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   Dan Savage, the brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist, has become one of the most important ethicists in America. Are we screwed?
 The federal government is supposed to issue new rules about debt levels for students in for-profit colleges. In the meantime, the states are working on their own regulations.
 Washingtons budget hawks want to decimate the federal workforce to shrink the deficit. It will have the opposite effect.
 There arent nearly enough counterterrorism experts to instruct all of Americas police. So we got these guys instead.
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December 31, 2009
THURSDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * Learning more about yesterday's suicide attack in Afghanistan: "The C.I.A. operatives stationed where a suicide bombing occurred Wednesday -- killing at least eight Americans -- were responsible for collecting information about militant networks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and plotting missions to kill the networks' top leaders. Seven of the victims at Forward Operating Base Chapman were C.I.A. officers, and one of the victims was the base chief, officials said. The attack at the remote base in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday was carried out by someone who wore an Afghan National Army uniform, according to NATO officials." * The suicide bomber in the attack was not searched because he'd been invited onto the base -- the attacker had been courted as a possible informant. * Charges pending against Blackwater for the September 2007 shooting in Nisoor Square have been thrown out: "U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina said Justice Department prosecutors improperly built their case on sworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity. Urbina said the government's explanations were 'contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.'" * More encouraging economic news: "The number of newly laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits dropped unexpectedly last week, another indication that the job market may be healing as the economy slowly recovers." * ABC News reported this week that two of the plotters of the failed Christmas terrorist plot had been released by the Bush/Cheney administration. The network has partially retracted its report, saying that one of the two was not involved. * Radical Yemen cleric Anwar Awlaki is apparently not dead. Good to know. * Sessions' controversy deepens: "Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) in 2004 collected more than $24,000 from a financial firm since revealed to be part of a massive, billion-dollar Ponzi scheme, federal election data shows. The contributions came from Stanford Financial -- run by indicted financier Allen Stanford -- and together comprised the second-largest contribution from any firm to Sessions' campaign that year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, citing official Federal Election Commission reports." * Interesting item from Noam Scheiber: "[T]he government's stress tests -- an eight-week effort to vet the balance sheets of the country's biggest banks -- was the single most consequential economic policy of 2009." * Another lapse in judgment at the Washington Post. * TheConservatives.com, a big project of the Washington Times, has apparently been scrapped. * Rush Limbaugh was hospitalized overnight in Hawaii after experiencing chest pains. By all accounts, the right-wing radio host is expected to fully recover. * And Rachel Maddow noticed that several media outlets simply passed along Dick Cheney's vile attack against the White House yesterday without noting how spectacularly dishonest it was. She offered news outlets and media professionals some worthwhile advice: "Again, my friends and colleagues in the media have two choices in covering this. You can just copy down what the Republicans and Vice President Cheney are saying, and click 'send,' call it journalism, or you can actually fact-check those comments and put them into context. Your choice. It's your country." Anything to add? Consider this an open thread. —Steve Benen 5:20 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (23)
Comments
what? an activist judge letting accused criminals off on a technicality? Rush Limbaugh was hospitalized overnight in Hawaii Rush was in Hawaii? Why, that's a "foreign-sounding place" according to Cokie Roberts, and to a disturbingly large number of Americans (and I'm sure a large part of his base of listeners) a foreign country altogether. Have the wingers' threatened to desert him yet over his apostasy for visiting Obama's home state? Posted by: electrolite on December 31, 2009 at 5:41 PM | PERMALINKHappy New Year to you Steve Benen, washington monthly and to all readers !! Posted by: Big Brass Band on December 31, 2009 at 5:42 PM | PERMALINKYou can just copy down what the Republicans and Vice President Cheney are saying, and click 'send,' call it journalism, or you can actually fact-check those comments and put them into context. Your choice. It's your country." Far too many in the mainstream media think that their freedom of the press does not come with the corresponding responsibility to do their job properly. They just don't care. Posted by: DJ on December 31, 2009 at 5:47 PM | PERMALINKI applaud Rachel's comments, just hope someone out there will listen to her. Posted by: JS on December 31, 2009 at 5:54 PM | PERMALINKU.