Disqus - Latest Comments for Nell

Re: Why Karl Rove Should Go To Jail

Nell — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:58:15 -0000

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.

Re: So If Freeman Loses By Winning…

Nell — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:06:03 -0000

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.

Re: FDIC Strapped Because It Quit Collecting Premiums in Good Times

Nell — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:18:42 -0000

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.

Re: Ex-CIA Official Joins Senate Foreign Relations Committee Staff

Nell — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:27:40 -0000

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.

Re: Three more DOJ nominees confirmed, but still no Dawn Johnsen

Nell — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:32:59 -0000

Douglas Miec

Douglas Kmiec, yes?

Re: Little Green Footballs

Nell — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:35:22 -0000

This popcorn is makin' me thirsty.

Re: More Cheney Truth-Squaddery

Nell — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:32:40 -0000

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...

Re: McChrystal Paints Bleak Picture of Afghanistan War

Nell — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:31:39 -0000

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?

Re: While Obama Escalates in Afghanistan, Iraq Could Blow Up in His Face

Nell — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:49:27 -0000

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.