Courting The Hispanic Vote & The McHuckabee Love Affair

Now that Mitt is out of the running and Hill & O are in a dead heat these two Democrats start courting the Hispanic vote and we watch as young lovers John McCain & Mike Huckabee come together and find ways to unite the GOP far right voting block.

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The New McHucakabee Love Affair

Race For The White House

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Select An Industry opensecrets.org

DOJ urges judge to dismiss lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary over CIA rendition role

US District Judge James Ware of the US District Court for the Northern District of California heard arguments Tuesday on the government’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan on state secrets grounds. The Justice Department argued that the lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over Jeppesen’s alleged role in the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program, poses a risk to national security. The ACLU argued against the motion, saying that since the rendition program is already made public, national security concerns are outweighed. The government has asserted similar state secrets claims in other national security cases. Ware did not decide on the motion to dismiss at Tuesday’s hearing, but said he would issue a written opinion shortly.
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AP

absolute zero or group soul?

Bush administration acknowledges and defends use of torture technique

The White House publicly acknowledged on Wednesday that President Bush has authorized the use of waterboarding, and that he may do so again in the future. The statements amount to an open admission of criminal activity on the part of the US government.

The acknowledgement from White House deputy spokesman Tony Fratto came a day after testimony from CIA Director Michael Hayden before the Senate Intelligence Committee. For the first time, Hayden officially stated that the Bush administration had used waterboarding on three prisoners in 2002 and 2003.

Waterboarding is a form of torture used since the Spanish Inquisition. It involves pouring water over a prisoner’s head to cause drowning, and has been prosecuted as torture by the United States government in the past. While the Bush administration is now stretching language and credulity to claim that it should not be categorized as torture, the director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, acknowledged on Wednesday that “taken to its extreme, [the consequences of waterboarding] could be death; you could drown someone.”

Fratto said that whether or not the president would approve waterboarding would “depend on the circumstances,” including whether or not “an attack might be imminent.” Fratto insisted that waterboarding “was brought before the Department of Justice and they made a determination that its use under specific circumstances and with safeguards was lawful.”

The administration feels able to come out openly in defense of waterboarding because it is confident that there will be no serious challenge from within the Democratic Party and the political establishment as a whole.

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