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6:50 AM ET, April 17, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
ACLU:
Abuse of Power: The Bush Administration's Secret Legal Memos  —  On April 16, 2009, the Department of Justice released four secret memos used by the Bush administration to justify torture:  —  A 18-page memo, dated August 1, 2002, from Jay Bybee, Assistant Attorney General, OLC, to John A. Rizzo, General Counsel CIA.
RELATED:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
For The Record  —  No mention of the torture memos appears right now on the Drudge Report (which provides news of a prank at Dominos pizza), Instapundit (which mentions the new DVD for the Lord of The Rings trilogy), Pajamas Media, or Michelle Malkin.  They are reacting to the evidence …
Discussion: Wizbang
Jeffrey Toobin In / New Yorker:
JEFFREY TOOBIN: HIDING JAY BYBEE  —  The newest round of “torture memos” have just been released by the Department of Justice.  I'm only just beginning to go through them, but I have a preliminary thought.  —  The first, and very chilling memo in the group is an analysis of the various techniques …
Discussion: CBS News, The Plank and Townhall.com
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama to release OLC torture memos; promises no prosecutions for CIA officials  —  [updated below - Update II -Update III (Interview w/ACLU's Jameel Jaffer - calls for a special prosecutor)]  —  In a just-released statement, Barack Obama announced that — in response to an ACLU FOIA lawsuit …
Spencer Ackerman / ATTACKERMAN:
Not Even Jesus Would Forgive What You Do  —  One of the Office of Legal Counsel memos that was released today was the famous hidden “Yoo-Bybee Two” or “Second Bybee Memo” from August 2002.  Recall that the first August 2002 OLC specified that it was acceptable to apply physical pain to a detainee …
Michael Scherer / Time:
Bush Approved Use of Insects in al-Qaeda Interrogations  —  The Bush Administration approved the use of “insects placed in a confinement box” during the interrogation of top Al Qaeda official Abu Zubaydah, according to a 2002 document that President Obama declassified for release Thursday.
Discussion: The Raw Story and Philly.com
New York Times:
Interrogation Memos Detail Harsh Tactics by the C.I.A.  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department made public on Thursday detailed memos describing harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency, as President Obama said that C.I.A. operatives who carried out the techniques would not be prosecuted.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Banality Of Evil  —  Perhaps you are reading these documents alongside me.  I've only read the Bybee memo, as chilling an artefact as you are ever likely to read in a democratic society, the work clearly not of a lawyer assessing torture techniques in good faith, but of an administration official tasked …
Discussion: Buck Naked Politics
New York Times:
President Obama's Statement on the Memos  —  Following is President Obama's statement on the release of memos by the Office of Legal Counsel, as provided by the White House.  —  The Department of Justice will today release certain memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005 as part of an ongoing court case.
ACLU:
Justice Department Releases Bush Administration Torture Memos
Discussion: Blog of Rights
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Depraved Judgment  —  First of all, good for Obama for releasing these OLC memos.
Discussion: marbury and The Mahablog
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Obama Explains Memo Release Decision
Discussion: Macsmind and Hullabaloo
Little Green Footballs:
LGF on Glenn Beck  —  I still don't have a working cable TV connection in my new top-secret underground facility, so I missed Glenn Beck's show today (I wouldn't have been watching anyway, to be honest), but I understand from several lizardoid reports that Beck had some things to say about me.
RELATED:
Jay / Stop The ACLU:
( Video) Glenn Beck Vs. Charles Johnson  —  Update: (Perhaps a coincidence or mistake, but for some reason my account at Little Green Footballs is suddenly blocked.  How odd.  Surely it was just a fluke; a mistake of some kind.  Maybe I should have took sides?)  —  It's at about 7 minutes in on this video.
Fox News:
Cable Anchors, Guests Use Tea Parties as Platform for Frat House Humor  —  Cable anchors and guests covered the anti-tax tea party protests by cracking a litany of barely concealed sexual references.  —  FOXNews.com  —  For thousands of Americans, Tax Day was a moment to protest …
RELATED:
Gateway Pundit:
Gutter Journalism: Angry Mainstream Media Reporters Use Nasty …
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Fox News Anchor: We Did Public Relations For Tea Parties
Discussion: Tom Watson
Wall Street Journal:
Authorities Investigate Payments by Rattner  —  Steven Rattner, the leader of the Obama administration's auto task force, was one of the executives involved with payments under scrutiny in a probe of an alleged kickback scheme at New York state's pension fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
Georgia Senate threatens to secede  —  What do they plan on fighting with, peaches?  Mind you, this comes on yesterday's threat by the GOP governor of Texas to secede as well.  —  Of course, what's really going on here is that Republicans are intentionally fanning the flames of violence …
Discussion: Liberty Street
RELATED:
Jamie Larson / The Register Star Online:
Tedisco asks to be declared winner  —  COLUMBIA COUNTY — 20th Congressional District candidate Republican Jim Tedisco submitted a petition to the Dutchess County Supreme Court Thursday asking the judge to declare him the winner of the extremely close special election race …
Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
NY-20: A WINNER EMERGING?
Discussion: Politicker NY
Huma Khan / Political Punch:
WH: No Religious Cover-up at Georgetown  —  ABC News' Karen Travers reports:  —  The White House is taking some heat today from conservative and Catholic bloggers who noticed that while President Obama delivered remarks on the economy at Georgetown University Tuesday, a monogram that is a symbol …
RELATED:
ABCNEWS:
Blind Amputee Has to Fight AIG for New Plastic Leg, Wheelchair  —  While Executives Get Bonuses, John Woodson Gets “Cheapest They Could Get Away With”  —  An Oklahoma man who lost an eye and a leg in Iraq says the giant insurance company AIG refused to provide him a new plastic leg and fought …
Discussion: AMERICAblog News
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Go Rick!  —  MSNBC is now picking up on the story of Gov. Perry of Texas hinting that the Stimulus Bill may be such a blow to the constitution that Texas may have to secede from the Union.  But according to MSNBC, while Perry was making the comments, the crowd started chanting, “Secede …
Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Open Left
RELATED:
Chloe Albanesius / PC Magazine:
Time Warner Scraps Bandwidth Cap Testing  —  Time Warner Cable has shelved plans to test consumption-based billing until it can improve its “customer education process,” the company announced Thursday.  —  “It is clear from the public response over the last two weeks that there is a great deal …
Eric Zimmermann / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Schakowsky: Tea parties ‘despicable’  —  Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) blasted “tea party” protests yesterday, labeling the activities “despicable” and shameful.  “The ‘tea parties’ being held today by groups of right-wing activists, and fueled by FOX News Channel, are an effort to mislead …
Newsdesk / Clout St:
Burris fundraising total: $845  —  U.S. Senator Roland Burris, the controversial appointee to the seat once held by President Barack Obama, is holding his first campaign fundraiser since he took office this weekend—and the financial report he filed this week shows he could use some political donations.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Awesome: Chicago tea partiers confront CNN hack after hit piece; Update: Hack did puff piece on lefty protests in January  —  A seamless conclusion to the smear job heard 'round the world, thanks to some amazingly fortuitous timing by Founding Bloggers.  On a day when the grassroots came …
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Did the GOP in Oregon really send these PSA scripts out to be made?  UPDATED  —  I'm in the process of verifying that the GOP in Oregon is in the process of having these new PSA's/commercials made. … I redacted the company letter head that the bids went out on.  Check out these docs.
 
