it was very sweet salty of him.

[Marshall Gill]

I didn't know you lived in Fullerton.

[SugarFree]

UC Fullerton has the Philip K. Dick papers and manuscripts.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A Fullerton man faces up to a year in jail when he is scheduled to be sentenced today for secretly ejaculating twice into a co- worker's water bottle -- that she later drank from.

Well, where did you all want him to put it, huh? And I suppose the secret part was a problem with all of you, as well. I guess it would have been okay if he had announced, "Hey, everyone, I didn't have any place to put my spooge so I stored it in Tiffany's water bottle over there. Just so you know. Also, if anyone needs paper clips I have, like, a ton." Sheesh.

[Ice Nine]

"I saw her water bottle and I did it," Lallana says on a tape of the police interview. "For me, it's a release. I think about my wife."

How very flattering to his wife - like, anything with a hole in it reminds him of her.

What I really love about this is that the victim immediately identified the foul taste as semen. Now that's the kind of gal you take home to Mama.

[Tim]

"A Saudi believed to have been an intended participant in the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Qahtani was leashed like a dog, sexually humiliated and forced to urinate on himself. "

Shit, some Saudi Princes pay good money to have that done on trips to Vegas and Thailand...

[John]

Saudis? People pay good money for wierder shit than that.

[wylie]

Right? Fuckin prudish Saudis.

[P Brooks]

Nothing about this? I am disappoint.

It is highly unusual for the federal government to seek to reverse a corporate decision as important as the location of plant.

But ever since a Democratic majority took control of the five-member board after Mr. Obama's election, the board has signaled that it would seek to adopt a more liberal, pro-union tilt after years of pro-employer decisions under President Bush.

Just the other day, some guy was on the teevee expressing his incredulous rejection of any notion the Obama administration is anti-business.

[John]

That is really disturbing. Combine that with the disclose act so that the government thugs will know who a company supports politically and you basically have a mafia run kleptocracy.

[Fatty Bolger]

More Gangster Government.

[Cyto]

the board noted that Boeing officials had, in internal documents and news interviews, specifically cited the strikes and potential future strikes as a reason for their 2009 decision to expand in South Carolina.

That's pretty interesting. A company wants to locate a manufacturing plant in an area where they can find a reliable pool of labor. Who'd a thunk it?!?

[Vermont Gun Owner]

Gabrielle Giffords' recovery in "top 5 percent" of patients with similar injuries; will attend her husband's shuttle launch

When did he get scheduled for the flight?

A Fullerton man faces up to a year in jail when he is scheduled to be sentenced today for secretly ejaculating twice into a co- worker's water bottle -- that she later drank from.

Well, it is hard to find a swallower.

[Brett L]

Giffords' husband was always the mission commander for the one going up this week. There was some public doubt after she was first shot that he would stay in that slot. Most of us who know anything about the type of people who become astronauts suspected that he would have been lobbying to stay mission commander if he took the round in the head. I never doubted he was going to fly the mission.

[Vermont Gun Owner]

I never doubted he'd be doing whatever he could to fly, I was just curious if his status happened to get bumped up from an alternate since the shooting. Contrary to most of my colleagues, I don't closely follow the activities of NASA's glorified airplanes.

[P Brooks]

Mr. Solomon brought the complaint after a union representing many of Boeing's Washington workers, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, complained that Boeing had decided to move production to South Carolina largely in retaliation for a 58-day strike in 2008.

"Boeing's decision to build a 787 assembly line in South Carolina sent a message that Boeing workers would suffer financial harm for exercising their collective bargaining rights," said the union's vice president, Rich Michalski.

Won't somebody think of the gangsters?

[John]

Those people in South Carolina are just scabs Brooks. Same with those lazy racist bastards who were going to work for AIRBUS assembling air force fuel tankers.

[OO]

airbus's workforce is unionized sherlock

[Brett L]

Once again, the Unions stab themselves in the neck. What company is ever going to allow itself to be hostage to the unions like that in the future? No new company that forms is going to allow a formal union contract like IAMAW enjoys. Also, actions taken to minimize future business disruption based on past experience is not "retaliation".

[Fluffy]

But Wesley Mouch was unrealistically villanous.

[Warty]

Huckabee vs. Beck. It's like Stalingrad - we can only hope they both lose, and hopefully kill a few million people and destroy a city in the process.

Good news: Hot chick gets naked and pisses off Muslims. Bad news: "I feel like Che Guevara."

[John]

She is lovely. I was looking at the NY Post today and they had a photo shoot of Ana de la Reguera. Have you ever seen her? I had never heard of her. OMG, she is unbeleivable.

