J.K. Rowling: Witchy Woman?

Via Think Progress: J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, was reportedly rejected as a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient by the Bush Administration because her books encouraged witchcraft. This info comes from former Bush administration speechwriter Matt Latimer in his new book, Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor.

If these Bush folks thought that the Harry Potter stories encouraged witchcraft, then did they actually believe in witchcraft? Uff-da.

Torture Memos

In memos released recently we learned more about how the Bush Administration crafted a legal justification for torture.

Art helps illuminate truth; that's why I like this video:




(Via Boing Boing)

More on Judge Bybee here.

"US Torture: Voices from the Black Sites" by Mark Danner

Mark Danner, writing in The New York Review of Books, examines a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) concerning "black sites," a network of secret internment locations used for detention and interrogation of "high value detainees." The ICRC report describes the methods and “enhanced techniques” used by the CIA to interrogate prisoners in this “global internment system” established under the authority of President George W. Bush following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

• Link to Mr. Danner's article.
  

• The New York Review of Books press release about the Danner article.

Mark Danner is also the author of Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror.

The Onion's Inauguration Coverage

Headlines from The Onion: Vice Presidential Handlers Lure Cheney Into Traveling Crate and Hillary Clinton Mouthing Along to Presidential Oath. Read the rest at this link.

The George W. Bush Era: The End is Nigh

You know how it is when you are at the dentist: Stretched out in a chair with your head tilted backward, your jaw is propped open with some new age dental gizmo. Needles appear and disappear. Cotton is packed into your mouth, and there is drilling, water and suction. Then finally, after this has gone on for what seems like an eternity, the dentist says, 'we're just about done.' At that point, you relax a little bit, feel a little giddy. Well, with respect to George W. Bush serving as President of the United States, we're just about done.

The video, below, of our fearless leader is from the David Letterman Show, via Huffington Post.

The George W. Bush Legacy

From Salon: A by-the-numbers examination of how eight years of the George W. Bush wrecked havoc on America.

George W. Bushisms

"I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office."—President George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 26, 2008.

Heavens to Betsy! Abducted from the Oval Office! Security will surely improve when Barack Obama is President. Wait. No Oval Office abduction. It was just the ramblings of that silver-tongued decider, your President, George Bush. For more quotes, check out The Complete Bushisms on Slate. Depending on your mood, you will either laugh or despair.

"We want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of reading. In order to make sure there's not this kind of federal—federal cuff link."—At Fritsche Middle School, Milwaukee, March 30, 2000.

"Money for Nothing"

From FightingBob.com: Bill Dixon, an attorney and former Wisconsin Banking Commissioner, comments on the Bush-Paulson giveaway.

McCain/Palin Lie to the American People During Their Campaign. Won't They Lie Again if Elected to Serve?

Odd things are going on. As with all things unpleasant, I blame George Bush because he can always be found somewhere in the causation chain. Here are a few of the oddities:

Conservatives, who typically decline to argue among themselves in public, are arguing among themselves in public over Sarah Palin according to a story by James Rainey in the Los Angeles Times.

Economic instability continues. Although yesterday former Labor Secretary Robert Reich was on MSNBC with the most sensible comments of the day.




And, it's going to snow on Mars.