By Dave Lindorff

In the category of yawn-inducing stories that we knew all about
before they happened, comes word that the jury of senior uniformed
officers sitting in judgement of Osama Bin Laden’s chauffeur in the
first Bush-league military tribunal to actually go to a hearing at
Guantanamo Naval Station found the prisoner, Salim Hamdan…

Drum roll please…

Guilty of supporting terrorism.

I pause here for gasps of astonishment.

It’s awfully silent…

By Dave Lindorff

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has caught some flak for
proposing, in an address to the American Enterprise Institute, that
Congress should declare war on Al Qaeda.

Instead, he should be applauded for his brilliant idea.

First of all, Mukasey is admitting, whether he wants to admit it or
not, that the Bush/Cheney program of capturing alleged terrorists and
holding them for years as enemy combatants without charge in detention
centers in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and various
undisclosed locations around the globe, and of torturing many of them,
are illegal actions that violate US law and International Law. So let’s
give him credit for that.

By Dave Lindorff

Is anyone surprised that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that the Bush/Cheney administration’s authorization of torture of captives has been consistently legal and in compliance with all treaties the US has signed, including the Geneva Conventions?

After all, she was at the meetings in the White House in 2001 at which various acts of torture, ranging from waterboarding to exposure to extreme heat and cold, to enforced long periods in stress positions, and to treatments which have not been disclosed (no doubt because they are so outrageous and offensive to common decency) were dreamed up, proposed and approved for use—meetings that were manifestly criminal in nature and in violation of international and US law.

Protect your right to Biological privacy! Oppose DNA Database Act!

By Dave Lindorff

With a viral campaign underway via email, right-wing radio, and on the street suggesting that Barack Obama is a black “Manchurian Candidate,” secretly trained as a Muslim fanatic who will insinuate himself into the White House, thence to undermine all that we hold dear, perhaps it is time to look at the Manchurian Candidate we already have in the White House, who, together with his handler over in Blair House, has pretty much done all the damage already.

George Bush came to office in 2001 promising a new era of integrity, civility and “compassionate conservatism,” an era of humble American foreign policy, and a bi-partisan approach to government.

What did we actually get?

 I would like to know why Barry Frank feels the need to split the GBLT community ? Doesn't he know  the quickest way to distroy any force is to divide it. He has sold out to please New speaker of the house so she will have this great human rights victory to announce at the HRC gaila since she is the key note speaker. The gay commuinty has stepped on the backs of the trans community once again to improve thier standing in society. I feel like if the timing isn't right to pass an ALL INCLUSIVE ENDA bill that we should way until after the 2008 election when we will surely have a Democrat pres. We should stand together or fall together.

                                                                 Sincerely

Senator Chris Dodd is leading the fight to pass the "Habeas Corpus Restoration Act" and he needs our help immediately because the Senate vote could be tomorrow. Below is the vote tally - where do your Senators stand?
http://restore-habeas.org/whip/total.php

If they have not promised to vote for Dodd's bill call them today at 202-225-3121 and also use our petition:
http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/113

 I recieved an e-mail from my Representative today on the issue of the Military Commissions Act and what it pertains to, particularly with those at Guantanamo Bay.  I thought I would copy it down for you to read as I found it a very important subject.  These days there is a lot of talk about it in just about anyplace you look.  Below is the e-mail from Representative Ron Kind.

 Thank you for contacting me about the Military Commission Act.  I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

"One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic."

Joseph Stalin's infamous words.

This certainly seems to reflect corporate media's attitude to the ongoing slaughter in Iraq.

It is the 4th anniversary of Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L) - the invasion was later renamed for PR reasons - and despite the US military's reluctance to 'do body counts' a number of other organizations are aware of the level of carnage. Rather than being described as an 'insurgency' it should more accurately be described as a 'holocaust'.

Milan Court Indicts 26 Americans In Abduction - CIA Operatives May Be Tried in Absentia
ROME, Feb. 16 -- An Italian judge gave approval Friday for what will be the first overseas criminal trial of CIA officers involved in a covert counterterrorism operation, as a court in Milan indicted more than two dozen Americans on charges of kidnapping a radical Muslim cleric four years ago. (more)