Few issues highlight Barack Obama's extreme hypocrisy the way that Bagram does. As everyone knows, one of George Bush’s most extreme policies was abducting people from all over the world -- far away from any battlefield -- and then detaining them at Guantanamo with no legal rights of any kind, not even the most minimal right to a habeas review in a federal court. Back in the day, this was called "Bush's legal black hole." In 2006, Congress codified that policy by enacting the Military Commissions Act, but in 2008, the Supreme Court, in Boumediene v. Bush, ruled that provision unconstitutional, holding that the Constitution grants habeas corpus rights even to foreign nationals held at Guantanamo. Since then, detainees have won 35 out of 48 habeas hearings brought pursuant to Boumediene, on the ground that there was insufficient evidence to justify their detention.

Immediately following Boumediene, the Bush administration argued that the decision was inapplicable to detainees at Bagram -- including even those detained outside of Afghanistan but then flown to Afghanistan to be imprisoned. Amazingly, the Bush DOJ -- in a lawsuit brought by Bagram detainees seeking habeas review of their detention -- contended that if they abduct someone and ship them to Guantanamo, then that person (under Boumediene) has the right to a habeas hearing, but if they instead ship them to Bagram, then the detainee has no rights of any kind. In other words, the detainee's Constitutional rights depends on where the Government decides to drop them off to be encaged. One of the first acts undertaken by the Obama DOJ that actually shocked civil libertarians was when, last February, as The New York Times put it, Obama lawyers "told a federal judge that military detainees in Afghanistan have no legal right to challenge their imprisonment there, embracing a key argument of former President Bush’s legal team."

THE GOOD NEWS:

Julio Aparicio, one of Spain's most famous
matadors, was gored by a bull's horn, which went through
his tongue and penetrated the roof of his mouth.

THE BAD NEWS:

Aparicio survived; the bull was tortured to death.

Finally, and most important: this Public Opinion Excuse ignores the substantial agency which Obama possesses in shaping our political debates. Presidents have numerous tools for influencing public opinion, and Obama has used none for the purpose of fortifying support for the new Terrorism policies he vowed during the campaign to pursue. He's actually done the opposite: by advocating for the continuation of so many Bush/Cheney policies, he's weakened opposition to that approach. In that regard, Matt has it backward: Obama isn't following public opinion on these questions; public opinion is following Obama.

WHY DOES THE COAST GUARD WORK FOR BP?

I THOUGHT IT WAS CBS THAT'S SUPPOSED TO WORK FOR BP?


Watch CBS News Videos Online

NBC admitted that it engages in "behavior placement,"the practice of incorporating marketers' messages intelevision storylines to influence viewers' habits and help sell ads to companies whose products then get associated with a socially aware program; in order to attract "green" advertisers, for instance, characters in "30 Rock," "Law & Order," and "The Office" are shown recycling, driving hybrid cars, and switching to energy-saving light bulbs.

“A new earthquake” is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto’s seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation’s presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

OBAMA LOVES FUCKING OVER THE LITTLE PEOPLE, MEANING ALL PEOPLE AND ALL NONPEOPLE

In December 2009, in her capacity as Solicitor General, Kagan intervened in the first case on which SCOTUS will rule involving genetically modified crops, Monsanto v Geertson Seed. She defended Monsanto’s fight to contaminate the environment with its GM alfalfa, not the American people’s right to safe feed and a protected environment.

Haiti's earthquake on 12 January this year has been a lucky business break for some. The transnational firm Monsanto is offering the country's farmers a deadly gift of 475 tonnes of genetically-modified (GM) seeds, along with associated fertiliser and pesticides, which will be handed out free by the WINNER project, with the backing of the US embassy in Haiti. Do Haitians know Monsanto made the "Agent Orange" defoliant sprayed over Vietnam by US planes during the war there, poisoning both US soldiers and Vietnamese civilians?

Do Haitians know that these GM seeds have been declared dangerous by many countries? They often come in kits along with a Monsanto herbicide called "Roundup," which contains glyphosate. In my native Brittany, it has already polluted the water table. But Monsanto insists its product is biodegradable. It is being sued for this by anti-frauid officials in Lyon.

A former employee of Monsanto, Linda Fischer, has just been named to head the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which monitors environmental issues. It's like giving a cat the job of looking after a mouse's welfare.

Monsanto has already begun distributing its GM maize seeds around Gonaïves, Kenscoff, Pétionville, Cabaret, Arcahaie, Croix-des-Bouquets and Mirebalais. Soon there will be only Monsanto seeds in Haiti. Then it will be goodbye to farmers' independence. Monsanto recently invested $550 million in Brazil to manufacture the Roundup herbicide in the northeastern state of Bahia. But the country seems to be fighting back against the firm.