 
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 More Items: 
CNN:
Afghanistan to change controversial ‘rape’ law
Glenn Reynolds / Pajamas Media:
POWER LINE: Tea Party Time in Minnesota: With video. …
Discussion: Power Line and TigerHawk
Frank J. Fleming / Pajamas Media:
Why Do the Pirates Plunder Us?
Charles Bremner / Times of London:
Sarkozy snipes at ‘dim’ Spanish PM and ‘weak’ Barack Obama
Discussion: Power Line
David Stout / New York Times:
U.S. Judge Sentences Iraqi Insurgent to 25 Years
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
In Mexico, Obama Seeks Curbs on Arms Sales
Discussion: Washington Post and The Agonist
Stephanie Clifford / New York Times:
Video Prank at Domino's Taints Brand
Discussion: Lean Left and Hot Air
 Earlier Items: 
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Perry: No Secession, At Least for Now!
Discussion: TPMDC
Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:
Amid All the Madness, the One Thing That Might Rescue the Republican …
Discussion: RADAMISTO
 

 
From Techmeme:

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: China's muted response to TikTok bill reflects the view that TikTok is of less strategic value than Huawei; China prefers TikTok US closure to sale

Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
The NHTSA finds that Tesla's driver-assist features insufficiently keep drivers engaged in the task of driving, and links them to 100+ crashes and 10+ deaths

Emanuel Maiberg / 404 Media:
Apple removes three AI image generation apps from the App Store after a 404 Media probe found the apps advertised being able to create nonconsensual nude images

 
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