Phillip Carter helped found Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America after a tour of duty advising the Iraqi police in Baqubah. He wrote amicus briefs in two Supreme Court cases, FAIR v. Rumsfeld and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, where the Court reined in the Bush Administration’s executive over-reach, and became a leading critic of their methods in the war on terror. When he was hired by the Defense Department in April to coordinate detainee policy and help with the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, civil liberties groups considered that the Obama Administration was moving in the right direction.

He abruptly resigned late last week.

Rahm Emanuel is making practically every staffer in the White House read Ronald Brownstein’s completely uninformed article about the great “free market economagic” cost saving solutions in the Senate bill. This explains a lot about why the current health care reform proposals are so bad. This is probably the single worst piece of news I have heard during the entire health care debate. If someone as powerful as Rahm thinks there is any value in Brownstein’s writing, reform is in very bad shape.

Remember all that “sexist!” outrage about the Palin Newsweek cover? Doesn’t apply here. Of course I’m aware that neither radio host is suggesting that Landrieu actually traded sex for $300 million. I get that it’s a metaphor. But its a misogynist one that never gets applied to male senators. It works by making her political [...]

The Top-10 signs you are a Republican somewhat interchangeable with Jeff Foxworthy’s act.

The Blues Brothers Band — Rubber Biscuit live on New Years Eve, 1978, at Winterland in San Francisco, CA. TBBB were featured along with The New Riders of The Purple Sage and The Grateful Dead at this show, the final Winterland concert.
What’s on your mind?

Let’s talk turkey (Limbaugh) and dinner (tonight’s State Dinner at the White House), which pretty much will be over by the time we’re chatting away.

WaPo’s Ruth Marcus is the latest to lament that the barely-acceptable is the enemy of the godawful, both on the air and in print.

We’ve known for years that when Jane Harman asked Scott Muller in 2003 whether the President had authorized torture, he basically blew her off. But we now know that Muller consulted with the White House åbout how to respond to her.

Indulge me for a minute while I talk California state politics. I swear there’s a lesson for everyone… John Garamendi, the state’s Lieutenant Governor, won election to Congress earlier this month. Arnold Schwarzenegger has the opportunity to appoint a replacement, who must then be confirmed by the Senate. He named that replacement last night on [...]

Dawn Johnsen going to come up for a vote after the health care bill is finshed. Heaven help the GOP if they try to stall on the floor of the Senate. The OPR report on the Yoo and ByBee memos will be out by then and available for use as a cudgel if the GOP tries to burn floor time and run out the clock.