Best Hits from the Banana Republic

Propublica has produced a list of over 40 legal memos written by the Bush Administration detailing its secret legal positions on torture, detention and warrantless wiretapping. The preponderance of Jay S. Bybee and John Yoo's names on these memos should not surprised anyone. The October 23, 2001 memo that the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to military operations abroad or in the United States should be a real howl. The Fourth Amendment seemed to be the least favorite of the Bill of Rights for the Bush White House. With congressional approval or at least the approval of some 15 Congresspersons, the Bush Administration suspended the fourth amendment for over a year.

Bloggers on Democratic sites are hysterical about the rumors that Bush actually pardoned Karl Rove and Harriet Miers just prior to the inauguration. This was triggered by a comment on CNN by Rick Sanchez. It seems a little far-fetched because the rumor has that he was pardoned in perpetuity. But then again, the wording is so clumsy it might be Junior's work. Then the solution becomes Karl's elimination by the Riders of the Purple Sage.

Democrats are also crying about the appointment of Judd Gregg as Commerce Secretary, a post he voted to eliminate. Judd Gregg has been a congressman, Governor and Senator from New Hampshire. As we noted yesterday, he was one of the few Republicans willing to get into the weeds to figure out what the Bush bailouts were all about. He also has been supportive of Obama's stimulus plan because he actually knows the facts. He will be replaced by another Republican Bonnie Newman.
Maybe she will join the other Republican women as the only reliable bipartisan partners Obama has.

Spanish American war veteran and economic genius Senator John McCain has been sending out today e-mails urging his colleagues and dwindling group of supporters to oppose the stimulus package because it rewards big corporations. From the husband of a big corporation, this is a bit rich. Wasn't it a few months ago, McCain told us "The fundamentals of our economy are strong."? Of course, we need more tax cuts.

For their part, House Republicans published a list of all the programs in the House bill they thought were frills and the reason they couldn't vote for it. The total number is about 19 billion. So if you accept their list--which I don't--as wasteful, that makes 2% of the bill. And not every one, single Republican could accept that?

The birthers have filed another lawsuit. They also hail Col. James Poll, the judge at Gitmo for refusing to halt the trials of the military commissions despite President Obama's exective order to do so. Bad news for them, the DOD issued an official statement that the military commissions must obey President Obama's directive to suspend all legal proceedings there. No word whether Colonel James Poll will be busted to Private.

Remember when President Bush and John McCain called Barack Obama naive for proposing predator strikes against Al Qaeda in Pakistan. It has been alleged by our military that the leadership has been devastated with upward to a dozen senior and midlevel operatives killed as a result of these actions. Meanwhile, our famed CIA claims that about 100 fighters have graduated from the Al-Qaeda training camps and are prepared for possible terrorist operations in the West. Naturally, they say,"Where those people are and what they're doing, we don't know."

The Joint Chiefs of Staff as part of a review of policy in Afghanistan have urged Obama to narrow the focus to ensuring that country 'cannot be used as a base to launch attacks against the United States" and that the number one goal is to stop Al Qaeda. It suggests making the creation of a Western-style democracy a more long-term vision, not goal. For my two cents, the U.S. and its NATO allies should buy up the opium crop instead of continuing the futile strategy of trying to eradicate it.

Today the eighth largest economy in the world is bankrupt. California is literally broke, now forced to issue IOUs instead of checks. All college grants to students have been suspended and Medi-Cal payments have ceased. It's just one of the reasons Arnold was in town to lobby for the passage of the stimulus bill.

But in Mississippi, good Ole' Haley Barbour is saying he's not going to take any of that stimulus package because of strngs attached from the federal government. Must have to give some of it to the poor folk.