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina's life expectancy just went up. Posted by: John Emerson on December 31, 2009 at 6:20 PM | PERMALINK"Rush Limbaugh was hospitalized overnight in Hawaii after experiencing chest pains." ABC News reporting that Mush told the paramedics that he was "on medication for back pain". Why I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that he's still a junkie. Posted by: Joe Friday on December 31, 2009 at 6:43 PM | PERMALINKCareful, Steve. That Awlaki story comes through Brian Ross. Posted by: SqueakyRat on December 31, 2009 at 7:01 PM | PERMALINKMatalin the other day saying Bu$h inherited 9-11... DICK coming out blasting the president over the bombing fail when it was he who personally set free the two top clerics now in Yemen who orchestrated this attack... And neither one of them are called out. People, in the main stream media, one can simply lie and not get called out on it. This is America? This is what generations before us shed their blood for??? Sickening. The most infuriating thing is they are allowed, day in and day out, to propagate this false reality. What can be done? Seriously, what can be done? I think it's time to start hitting back at the people responsible for giving these traitorous scum a voice. And I'm not talking about fucking shame on yous... Posted by: citizen_pain on December 31, 2009 at 7:02 PM | PERMALINKBy all accounts, the right-wing radio host is expected to fully recover. i really hate to wish anyone ill, even rush. still, i feel a bit disappointed by the optimistic outlook on his health. sigh .... Posted by: mudwall jackson on December 31, 2009 at 7:22 PM | PERMALINKI really would like to know why Rush was out of the country and visiting Obama. Doesn't he know there is a crisis in the US that needs his attention? Posted by: marc on December 31, 2009 at 8:17 PM | PERMALINKHow long will it take for the wingnuts to blame Obama for Limbaugh's heart attack? My guess that it will be a lead story on Faux Nooze by Monday. Posted by: wbn on December 31, 2009 at 11:32 PM | PERMALINKDick Cheney makes his accusations knowing full well they make no sense but that the media will just pass them on. Posted by: bob h on January 1, 2010 at 6:27 AM | PERMALINKEver wonder if some of our Justice Department prosecutors sometimes take a dive? Posted by: nonheroicvet on January 1, 2010 at 7:23 AM | PERMALINKAgain, my friends and colleagues in the media have two choices in covering this....Your choice. It's your country. I found this ironic. It's not THEIR country. It's ours too, and it shouldn't be their choice. Posted by: Danp on January 1, 2010 at 8:47 AM | PERMALINKcould it be the anal cyst became too large to ignore, and this "chest pains" is ruse to cover a more inglorious ailment. of course the reason for this coming to this level is the BACK PAIN MEDICATION rendered the cyst discomfort unnoticeable until this time. Posted by: Ted76 on January 1, 2010 at 9:06 AM | PERMALINKThe attack against the CIA is probably the single biggest blow to our ability to gather useful intelligence in Afghanistan/Pakistan, etc. You don't allow a friendly informant to kill your people unless you have lost the edge. I think we are losing our edge against extremism everywhere. Our warriors are fighting ghosts and friendlies and Think again about the seriousness of the breach against the CIA. Yeah we can tighten security but it was humans that let the guy in, earning his trust. Huge. Posted by: Tom Nicholson on January 1, 2010 at 9:11 AM | PERMALINKAre those media hiccups really "lapses in judgment", or deliberate in service of someone's interests? Oh, and Happy New Year! (But IMHO maybe not a new decade yet if you follow starting from the year one.) I sure hope, it's better than the last. I suggested naming the just-maybe-passed one decade "the nillies" since "nil" can mean "nothing" and maybe from it being so 'willie-nillY." (I would say, it gave us the willie-nillies.). Defined at phrases.org.uk (but not a Britocentric joint): If I may add a brief OT note, any of you interested in quantum mechanics may want to read my post at http://tyrannogenius.blogspot.com/2009/12/decoherence-interpretation-falsified.html (The URL tells you the subject.) I am proud to be number one on the intertubes for the subject matter search (ie, no personally connecting features to help) "quantum measurement paradox." Posted by: neil b on January 1, 2010 at 9:19 AM | PERMALINKsworn statements that had been given under a promise of immunity I'm not a lawyer, but don't you see this in movies all the time? Posted by: cld on January 1, 2010 at 10:02 AM | PERMALINKMaybe Dick Cheney wouldn't be so confused about war if he had ever attended one. Posted by: nonheroicvet on January 1, 2010 at 11:46 AM | PERMALINKIt's obvious that Ms. Maddow hates America and should be investigated for giving aid and comfort to our enemies. Posted by: bikelib on January 2, 2010 at 11:43 AM | PERMALINK
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