Pruning Shears

No Associated Press content was harmed in the writing of this post

TPMMuckracker has a summary of vote suppression efforts.  It looks like a lot more efforts have missed than hit this time around.  And I can hardly believe I am typing this but the Attorney General did the right thing in not pursuing the Republicans’ efforts to keep people from voting.  If he keeps it up I might start having trouble recognizing him.  Also see Christy Hardin Smith’s response to some typically shoddy analysis by the Wall Street Journal.

Appropriately enough the WSJ seems to hold to the same standards of quality as the famed area it takes its name from.  We can’t seem to find out where Paulson’s Billions are going, but the few hints we are getting make it obvious why keeping it quiet is so important to those on the receiving end.  And if you want to know why Congress has single digit approval ratings I have two words for you:  Barney Frank.  If he and his colleagues had not been so eager to abdicate responsibility we wouldn’t have to think about any of this.

Those kind words about Mukasey above?  I take them back: “The Justice Department recognized a South Florida team of prosecutors on Tuesday for their convictions of Jose Padilla and two others on charges of providing support to Islamic terrorists.”  Heck of a job, Mickey Mouse.  It’s not like the Padilla case isn’t being openly questioned by federal judges now or anything.

The ACLU has some advice for the next president.  They could probably give even better advice if they could find out what the hell is happening at Guantánamo.

In my comments Kristen at The Daily Dorkmonger pointed to the Pentagon’s latest initiative.  My bold prediction:  It will be claimed to be a vitally important tool in the War On Terror and instead be used to crack down on honorary members of the Axis of Evil such as strip clubs.

Miscellany:  Get ready for the wave of pardons.  Not much we can do about it, I’m afraid.  Congress could certainly do something about the wave of deregulation going on in the last hours.  It could make legitimate regulatory claims on the agencies being kneecapped, but don’t look for assertive leadership (see: Frank, Barney).  And I’ll leave you with a funny line: “I have just informed my girlfriend Lara that I’m now a blogger. She stared at me for a long moment before saying quietly, ‘I don’t know you anymore.’”

UNPACKING JANE:  Note: “Colonel Brittain Mallow served as the commander of the unique Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF), a unit of military investigators formed in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks to prepare criminal cases against suspected terrorists.”  On page 197 while describing the CITF work at Guantánamo, Mayer notes a

dynamic called “force drift,” in which a small amount of force soon leads to more and more, was well documented in the literature on interrogations.  “SERE is a training regimen - it’s not designed to produce a truthful response,” said Mallow.  “Without the limits set by training - where do you stop?” he asked.  “it just becomes coercion, or whatever you want to call it.”

Once again, our “interrogation” regimen there was not designed to produce a truthful response.  What do you think the design was?  And who do you think selected that design?