The Whole Delivery

Photo from AP's Andres Leighton Because when you are the President of the United States and you know people are innocent, yet you decide to torture them, that is the only sufficient reward : George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by The Times. The accusations were made by Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to Colin Powell, the former Republican Secretary of State, in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantánamo detainee. It is the first time that such allegations have been made by a senior member of the Bush Administration. Colonel Wilkerson, who was General Powell’s chief of staff when he ran the State Department, was most critical of Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld. He claimed that the former Vice-President and Defence Secretary kn...

Let's celebrate the relevancy of the irrelevant : In a huddle with reporters moments ago, I asked Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) for her thoughts on a public option compromise that would allow states to opt out of a national government insurance program, and her answer could slow down the proposal's considerable momentum . "I don't support that," Snowe said. It gets better ! I love when the irrelevant drive the news.

Liz Cheney says that Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz, and Chris Matthews are scared to debate her. And suddenly, the "Liz Cheney Fan Club" has started online web ads to make it appear that Olbermann, Schultz, and Matthews are "TEH SCARED" of the "Puppet of the Year!" Just take a look : What makes this even more funny is this fact: Cheney never mentions that Rachel Maddow is scared to debate her. Even more utter hilarity is the other fact that Maddow and her producers have asked Cheney to appear on their show. But, there has been nothing but silence from her and her fan club on doing that interview. Surprise! Steve Benen adds his usual great two cents : To borrow a phrase, why doesn't Liz Cheney want to talk substance? Why doesn't she want to debate the issues? Because she is intimidated and frighted at being interviewed by the nicest, smartest person arguably in all of American news television. I guess being smart and nice is intimidating nowadays. E...

Not bad At least it wasn't a happy go lucky ad. Wish they would say the word torture, but the fact they put McCain's soundbite from Sunday is pretty good in my mind.

Look who is getting more momentum for a 2012 bid. At first, it seemed like a joke. Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto opined on Monday that -- if the 2012 election were to turn to national security -- "it's hard to think of a better candidate... than Richard B. Cheney." But while his headline -- "Cheney for President" -- provoked guffaws in some quarters, several of the party's most well-regarded strategists and pollsters are actually taking the idea deadly seriously. Amazing isn't it. It seems like he would be a great president, but Sammy Stein reminds us that there are a few little things stopping a President Cheney Administration from happening Of course, speculating about a Cheney presidency is ludicrous for many reasons. For starters, it's three years and several months until the general election. Moreover, the former vice president's age and health remain a major issue (as they did when he was picked to be VP nine years ago). And...

The up and down nature of John McCain. This came after Dicky Dick said what he had to say to defend his disgraceful self. Well, at least his daughter wasn't a puppet for him this time like she always is.

(For those who don't know what TRONN stands for, it means The Rational Online Network of Networks). First, the story that broke the afternoon it occurred, as Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the Chairman of the powerful Armed Services Committee in Congress, basically called Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz's claims in the media recently far "from the truth." This all basically started from beachmom's post over at the Kos As you recall, Levin released a report on the treatment of detainees which was signed off on by the Republicans on the Armed Services Committee as well, which was quite damning of the Bush Administration and the regime Dick Cheney created. In short, Levin has done the research and knows what he is talking about. When former Vice President Cheney said last week that what happened at Abu Ghraib was the work of "a few sadistic prison guards" acting on their own, he bore false witness. And when he said last week there was no link between t...