Thursday Night Open Thread
I used all my time writing the ridculously long post below on the fight over the request to release documents related to Dick Cheney's FBI interview about the leak of Valerie Plame's identity. I'm off to check out the TL kid's new apartment, he just got the keys. It's next door to his old apartment, but it's still an exciting move for him. So I'm not going to get to the DEA jumping into the Michael Jackson death investigation (ridiculous) or Norm Stamper's latest on

The Battle Over Dick Cheney's FBI Valerie Plame Interview
When I wrote a few weeks ago about the Obama Administration taking the position that documents related to Dick Cheney's FBI interview in the Valerie Plame leaks case should not be released, it was in the context of lack of transparency and the silliness of the Government's attempted justification: Another sign of non-transparency from Obama: His Justice Department is fighting a Freedom of Information Act request in federal court, trying to keep CREW fr

Once More On Preventive Detention
This post from Liza Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice guestblogged at Balkinization is a very good explanatory of why the issue is such a difficult one in current times. The key graf for me: The U.S. thus has authority under domestic law to apply the same detention rule that the law of war establishes in international armed conflict. The problem with this arrangement is that the rules that apply in international armed conflict are a poor fit for the war we’re actually fighting. Wars against other nations differ from wars against irregular forces, and those differen

Massive Michael Jackson Tribute Set for Staples Center Tuesday
Fox News says it's official. The LA Times says it's under discussion. There will be a massive public tribute to Michael Jackson at the Staples Center Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. People are grumbling about the security costs. How about if everyone who ever enjoyed a Michael Jackson song kicks in $1.00. Wouldn't that cover it?

The Business Of Access Journalism
So the Washington Post has scrapped its full monty pay for play scheme. But it is important to remember that the business of Traditional "journalism" now is in fact favorable coverage in exchange for access - which can be just as pernicious. A couple of days ago, Bob Somerby linked to this June 3 Digby piece on Richard Wolffe, the fellow covering the Obama campaign while at the same time writing a book about it. Digby cited this Wolffe qu