The Republican and Independents who have heard the most about it disapprove of it the strongest, while better informed Democrats are more likely to rally around the Obama administration.

Sadly, this is not an isolated incident of reflexive partisan defensiveness. Many things Democrats once disapproved of under George W. Bush, like unauthorized military intervention, they support because Obama did it.

Bush engaged in many abuses of power but in some ways Obama may have done even more significant long-term damage by normalizing these abuses and giving them a bipartisan seal of approval. Obama has helped turn principled concerns into just another partisan fight.

Kim is believed by the government to have disclosed classified information to Rosen about North Korea. The FBI claims to have evidence that Rosen “solicited” information from Kim.

Special Agent Reginald B. Reyes of the FBI declared in an affidavit, “I believe there is probable cause to conclude that the contents of the wire and electronic communications pertaining to SUBJECT ACCOUNT are evidence, fruits and instrumentalities of criminal violations of 18 USC 793(d) (Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information), and that there is probable cause to believe that the Reporter has committed or is committing a violation of 793(d), as an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator, to which the materials relate.” [italics added]

The argument that there was probable cause that Rosen violated 793(d)—a section of the Espionage Act—was used to obtain further access to records in Rosen’s email account from Google.

James Goodale, former general counsel of the New York Times, who argued the Pentagon Papers case, would likely find this conclusion to be incorrect. In his book, Fighting for the Press, he points out the government submitted a “memorandum of law” where they argued the Times had violated 793(d). This section is only supposed to apply to government employees.

However, there is another way to think about this legal interpretation: the FBI thinks Rosen made it possible for Kim to commit his crime and, without Rosen’s assistance, he would have never leaked classified information. [cont'd]

• Nationally, nearly half of all seniors (48%) live with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty threshold under the supplemental measure, compared to 34 percent under the official measure.³  The share of seniors with incomes below 200 percent of poverty is higher under the supplemental measure in every state than under the official measure.⁴
• Under the supplemental measure, at least two-fifths of seniors (40%) have incomes below 200 percent of poverty in 48 states and in DC; using the official measure, this is the case in only six states.
• At least half of seniors have incomes below 200 percent of poverty in 10 states and DC based on the supplemental measure: DC (59%); California (56%); Hawaii (55%); Georgia (54%); Louisiana, New York, Rhode Island, and Tennessee (52%); Florida and Mississippi (51%); and Arizona (50%).

Of course in light of this new data many elected officials in Washington, including President Obama, call for making the problem significantly worse by cutting Social Security benefits using the Chained-CPI.

It should be noted that even without cutting government programs this problem will likely get much worse in the future. The pension system has been steadily eroding for years, which should leave many Americans with insufficient income when they try to retire.

Aafia Siddiqui

The new head of the CIA National Clandestine Service, Francis “Frank” Archibald, is listed in the Wikileaks Cables as authoring a confidential report from the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan regarding the naming of the embassy legal attache in a detainee torture case. Archibald discloses his involvement in communicating with other U.S. officials regarding public statements and press reports concerning the case. Archibald was under cover as an official of the U.S. State Department at the time.

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD

SUBJECT: EMBASSY LEGAL ATTACHE NAMED IN CASE INVOLVING ALLEGED BAGRAM DETAINEE

Classified By: CDA Frank Archibald, Reasons 1.4 (b), (d)

¶1. (C) Summary: Islamabad attorney Javed Jaffrey filed a habeas corpus petition July 29 on behalf of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national who allegedly has been held and mistreated at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility since 2004. The court July 30 ordered Interior Ministry Secretary Shah to report on her alleged detention on September 9. End summary.

¶2. (C) Islamabad attorney Javed Iqbal Jaffery (who also represents Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan) filed a habeas corpus petition with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) July 29 on behalf of Aafia Siddiqui a Pakistani national. There have been a spate of press reports about Siddiqui following a July 6 press conference in which UK journalist Yvonne Ridley accused the U.S. of holding and perhaps torturing an unnamed woman in solitary confinement since 2004 at the Bagram Theater Internment Facility. The IHC ordered Interior Ministry Secretary Kamal Shah to report on Siddique’s status, but for now the court exempted the other respondents, who include the Embassy’s Legal Attach, President Musharraf, and former President Farooq Ahmad Leghari. The IHC adjourned the case until September 9.

