The Hollywood Liberal

Judge blasts prosecution of alleged NSA leaker

A federal judge harshly criticized U.S. prosecutors’ treatment of a former spy agency official accused of leaking classified material, calling delays in the now-closed case “unconscionable” and comparing it to British tyranny in the colonial era.

In 2007, FBI agents raided the house of Thomas Drake, then an official at the National Security Agency, but it took another 2 ¹ / ₂ years for officials to indict him, Judge Richard D. Bennett said at a sentencing hearing earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, according to a transcript released Friday by the Secrecy News blog.

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Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert roast Congress over debt limit

With recent polls showing Americans increasingly frustrated with the debt-ceiling fight in Washington, Comedy Central’s late-night comedians are finding a goldmine of material — and no party is safe from satire.

In a segment titled “Armadebtdon 2011” on Tuesday, Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” lambasted President Obama’s plea for Americans to make the case for compromise directly to their members of Congress.

“That’s your idea, call your congressman?” Stewart chortled. “Did the president just quit?”

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Senate headed for critical debt vote Sunday

The Senate is driving toward a climactic and dramatic vote at 1 a.m. Sunday that could determine whether a bipartisan deal to raise the nation’s legal borrowing limit is possible or a government default is likely.

What that deal might look was still deeply uncertain Friday, but talks were underway between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate about methods to circumvent some of the chamber’s most cumbersome procedures to allow the Senate to act more quickly if a compromise is reached.

Speedier action would require unanimous agreement from all senators, including conservatives who have vowed not to raise the debt ceiling without congressional approval of a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, and it wasn’t clear that would be forthcoming.

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Perry stresses personal opposition to gay marriage but doesn’t refute earlier comment about NY

DENVER — Potential Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry of Texas repeated his personal opposition to gay marriage in a speech to conservatives in Denver Friday.

But Perry didn’t backtrack on his statement last week in Aspen that New York’s recent decision to allow gay marriage is “their business.” That’s despite a direct attack earlier in the evening from a rival GOP presidential hopeful, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who took Perry to task for the comment.

“There are some in our party who say, ‘Well, if someone in New York wants to have gay marriage, that’s fine with me.’ … States do not have the right to destroy the American family,” Santorum said to applause from many of the 1,000 conservatives gathered at the Western Conservative Summit.

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The Failure of Central Planning Lite
Robert Tracinski, RealClearMarkets
Robert Samuelson recently described the current economic upheaval as “the crisis of the old order,” a collapse of the economic dogmas and institutions of the past few decades. I was particularly struck by one of the items he lists as the pillars of the old order, “faith in routine economic expansion.” Except that this doesn't describe what he's really talking about. What he's actually talking about is faith that government officials can manage and control economic growth. “Economists exaggerated their understanding and control. They seem to have…

Tea Party’s Terrorist Tactics
William Yeomans, Politico
It has become commonplace to call the tea party faction in the House “hostage takers.” But they have now become full-blown terrorists.They have joined the villains of American history who have been sufficiently craven to inflict massive harm on innocent victims to achieve their political goals. A strong America has always stood firm in the face of terrorism. That tradition is in jeopardy, as Congress and President Barack Obama careen toward an uncertain outcome in the tea party- manufactured debt crisis.

The President Is Not on the Sidelines
Jonathan Capehart, Washington Post
The headline of Jackie Calmes’s “White House Memo” today in the New York Times is a source of great consternation and agitation for me. “President on Sidelines in Critical Battle Over Debt Ceiling” reflects the Beltway meme that President Obama is invisible in this epic fight over raising the debt ceiling. That he was pushed off the stage by Congress to get this done. As the chatter in the echo chamber reinforced itself, folks glossed over or forgot that the president ordered Congress to come up with a plan. At a dramatic,…

It’s technically morning in America
You know things are bad when you look to Rupert Murdoch stories to lighten things up.

Who actually won last night, the hypocrites, the assholes or the insane? Oh yeah, it is still a tie and also all of them.

Oh well, too bad we’re not influenced by honorable people in this country, like in the UK.

Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered in July 2000, has been told by Scotland Yard that they have found evidence to suggest she was targeted by the News of the World…[through]…a phone given to Payne by [Rebekah] Brooks as a gift to help her stay in touch with her supporters.

And…wait for it…

[Brooks stated] The idea of her being targeted is beyond my comprehension.

?

Late Late Night FDL: Hungarian Dance No. 5
Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tomomi Nishimoto — Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms.

Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tomomi Nishimoto — Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms.

What’s on your mind?

?

U.S. Soldier Admits to Planning Attack on Fort Hood
A U.S. soldier who has been absent without leave since early July was arrested Wednesday in a motel room hear Fort Hood in Texas where FBI officials announced Thursday that he had been found with guns and bomb-making materials. The AWOL soldier admitted to planning an attack on the base, an Army alert said Thursday. “Concerned citizens” in the area near Fort Hood, the same Army post where 13 people were killed in a shooting spree in 2009, alerted local police. FBI officials said there was no evidence that Naser Abdo, the 21-year-old soldier who also happens to be Muslim, was working with others, and that any threat the young soldier once posed is now over. —BF The Associated Press via The Wall Street Journal: The infantry soldier, whose hometown the military lists as Garland, Texas, had applied for conscientious objector status last year, saying his religious beliefs would prohibit his service in any war. A military review board recommended this spring that he be separated from the Army. The discharge was delayed after Pfc. Abdo was charged with possessing child pornography. A military hearing last month recommended he be court-martialed. He has said he thought he was charged with a crime because he was seeking to leave the Army as a conscientious objector. Read more

A U.S. soldier who has been absent without leave since early July was arrested Wednesday in a motel room hear Fort Hood in Texas where FBI officials announced Thursday that he had been found with guns and bomb-making materials. The AWOL soldier admitted to planning an attack on the base, an Army alert said Thursday.

“Concerned citizens” in the area near Fort Hood, the same Army post where 13 people were killed in a shooting spree in 2009, alerted local police.

FBI officials said there was no evidence that Naser Abdo, the 21-year-old soldier who also happens to be Muslim, was working with others, and that any threat the young soldier once posed is now over. —BF

The Associated Press via The Wall Street Journal:

The infantry soldier, whose hometown the military lists as Garland, Texas, had applied for conscientious objector status last year, saying his religious beliefs would prohibit his service in any war. A military review board recommended this spring that he be separated from the Army.

The discharge was delayed after Pfc. Abdo was charged with possessing child pornography. A military hearing last month recommended he be court-martialed. He has said he thought he was charged with a crime because he was seeking to leave the Army as a conscientious objector.

Read more

Related Entries

• July 29, 2011 Why China is Laughing All the Way to the Bank
• July 28, 2011 Power of the Big Idea

Christie, Still Not Running for President, Runs Into a Medical Detour
Chris Christie, who maintains he will not run for president although he recently made a visit to Iowa and Mitt Romney declared the New Jersey governor as his second choice for running mate, was hospitalized Thursday after an asthma attack. Conventional wisdom would suggest that someone of Christie’s obese proportions would not stand a chance in presidential politics—where entire newsrooms scrutinize waistlines and bald men stand a chance only if they are running against Hitler—but his name has been bandied about recently. Time—and surely pollsters—will tell whether this medical episode affects Christie’s chances of winning an office he says he does not want. He seems to be doing fine, by the way. We cannot let an item about Christie end without drawing your attention to the “This American Life” episode, embedded below, that exposes his major claim to fame—a case that many are calling an abuse of the justice system.—PZS AP via Google News: The blunt-talking governor, who some Republicans have been trying to persuade to run for president, was taken to a hospital Thursday after he had difficulty breathing. Christie, who uses an inhaler for asthma, was headed to a bill signing when he felt unwell. The 48-year-old walked into Somerset Medical Center at around 10:30 a.m., said Maria Comella, his deputy chief of staff. Christie’s EKG, blood work and chest X-ray were normal, and the governor expects to be discharged from the hospital Thursday evening, Comella said. Read more

Chris Christie, who maintains he will not run for president although he recently made a visit to Iowa and Mitt Romney declared the New Jersey governor as his second choice for running mate, was hospitalized Thursday after an asthma attack.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that someone of Christie’s obese proportions would not stand a chance in presidential politics—where entire newsrooms scrutinize waistlines and bald men stand a chance only if they are running against Hitler—but his name has been bandied about recently.

