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Rice led Bush administration discussions of torture techniques, according to documents secured and released by Sen. Carl Levin as part of a congressional inquiry. I can’t tell from this article how complicit Rice was in authorizing torture; that she was complicit in policy-making on the issue now seems clear. We also know what the outcome […]

Witness flips in troopergate. A private contractor now admits under oath that she was pressured by Palin’s office over Palin’s attempt vindictively to fire her ex-brother-in-law.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai believes that the new civilian government will take more effective steps against the Pakistani Taliban on the Afghan border. This stance is the opposite of that of John McCain, who supported military dictator Pervez Musharraf (who was forced to resign as president in August under threat of impeachment). Pakistani forces claim […]

Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) on how the Reality Game, “Wall Street Bailout,” is played: See also Chalmers Johnson at Tomdispatch.com on the Pentagon Bailout Fraud.

These bombings in Baghdad follow a major such attack in Damascus, Syria, which was probably carried out by radical revivalist Sunnis (“Salafis”) to punish the Syrian regime for cracking down on their movements, both into Iraq and between Lebanon and Syria. The Syrian regime, as Borzou Daragahi points out, is also a strong backer of […]

In addition to those two snap polls done just after the debate on Friday by CNN and by CBS, there is now further evidence that Obama won the first debate handily. A Gallup/ USA Today poll of 701 viewers of the debate done on Saturday found that 46% of viewers said Barack Obama did better; […]

Saudi Arabia wants lower petroleum prices. As a country with enormous reserves, Riyadh would like to preserve their value. In contrast, countries like Algeria with relatively shallow reserves want to get top dollar for their petroleum while it lasts. Businessweek provides the telling quote: ‘ Any threat to oil’s leading role as a source of […]

On seeing this part of the Couric interview of Palin, I suddenly remembered something about her: ‘ Couric: In preparing for this conversation, a lot of our viewers … and Internet users wanted to know why you did not get a passport until last year. And they wondered if that indicated a lack of interest […]

About that claim by McCain that he warned about the mortgage crisis: McCain: “But — but let me — let me point out, I also warned about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and warned about corporate greed and excess, and CEO pay, and all that. A lot of us saw this train wreck coming.” In […]