Monsanto is publicising the seeds as a generous gift. But Haitian farmers wishing to use them for future harvests will have to pay royalties to Monsanto. The Monsanto representative in Haiti is Jean- Robert Estimé, who served as foreign minister under the Duvalier family's 29-year dictatorship.

ch ch ch ch changes:

KBR to Get No-Bid Army Work as U.S. Alleges Kickbacks

(Updates with General Casey’s comment in 10th and 11th paragraphs, McCaskill comment in third paragraph from end.)

By Tony Capaccio

May 6 (Bloomberg is a Fat Greedy Fuck) -- KBR Inc. was selected for a no-bid contract worth as much as $568 million through 2011 for military support services in Iraq, the Army said.

The Army announced its decision yesterday only hours after the Justice Department said it will pursue a lawsuit accusing the Houston-based company of taking kickbacks from two subcontractors on Iraq-related work. The Army also awarded the work to KBR over objections from members of Congress, who have pushed the Pentagon to seek bids for further logistics contracts.

The Justice Department said the government will join a suit filed by whistleblowers alleging that two freight-forwarding firms gave KBR transportation department employees kickbacks in the form of meals, drinks, sports tickets and golf outings.

“Defense contractors cannot take advantage of the ongoing war effort by accepting unlawful kickbacks,” Assistant Attorney General Tony West said in a statement.

America, where freedom of the government reigns:

Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of a massive police operation in Philadelphia that culminated in the helicopter bombing of the headquarters of a radical group known as MOVE. The fire from the attack killed six adults and five children and destroyed sixty-five homes. Despite two grand jury investigations and a commission finding that top officials were grossly negligent, no one from city government was criminally charged. MOVE was a Philadelphia-based radical movement that was dedicated to black liberation and a back-to-nature lifestyle. It was founded by John Africa, and all its members took on the surname Africa. We hear from Mumia Abu-Jamal and speak with Ramona Africa, the only adult survivor of the bombing.

Perfect timing, from a murderer who never served any time:

Laura Bush Voices Support for Gay Marriage and Abortion Rights

Former First Lady Laura Bush has publicly endorsed gay marriage and abortion rights. In an interview with Larry King, she admitted she disagreed with her husband on these key social issues.

Laura Bush: “You know, when couples are committed to each other and love each other, then they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that everyone has.”

Larry King: “So would that be an area where you disagree? You can’t agree on everything.”

Laura Bush: “I guess that would be an area that we disagree. I mean, I understand totally what George thinks and what other people think about marriage being between a man and a woman, and it’s a real, you know, reversal, really, for that, to accept gay marriage.”

Larry King: “But you do.”

Laura Bush: “But I think we could, yeah.”

So, when conservatives yelled at him about trying Gitmo detainees in civilian courts, his instinct was to back down. When they yelled at him for giving detainees Miranda rights, he is now on the verge of backing down. When they yelled at him about foreign wars, he escalated them. When they yelled at him about the $50 billion "bailout" fund in the financial reform bill, he asked to take it out. When they yelled at him about offshore oil drilling, he gave them more. How did that turn out?

Did you know that after Joe Wilson yelled out "You lie!" on the issue of how immigrants would be treated in the healthcare bill, they quietly gave into him and changed that provision? Is there anything that this guy can't get bullied on? Well, of course, there is. Everything from the left.

So, that brings us to Elana Kagan. Bush picked arguably the two most conservative judges in the country to fill his Supreme Court vacancies. He easily shoved it down the throat of the Democrats. What has been Obama's response - let me pick a centrist!

so glad guantanamo bay, the american torture prison located in a country i can't go to unless i'm taken away to be tortured, paid for by me, an american tax paying assfuck, likes to follow ground rules.

Four journos banned from Gitmo trial

They were ejected for violating ground rules which bar the identification of protected witnesses. The reporters have noted that the name of the interrogator in question, Joshua Claus, was widely reported in the Canadian press before the trial. In fact, Claus gave one or more interviews in 2008 about his interrogation of Khadr.

American Journalism - That's where an American asks a question, and then tells the interviewee he answered incorrectly, and then goes even further by saying "i don't agree" - HEY YOU FUCK - YOU DON'T HAVE A FUCKING OPINION ASSHOLE, REMEMBER??? oh right, you're an american AND a journalist so that means you have less than no memory at all:



HEY FUCKFACE STEPHUCKFACE - IF YOU KNEW BUSH AND BIN LADEN WORKED TOGETHER, WOULD YOU REPORT ANYTHING AT ALL, EVER, ABOUT SUCH A THING?

