The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Yet another thought on the Iraqi photo decision.

    By kgb999 on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 5:15am |
    There are many who applaud Obama for his decision to block the release of Iraqi abuse photographs. I am not one. I know people have loved ones in the line of fire, I can't judge any opinion, partly because I...
    Joe Wood's picture

    Why I Left the Republican Party: Maybe You Should Too

    By Joe Wood on Sat, 05/16/2009 - 1:29am |
    Yes, ashamedly I was a devoted, sign-toting, hornswaggling, carpetbagging, hoot-snooted Republican from 2001-2007.  Why?  Don't ask me; I actually voted for Gore. But in the midst of the terrorist attacks on September 11th, I somehow mistook my patriotic support for...
    Joe Wood's picture

    Why Obama Is Flip-Flopping

    By Joe Wood on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 9:40pm |
    Many people remember Lincoln as our greatest President; he saved the union, wrote and spoke beautiful and lasting words, and freed the slaves.  What they forget is that before most of that, he made choices that made his enemies, and...
    oleeb's picture

    Let's Look at the Court Decision Ordering Release of the Photos The President Now Seeks to Overturn

    By oleeb on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 8:28pm |
    Since the President's flip flop on the release of the photos his administration had previously agreed to release, pursuant to an order of a Federal court, there has been tremendous debate about what the President said and why as well...
    MrSmith1's picture

    Is it me ...?

    By MrSmith1 on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 3:18pm |
    "CIA Director Leon Panetta says agency records show CIA officers briefed lawmakers truthfully in 2002 on methods of interrogating terrorism suspects ..."     ... Is it me or is there something absurd about Leon Panetta telling congress that, according to their records, the CIA is...
    Ramona's picture

    Sometimes a Picture isn't Worth a Thousand Words

    By Ramona on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 2:58pm |
    Get some perspective, please. And be honest. We don't need to see those actual photographs in order to get a good picture of prisoner abuses perpetrated in our name. The evidence is surfacing daily and the word is getting out. New witnesses keep coming forward, new memos keep popping up. So how is that happening? It's happening because we finally have a government in place that understands the need for honesty and transparency.
    Richard Day's picture

    O. L(oo) C(ee): You Got Some Splainin' To Do!

    By Richard Day on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 10:06am |
    Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} Well rather than drift into fiction, Obey and I had a little...
    Joe Wood's picture

    Why I Left the Catholic Church

    By Joe Wood on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 1:28am |
    On July 4, 2002, my daughter was born prematurely; premature enough to leave her with severe head bleeds and left her left side to be, to this day, difficient of muscle/motor control.  She wears a leg splint and a hand...

    Silva's Turn

    By jaisizzle on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 12:09am |

    Silva’s Turn
    By Justin Smith

    I
    I was first alerted to Silva Harotonian’s disaster when a friend of mine sent me an email early in the year about an IREX employee who had been arrested while working in Iran. Silva was arrested for inciting a ‘soft revolution’ in an attempt to overthrow the Iranian government.

    acanuck's picture

    Bottom line: Saberi was a spy

    By acanuck on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 6:37pm |
    After all the hand-wringing over Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American "free-lance journalist" jailed in Iran for espionage, can we now finally concede the obvious? She was indeed a spy. Just not a very good one. The TPM main page links to...
    oleeb's picture

    ACLU is Right on Photo Release: Bush/Obama Are Wrong

    By oleeb on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 2:00pm |
    I know it is painful for many to come to terms with the fact that our new President is simply falling in line behind Bush's policies on a number of fronts.  Nowhere is that tendency more disappointing than when it comes...
    Nebton's picture

    Milgram, "just following orders", and compassion

    By Nebton on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 12:07pm |

    In this posting, I intend to discuss how "just following orders" is not as lame an excuse as many seem to think it is, but how, nevertheless, we cannot accept it as a valid excuse, and attempt to look at how we should handle such cases.

    Richard Day's picture

    FROM WHENCE DID THIS ORDER FOR WATERBOARDING ISSUE?

    By Richard Day on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 5:31am |
    Too long a nap and I am up in the middle of the night. I usually hit Media Matters, Huffpo and/or Daily Beast and Vwella: Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes;...
    Joe Wood's picture

    In Memory of Carl Joseph Hoover-Walker

    By Joe Wood on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 2:54am |
    Carl Walker-Hoover was only 11 years old when his mother discovered his hanging body at his Massachusetts home on April 6, 2009.   His mother, Sirdeaner L. Walker, said that her son had in the previous weeks and months suffered taunts and...
    Richard Day's picture

    Enhanced Interrogative Torture: The Foundation of Western Culture

    By Richard Day on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 8:28pm |
    v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}   Sometimes I think...
    crazedandconfused's picture

    Agreeing with Obama. Torture photos should not be released

    By crazedandconfused on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 4:50pm |

    When I heard that Obama was reversing course on the torture photographs, initially I was extremely disappointed.  I thought that he may be bowing to conservative pressure - or was possibly protecting some Democrats who were in too deep.

    Joe Wood's picture

    Anatomy of a Lay-Off: How It Unfolds from Inside

    By Joe Wood on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 7:47am |
    I began working for a largely successful furniture store chain, lets call them Bashfully Furniture Homestore, in 2007, hired as the sole company painter for 5 regional store locations.  All of these were approx. 30 miles drive from each other...
    Joe Wood's picture

    I Have Returned: Sayeth Joe Wood

    By Joe Wood on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 6:46am |
    Formerly to TPMcafe as Joseph Wood May 13, 2009, 3:27AM Like Lazarus arising from the dead, I have come out from my obscure hole to once again grace your pastures.  How much has changed since we last met.   As...

    Excellent Read on What (I hope) US Foreign Policy Will Move Towards

    By AmericanDreamer on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:46am |
    Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Some of the exchanges I've most...
    Richard Day's picture

    A TALE OF TWO VP's

    By Richard Day on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 7:47pm |
    Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} A kid by the name of Alex Pasternak (who has kudos already...
    crazedandconfused's picture

    SATAN RESPONDS!! A letter from the Devil to Miss California Carrie Prejean

    By crazedandconfused on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:32pm |

    Miss Prejean:

    I am writing this letter to you in response to your comments made to one of my good friends, Dr. James Dobson.

    oleeb's picture

    Wanda Sykes Picks up Where Colbert Left Off! Rock on Wanda!

    By oleeb on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:30pm |
    Officialdom is now sniffing in disapproval and looking down it's long nose at the "poor taste" of Wanda Sykes for making two jokes about a bloated fascist demagogue during her performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner.  These are the same people...
    jollyroger's picture

    "I will be (Wells Fargo's) worst nightmare." Phil Hare, Democrat, Illinois 17. I LOVE THIS GUY!!!

    By jollyroger on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:56am |
    Taking a leaf from the heroic UE workers at Republic Window, the rank and file of Workers United who organized Hart, Shaffner & Marx are threatening to seize the factory floor before giving up their livlihoods. Mirabile dictu, in the...

    Pages