christopher_hallam

Many Republicans and some Democrats have voiced objections to housing suspected terrorists on American soil. It’s not really clear what the source of the objection is–as Atrios wrote a while ago, we’re not discussing “actual supervillains with special powers.” Obviously the GOP might feel like there are political points to be scored here in arguing […]

Conservatives are aware that the Bush administration is not exactly a sympathetic crew. So in defending them, they regularly engage in a bit of rhetorical slight of hand–decisions that could adversely affect people from the prior administration are “assaults on America” and so forth. At National Review last Friday, Steve Schippert argued that the Obama […]

DNI Chief Dennis Blair made a very qualified statement about torture “working” in a private memo last week. Blair stated that “High value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qa’ida organization that was attacking this country.” He also stated that “The information gained […]

The New York Times throws a few jabs at Russell Crowe, Leonardo di Caprio, and Denzel Washington for gaining weight but concludes: The change in smoking habits may have something to do with it. Possibly, too, the audience has grown more tolerant of weightier men on screen as the society at large has become heavier. […]

Steven Colbert went after President Obama for the administration’s recent appeal of a ruling that held three men who had been captured outside Afghanistan and sent to Bagram had the right to challenge their detention. The difference between Obama and Bush? “Obama makes the kids like it.” Incidentally, if you’re interested in reading more about […]

This New York Times piece, which described times as “flush” for the black press despite all evidence to the contrary (as though newspapers and magazines are folding all over the country but the black press is magically immune, protected by Obama’s aura), failed to report the backstory behind the backlash to Tavis Smiley‘s criticism of […]

Andrew Sullivan comments on President Obama‘s lack of courage on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: I wonder how Obama would have felt if Truman had followed the same path of cowardice and convenience in 1948, when racial integration was far more contentious in the military than gay integration is today. Or whether he would have applauded […]

Daphne Eviatar has a good piece on yesterday’s ruling that granted three detainees at Bagram Air Base the right to challenge their detention. She gets to the crux of the problem: “It shows that the courts are not going to take cosmetic rhetoric as a substitute for a legal basis for detention,” said Foster. “The […]

Not to spend all day quoting excerpts from Jane Mayer‘s book, but she simply has the Bush administration dead to rights. A Spanish court recently agreed to consider opening a criminal investigation into six Bush administration officials over allegations that they provided legal cover for torture at Guantanamo Bay. Satyam Kanna writes at Thinkprogress that […]

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva: “This crisis was caused by the irrational behaviour of white people with blue eyes, who before the crisis appeared to know everything and now demonstrate that they know nothing.” Of course the above statement is beyond the pale, while arguments that black people are responsible for the economic […]