Argue With My Dad

I am exhausted from a busy weekend including 7 inches of wet, heavy snow, and my grandson’s Baptism earlier today.  But it is time for another edition of Monday Musings, so I have to “Man Up” and get on with producing another episode of Monday Musings.  The first issue that I want to discuss is the story that I saw concerning the plans of  a Spanish court in investigating the possible indictment of American officials, including the infamous Alberto “Gonzo” Gonzales, the former Attorney General during the Bush regime. Others who might be included in possible indictments are John Yoo, Douglas Feith, Jay S. Bybee, David Addington and William Haynes, II.  You can check out this ABC News article for all of the details of who is being investigated. http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7203966&page=1.  The fact that a Spanish court may issue indictments again these officials for their part in authorizing the torture of 4 Spanish citizens who were held in Guantanamo just may be the impetus needed for an American investigation into the illegal torturing of prisoners under American control in Gitmo and at CIA black sites around the world.  As the ABC article tells us, even if indictments are handed down, it is unknown if the Justice Department under President Obama will allow any of these criminals to be extradited to Spain.  What I am hoping for, at the least, is that Spanish indictments will back the Obama administration into a corner that will force them to name the Special Prosecutor that the ACLU has been asking for. http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/39060prs20090318.html.  The arguewithmydad.com nation will be watching how this issue plays out in the coming weeks.

The next musing that I would like to discuss is the fact that General David Petraeus stated on CNN that he disagrees with former Vice President Dick Cheney’s opinion that stopping torture and closing Gitmo will endanger the United States.  I spotted this story on the following ThinkProgress article, http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/29/cheney-petraeus-safe/.  The story includes a video from a CNN program where Petraeus makes his fateful statement that just happens to show that Cheney is not only a war criminal, but stupid.  Take a look at the video and let me know what you think.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to give a hearty, official arguewithmydad.com  “high five” to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for its decision in the lawsuit Tummino v. von Eschenbach in which the court criticized the Bush FDA for letting politics stop them from doing their job when deciding if the Plan B contraceptive should be allowed to be sold without a prescription.  “In today’s decision the court repeatedly criticizes the FDA for allowing politics to interfere in its decision-making process and notes that ‘ “the record is clear that the FDA’s course of conduct regarding Plan B departed in significant ways from the agency’s normal procedures regarding similar applications to switch a drug product from prescription to non-prescription use.” ’The court also states that “the FDA’s denial of non-prescription access without age restriction went against the recommendation of a committee of experts it had empanelled to advise it on Plan B; and the Commissioner – at the behest of political actors –decided to deny non-prescription access to women 16 and younger before FDA scientific review staff had completed their reviews.”http://www.aclu.org/reproductiverights/contraception/39104prs20090323.html.  It is so refreshing to see the Bush anti-science policies be derided for the bad politics that they are/were. 

Now that our weekly Musings are out, what do you think about them?  Don’t be shy now.

I can’t believe that another work week has shot past us.  It is time for another Friday Free For All.  This is the reader’s one chance during the week to decide which topic or topics we will discuss on arguewithmydad.com.  We can discuss anything that you want to discuss as long as you can get someone else to discuss your topic.  I will make a few suggestions, but they are only suggestions.  You are in control. 

My first thought that could be an interesting discussion topic is a basic financial rule that goes back to Biblical times and was valid until the end of the Carter Presidency.  I am talking about the usery laws.  We used to have laws that would limit the amount of interest rate that could be charged by a creditor until the laws started to be deregulated in the 1970’s and then a 1978 Supreme Court case destroyed the limits entirely.  The result of that has been credit card interest rates of 25 to 30% or more.  Here is one Crooks and Liars article that discusses this important issue. http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/node/26926.  What do you think?

Another suggestion that I have is a news item that hasn’t had much play lately.  It seems that the American military in Iraq is still having to suffer with unsafe wiring installed by civilian contractors.  Here is a Marine Times article that discusses the latest revelations that are threatening our best and brightest. http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_iraq_electrocutions_032609/.  What should Congress do and should these contractors be held criminally responsible for their negligence?  We have already had numerous electrocutions and at least one death.  What do you think?

My final suggestion for a Friday Free For All topic is the Obama budget.  What do you think is right about it or what do you think is wrong about it?  I am not looking for over broad statements like it is too big, unless you give us examples where it is too big or examples of where it is wrong or right.  I am sure that there is at least item that you don’t agree with.  Let’s hear from you on these suggested issues or or one of your choosing.  The last few Free For All’s have been pretty light in the response so I am looking forward to hearing from all of you who are reading arguewithmydad.com.    It is time to express your opinions and time for you to give us the reasons why we should agree with you.  Don’t be shy.

