Los Presos Españoles

From ABC News:

In what may turn out to be a landmark case, a Spanish court has started a criminal investigation into allegations that six former officials in the Bush administration violated international law by creating the legal justification for torture in Guantanamo Bay.

The officials named in the 98-page complaint include former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who once famously described the Geneva Conventions as “quaint” and “obsolete.”

Others include John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who wrote the so-called “torture memo” that justified waterboarding and other extreme interrogation methods for terror suspects.

Also named are: former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith; former General Counsel for the Department of Defense William Haynes II; Jay S. Bybee, formerly of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, former chief of staff and legal advisor to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

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(And yes, kids, I am just as upset as you are to find out that William Haynes II is the secret identity of Mr. Bean! 😯 )

Insanity Is Her Currency

From Think Progress:

Earlier this week, right-wing fanatic Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) started peddling false conspiracy theories that the world was moving toward a unified global currency — and that the U.S. might join in as early as next week’s G-20 conference. The myth was started when China’s central bank governor suggested replacing the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Though the suggestion has nothing to do with a unified global currency, Fox News’ Major Garrett decided to ask President Obama whether he supported the fictional prospect of such a move. (Obama, for the record, does not.)

Today on Glenn Beck’s radio show, Bachmann declared that the U.S. will soon be moving to “give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency.” Such action, she warned, would mean the U.S. as a country would be “no more”…

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Fuss-budgets

From The Huffington Post:

House Republican leaders called a press conference Thursday to unveil their “alternative budget.” While it was thin on specifics, it does include one major policy proposal: a huge tax cut for the wealthy.

…snip…

“Two nights ago, the president said, ‘We haven’t seen a budget yet out of Republicans.’ Well, it’s just not true, because here it is, Mr. President,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), waving a blue document in the air.

“Today we’re introducing a detailed road-to-recovery plan,” he told the reporters. Other than the tax proposal, however, the plan was absent any details.

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Darrell Issa issa Moron

From Politico:

House Republicans are pressing for a change in federal law that could force Michelle Obama and future first ladies to do more of their policy work in public. But Democrats warn President Obama may take the attempt personally “as an attack on his wife.”

The GOP effort is being led by the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), whose initial salvo was rebuffed recently at a contentious committee markup session. Under Issa’s amendment, any government policy group that Mrs. Obama or another first spouse regularly participates in would be subject to a law requiring meetings to be announced in advance and, in most instances, public.

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When life hands you a Lemon, make an ass out of yourself on TV!

From Talking Points Memo:

Michael Steele just doesn’t know how to stop.

Steele appeared on CNN this afternoon, and was asked by host Don Lemon whether he’s ever considered running for president, and right off the bat he managed to give the sensible, correct answer: “No. I’m telling you, I’m looking you in the eye honestly and telling you that, without blinking and without hesitation. Straight up.”

But then he was asked if he would ever consider doing it, and he kept the door open should the opportunity arise — even speaking in an optimistic, cheerful tone. “But, you know, God has a way of revealing stuff to you, and making it real for you, through others,” he said. “And if that’s part of the plan, it’ll be the plan. We may have this conversation in eight, ten, 12 years and you’ll sit back and you’ll play the tape back and say, ‘Oh, look at what you said!’ But it’ll be because that’s where God wants me to be at that time.”

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Michele-in-a-Handbasket

I’m a foreign correspondent on enemy lines and I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington.

From University of Minnesota’s Smart Politics blog:

During a Saturday afternoon interview on WWTC 1280 AM with The Northern Alliance’s John Hinderaker and Brian Ward, Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann discussed her staunch opposition to several Democratic-led efforts on Capitol Hill this session – such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the recently passed HR 1586 tax on bonuses for TARP recipients, and President Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan to reduce greenhouse gases.

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(And no, kids, I didn’t make those fingernails up!)

In Order to Form a More Perfect Union…or Not

From The Washington Post:

As business and labor gird for battle over legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize, the debate could be transformed by a “third way” proposed by three companies that like to project a progressive image: Costco, Starbucks and Whole Foods.

Like other businesses, the three companies are opposed to two of the Employee Free Choice Act’s components — a provision that would allow workers to form a union if a majority sign pro-union cards, without having to hold a secret-ballot election, and one that would impose binding arbitration when employers and unions fail to reach a contract after 120 days.

But the companies’ chief executive officers say they also recognize that just opposing the legislation, commonly called “card check,” is not enough because of the widespread perception in Democrat-dominated Washington that there is not a level playing field between labor and business. So the CEOs have come up with ideas they hope will form the basis of new legislation.

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Building Bridges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The governor of America’s largest state and the mayor of its largest city called on the federal government on Sunday to dramatically boost its spending on bridges, sewers, high-speed rail and other infrastructure.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” the United States needs to spend up to $1.6 trillion to make up for decades of neglect and stay globally competitive.

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