Adam Serwer

Ryan J. Reilly reports that the Department of Justice’s review of whether CIA interrogators who went past the Office of Legal Counsel’s approved torture guidelines should be investigated is nearly finished, says Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder took pains to emphasize how narrow the review would be: “What I made clear is that for those […]

Yesterday Faisal Shahzad was indicted on ten counts related to the plot to set off a car bomb in Times Square. The details of the indictment appear to settle the argument between the sleepy ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee Kit Bond, and Attorney General Eric Holder over the involvement of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan […]

I want to weigh in briefly on the unrealistic standards set by Fake President Rachel Maddow‘s address regarding our energy policy and general liberal disappointment with Obama. This is all tied to a larger conversation about the extent to which the president has willingly compromised progressive goals when he didn’t need to, or simply failed […]

Towleroad flags this interview Eminem did with the New York Times in which he declares his support for marriage equality. NYT: You’ve been accused of writing gay-bashing lyrics in the past. Would you like to see gay marriage approved in Michigan, where you live? EMINEM: I think if two people love each other, then what […]

Since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig spill explosion that has caused the ongoing oil spill in the gulf, BP has unleashed such a torrent of lies about the size of the spill and the measures taken to deal with it before and after the fact that they’re difficult to catalogue. The company also has a […]

Conor Friedersdorf posts an excerpt from this remarkable interview Kathryn Jean Lopez conducts with Andy McCarthy about the thesis of his book, which is about how “How Islam and the Left Sabotage America.” LOPEZ: Has the Obama administration done anything right? Has anything pleasantly surprised you? McCARTHY: Yes. The military attacks on al-Qaeda havens overseas […]

Marc Lamont Hill hates the almost studiously bland rapper Drake, but it has nothing to do with race or class. Really. In addition to his lyrical deficiencies, there is something naggingly inauthentic about Drake. And nope, it’s not because he’s a half-white Canadian named Aubrey whose original claim to fame was playing Jimmy Brooks on […]

Yahya Wehelie is an American citizen of Somali descent who was born in Virginia. He is currently trapped in Cairo because the FBI placed him on the terrorist no-fly list because while traveling in Yemen, he met Sharif Mobley, a New Jersey resident who was captured by Yemeni authorities alongside several suspected members of al-Qaeda. […]

Matthew Yglesias posts this chart to prove how safe New York City actually is in response to Glenn Beck’s ridiculous statement that NYC “is absolutely the best city in America and simultaneously a block away, someone is being stabbed to death.” Notice anything else interesting about the cities on this chart? While not all of […]

I’ve written a great deal about Obama‘s broken promises to roll back the surveillance and security states, but nothing really drives home the discrepancy between Candidate Obama and President Obama on civil liberties as the old collection of clips Jon Stewart uses here. It’s one thing to see Obama’s old positions and actions in office […]