¶3. (C) According to press reports, Jaffrey claims in the petition that U.S. operatives kidnapped Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, with her three children, in 2004 as part of an al Qaeda hunt. It also charged that the U.S. moved her to the Bagram Theater Internment Facility with the help of Pakistani authorities. Jaffrey also petitioned the IHC to ask the respondents whether Siddiqui had been killed in detention. If she is alive, Jaffrey wants her presented before the Court and given compensation for the illegal detention.

Archibald is not merely reporting back to superiors the facts of the case derived from public information. In a comment he offered in his report he discusses participating in the case by being involved in communication with U.S. officials at the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan.

¶5. (C) Comment: It is unclear who is paying Jaffrey and/or orchestrating this campaign on Siddiqui’s behalf. Siddiqui has family living in Karachi and noted politicians, including Imran Khan, continue their vocal support for her cause. Bagram officials have assured us that they have not been holding Siddiqui for the last four years, as has been alleged. End comment.

The Aafia Siddiqu case that Archibald was involved with became controversial in Pakistan. The facts surrounding Siddiqui’s activities and arrest remain in dispute and though she was eventually tried and convicted in New York City her case remains controversial due to questions surrounding her possible kidnapping, detainment, and torture by U.S. forces as well as disputes regarding forensic evidence and due process rights.

The extent of Archibald’s involvement with the case is unknown. Nor is it known what role Archibald played in other cases involving covert activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Previous to his assignment(s) in the Middle East Archibald was believed to be under official cover in the Malaysian Embassy as a Regional Affairs Officer for the State Department. Before becoming head of the National Clandestine Service Archibald was head of the Latin American Division.

11:40 AM EST The judge read a ruling with regards to what evidence on the contents and circumstances of the information, prospective damage that could have been caused to the US on the date of release and defense rebuttals to testimony would be relevant.

She essentially found this sort of information would be relevant to to proving he had violated 793e, a section of the Espionage Act, and related to the national defense. Also, she found it it was relevant to whether the information he is charged with disclosing was intelligence that was “true or at least in part” and the value element of violations of a federal larceny statute, as well as the charges that allege he engaged in conduct that was “service discrediting” to the military.

UPDATE – 11:00 AM EST The government will not be pursuing the greater offense related to Manning’s disclosure of a diplomatic cable from the US embassy Reykjavik, Iceland. He pled guilty to lesser offense included in the specification of the charge on February 28.

Creative Commons-licensed Photo by savebradley

Original Post

A final pretrial hearing in the court martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning is being held today at Fort Meade in Maryland. Decisions on how to handle testimony from classified witnesses during the trial, which begins on June 3, are expected.

The hearing was previously scheduled to go until Friday, May 24, however, a legal matter expert from the military suggests the hearing could conclude this afternoon.

Military judge Army Col. Denise Lind opened court and said a closed session was necessary on May 7. A “dry run” was held where the judge explored how to keep proceedings as open as possible. Several iterations of cross-examination were conducted to see how much information could be elicited without spilling classified information.

Manning has access to classified discovery evidence. He was present during the “dry run” session. As the accused, he should be able to see all evidence against him and remain present during all closed sessions of the trial.

While these changes may not have any implications for Manning’s trial, the press was given notice that the military rules of evidence (MRE) were recently amended on May 15. According to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, whenever there is a change in federal rules of evidence, changes are made so they remain consist with federal rules.

Search and seizure rules, confessions and admissions rules and Miranda rights rules were amended. There were adjustments to who can make classification decisions with regards to turning over classified evidence and how to request ex parte reviews (reviewing evidence for one party alone). There could be discussion this afternoon or in the morning about what impact this might have.

Deliberation over defense witnesses Ambassador Peter Galbraith, Professor Yochai Benkler and Col. Morris Davis. Specifically, discussion could involve efforts to obtain or update security clearances for each of them.