Joe Biden On Kagan Opposing School Military Recruiters: 'She Was Right' (VIDEO)

EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT SHE DIDN'T OPPOSE SCHOOL MILITARY RECRUITERS

AMY GOODMAN: Glenn Greenwald, we just lost you at the point where you were saying that the attack she’s going to get on not allowing ROTC at Harvard Law School for its discrimination against gay men and lesbians was not as strong as it seemed. Why not?

GLENN GREENWALD: Right, because essentially what happened was the federal government said that any law school or academic institution that bans military recruiters from campus will lose a certain portion of federal funding, and so once that law was upheld as constitutional, Harvard Law School faced the loss of a couple hundred millions of dollars, out of an endowment of $60 billion that the college has. So the minute there was a cost to this great moral stand that she was taking, she immediately reversed herself and allowed military recruiters to come onto campus. That doesn’t sound like much of a commitment to a moral position to me, abandoning it the minute there’s a cost to it.

BUT WHO GIVES A FUCK

Obama Picks Kagan, Backer of Indefinite Detention Without Trial, for High Court

WHO IS THIS FUCKING OBAMA? WHERE'S THE FUCKING CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGE?

ELITIST RACIST CORPORATE COCKSUCKING MURDERER

American Journalism - Two Examples:

WASHINGTON — Since the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded on April 20, the Obama administration has granted oil and gas companies at least 27 exemptions from doing in-depth environmental studies of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico.

The waivers were granted despite President Barack Obama’s vow that his administration would launch a “relentless response effort” to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the gulf. One of them was dated Friday — the day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he was temporarily halting offshore drilling

The exemptions, known as “categorical exclusions,” were granted by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and included waiving detailed environmental studies for a BP exploration plan to be conducted at a depth of more than 4,000 feet and an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. exploration plan at more 9,000 feet.

“Is there a moratorium on off shore drilling or not?” asked Peter Galvin, conservation director with the Center for Biological Diversity, the environmental group that discovered the administration’s continued approval of the exemptions. “Possibly the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history has occurred and nothing appears to have changed.”"

I'M SO GLAD OBAMA CLOSED GUANTANAMO BAY TORTURE CENTER.

AND I'M SO HAPPY OBAMA PUT AN END TO TORTURE FOREVER.

AND I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER THAT AMERICA DOESN'T RELY PRIMARILY ON MERCENARY THUGS TO MURDER PEOPLE WITH MY MONEY.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING US HAVE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS BACK AND BURNING THE PATRIOT ACT.

OH, AND THANKS FOR ENDING RACIAL PROFILING.

AND THANKS FOR PUSHING FOR CLEAN ENERGY UNLIKE COAL OIL AND NUCLEAR.

AND THANKS FOR HOLDING THE WORLD'S MOST EVIL CRIMINALS ACCOUNTABLE.

AND I WOULD THANK YOU FOR ENDING THE WAR IN IRAQ AND TELLING EVERYONE WE'RE SUPER SORRY 'BOUT KILLING OVER A MILLION PEOPLE FOR ABSOLUTELY NO REASON AT ALL, BUT I CAN"T EVEN REMEMBER THAT WE WERE EVER THERE, IT'S BEEN SO LONG.

BUT MOSTLY, THANKS FOR NOT KILLING INNOCENT CHILDREN EVERY SINGLE HOUR OF EVERY SINGLE DAY.

WHAT AN AWESOME CARING HUMAN BEING YOU ARE. IT MUST HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE GREAT UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANCE OF LIFE THAT COMES WITH RAISING CHILDREN.

SO MAYBE I SHOULD THANK YOUR CHILDREN TOO. THANKS OBAMA'S GIRLS!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So, Ronald Reagan bans offshore drilling. Then Dickhead and Bushwad can't manage to lift the ban.

And then comes Mr. Change. Obama. Lifts the ban on offshore drilling.

WOW! That actually IS change we can believe in.

Obama is biggest recipient of BP’s political action cash in the last 20 years

I totally can't wait for America's next nuclear power plant disaster. That's gonna be super fun.

UM, HOW COME IF YOU'RE BLACK IN AMERICA AND GET CAUGHT SMOKING WEED THREE TIMES YOU GET SHOT IN THE FACE, BUT IF YOU'RE BP OR ANY OTHER CORPORATION, WHICH IS LEGALLY CONSIDERED A PERSON BY FUCKING RETARDS, THEN ALL YOU GOTTA DO IS PAY A FINE??? EVEN IF YOU MURDERED PEOPLE???

ANSWER: BECAUSE THIS IS AMERICA. IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER.