Bulletin: U.S. Exempts Itself Against Torture Law

Bulletin: U.S. Exempts Itself Against Torture Law

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With the release of the long awaited report on the use of torture during the Bush/Cheney reign of terror following 9-11, public statements by current elected federal officials and many serving with Bush/Cheney, the United States of America appears to have exempted itself from all domestic and international law prohibiting torture.
Saturday Open Thread [12.13.14]

Saturday Open Thread [12.13.14]

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Andrew Sullivan calls bullshit on something that we have heard from coward Wall Street Democrats like Chuck Schumer:
I’ve heard this a million times now and I simply don’t understand it. In terms of chronology, Obama did put the economy first. With TARP and the stimulus and the auto-bailout, the key measures to shore up a flat-lining economy were taken in short order. You could plausibly argue, I think, that in retrospect, Obama should have gone bigger, and produced a much more ambitious stimulus. But, as someone who observed this close-up and in real time, the odds of that actually happening were close to zero. And if it had happened, the stimulus would have been even less popular – and more easily demagogued – than it actually was. The problem was not the timing or the seriousness of the response; it was the seriousness of the problem. When an economy has a near-death experience, on top of huge public and private debt, the recovery will tend to be exactly what this recovery was: long, sad at first, and later … well, we don’t know yet, do we?
Jack Markell Offers Another Phony Choice. Just In Time for Christmas: Coal for the Laborers.

Jack Markell Offers Another Phony Choice. Just In Time for Christmas: Coal for the Laborers.

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OK, kids, take some time and read this article. It's not long. I'll wait. Markell sets up a completely phony choice as the supposed upcoming battle for the 'soul of the Democratic Party'.  According to Markell, the choice is middle-class jobs vs. 'income redistribution', aka a living wage:
Markell said Democrats should pursue an "agenda around growth rather than an agenda around redistribution," saying that "there aren't a lot of people with middle class jobs who are aspiring to an increase in the minimum wage."
So, on behalf of this state's economic overlords, our putative Democratic governor wants to set up a battle of the middle class vs. those who need a living wage.  Uh, by the way, in such a battle, neither the middle class nor those in need of a minimum wage wins. The economic overlords do. BTW, Jack, there's no reason whatsoever why you can't or shouldn't pursue an agenda that promotes both growth for the middle class and a living wage. Geez, some of those people earning a living wage could become, dare I say it, middle class.