This is what Senator Barack Obama said of the Bush State Secrets doctrine while running for President in 2008 [and defending his own vote for telecom immunity]: I wouldn't have drafted the legislation like this, and it does not resolve all of the concerns that we have about President Bush's abuse of executive power. It grants retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that may have violated the law by cooperating with the Bush administration's program of warrantless wiretapping. This potentially weakens the deterrent effect of the law and removes an important tool for the American people to demand accountability for past abuses. Here, Glenn Greenwald explains, is the stunning reversal in recent Obama Administration DOJ filings on the issue: The Obama administration has, yet again, asserted the broadest and most radical version of the "state secrets" privilege -- which previously caused so much controversy and turmoil among loyal Democrats (when used by B...

From Anti-war.com : Mohammed al-Adahi, a 47 year old Yemeni citizen who has been held by the United States since 2001 on charges stemming from owning a Casio brand wristwatch, has been ordered released by a federal judge today. Judge Gladys Kessler instructed the US government to “take all necessary and appropriate steps” to see to it that Adahi is released “forthwith,” though his failing health and ongoing negotiations with the Yemeni government make it unclear how soon he might be reunited with his family. Officials claimed that Adahi was a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, though the sum total of its evidence was that the two met once and Adahi owned a Casio watch, which was somewhat similar to another watch used by al-Qaeda in IEDs. Adahi’s defense was that in 2001 he did meet bin Laden once at an official gathering in Kandahar which he was compelled to attend, but that he had no other contacts with al-Qaeda or the Taliban during his brief visit to Afghanistan. He also admitted to own...

I can recall when Elsmere wanted to pass an ordinance allowing the police to troll apartment house parking lots on the look-out for Pennsylvania license plates... Now Homegrown Boy at Resolute Determination sees further evidence of society's deterioration in those self-same license plates: This morning was the 4th car I’ve seen with PA tags on it yet sporting a bumper sticker announcing that their child is a superstar at the area public school. Hmmmmm……………………if you’ve been in Delaware long enough to get your kid in school shouldn’t you have had time to get to motor v? Or maybe school choice has really expanded it’s definition or … the cynic in me said they’re here illegally using our tax dollars to teach their kid. (for the record American’s in Mexico get NO state funded services) OK, HGB, let's see if we can't find a few plausible reasons (aside from wetback invasion) why a car sporting PA plates might have a Delaware honor student bumper sticker: 1. The kid used to go t...