It's a pleasure to be participating in this "First Monday" chat at Firedoglake. There are certainly a great number of things to discuss regarding the Bush Administration's detention, torture and surveillance policies, as well as the U.S. Attorney scandal and, more generally, the Administration's radical view of Executive prerogatives. The granular details of the story are becoming a bit clearer all the time, especially with the publication of superlative accounts such as Philippe Sands's Torture Team, Jane Mayer's The Dark Side, and, tomorrow, Bart Gellman's long-awaited book Angler, on the central role played by Vice President Cheney and his staff.