After watching way too much college basketball this weekend, I almost forgot that it was time for our regular Monday Musings posting.  It may surprise you that there are interesting things going on around the world that don’t relate to basketball.  Hopefully, I will pick out some issues that may interest you.  Here goes.

The first Musing that caught my eye was an op-ed that my old friend, Bill O’Reilly of Fox News, published in todays Boston Herald. http://news.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1160180&srvc=home&position=rated   As usual Mr. O’Reilly plays fast and loose with the facts and makes a fantastic comment concerning Seymour Hersch’s recent disclosure about Cheney’s secret assassination team.  O’Reilly’s opening statement reads as follows:

“The other day, left-wing muckraker Seymour Hersh went on MSNBC and said he had information, provided by the usual anonymous sources, that Dick Cheney was running an assassination squad out of the White House.

I have but one simple observation: If Cheney really had such a crew, Hersh would have been dead a long time ago, and so would most everybody at MSNBC.  Would they not?” 

I know what you are thinking.  It is an amazing statement, even for one of the biggest liars in a network full of liars and enablers.  It seems that O’Reilly creates a list of wild stories that the Left may make up in order to make the Bush/Cheney administration look bad.  The sad part of the whole story is that even the fake stories that he imagines are nowhere near as crazy as the real facts about the Bush regime.  He refers to Hersch as a a left wing “muckraker”.  I have to admit to some confusion at this reference.  I could have sworn that Hersch was a Pulitzer prize winning reporter.  Maybe Billy Boy just forgot that fact.  I guess that O’Reilly also forgot about the admitted waterboarding of prisoners by the Bush administration.  Maybe Bill just couldn’t remember that Bush lied us into the Iraq War.  Or maybe, just maybe, O’Reilly is just a liar.  Yeah, that’s it.  He is a lying snake that will do and say anything to distract the public from the facts of the many crimes committed by the Bushites.  Luckily, some of us on the Left have done our homework and know how pitiful O’Reilly is. 

The next Musing that interested me was the recent 6th Anniversary of our war with Iraq.  I can remember when we attacked in Iraq because I was just about to leave on my first overseas trip to Ireland a few days after the opening “shock and awe”.  Here is one story from the Marine Times that discusses some Anniversary protests, http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_war_anniversary_protest_032109/.  In this story some protesters make their pleas for President Obama to end the Iraq War immediately and bring all our troops home.  No one wants the Iraq War over with sooner than me, but even I realize that an immediate and total withdrawal of all of our troops would be dangerous.  This is part of the Bush legacy that we are left with.  For Obama to withdraw immediately would endanger our troops and the fragile Iraqi government.  During Obama’s campaign he promised to withdraw our troops from Iraq within 16 months.  He will come pretty close to that timetable.  He is planning on removing most of our troops with 18 months.  I do have one bone to pick with Obama on this plan.  He is planning on leaving up to 50,000 troops in Iraq after the 18 month date.  That is way too many troops to be left in harms way.  Hopefully, when that time comes, the Iraqi situation will be secure enough to allow President Obama to reduce that number significantly.  I do have my fingers crossed.

The final Musing to discuss is the recent court filing by the CIA in response to the ACLU’s FOIA lawsuit and subsequent motion for contempt demanding the release of information concerning and detailing detainee abuse.  http://www.aclu.org/safefree/torture/39094prs20090320.html?s_src=RSS.  It seems that the CIA has admitted to having approximately 3,000 documents relating to the 92 videotapes of detainee abuse that they “claim” were destroyed.  I can understand why the Bush administration would want the tapes destroyed and why they would want to withhold that information from the public, but I am confused at the Obama administration continuing that immoral secrecy.  The CIA, in their recent filing, told the judge that they will provide those documents to him, but will not provide them to the plaintiffs.  Here is a copy of the letter from the CIA to Judge Hellerstein. http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/safefree/03202009_dojlettertohellerstein.pdf.   It is interesting reading and after reading it, you may come to the same conclusion that I did.  That conclusion is that Judge Hellerstein needs to spank the CIA and spank them publicly.  The only way to bring the Bush Administration to justice and to inform the public of the torture authorized by them is to let the sun shine on the facts and allow the truth to emerge.  Judge Hellerstein, the Republic needs you to show your courage.

I have been in favor of the “bailout” funds that have been given to AIG in order to prevent a further eroding of the economy.  I have reached my personal bailout point when I read this article in the International Herald Tribune which reports that AIG actually has the gall to sue the IRS in an attempt to get back over $300 Million in tax payments that it made and that the IRS rejected. http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/20/business/20aig.php. It seems the AIG brainiacs have already lost the claim once before in 2008, but now that the American taxpayers are the 80% majority owners of AIG the management thought it made sense to once again bite the hand that feeds them.  Of course, they waited until they received the $200 Billion before they filed suit.

I first saw this story in Professor Jonathan Turleys Blog http://jonathanturley.org/2009/03/21/after-using-federal-bailout-money-to-award-massive-bonuses-aig-is-now-using-public-funds-to-sue-the-government-to-get-back-306-millions-in-tax-payments-tied-to-offshore-tax-havens/, and I could not believe my eyes.  Normally I do not have any problem with taxpayers making legitimate, good faith claims against the IRS.  However, even I draw the line when you are effectively suing your owners.  Let’s not forget that this claim was already rejected by the IRS and yet the management of AIG deemed it necessary for the company to file suit in February, 2009.  For anyone to believe that AIG has been wronged by the IRS these days is difficult.  Their credibility is lower than that of Dick Cheney’s!

What should we do with AIG knowing that they have filed suit against the very people who have saved them from bankruptcy court?  I can’t repeat what my first thought was, but suffice it to say that AIG needs to be set free.  They need to be set free from the public nipple that they have been drinking from and allowed to fend for themselves.  Let them continue the law suit, but do not give them one more cent of public funds.  And then Congress should pass the tax law which taxes the bonuses paid to these miscreants, the very law that  Professor Turley suggests is unconstitutional and AIG spend more of “their” money fighting that one in court as well.  The Obama SEC should then begin a thorough examination of the AIG books and let’s see who comes out ahead. The CEO of AIG that testified in front of Congress recently, a Mr. Liddy, should be brought in front of Congress again to explain why he authorized a lawsuit against the IRS after receiving almost $200 Billion from the U.S. taxpayer.  By the way, is this guy related to the infamous G. Gordon Liddy of Watergate fame?

This whole AIG fiasco is a play within a play.  In the main act AIG plays the part of the humble borrower doing its darn best to comply with the public demands for accountability while in the underlying act, behind the curtains, the very same AIG is sticking a knife in all of our backs.  As the title suggests, the bank is now closed forever to AIG.  No more loans and no more bailouts.   There is just one more thing.  Now that the US taxpayers are the 80% owners of AIG, it is time for a special shareholder meeting.  Do we have a stadium large enough to hold that crowd?

Yes, you read it right.  It is time for another Friday Free For All on arguewithmydad.com.  This is your one chance to control the discussion.  All you need to do is get someone else to agree with your choice and you are in control.  I will make a couple of suggestions for possible topics, but it will be your decision. 

The first topic that we could discuss is the recent craziness over the AIG bonuses.  I will not say anything else because I don’t want to tip my hand and I want you, the reader, to let us know what your thoughts are. I would imagine that the discussion on AIG could get quite spirited.  Maybe even the long absent XfaQtr will show up and give us his opinion. Especially in light of this Bloomberg article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aBwUb_K6GQ7s.

We could also discuss this story that I saw which suggests that the top Pentagon brass are not happy with Senators McCain and Graham over their opposition to Obama’s pick for the position of Ambassador to Iraq.  http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/03/18/top_brass_disturbed_by_gop_stalling_of_iraq_ambassador.  It seems that even General Petraeus is upset with his old buddies.”The U.S.military’s chief spokesman, Geoff Morrell, told The CableThursday: “Generals Odierno and Petraeus have come out very publicly and very forcefully in support of Ambassador Hill’s nomination. I know they support it. They know him from previous assignments, they like him, they believe he is well suited to the job and are anxiously awaiting his confirmation because they do need help, frankly. … Everybody involved with Iraqwants to find a way to replicate that arrangement” — the effective interaction between Generals Odierno and Petraeus and former Ambassador Crocker.”  Why would the Republicans want to delay anything?  Do you want to discuss this issue?  If so, let us know.