Time—and surely pollsters—will tell whether this medical episode affects Christie’s chances of winning an office he says he does not want.

He seems to be doing fine, by the way.

We cannot let an item about Christie end without drawing your attention to the “This American Life” episode, embedded below, that exposes his major claim to fame—a case that many are calling an abuse of the justice system.—PZS

AP via Google News:

The blunt-talking governor, who some Republicans have been trying to persuade to run for president, was taken to a hospital Thursday after he had difficulty breathing.

Christie, who uses an inhaler for asthma, was headed to a bill signing when he felt unwell. The 48-year-old walked into Somerset Medical Center at around 10:30 a.m., said Maria Comella, his deputy chief of staff.

Christie’s EKG, blood work and chest X-ray were normal, and the governor expects to be discharged from the hospital Thursday evening, Comella said.

Read more

Related Entries

• July 29, 2011 Why China is Laughing All the Way to the Bank
• July 28, 2011 Power of the Big Idea

Paul Abrams: Constitution Prohibits ‘Deadbeat Nation’
One cannot brandish one’s fealty to the Constitution and, at the same time, refuse to make the money available to pay our financial obligations. The latter is unconstitutional.

WATCH: Progressive Groups Launch Debt Ceiling Ad Campaign
WASHINGTON — With the nation less than a week away from the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, a group of progressive and…

HUFFPOST HILL - Debt Vote Delayed
Between House GOPers’ obsession with The Town and John McCain’s Lord of the Rings analogies, we’re pretty sure congressional Republicans have the cinematic tastes of…

GOP Candidate: ‘Conservation Is Conservative’
WASHINGTON — Touting a record that could complicate his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman challenged his party Thursday to…

Malkin Falsely Suggests Dems Have Not Offered Debt Ceiling Plan

On Fox & Friends, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin falsely suggested that Democrats have not offered a plan to resolve the debt ceiling crisis, saying that “conservatives … have something to debate, which is something you can’t say about the other side.” In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has introduced a plan, which has been assessed by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and been widely discussed by media outlets.

Malkin Falsely Suggests Dems Have No Debt Ceiling Plan

Malkin: Conservatives Are “The Ones Who Are Putting Forth Ideas … Which Is Something You Can’t Say About The Other Side.” From the July 28 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (co-host): All right. Let’s get moving. What do you think, Michelle?

MALKIN: Well, they sound like such programmed androids. They don’t even believe their own rhetoric and spin anymore. I mean –

DOOCY: What do you mean by that?

MALKIN: It’s been two years that they’ve been calling the tea party right-wing extremists who are out of touch with America and reality. OK. We get it. And, of course, the reality is that so many tea party grassroots activists are very unhappy with the compromise bill that Boehner is putting forward and as many conservatives on the Hill and outside the Hill believe is being forced down their throats.

I mean, there’s been so much rancor on the right. I think it’s a welcome and healthy thing. And the good news is, to look at the bright side for a moment, that despite all of the disagreement there is among conservatives, we’re the ones who are putting forth the ideas, have the initiative, have the solutions. At least we have something to debate, which is something you can’t say about the other side. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 7/28/11]

But Reid Has Offered A Plan To Resolve Debt Ceiling Crisis

The Hill: “Reid Introduced His Own Budget Control Act, Which Aims To Cut $2.7 Trillion Over 10 Years” And “Increase The Debt Ceiling.” The Hill reported on July 26:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late Monday released dueling budget plans, and both took steps to move their competing plans ahead this week.

