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Banned Techniques Yielded ‘High Value Information,’ Memo Says — WASHINGTON - President Obama's national intelligence director told colleagues in a private memo last week that the harsh interrogation techniques banned by the White House did produce significant information that helped the nation in its struggle with terrorists.
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CIA Confirms: Waterboarding 9/11 Mastermind Led to Info that Aborted 9/11-Style Attack on Los Angeles — (CNSNews.com) - The Central Intelligence Agency told CNSNews.com today that it stands by the assertion made in a May 30, 2005 Justice Department memo that the use of “enhanced techniques” …
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Right Pundits, BBC, Gateway Pundit, Flopping Aces, Pat Dollard, Macsmind, PoliGazette, NewsBusters.org and Pundit & Pundette


In Adopting Harsh Tactics, No Inquiry Into Their Past Use — WASHINGTON — The program began with Central Intelligence Agency leaders in the grip of an alluring idea: They could get tough in terrorist interrogations without risking legal trouble by adopting a set of methods used on Americans during military training.

Obama Won't Bar Inquiry, or Penalty, on Interrogations — WASHINGTON — President Obama left the door open Tuesday to creating a bipartisan commission that would investigate the Bush administration's use of harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects, and did not rule out action …
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The Politico, Washington Post, Political Punch, CBS News, Politics and Critical Thinking, The Plum Line, Fox News, Right Wing News, Chris Floyd Online, Salon, DownWithTyranny!, Political Machine, Jules Crittenden, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Shakesville, RedState, PERRspectives, Newshoggers.com, PoliGazette and Think Progress

Source: Despite Claim, Cheney Didn't Really Ask CIA To Release Torture Intelligence — Did Dick Cheney really “formally” ask the CIA to release reams of intelligence allegedly showing that the torture program worked, as Cheney claimed last night on Fox News?
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Emptywheel, Talking Points Memo, Salon, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice and Washington Monthly

CIA: We stand behind our actions — and the results — With Barack Obama releasing the OLC memos and branding them as all but criminal and leaving the door open to prosecutions connected to the interrogation of Al-Qaeda terrorists, one might expect the CIA to retreat from its earlier defense of its actions.
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit

Is Cheney Panicking? — The one thing you saw most plainly …
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Fox News, Newshoggers.com, Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Moderate Voice and RADAMISTO

Prosecutors Considering Dropping Espionage Charges Against Former AIPAC Lobbyists — Review Comes Amid Reports That Rep. Harman Was Overheard on Wiretaps Agreeing to Seek Lenient Treatment for Them — Federal prosecutors are considering whether to drop the charges against two former pro …
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Rep. calls alleged wiretap ‘abuse of power’ — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A key Democrat who reportedly was overheard on a National Security Agency wiretap discussing a deal with a suspected Israeli agent has called the wiretap an “abuse of power.” — Rep. Jane Harman, D-California …

Harman ‘Outraged’ Over Alleged Wiretapping
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Daily Kos, TPMMuckraker, Mondoweiss, Gawker, MyDD, The Huffington Post and The Plum Line


Civil War Raging in Right-Wing Blogosphere — Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, jazz musician and Web designer Charles Johnson has devoted his blog, Little Green Footballs, to exposing Muslim extremism in and outside the United States. His targets have included the Council …
Discussion:
Gates of Vienna, Little Green Footballs, The Other McCain, Liberty Street, Sadly, No! and American Power

THIESSEN RATIONALIZES MUSLIM TORTURE... Just 48 hours after President Obama was inaugurated, former Bush chief speechwriter Marc Thiessen said Obama “is already proving to be the most dangerous man ever to occupy the Oval Office.” With a record like this, it's probably unwise to expect …
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Hullabaloo
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Mark Thiessen: It Was Torture
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Power Line, OxBlog, The Moderate Voice, Patterico's Pontifications, Wonk Room and Comments from Left Field

How they lie: a case study — Did an Obama judicial nominee really express a preference for Allah over Jesus? No, not by a long shot — From the second I read the sentence, I knew there was something fishy about it. Many years' experience in reading and then looking into rightwing canards set off …
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RFK Jr. Blasts Obama as ‘Indentured Servant’ to Coal Industry — Critics Say Clean Coal Is a Boondoggle; ‘Clean Coal Is a Dirty Lie’ — “Clean coal is a dirty lie,” says environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who calls President Barack Obama and other politicians who commit taxpayer money to develop it …
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Robert Kennedy: Obama “indentured servant” to coal industry
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The Huffington Post