My final suggestion for a possible topic is this article in the latest online version of the Marine Times; http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_guantanamo_031809/.  It seems that Lawrence Wilkerson, a Republican who formerly was chief of staff to then Secretary of State, Colin Powell; has stated that many of the detainees at Gitmo are innocent and have little or no connection to al Qaeda.  Very interesting.  In honor of the 6th anniversary of our involvement in Iraq, this Gitmo issue might be a good one for the group to discuss. 

Those are my suggestions, but they are only suggestions.  The decision is yours so let’s hear what you want to talk about.  Let’s see if we can hear from all of our regulars and maybe even a few newbies.  I can hardly wait to see what you decide on.

The weekend is over and it is time for the work week to begin and time for another chapter of Monday Musings.  There were a lot of interesting stories and even some crazy ones that surfaced during the weekend.  I want to address a couple of issues that caught my attention.  The first one that I want to discuss is this New York Times article that discusses a secret Red Cross report that has been uncovered and which details some of the torture techniques that were used at Gitmo and at CIA black sites during the Bush administration’s immoral eight years in office. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/opinion/15danner.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all.  This article and a New York Review of Books article that was linked in the article, give definitive evidence of the illegality of George W. Bush’s torture program.  It is not a pretty thing to read, but it should be mandatory reading for all Americans who have been and continue to be duped by the sadists in the Bush administration.  The evidence on the effectiveness of these techniques is clear.  These techniques have not made us safer, but in fact have made us less safe, as detailed in this Think Progress article which quotes former Navy general counsel, Alberto Mora’s testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee on 6/17/08.  http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/17/mora-abu-ghraib-and-guantanamo-are-first-and-second-identifiable-causes-of-us-combat-deaths-in-iraq/.  The article also has a link to a video of part of that testimony.  As I and my fellow baby boomers use to hear back in the 60’s, “The whole world is watching”.  Let me hear what you think of this damning Red Cross document. 

The next issue that jumped out at me was this article concerning a proposed bill in the Texas legislature to allow the “Institute for Creation Research to have the authority to award master’s degrees in science”. http://www.examiner.com/x-2430-Science-Examiner~y2009m3d12-Texas-House-Bill-allows-Creationist-University-to-grant-science-degrees.  This article first caught my eye on the Jonathan Turley website, http://jonathanturley.org/2009/03/15/texas-legislation-to-facilitate-the-creation-of-an-advanced-creation-science-degree/.  It seems that this genius of a Texas legislator is Hell bent on allowing the Institute for Creation Research to give credence and validity to the fictional creationist movement by allowing these Masters Degrees to be issued.  Professor Turley suggested that these degrees are normally considered as  divinity degrees, but that isn’t good enough for the great state of Texas.  They want to go all out and push the Creationist movement onto the rest of the nation, notwithstanding the sheer lunacy of the subject matter when compared to scientific facts.  These same people, who count George W. Bush amongst their believers, do not believe in Evolution and in George W. Bush’s case think that the Earth is only 2000 some years old because that is what the Bible tells us.  And of course, the Bible must be right!  This is one more example of what you get with the Conservative or neocon movement since the rise of George W. Bush.  Science deniers who are trying to create a Taliban-like government with their Christian beliefs replacing our Constitution.  Who here believes this crap?  How can people fall for this moronic line of reasoning?  Well, maybe I am asking too much when I look for reason in these concepts. 

Finally, the last topic is not really a topic, but a shout out to my youngest daughter for her and her teammate’s second place finish at the national Moot Court Competition in Child Welfare and Adoption Law, that was held this weekend at Capital Law School in Columbus, Ohio.  “Mom” and I couldn’t be prouder of her and we salute her superior work and the superior work of her teammate.  Her team from Loyola Law School in Chicago placed second and the other team from Loyola placed third.  Congratulations and keep up the great work!  Who knows, with such great legal research and reasoning, she could someday be a future administrator of arguewithmydad.com!

Another work week is just about over so it is time for another Friday Free For All.  This is the one time during the week that you, the reader, can decide what topic(s) we will discuss.  It is pretty simple.  As long as you can get someone to respond to your suggested topic, the floor is yours.  I will make a few suggestions for possible topics, but they are only suggestions.

The first story that I would like to suggest as a possible topic is related to George W. Bush’s upcoming speech in Canada.  It seems that there are some in Canada that suggest that Canada cannot allow him into the country because of the ”credible” claims that he is a war criminal. http://www.seemagazine.com/article/news/news-main/bush0312/.  The article also makes the case that if he is allowed in the country that Canada has a legal duty to have him arrested for authorizing torture.  Now that would be interesting. 

Another possible topic of discussion could be this story about Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s claim that the stimulus package was too small. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gsJHUXLO9mpVYTD4HEsQBK_-mbHQ.  I have made this comment in earlier postings that some economists wanted a bigger stimulus package and Stiglitz is an economist that people listen to.  What do you think?

My last suggestion for a topic is this story from MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29663944/, which asks what is the proper penalty for the Ponzi champ, Bernie Madoff?  What do you think the penalty should be for stealing millions and even billions from investors who entrusted you with their life savings?  Some of those people were actually friends of Madoff.  Or should I say, former friends?  I for one think that he should not be left with any assets and should spend the rest of his life in jail.  I also believe that his family had to know and I would want to make sure that they are also brought to justice.  What do you think?

Here we go again.  Another weekend is shot and we are staring down the barrel of another work week.  What will we talk about this week?  The first story that caught my eye were reports at the end of last week indicating that President Obama was about to make another significant change in the way the Federal government does business with the scientific community.  It seems that Obama will be reversing the Bush anti-science rule outlawing federal funding of stem cell research. Obama is about to sign an Executive Order allowing Federal funds to be used in this important area of scientific research.  Here is a link to an ABC News story about the impending announcement, http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/03/president-oba-7.html; “The announcement will be about “restoring scientific integrity to health care policy,” an administration official tells ABC News.”  It is refreshing to see that our government is once again cognizant of the importance of science and will not let narrow religious thinking get in the way of potential life saving therapies. President Obama’s predecessor has used this issue as a political football to satisfy the religious right that he constantly courted.  Let’s score this as 1 for Science and Mankind and 0 for the mixing of religion and politics. 

Our next musing is one that even our old friend XfaQtr might be interested in.  It seems that another old friend, Newt Gingrich, is considering a run for the 2012 nomination as the Republican Presidential candidate.  You heard me correctly.  The same guy who shut down the government during the Clinton years is trying to resurrect his career. In the linked Richmond Times Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/NEWTGATER05_20090305-193603/222878/; Gingrich puts on his happy face and suggests that the Republicans needs “to be the party of better solutions, not the party of opposition,” Gingrich said.”  While I like the part of better solutions, my experience with Gingrich is just the opposite.  Remember, this is a guy who preached family values and he is now working on his Fourth wife.  This is the same Newt who left one of his wives while she was in her hospital bed.  Newt is a real sweetheart,… if you like snakes.  Newt left office as a disgrace and he will likely be spouting about the next four years about how he will remake America.  He even mentioned that,  ”I think it’s conceivable that by 2012 you could have a second Contract for America,” he said. Of course, the first Contract for America failed, but I guess he forgot to mention that little fact.  If Newt is the Republican candidate for President in 2012, you can count on another 4 years of Democratic control.  Thanks Newt!

Our last Muse for the day is a story from MSNBC that is concerned with the irrational behavior of the stock market and especially the trouble that the price of GE stock has had.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29553363/.  It seems that the short sellers have been causing havoc with the prices and making money at the same time.  ‘”By that, he points to the short-sellers who are playing a big role in what the market is doing today. They make money betting stocks will drop and have set the tone in this current decline, which began after the market reached record highs in October 2007.  Peter Sorrentino, senior portfolio manager at Huntington Asset Advisors, takes that one step farther. “The shorts are staging raids on our companies,” he said. “For the last two years, the best bet you could make on the market was against it.”  Sorrentino knows that because his firm owns 6.4 million shares of GE, and he can’t understand why the stock is trading where it is given that parts of the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company by his count are worth a lot more than where its shares are trading now.”‘   That is an amazing factoid.  The short sellers are making money by betting that the market is going down.  The big question that I have is what is stopping them from causing the market to crash in order to profit from it?  I hope that the market can reduce its volatility and regain some of what we have lost. We have a long way to go, but we have seen a couple of days this past week into positive territory so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

I can hardly believe that an entire week has gone by, but here we are at another Friday Free For All.  This is the one time of the week that you, the arguewithmydad.com reader, can decide what we discuss here.  I will make a few suggestions, but they are only suggestions.  The decision is in your hands.  As long as you can get someone else to discuss the topic you choose, it is your chance to lead the discussion.

