Well, I wouldn't pose the question if the answer was no. From Defense Tech:It'd be one thing if the NSA's massive sweep of our phone records was actually helping catch terrorists. But what if it's not working at all? A leading practitioner of the kind of analysis the NSA is supposedly performing in this surveillance program says that "it's a waste of time, a waste of … [Read more...] about Wiretapping Millions Makes Terrorists Harder To Find?

Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are seemingly saying "We feel your pain" to both sides of the immigration issue as they get read to pass a compromise measure. But will it actually become law? That depends on what happens in the House, which is far more problematical. The Washington Post:Senate leaders announced Thursday that they have a deal on how to proceed next week … [Read more...] about The Senate Will Get An Immigration Bill

President George Bush's polling numbers have now dipped below 30 percent in one key poll -- a political milestone:President Bush’s job-approval rating has fallen to its lowest mark of his presidency, according to a new Harris Interactive poll. Of 1,003 U.S. adults surveyed in a telephone poll, 29% think Mr. Bush is doing an “excellent or pretty goodâ€? job as president, … [Read more...] about Bush Poll Hits Super-Danger Low Mark

Dennis Sanders, Alan Stewart Carl and Sean Aqui discuss this new information about the NSA storing our calls. The question everybody is asking: When is it going to stop? … [Read more...] about More NSA Perspectives

Warrantless spying really brings out the best in them, doesn't it? … [Read more...] about The Tall Tales and Many Lies of the Bush Administration

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to President Bush has largely been rejected as unhelpful posturing, but a second and likely far more important letter, one that opens the door a crack to negotiations to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, has emerged. Here's Time: [A] second document, written by a top Iranian official and given to TIME just before Ahmadinejad's … [Read more...] about Iran’s other “olive branch” goes public

AMERICAblog is reporting that Mary Cheney, daughter of Dick, called John Kerry a "son of a bitch" and referred to John Edwards as "total slime" during an interview with Diane Sawyer. She even mouthed something quite vile at Edwards during the 2004 vice presidential debate (actually, something her father had previously said to Patrick Leahy). She was apparently upset that they … [Read more...] about The foul mouth of Mary Cheney

From the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. To Boeing, where he'll be senior vice president and general counsel. The Post has the story here. Of all the leading candidates for a spot on the Supreme Court, the two now held by Roberts and Alito, Michael Luttig was one of my favourites. That may not be saying much — I didn't exactly like many in the bunch, some of … [Read more...] about Michael Luttig resigns

When Gen. Michael Hayden's confirmation hearings start for CIA director you can expect more fireworks than expected due to a new twist that has now leaked out via this story:The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the … [Read more...] about NSA Program Involves Massive Database On Americans’ Phone Calls (UPDATED)

The papers report this morning that the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has ended its investigation into the role of DoJ lawyers in the development of the NSA warrantless eavesdropping program (NYTimes, WaPo). Why, you ask? OPR director H. Marshall Jarrett wrote yesterday to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, who had requested the investigation, to notify … [Read more...] about Justice Department Stops Investigating Itself over NSA Eavesdropping

Cough Cough, etc etc.. In addition to a bucket full of work all due on Friday, I'm sick. Runny nose, sore throat, stuffy sinuses, and overall sluggishness. My friends think it's the bird flu, but my money is on SARS. Ebola is at 15:1. Place your bets in the comments. … [Read more...] about Sick Pool

Which Fox News anchor will Tom Cruise hire to help him create a new image? I mean, we've seen this reaction somewhere, haven't we?Powerful Hollywood friends of Tom Cruise rallied to his defense on Wednesday as a new poll suggested the actor's odd behavior in recent months may have cost him millions of dollars at the box office. Days after his latest movie, "Mission: Impossible … [Read more...] about Will Tom Cruise Hire Fox News’ Tony Snow?

And, yes, Skippy, invented that term... But one of the facets of this new medium called blogging is how it's evolving. To some, perfectly. To others, less perfectly, into seemingly mutually exclusive warring camps. In recent days there has been much debate over the progressive blogosphere. Is it shutting people out for not embracing all generally accepted views? Here's one … [Read more...] about More Debate About Blogtopia

..at universities in China. … [Read more...] about Here’s How They Control The Internet

It has begun. They're heading not for the "last roundup" — but for the pre-election roundup. This time the cowboys are the politicos in the White House and in the GOP in Congress...rounding up the straying base, like the old cowboys of old rounded up the cattle. Question: can they round all of them up in time for November? Yes, if they use things to get back the … [Read more...] about GOP Poised To Deliver Bush Tax Cuts Amid Drive To Round Up Base (UPDATED)

Which country has the lowest gas prices in the world? Here's a hint...it's not in the Middle East. More here. … [Read more...] about 12 Cents A Gallon?

Obsidian Wings on the latest naked display of partisan bias by a Bush administration member: express dislike for the President, have your contract cancelled. Center-right Law Professor Eugene Volokh has the legal analysis. He seems pretty confient that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson violated the constitution and possible federal law. … [Read more...] about Spoils of Political War

Now Dean Esmay weighs in on Bill Clinton, what he meant to Democrats and what he should mean. Here's a small portion of his lively post where he starts out differing from one of our constant contentions:The Bush presidency isn't of the base, by the base, and for the base for nothing. There has been an outright refusal of the Democratic base to take even the tiniest twig of an … [Read more...] about More On Bill Clinton, Progressives And The Democrats

It doesn't stop there. … [Read more...] about You Think Gas Prices Are Screwed Up?

We'll give you a hint. His name begins with "J." … [Read more...] about Guess Who George Bush Says He’d Like To See As President?