THE POLIITICAL LEFT: UNITED IN HATE WITH AMERICA'S FOES — Cliff May reminds us that there is a reason why the political left in this country has made common cause with Militant Islamists: … In the few short months that the dedicated leftist Barack Obama has been in the White House …

Just Out — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse predicted on MSNBC the release of a DOJ report on torture memos is imminent, and the report will be “devastating.” — A poll of New York state voters shows that 59% support legalizing gay marriage. — Calling out the DOJ for “gross abuse of power,” …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice


McCain demands White House apology — (CNN) - A recent report from the Department of Homeland Security is downright “insulting” to veterans, Arizona Sen. John McCain said Monday. — In an interview on FOX News, the Vietnam veteran and former Republican presidential candidate …


Matt Drudge Goes Into Hiding — Days after Matt Drudge popped up to tell New York magazine about how he doesn't enjoy having sex with men, The New Republic looks into his descent into Howard Hughes-like isolation. — As Gabriel Sherman puts it, Drudge fears the media …
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New York Magazine


Report Gives New Detail on Approval of Brutal Techniques — WASHINGTON — A newly declassified Congressional report released Tuesday outlined the most detailed evidence yet that the military's use of harsh interrogation methods on terrorism suspects was approved at high levels of the Bush administration.

Presidents 42 and 43 Team Up for a Chat — Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are headed up north for a little friendly back-and-forth. — The two will appear at the Metro Toronto Convention Center on May 29, in their first public appearance together since Mr. Bush left office in January.
Discussion:
Connecting.the.Dots

Banks Reject U.S. Terms for Cutting Chrysler Debt — A group of big banks and other lenders rebuffed a Treasury Department request that they slash 85% of Chrysler LLC's secured debt, proposing instead to eliminate about 35% in exchange for a minority stake in the restructured car maker and a seat on its board.

McCain facing 2010 primary — Social conservatives tolerated John McCain as the party's nominee, but never trusted him, and he now appears to be facing a serious primary from the right in Arizona next year. — Chris Simcox, the founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and a prominent figure …
Discussion:
PoliGazette, Politics and Critical Thinking, Salon, Hot Air, Democracy in America and CBS News

More Miss California: I oppose bailouts and welfare — Skip ahead to 2:00. Dude. She's one of us. — Actually, don't skip ahead. This clip's even better than the “Today” segment, especially when she talks about what went through her mind when she was asked the question at the pageant.

What Would You Not Do to Stop a Nuke? — Assume, arguendo, this hypothetical. — It is Inauguration day. President Obama is about to be sworn is as 44. Virtually everyone in federal office is there. Congressmen, Senators, the Supremes, the new cabinet. Get the picture?


Somali pirate's smile turns to tears; could face life — Abdiwali Abdiqadir Muse, right, cries as the judge asks his lawyer, Phillip Weinstein, about Muse's age in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday. The judge ruled he could be tried as an adult. — A Somali sea bandit wept as he was hit …

Obama Signs Volunteer Bill With Nod to Kennedy Era — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Tuesday became the latest Democratic president to emulate John F. Kennedy's call for national service as he signed legislation to triple the size of the Americorps program and called on Americans to volunteer time to improve their communities.

Lieberman: U.S. to accept any Israeli decision — The Obama Administration will put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to, said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in his first comprehensive interview on foreign policy since taking office. — “Believe me, America accepts …
Discussion:
Mondoweiss

Why Hillary Is President — You know those figures that Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn used in his WSJ column, the ones that seemed like BS? … Well, they were BS! Room 8 notes that Penn a) assumed that all bloggers saying they'd like to make money are actually making money.

Into the Dark — A long time reader chimes in ... It sort of baffles me too. I think a lot of people just fooled themselves about Cheney's politics. But I've had enough people (with sufficient proximity to speak with some authority) say things like this that I think it's possible …

Of Course It Was Torture — This article appeared in the DC Examiner on April 20, 2009. … On Thursday, the Obama administration released previously classified memos detailing interrogation techniques used against enemy prisoners. In the memos, Bush administration lawyers assured the CIA …
Discussion:
Upturned Earth