[SugarFree]

In the 2nd season of East Bound And Down she sings "Night Moves" in Spanish.

[Warty]

Aqui. Lo que es un culo.

[SugarFree]

"You're not mad, are you?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I didn't immediately call you back after I made sex with you."

[Troy]

OMG. She is hot. Thanks Warty. ...I... Ugh... busy at the moment.... Dont worry Warty, your water bottle isn't here.

[Warty]

Apparently she's in telenovelas, so of course she's to die for. I love me some Telemundo.

[John]

I want to be the guy who hosts Sabo Gigante in my next life.

[Warty]

I'm totally being El Gordo. You know he bangs the shit out of La Flaca, dude.

[JW]

Good news: Hot chick gets naked and pisses off Muslims.

I'll be in my bunk for the next several weeks.

[SugarFree]

Bad news: "I feel like Che Guevara."

Maybe she recreated this famous topless pose...

[Troy]

Warty gets me up. Sugar brings me down.

[Gus]

You can't spell douche without Che.

[Brett L]

"The current Fox News host isn't pleased that Beck, a departing Fox News host, has called him a progressive, a term which Beck has also previously likened to cancer and the Nazi movement.

Beck also compared Huckabee to Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain on his radio show Tuesday, labeling both as progressives, because of Huckabee's vocal support for Michelle Obama's anti-obesity initiatives."

I agree with Beck on this one.

[OO]

fatso

[pancakes]

If you oppose anti-obesity initiatives you are either fat or one of those fatcats running a fast-food franchise. I'm so sick of you fatty fat sympathizers and your gluttonous denial of healthy eating. For the children!

[Brett L]

You caught me. Plus I put coca in my secret sauce to addict kids to my giant portions.

[pancakes]

Soon big fat will be turned into soaps!

[R C Dean]

I put coca in my secret sauce to addict kids to my giant portions

Eww?

[Brett L]

"Your children have touched me and I'm pretty sure I've touched them too."

[West Texas]

I will fully admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for Beck. Personal failing of mine, whatever...

That said, Huckabee seems determined to keep digging a deeper hole here and proving Beck right by responding with a bunch of stats about childhood obesity and diabetes. He doesn't seem to realize that IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER YOU THINK THE GOAL IS LAUDABLE OR DESIREABLE, using government force to coerce private behavior is always wrong. By definition, Mike, that puts you closer to the "progressive" side of the aisle, which was Beck's whole point.

[West Texas]

To finish the thought, it's this kind of "ends justify the means" shit that makes me call McCain and Graham "unprincipled." They're all for kissing up to the anti-statist base until they decide that despite those principles _________ is a special situation and something needs to be done regardless. This is EXACTLY what Huckabee is saying when he tries to defend himself by decrying the "crisis" in child obesity instead of directly refuting Beck's charges.

[Troy]

ends justify the means

I blame Kant.

[OO]

always wrong? u mean like treating diabetes is cheaper than prevention?

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I will reiterate the key point - I'll type it slowly for you:

"using government force to coerce private behavior is always wrong."

Evidently you believe it's O.K. for the government to force me to do something because the government has decided it's "for my own good" or "for the greater good."

[OO]

yep when prevention is cheaper & ur fellow insurees subsidize the cost of ur diabetes treatment...which was preventable

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Evidently you continue to willfully ignore the "government force" part.

But that doesn't surprise me at all.

Also, where is it written that the basis for legitimate government action is based purely on what is cheaper or preventable?

[Gus]

Hey balls, you know what's really cost effective? Killing everyone the moment they get sick.

[pancakes]

Diabetes is always preventable. Those type I fuckers are just whiny fatty fat fattties. The government needs to regulate and corral these insulin junky fatty fatty tubs o' goo. Remember, insuling is worse than heroin because withdrawal means death for these nefarious addicts.

Give 'em what they deserve!

[pancakes]

I can't tell how fast you typed that. YOU LIE!

[West Texas]

Yes, always wrong when it's the government mandating the prevention.

Get people to agree with you about the prevention and voluntarily do it - Good.

Force people to do what the government thinks is good for them - Bad.

[OO]

from ur lips to god's ears eh?

[God's Ears]

He's right, moron.

[Mike M.]

Beck is absolutely 100% correct about Hucksterbee. The guy is a thin-skinned, big government, nanny state republican charlatan who apparently will pardon any convicted felon who starts speaking in tongues.

[P Brooks]

Meanwhile, there is a guest on Bloomberg who (I haven't been listening too closely) appears to be saying, "Fuck the consumer; let the dollar go down the drain. The government should be propping up corporate profits."

Yay Bennay!

[Amakudari]

Bloomberg's always been like open mic night for financial commentators.