We could discuss the current state of the economy and the stimulus packages that have been designed to bring some life into that economy.  There is an enormous amount of information on this subject and it is one of the most important issues of the day.   I know that I must get 3-10 personal emails from friends each day suggesting that the Democrats are spending us into oblivion.  I, of course, disagree, but what do you think?

Another possible topic for our Friday Free For All could be the Truth Commissions that Sen. Patrick Leahy has suggested. I have posted on that topic earlier and made the suggestion that Truth Commissions are not enough and that the Bush administration should be investigated for criminal violations.  However, who here thinks like I do and who thinks that is a crazy idea?   As an aside, did anyone else notice Sen. Patrick Leahy in the lates Batman movie??

Finally, we could discuss the secret Bush regime OLC memos that were disclosed by the Obama Justice department and that arguably shocked the legal world.  Here is a link to one article in the Chicago Tribune suggesting that the legal reasoning relied upon by John Yoo and others in the OLC were shoddy and implausible.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-bush-memos_04mar04,0,2464157.story.  The linked story even quotes conservative Law Professor Orin Kerr, from George Washington University, “The criticism was not limited to liberals. “I agree with the left on this one,” said Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University. The approach in the memos “was simply not a plausible reading of the case law. The Bush [Office of Legal Counsel] eventually rejected [the] memos because they were wrong on the law, and they were right to do so.”  This is one time that I have to agree with Professor Kerr.  But the important question is, What does the AWMD nation think?

It is your turn now to lead the discussion and to let us know what issue or issues we will be dealing with.  Let’s get to work.  I can’t wait to see what topics you choose.

Now that I am back from my trip to Carbondale to watch the Salukis, I can now get back to work and initiate our Monday Musings.  The weekend went way too fast, but there have been some big news items and issues that we need to take a look at.  Thanks again for your patience.

The first story that erupted on the scene earlier today, was that the CIA filed court papers today admitting that they destroyed 92 videotapes of the waterboarding and the use of other torture methods on detainees and prisoners.  http://www.pubrecord.org/torture/721-justice-dept-says-cia-destroyed-92-torture-tapes.html.  I first saw the story on Jonathon Turley’s website, http://jonathanturley.org/2009/03/02/cia-admits-to-destroying-92-rather-than-2-tapes-of-interrogations/.  Theh ACLU has provided a copy of the filing here, http://www.aclu.org/pdfs/safefree/lettertohellerstein_ciainterrogationtapes.pdf.  This admission is evidence that the CIA intentionally destroyed the tapes in direct violation of a court order.  This admission could subject the CIA to an order of contempt of court.  In light of their earlier statements that they destroyed 2 tapes to “minimize certain legal issues”http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7443395.stm; the most recent admission is not only admitting that they destroyed 90 more tapes than originally stated, they have admitted to lying to the Court. 

Of course, being the nosey SOB that I am, my next question is who authorized the destruction of the tapes?  Not just who in the CIA authorized it, but who authorized them to destroy them?  If the CIA made the decision themselves then there are some people who are really in trouble, but if my guess is correct, there are some Bush regime higher ups whose fingerprints are all over this blatant abuse of power.  The CIA violated a court order to preserve all evidence of torture and Bush and Cheney have both admitted to ordering that torture in at least one occasion.  The knowing destruction of evidence is a crime and some Bushites are going to have to pay the price for their hunger for complete power. 

In the last several days, I have been barraged with personal emails about how Obama and his ambitious recovery package will sink our economy.  Even though the stock market has not bottomed out as hoped, the simple fact that all of these naysayers try to ignore is that the problems that this stimulus bill has been designed to correct were cause by Bush and his enabling Congress during the first 6 years of his regime and even during the last two years the Republican Senators have set filibuster records in an attempt to prevent the Democrats with their slim majority from correcting many of the problems that the neocons had created to benefit their wealthy friends and corporations.  The Republicans have even tried to blatantly lie about the recent budget and stimulus proposals to prevent its passage in an insidious attempt to ensure that the Obama administration will fail.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/26/AR2009022602822.html?hpid=topnews.  The Progress Report gives us additional evidence of the lies being spread by Republicans, http://thinkprogress.org/2009/03/02/franks-lie-red-light-express/.   So the bottom line is not only does Rush Limbaugh want Obama to fail, the Republican rank and file are also joining in that disgusting charade.  If they succeed in preventing the stimulus from succeeding, they will guarantee that we will be thrust into a deep depression that will not be pretty.  That is the plan of these so called Republicans.  They are not patriots, they are criminals and domestic terrorists.