No Associated Press content was harmed in the writing of this post

I am slowly reading The Dark Side and so was especially struck by this from one of Andrew Sullivan's readers: "If there's any comfort to be found in Mayer's account, or in any of the stories coming out about this administration's overreach, it's in the stories of those who didn't go crazy." We are going through an extraordinarily trying time for our nation's ideals, and while I have focused almost exclusively on the authors of these trials there are some uplifting stories as well. Some individuals have been willing to resist the cruel and authoritarian "War on Terror" mindset when confronted (sometimes unexpectedly) by it, and they deserve our admiration. Here are some examples.

A staffer on Capitol Hill once told me that working in the US Congress was a lot like summer camp. People who are leading our country eat junk food, live in fraternity style housing, and have summer recess.

For the members and staffers of the US Congress, August means spending much needed time off to in their districts and with their families.

For DC staffers, August means a full month with no pressing legislation, research, and no members of congress to staff. Hill staffers will tell you that they get much more work done when their member is not in the office.

As a huge fan of the X-Files and with the new movie coming out I decided that a fun thing to write about would be real life government conspiracies.

If you've never seen the X-Files you're missing out! It will take the normal, every day person and turn them into a paranoid questioner reciting "Trust No One!" Most times when you hear about government conspiracies they are wrapped in myths about martian rays, the tin-foil hats that protect you from them, government mind control, black helicopters, aliens in Roswell, New Mexico, the JFK Assassination, the list could go on forever.

(Cross posted from Docudharma)

The likely outcome of the Bush-led Republican raid on America astonishes me.  As America’s national nightmare approaches the eight-year mark, the Bush administration is apparently going to escape unpunished.  They are going to skate scot-free.  They have brazenly committed major crimes against the people of the United States, not to mention the terrible things they have done to much of the rest of the world...and these bastards are going to skate scot-free.  

They have implemented a systematic program of torture approved, directed and overseen by the White House.  And it wasn’t just some schoolboy pranks and it wasn’t just the isolated waterboarding of a few really bad guys.  It was systematic, it was widespread, and it was far worse than the elite media has admitted.  Far worse.  They have hidden the most shocking images from view.  But as they say, the truth will out.

January 2, 2008 -- Today Steve launched a new feature on his campaign'’s website, urging his supporters to join the national petition to demand the House begin hearings on an impeachment resolution of Vice Presid

"Culture Crashing" - (C) Brad Michael Moore 1996-2007

Cross-posted to DailyKos.

The recount announcement from the Bush administration that former Federal judge Michael Mukasey will be their nominee for Attorney General has been met with relief from many in the progressive movement, as well as with praise from the mainstream media, which views Mukasey as a "consensus choice."

However, the fact that Mukasey is, unlike many past Bush nominations, a "consensus choice," does not mean that he's perfect, or even ideal. As of right now, there are plenty of warning signs about Mukasey that should make Senate Democrats, and movement progressives, willing to at least ask questions about his suitability to be Attorney General.

(Partially excerpted from a recent blog at AbsolutArts.com)

Cross-posted to DailyKos.

While covering the anti-war protests in Washington D.C. today, The NBC Nightly News interviewed a woman who was taking part in the "pro-war" counter protest. A mother, with two children serving in Iraq, she made a claim that has been repeated by many of the Iraq War's supporters: That, in order to "support the troops," you must also "support what they're doing."

Because war is a type of policy, this statement, at the most fundamental of levels, amounts to saying that "support for the troops" equals a "total and unqualified support for a particular governmental policy," no matter how ill advised it may seem. Tying support for the troops together with support for governmental goals, however, raises disturbing questions about what that would mean for democracy itself.

(Updated below)

I keep asking myself: why is there so many people who not only applaud, but actually crave, each and every step taken by our governments to increase their influence over our private lives, to increase their ability to spy, monitor, survey and control us?

And why is it those same people are the most fervent war hawks and supporters of absolute Authority?

We know well these people.

The tragedy in Utah should open Americans' eyes. While one hesitates to bring up politics at the moment, there's overwhelming evidence that this disaster is a microcosm of how government works under the Republican worldview -- corrupt, hyperpoliticized, instinctively anti-regulatory, and "pro-business" to the extent of risking human life. Intellectual honesty requires we face facts even in unpleasant times. And so a little story, which I urge you to pass on -- especially to friends who aren't already on "our side" of the issues...

I've been trolling the "blogosphere" rather heavily the past few days, trying to make sense out of the Congress' passing of the secret FISA Modernization Act, its failure to call any of the Executive to account for the latest bunch of Constitutional atrocities perpetrated by the Cheney/Bush gang, its failure to put a stop work order out on their Iran pre-emptive nuke attack plans, etc. I fear the problem may well be worse than just Democratic stupidity, fear, or inertia.

It seems that once again the spotlight will be on Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, as Representative John Conyers and Senator Patrick Leahy will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether or not the Attorney General misled, lied, or otherwise acted improperly when testifying before Congress on the issue of the illegal wiretaps. This request came on the release of notes maintained by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, pertaining to his meeting on March 12, 2004 with then Attorney General John Ashcroft.

(Updated below - call for action alert)

What is a "government" and what is it for?

The time has long passed to ask ourselves this fundamental question.

Far be it from me to undertake an extensive "scholarly" analysis of the various forms of governments throughout history, their pros and cons, their origins and evolutions, and whatnot. Nor is it my intent to discuss the nuts and bolts of governing.

It has become cliché to say that this Iraq war cannot be won militarily. Equally comfortable with this admission are hawks who would turn on a dime if they thought the insurgency was capable of collapsing, and doves whose primary objection to the war is its "mismanagement".