*

I am in the media center at Fort Meade. There is a good amount of press here: The Washington Post, Associated Press, The Guardian, Courthouse News, Al Jazeera English, Agence France Presse, Huffington Post, Alexa O’Brien, Nathan Fuller of the Bradley Manning Support Network and a few others who I do not know. Clark Stoeckley is here doing sketches.

Look for updates on Twitter at @kgosztola and at the top of this post throughout the day.

White House Spokesman Jay Carney’s earlier statements regarding White House knowledge of the IRS scandal failed to disclose that the President’s Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, knew about the situation weeks before the IRS report was published adding another name to the list of people who surrounded President Obama that knew about the report while the president did not.

The White House on Monday once again added to the list of people who knew about the IRS investigation into its targeting of conservative groups — saying White House chief of staff Denis McDonough had been informed about a month ago.

Press secretary Jay Carney said again that no one had told President Barack Obama ahead of the first news reports: not his top aide McDonough, nor his chief counsel Kathy Ruemmler, nor anyone from the Treasury Department.

This is the fifth time the story has changed.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney originally acknowledged that the counsel’s office had been told of the investigation during a press briefing last Monday. But Carney didn’t explicitly say Ruemmler had learned that conservative groups were targeted and how they were singled out…

Ruemmler did inform chief of staff Denis McDonough’s office of the investigation, Carney said, and other senior staff were also told of the report. Carney wouldn’t say who those other staffers were, but did say there were communications between White House and Treasury Department staff ahead of the first news reports of the IRS investigation 10 days ago.

So the White House Chief Counsel, the White House Chief of Staff and “other senior staff” decided to let President Obama get blindsided by the report? Was there some plan to keep the president purposely out of the loop? Is this a common practice in the Obama White House?

Lets see if the story changes again.

Dawn at Jericoacora beach, Ceara, Brazil.

Hello.

❖ Breaking:  ”One of the worst tornadoes in history”.   Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City, OK was worst hit.  Widespread destruction.  Live video here.

International Developments

❖ “Syrian army claims to have seized rebel stronghold [Qusair]” while Israel “threatens more air strikes”.

❖ Attacks around Iraq have killed “at least 70 in Shia, Sunni areas: Baghdad car bomb kills 13 in latest attack as week-long death toll rises to at least 213.”  Update:  86 are reported dead.  10 car bombs in Baghdad alone, more in “Shia Basra and Sunni Samarra”.

❖ Seven members of Egypt’s security forces “were seized last week in the Sinai peninsula.”  Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi says there’s “no room for dialogue with the criminals.”  Update:  “Egyptian tanks and armored personnel carriers are now in the Sinai.

International Finance

❖ The European Commission’s “investigation into the possible manipulation of energy price benchmarks has widened, with Brussels seeking new information from trading houses”.  Last week they actually raided “BP, Royal Dutch Shell, . . . Statoil of Norway”, and Platts, “the price reporting agency”.

❖ “Another week, another fund manager arrested for alleged insider trading.”  That would be Mark Lyttleton, “former star manager at BlackRock, the world’s largest investment house.”

❖ Seems all that Swiss bank secrecy is coming to an end.

Money Matters USA

❖ The US Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee are “discussing” a bill that would “give Barack Obama authority to pass planned trade deals with the EU and 11 Pacific nations swiftly”.  Business groups are planning to “educate” Congress, and us, about how great this is.

❖ According to the Congressional Budget Office, President Obama’s budget “would trim projected federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the coming decade.”

❖ Sheila Bair, who should know, says Dodd-Frank actually did end TBTF and tax-payer bailouts are a thing of the past. [cont'd.]

Photo by Bart van Dorp under Creative Commons license

The National Weather Service was able to post warnings and probably saved hundreds of lives. Sadly, the tornado occurred so suddenly and powerfully the death toll is so far is still 91 and possibly climbing much higher.

Oklahoma’s Senators have a good track record of gumming up the works for disaster relief whenever it is needed.

Late last year, Inhofe and Coburn both backed a plan to slash disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. In a December press release, Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained “wasteful spending,” and identified a series of items he objected to, including “$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies.”

Coburn spokesman John Hart on Monday evening confirmed that the senator will seek to ensure that any additional funding for tornado disaster relief in Oklahoma be offset by cuts to federal spending elsewhere in the budget.

