The Hollywood Liberal

Late Late Nite FDL: Brother Can You Spare A Trillion Bucks For A Song?
So we all just spent a trillion dollars bailing out a bunch Ferragamo booted Friedman followers, and all I’ve got for you is a couple of YouTubes. The New Mastersounds “Give Me A Minute Part 2” So we all just spent a trillion dollars bailing out a bunch Ferragamo booted Friedman followers, and all I’ve got for you is a couple of YouTubes. I say we shake it off for just a little while by kicking off our Late Late Nite with some Rock and Roll.

JJ Grey & Mofro “War”

The New Mastersounds “Give Me A Minute Part 2”

So we all just spent a trillion dollars bailing out a bunch of Ferragamo booted Friedman followers, and all I’ve got for you is a couple of YouTubes. I say we shake it off for just a little while by kicking off our Late Late Nite with some Rock and Roll. First, from Jacksonville, Florida, JJ Grey & Mofro performing their song, War, followed up with a little Funk, from Leeds, UK, The New Mastersounds performing, Give Me A Minute Part 2.

 What’s on your mind tonight?

Why the Polls Drive Us Crazy (and Shouldn’t)
If you’ve been on an emotional roller coaster, you might want to disembark.

McCain Jokes About Obama’s Overseas Trip And Press Coverage
The McCain campaign couldn’t help but get in a joke about Barack Obama’s overseas trip, with the candidate delivering a joke that encompassed two separate narratives: That Obama is being ridiculous by traveling all over the world, and the press…

TPMtv: It’s the Surge, Stupid
If you’re desperate to be John McCain’s vice presidential nominee, you better get on TV and start talking up the Surge as the single most important issue in this year’s presidential campaign. And if you’re serious about getting picked it…

No Podcast This Weekend

The LiberalOasis Radio Show was guest hosted by Midweek Politics’ David Pakman earlier today. But as I’m away from home this weekend, I’m unable to upload the podcast of this week’s show. Regular podcasting will resume next week.

Pentagon Reassigns Controversial Guantanamo Legal Adviser As War Court Czar
As legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann has been one of the most aggressive advocates for the Bush administration’s military commissions. In fact, three separate judges have barred him from acting as an impartial legal adviser at the trial of detainees. Judge Stephen Henley said that Hartmann had “compromised the objectivity necessary […]

As legal adviser at Guantanamo Bay, Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann has been one of the most aggressive advocates for the Bush administration’s military commissions. In fact, three separate judges have barred him from acting as an impartial legal adviser at the trial of detainees. Judge Stephen Henley said that Hartmann had “compromised the objectivity necessary to dispassionately and fairly evaluate the evidence and prepare the post-trial evaluation.” In the case of Salim Hamdan, a military judge ruled that Hartmann had “exerted improper influence on the case.”

The Pentagon has now quietly removed Hartmann. But as the Miami Herald notes, instead of being fired, Hartmann has essentially become a “war court czar in charge of logistics.” Pentagon acting general counsel, Daniel Dell’Orto, released a statement yesterday, nowhere mentioning Hartmann’s inappropriate advocacy activities:

Gen. Hartmann has driven the commissions process forward since his arrival in July 2007. In no small part because of his efforts and his dedication, the commissions are an active, operational legal system. Due to the dramatic increase in the number of military commission cases, the more than doubling of personnel, and the various policy, logistics and systems issues that arise regularly and frequently in the commissions, it is necessary to establish a more comprehensive executive support structure.

In an interview with the Miami Herald, Hartmann said that in his new job, he would be making sure that war on terror prosecutions move along briskly. “I want those courtrooms to be as filled up as they can possibly be — six days a week,” he said.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December 2007, Hartmann repeatedly refused to call the hypothetical waterboarding of an American pilot by the Iranian military torture. Shortly thereafter, Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Williams, a JAG officer with the U.S. Naval Reserve, resigned, saying that Hartmann’s testimony was the “last straw” and “sold all the soldiers and sailors at risk of capture and subsequent torture down the river.”

In August, deputy prison camp commander, Army Brig. Gen. Gregory Zanetti testified that Hartmann was “abusive, bullying and unprofessional” and employed a “spray and pray” strategy to stage tribunals at Camp Justice.

The Old Economic Rule Doesn’t Work
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, the 500-point plunge of the Dow, the government takeover of AIG — all these have got the presidential candidates talking about the economy. But both Barack Obama and John McCain have been vague about their solutions. And for good reason. Our economic problems are concentrated in the finance sector, and that’s the part of the economy the average voter knows least about.