Next he’ll want a Cone of Silence

From TALKING POINTS MEMO:

The Environmental Protection Agency is spending $24,570 to build a “privacy booth” for the agency’s chief, Scott Pruitt, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Original poster (titled It’s for You)

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When the Inmates Take Over

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Immigrants seeking asylum in the United States have been disproportionately rejected by judges whom the Bush administration chose using a conservative political litmus test, according to an analysis of Justice Department data.

The analysis suggests that the effects of a patronage-style selection process for immigration judges — used for three years before it was abandoned as illegal — are still being felt by scores of immigrants whose fates are determined by the judges installed in that period.

Original DVD cover.

How should I know if something’s illegal? I’m just the Attorney General!

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said Wednesday that while he would consider it torture if he underwent the harsh Central Intelligence Agency interrogation technique known as waterboarding, the practice was not necessarily illegal, and he would not rule out its use in the future.

…snip…

“Would waterboarding be torture if it were done to you?” asked Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, glowering at Mr. Mukasey.

“I would feel that it was,” Mr. Mukasey acknowledged in the low monotone that he uses in virtually all public settings.

But the attorney general, a retired federal judge, would not be drawn into a larger conversation with Senator Kennedy or other Democrats over whether waterboarding might amount to torture if it was carried out on others, including American citizens held abroad.

Original DVD cover.

Mahmoud Gets Schooled

From CNN:

Columbia University president Lee Bollinger took Iran’s president to task Monday, bluntly criticizing his record and saying he exhibits “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator.”

Bollinger’s assessment came as he introduced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to an audience of students and faculty.

Original DVD cover.

“I Have a Letter” is the New “I Don’t Recall”!

First Monica Goodling, and now the sequel.
From the Washington Post:

It took just nine minutes into the question-and-answer session this morning for Sara M. Taylor to make her first “very-clear-letter” reference. The former White House political director, appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee about its ongoing investigation into the firings last year of U.S. attorneys, was asked whether she had ever spoken directly to President Bush about the dismissals.

“I have a very clear letter from Mr. Fielding,” Taylor began at 10:40 a.m., pointing to the letter from White House Counsel Fred Fielding that has “directed” Taylor not to testify about internal deliberations and external communications while she worked in the West Wing.

Didn’t make for a very exciting hearing. In fact, I would have to say it was….

Original movie poster.