Yes, they are still pulling victims from the debris and Tom Coburn’s mind is on making sure other poor souls get harmed too. But he’ll get credit for consistency, without mentioning the consistency is for being horrible.

The Doors – When The Music’s Over

From The Doors Facebook page…

…Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, passed away today at 12:31PM PT at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer. He was 74. At the time of his passing, he was surrounded by his wife Dorothy Manzarek, and his brothers Rick and James Manzarek… … Manzarek is survived by his wife Dorothy, brothers Rick and James Manczarek, son Pablo Manzarek, Pablo’s wife Sharmin and their three children Noah, Apollo and Camille. Funeral arrangements are pending. The family asks that their privacy be respected at this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, please make a memoriam donation in Ray Manzarek’s name at www.standup2cancer.org

R.I.P. Ray…! What’s on your mind tonite…?

Via a friend on Facebook, sweet baby Jesus: 

Last week, on the first stop of the $45 tour, guide Lynn Battaglia, from Pittsburgh, pointed out a housing project. She then mocked the Grand Concourse, modeled after a Parisian boulevard.

“Do you feel like we’re on the Champs-Elysées?” she teased a couple from Paris.

As the bus idled across from historic St. Ann’s Episcopalian Church, Battaglia launched into a description of the crime, poverty and violence that plagued the South Bronx during the 1970s recession.

As she spoke, a line of two dozen poor people — including one man visibly agitated by the onlookers — waited for handouts from the church pantry.

“I don’t know what that line’s about, but every Wednesday we see it,” Battaglia told the tourists. “We see them go in with empty carts, and we see them come out with carts full.”

The bus stopped in front of St. Mary’s Park, where she credited Mayor Rudy Giuliani for curbing crime.

“If it were 1980 and you said to me, ‘Lynn, I want to die.’ My answer would be, ‘You’re in the right neighborhood,’ ” she said.

Chicago does some of these types of things too, true-crime tours and mob-themed tours and things, and it’s always gross, but not quite as gross as making people’s poverty your fucking theme park. Do all your proceeds, and not profits, I mean proceeds, go to helping this neighborhood? No? Then how dare you use it as your set piece? Even then, how dare you? THEY LIVE THERE. This is their HOME. If it seems so horrible to you, if it seems so unsafe and scandalous and you’re being so very daring, think about how it must be to be there, all the time.

(“They should move then.” I can hear it now. Bitchass, not everybody sees problems where you do, and also, abandoning your parents’ and grandparents’ homes is hard, even if you do have the means. Which, all things being equal, moving is fucking expensive. Even if you and a few friends and a case of Bud Light do it, moving is expensive. Do YOU have the equivalent of first and last month’s market-rate yuppie-ville rent plus security deposit on you at all times, and a job from which you can take time off to look for a new place without losing more money? If not, STFU.)

This goes back to the whole “I can’t go there without a sidearm” kind of thing I was talking about before, where you assume people who don’t live in your neighborhood aren’t real. They don’t, say, get up and go to work or come home and sit on their porch reading or listening to the game. They don’t love their children or drive through the hamburger place or check books out of the library or get their hair cut or drink coffee. They think violence is normal and gang affiliation is awesome and everybody be slingin’ tonight. Their ways are strange to us all. I mean, God Almighty:

“I don’t know what that line’s about, but every Wednesday we see it,” Battaglia told the tourists. “We see them go in with empty carts, and we see them come out with carts full.”

GO ASK JESUS HOW HARD IS THIS SHIT. Go over to the strange “natives” and ask what’s up. Nine times out of 10, someone will tell you, gladly. This is America, almost everybody speaks enough English to satisfy your curiosity about almost anything at all, and even those that don’t will find you somebody who does or get by with hand gestures, because 90 percent of people are basically decent and want to help your clueless ass so long as it doesn’t unduly interfere with their days.

I am all for visiting everywhere in a place when you visit it. And I know that sometimes that can be a knife-edge of difference between looking and gawking, and I’m absolutely sure I’ve come down on the wrong side of it in my life. But there are about a hundred miles between going to see a place you are curious about, and making a buck alienating human beings from one another. This company is gross.

A.