[Warty]

"You ever eat cheese? Cheese is a funny thing, cheese is a strange thing. I always wondered, what is cheese? Where does it come fro- *HURL*"

[PoliteEdward]

It's a "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" reference for anyone who is wondering.

[wylie]

You have to destroy The Poor to save The Poor.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Nothing about Obama's use of signing statements?

Candidate Obama expressly states that the President does not have the constitutional power to use signing statements and expressly promises he will not use them to make an end run around Congress's intent.

Congress passes legislation denying funding for Obama's czars. Obama signs it with a signing statement essentially giving Congress a big "fuck you" and says he will ignore it.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

When asked about it, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney fucking lies just like his fucking boss and says Obama "never said" what he is on tape explicitly saying.

[John]

Carney is the press secretary, what do they pay the douchebag for if not to lie?

[Amakudari]

Reason mentioned the signing statements thing a week ago. I read Greenwald's original article on it, which was probably a day or two before that.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

I've been busy recently.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Plus it's always worth repeating.

[Amakudari]

Aye, just pointing it out. GG's article is pretty good, FWIW.

[Mike Laursen]

Candidate Obama vs. President Obama: proof that the universe has no causal continuity.

[TrickyVic]

Seems like they were two different people. The samething could be said of Candidate Bush jr. vs. President Bush jr.

Candidates think, or at least tries to convince the public that they can do more than what they actually have the authority to do.

[P Brooks]

RACE TO THE BOTTOM!

Over at totally unbiased!!!!!!! NPR we learn:

Conservatives constantly exalt the glories of the free market, except there's nothing free about taxpayers subsidizing the anti-union behavior of companies like Boeing. This kind of corporate welfare system is rigged to force citizens to bankroll their own destruction. If every company followed the Boeing model, there would be no unions, no collective bargaining and no assurance for the majority of poor workers that they can have any protection from their corporate overlords.

Quite simply, Boeing wouldn't be able to prosper without the state, and by default, its taxpayers. It's time they show a little respect for the people assisting the company's copious growth.

"Corporashunz are baaaad, mmmmkaaay?"

She gets the right answer, for the wrong reason. She doesn't like localities doling out "subsidies" and tax breaks; I agree. Unfortunately, she seems to only be opposed to this transfer of wealth from the citizenry because it ends up in the "wrong" hands. If the local governments were subsidizing fat union pay packages and restrictive work rules, that would be perfectly okay.

Did I mention NPR is completely and utterly unbiased?

[Fluffy]

Because naturally the people who live in South Carolina and aren't in unions aren't really citizens.

[JUngi Jofo]

WikiLeaks is just cool like that. It jsut doesnt get any better dude.

http://www.how-to-be-anon.at.tc

[Brett L]

Dear squirrels/interns. Formatting is all screwed up this morning on IE8. everything is bang up against the left of the browser and the header doesn't display correctly.

[Brett L]

Thanks guys. Better now.

[Auric Demonocles]

For using IE you deserve whatever you get. It doesn't even come with a monocle.

[Brett L]

The work firewall seems to hate FF and Chrome. I guess I could try Opera, but I expect that anything that isn't M$ IE will get a similar reaction.

[Sorry Hope]

I thought AZCENTRAL.com did not allow links to their site??

[P Brooks]

"using government force to coerce private behavior is always wrong."

That's crazy talk!

[SIMPLE IS BEST]

STOP HITTING YOURSELF
STOP HITTING YOURSELF
STOP HITTING YOURSELF
-message repeats-
STOP HITTING YOURSELF
STOP HITTING YOURSELF
STOP HITTING YOURSELF

[SIMPLE IS BEST]

SPAM SPAM SPAM

[Mike M.]

Europeans shift long-held view that social benefits are untouchable.

Translation: reality bites...the left in the ass. Sadly Europe is approaching inevitable reality with a lot more maturity than we are so far here in America.

[cynical]

If you say so. I imagine that the left will turn to violence and intimidation first in order to force higher taxes. Good news is that if we resist here, we'll again be a safe haven for capital.

[The IRS]

This is why we want to tax foreign owned deposits in American banks!

[TrickyVic]

""?The 20th hijacker: The best-documented case of an abusive interrogation at Guant?namo was the coercive questioning, in late 2002 and early 2003, of Mohammed Qahtani. ""

Huh, that can't be the 20th hijacker because the govenment conviced a jury this guy was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zacarias_Moussaoui

[Zeb]

I thought he was the 19th hijacker.

[Joe M]

Astronaut Kelly was drinking at a pub Friday. His twin brother has an extremely hot girlfriend.

[????? ??????]

Thanks

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