DISQUS

Another report on McChrystal's confirmation hearing has the headline: "General says war is winnable."

It contained a direct quote from McChrystal that seemed to bear that out. It was linked on the TPM 'capital wire' feed, but there are no archives of that, so having trouble finding it.

Any thoughts?

As psychologist Jeff Kaye was the first to point out last June, the Senate Armed Services Committee investigative staff unearthed inquiries from the DoD general counsel's office to JPRA/SERE as early as December 2001, long before the capture of Abu Z but well after there were numerous prisoners in hand as a result of the US invasion of Afghanistan (including John Walker Lindh).

http://valtinsblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/media-g...

This popcorn is makin' me thirsty.

Douglas Miec

Douglas Kmiec, yes?

Any thoughts on why a news item like this has to be ferreted out by the Independent rather than publicly announced by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee? And why almost none of the Senate or House committees, much less members of Congress themselves, make public the names and roles/titles of their staff?

Considering that congressional staff are paid by the public, and that a third of them go on to become lobbyists, this secrecy seems like mortar in the wall separating insiders from the uncouth rabble who pay their salaries.

I'm all for paying close attention to what's actually going on in Iraq as opposed to what we'd like to have happen, but I wonder how much of a reliable narrator/analyst Ricks is or can be.

Here he is in a Washington Post online chat in July 2006:

:: Q: In your opinion, how much longer will our troops be in Iraq?

Tom Ricks: I would bet a loooong time. Maybe 10 to 15 years.

Q: If you could change one fundamental aspect of the way our leaders are waging this war, what would it be?

Tom Ricks: I would like to see this war waged on a bipartisan basis. ::

He's an _advocate_ of staying forever, not just someone dispassionately analyzing that the U.S. will.

If Congress failed to grant the authority for the FDIC to collect the insurance premiums, then it's Congress to blame. 1996-2006? That means leaders of the relevant committees in _both parties_ sat on their hands in deference to the banking lobby.

A pretty decent editorial from the L.A. Times, 'An Open Debate on Israel', and one from the WaPo that is in stinky Weekly Standard territory.

Great job on the debut show of Meet the Bloggers! The two-tier system of "justice" is the heart of the issue with Rove's defiance of the law, and you brought it home.

Glad I followed the link here to find your pointer to the Katrina petition. Thanks, and hope to see you regularly on MtB.