Pansynthesis

[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. --L.]

Arrest Warrant for US Special Ops, Running Kandahar Outlaw Militia?

The Guardian is reporting that the chief military prosecutor in Kabul is accusing “the US of creating an outlaw militia which allegedly shot dead Matiullah Qateh, the chief of police in the city of Kandahar” and “has issued an arrest warrant for an American special forces commander”…

Government to Oil Plume Discovery Team: Shut Up

In the meantime, we have the first report of tar balls washing ashore in Key West. The material will be analyzed, and if the profile matches the material from the spill, then we will have confirmation that the oil has entered the loop current. Since we don’t see surface oil that far south, how could that oil reach Key West? Perhaps traveling as a plume under the surface?

Remember Scooter Libby’s Lost Emails?

Deficit Schmeficit (Hullabaloo – Digby)

Here are two important articles for everyone to read about the coming Deficit Hysteria Tour:

James Galbraith on why the fetish for deficit reduction is total nonsense

A reprise of William Greider's seminal piece on Pete Peterson.

Bookmark these for later. We're going to need them.

Why They Took Out ACORN (Hullabaloo – Digby)

Since we are heading into an election and the subject of race and immigration are coming once again to the fore in American politics, this seems like a good time talk about voter suppression….

It's important to remember that the thrust of many of these latest laws are to suppress the Latino vote, many of whom are reluctant to show up at polling places only to be treated like second class citizens and viewed with suspicion. Life is short. The same, of course, holds true for African Americans, even today. Simply slowing the lines with demands for proof of ID is enough to suppress the votes in urban precincts with too few voting machines. And then there are the handicapped and elderly who often just don't have the same type of ID as the rest of us. But then that's the point. These people must be made to jump through hoops in order to exercise their right to vote.

Oh wait. That's not quite right, is it? After all it was none other than the majority in Bush vs Gore who made it a point to reaffirm that "the individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States."

Perhaps we ought to change that.

Did Stephen Colbert write Glenn Beck's Liberty U commencement address? Is he tippling? Whaa… just wow. (Hullabaloo – Digby)

"the most bizarre commencement speech in history"

Making the argument — Dante Atkins talks like a liberal (Hullabaloo – Digby)

Rick Perlstein alerted me to this fine post by Dante Atkins in which he gives a spirited and moving argument for liberal values. It's particularly gratifying since he made the argument around the issue from which so many Democrats are running as fast as they can: abortion rights.

He is engaging in a sort of dialog with a retrograde, throwback outfit called "The Ruth Institute" which is apparently some sort of white supremacy group concerned that the birthrate of the right sort of people is going down because selfish and slutty white women are refusing to properly submit themselves to men and breed early and often.

It's a fascinating back and forth, but as Perlstein noted what's especially notable is the way Atkins makes the argument. Here's an example…

Constitutional Exceptionalism (Hullabaloo – Digby)

I've been thinking for a long time that in light of Americans' eagerness to set aside due process for terrorist suspects and sex offenders that the list of crimes with which the constitution is not considered adequate to deal will likely expand. It's too illogical, even for us, to say that the failed Times Square bombing is more dangerous than a crime spree serial killer or a murderous drug gang.

It makes no sense that the constitution would give those individuals rights under the constitution but not give them to sex offenders and failed terrorists. Something will have to give. It seems almost inevitable in our current climate and with this current court that more crimes are going to be designated outside the normal constitutional order in order to justify the ones that already are.

Financial reform is getting stronger not weaker — but it's not over yet.

This one has the banks very, very upset and they are pulling out all the stops. It's going to have to overcome a filibuster and there's no guarantee that's going to happen. Here's where we are right now according to sources on the Hill. They expect to vote tomorrow…

Where Was The Decider? (Hullabaloo – Digby)

Greg Sargent makes a fascinating observation after reading Jonathan Alter's new book on the first year of the Obama White House. After rightly noting that some liberals have been pounding their fists on this subject for a long, long time he notes that according to Alter, the White House knew fairly early on that bipartisanship was going nowhere…

Bad and getting worse — the spill hits the Florida Keys (Hullabaloo)

I keep seeing scientists on TV with that "hair on fire" look about them, nearly frantic, trying to get people to understand how serious the spill is. They are followed by oil company flacks saying it's no big deal and politicians turning it into he-said/she-said. It's the strangest disaster coverage I've ever witnessed. but it doesn't change the fact that this thing is bad and getting worse.

Head Rolls (Talking Points Memo)

The Interior Department official who oversees offshore oil and gas drilling for the Minerals Management Service will retire May 31, the Washington Post reports.

Guess His Mind Is Made Up

Newt Gingrich on Elena Kagan: "I say to the Senate: You do not need hearings. You know why she's not worthy of being a Supreme Court justice."

When They Fall, They Fall Really Hard (Talking Points Memo)

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) managed to record a video on the importance of abstinence with his mistress.

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