Republicans probably are counting on Democrats to save them from the worst-case scenario. But let’s not overlook what we already know – Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has maintained, and nobody has denied, that Republicans personally assured the President that they would raise the debt limit.

We’re excited to announce the first virtual conference for the FDL Membership Program: on Monday night at 8pm EDT, we’ll have a discussion about Bradley Manning’s conditions and the latest news surrounding his detention with special guests David House, Ret. Col. Ann Wright, and Marcy Wheeler.

What would happen if the Republicans held a presidential primary and no one showed up?

The thing Republicans smartly did was to propose and pass the Ryan budget in the House in a week; because the health care bill took months to get off the ground, conservative activists were able to have plenty of time to mount a counter-offensive. The thing Republicans did not do so smartly was pass a bill that ended Medicare without having the Senate or the Presidency; now, that bill will linger, and continue to be a ripe subject for criticism.

The pattern is very familiar. The Fed, seeing no help on the horizon from fiscal policy, acted to improve the economy but did so in a measured and half-hearted way. Instead of setting a rate for long-term Treasuries to shoot for, they set a fixed amount of purchases at $600 billion. As a result, the partial effort did little to increase lending or create jobs. Rates never dropped, and companies have not been spurred to invest. The effort may have raised expectations that the Fed would act in the face of a sputtering economy, but by largely failing in the effort, it makes any further action far less credible.

The credibility of the military justice system is being undermined by the prosecution of Bradley Manning. His abusive punishment without trial violates his due process rights; his harsh treatment in solitary confinement-torture conditions violates the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment; and now the commander-in-chief has announced his guilt before trial making a fair trial impossible. A Bradley Manning exception to the Bill of Rights is developing as the Obama administration seeks Manning’s punishment no matter what constitutional protections they violate.

This happened in Kandahar, the city that was supposed to witness a rebirth after a NATO “clear, hold and build” operation last year. US officials insist that they are winning the fight and that the Taliban is weakened, but not weakened enough to stop them from building a giant, 360-meter tunnel and breaking 500-odd prisoners out in the middle of Kandahar. And the Taliban sent out word of the prison break BEFORE the prison security discovered it. In fact, the whole operation took four and a half hours overnight and security never saw anything until morning.

In short, the report on Abu Zubaydah reads partly like an attempt to glue together a lot of contradictory information–without assessing the credibility of any one piece of that information–and an either willful or unconscious effort to tell a narrative that justifies what those in charge of Gitmo were doing.

• Target: Gaddafi
• Why should we listen to Bush’s budget director?
• Krugman: Let’s take a hike.
• Thanks, SCOTUS!
• Tax cuts for millionaires: still unpopular.

Leaked documents bring the banality of GITMO and much of the so-called War on Terror back to light.