[…]

On the Senate side, Reid introduced his own Budget Control Act, which aims to cut $2.7 trillion over 10 years. In return, the bill would increase the debt ceiling by enough to get the U.S. past the 2012 elections. [The Hill, 7/26/11]

CBO: Reid’s Plan Would “Increase The Debt Limit By $2.7 Trillion,” “Establish Caps” On Spending. In a July 27 letter to Reid, the CBO “estimated the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011, as proposed in the Senate on July 25, 2011″:

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated the impact on the deficit of the Budget Control Act of 2011, as proposed in the Senate on July 25, 2011. The legislation would:

• Establish caps on discretionary spending through 2021, including separate caps on new funding for war-related activities,
• Allow for certain amounts of additional spending for “program integrity” initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of improper benefit payments and enhancing compliance with tax laws,
• Extend and expand authority to auction licenses for parts of the electromagnetic spectrum,
• Make changes to the Pell Grant and student loan programs,
• Reduce certain payments to agricultural producers,
• Increase the debt limit by $2.7 trillion,
• Reinstate and modify certain budget process rules, and
• Create a joint Congressional committee to propose further deficit reduction. [Congressional Budget Office, 7/27/11]

Moreover, Obama Outlined Specific Details Of Negotiations Made Before Boehner Walked Away From Talks

Obama: “We Had Offered Speaker Boehner … Over A Trillion Dollars In Cuts To Discretionary Spending … [And] An Additional $650 Billion In Cuts To Entitlement Programs.” During his July 22 address on the default crisis, President Obama outlined several specific measures that he claimed he and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had negotiated during their talks up to that point, including cuts to entitlement spending:

Good evening, everybody. I wanted to give you an update on the current situation around the debt ceiling. I just got a call about a half hour ago from Speaker Boehner who indicated that he was going to be walking away from the negotiations that we’ve been engaged in here at the White House for a big deficit reduction and debt reduction package. And I thought it would be useful for me to just give you some insight into where we were and why I think that we should have moved forward with a big deal.

Essentially what we had offered Speaker Boehner was over a trillion dollars in cuts to discretionary spending, both domestic and defense. We then offered an additional $650 billion in cuts to entitlement programs — Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. We believed that it was possible to shape those in a way that preserved the integrity of the system, made them available for the next generation, and did not affect current beneficiaries in an adverse way.

In addition, what we sought was revenues that were actually less than what the Gang of Six signed off on. So you had a bipartisan group of senators, including Republicans who are in leadership in the Senate, calling for what effectively was about $2 trillion above the Republican baseline that they’ve been working off of. What we said was give us $1.2 trillion in additional revenues, which could be accomplished without hiking taxes — tax rates, but could simply be accomplished by eliminating loopholes, eliminating some deductions and engaging in a tax reform process that could have lowered rates generally while broadening the base.

So let me reiterate what we were offering. We were offering a deal that called for as much discretionary savings as the Gang of Six. We were calling for taxes that were less than what the Gang of Six had proposed. And we were calling for modifications to entitlement programs, would have saved just as much over the 10-year window. In other words, this was an extraordinarily fair deal. If it was unbalanced, it was unbalanced in the direction of not enough revenue. [White House, 7/22/11]

NYT Ran Graphic Showing Specific Offers Obama And Boehner Had Made Through July 22. In a graphic first published July 21 and updated several times since, The New York Times listed specific measures that both Obama and Boehner had reportedly offered in negotiations. According to the Times, both had agreed to $1.2 trillion in spending cuts, a $250 billion cut from Medicare, and an increase in federal tax revenue of somewhere between $36.2 and $36.7 trillion over a period of 10 years. From the Times:

[The New York Times, accessed 7/27/11]

Allen Stanford Tries To Send Bank On Document Fishing Expedition
Texas billionare Allen Stanford, on trial for allegedly orchestrating an $8 billion international ponzi scheme, has sent a Louisiana bank on an “impermissible fishing expedition”?and the bank is refusing. According to court filings, Stanford faxed Whitney Bank a subpoena two…

AK Man Gets Reduced Sentence After Informing On Schaeffer Cox
The identity of one of the two confidential informants in the Schaeffer Cox militia case was revealed this week after a judge reduced his sentence on several felony charges, as a reward for his help in bringing about the arrest…

The most memorable summer since 1968?
During a week in which a request to evaluate the efforts of a rookie blogger to explore the bridge between spirituality and psychology arrived in the e-mail inbox and world events delivered a cornucopia of news that ranged from the effect the death of Amy Winehouse had on the Forever 27 website to the Democratic […]