On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• One nation, indivisible? Alan asks Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) why he believes that secession is a “very American principle.”

• Should the Obama administration prosecute Bush lawyers who approved controversial interrogation tactics? We’ll debate it.

• On the eve of Earth Day, Go Green, $ave Green author Nancy Sleeth explains why she believes we have a biblically mandated obligation to protect the environment.…

Obama May Prosecute Interrogation Abuses

President Obama now says he’s open to prosecuting BushCo interrogation abuses including examining the work of the lawyers who wrote the torture memos.

Mr. Obama said once again that he does not favor prosecuting C.I.A. operatives who used interrogation techniques that he has since banned. But as for lawyers or others who drew up the former policies allowing such techniques, he said it would be up to his attorney general to decide what to do, adding, “I don’t want to prejudge that.”

While criticizing Obama for releasing information they think can hurt national security, one wonders if conservatives will …

The American Dictator-Loving Scrapbook

As we predicted, the handshake seen ’round the world has caused an uproar.  However, let’s take a walk down memory lane, as conservatives have been mute about similar moments of American joviality with tyrants (h/t Mike Finnigan).

Nixon went to China to get to know Mao:

Henry the K makes nice with Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet:

How about Nixon and Kruschev, the man who said, “We will bury you” (under communism):

Let’s not forget the Gorbster and the Gipper:

When Bush looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul, they were playing dress-up:…

Another Conservative Backs Off After Making A Limbaugh Comment

Republican Congressman Todd Tiahrt of Kansas was asked by a member of the Kansas Star editorial board if Rush Limbaugh is the de facto head of the GOP.  Tiahrt gave an honest answer, saying, “No, no, he’s just an entertainer.”  Now, Tiahrt’s spokesman has stepped forward to take back this enormous slight.

Asked about the episode and resulting Web buzz, Tiahrt spokesman Sam Sackett said Tiahrt was not speaking negatively about Limbaugh but was trying to defend him against the suggestion that Limbaugh could be blamed for the GOP’s woes. “The congressman believes Rush is a great leader …

Astronaut Edgar Mitchell: We Are Not Alone In The Universe

Edgar Mitchell, who flew on the 1971 Apollo 14 mission to the moon, says there is extraterrestrial life, and that it’s being concealed by the United States government, among others.

“Our destiny, in my opinion, and we might as well get started with it, is [to] become a part of the planetary community. … We should be ready to reach out beyond our planet and beyond our solar system to find out what is really going on out there.”

Mitchell grew up on Roswell, New Mexico, the site of a purported UFO crash in 1947.  Mitchell says he …

On Monday’s Radio Show…

• Alan debates Col. Ralph Peters (U.S. Army-Ret.) on the impact of President Obama’s efforts to improve relations with dictators like Hugo Chavez.

• Did waterboarding terrorism suspects hundreds of times do any good? John McCain doesn’t think so. Alan explains why the maverick Republican is right.

• Taking himself out of the running for Miss Congeniality, Alan judges the beautiful mess that was the 2009 Miss USA Pageant.…

Why Conservatives Are Whining About Miss California Not Winning Miss USA

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was asked if she favors gay marriage during the Miss USA competition, and her answer upset those who favor gay marriage, and has conservatives questioning whether what she said cost her the crown.

When asked by judge Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, whether she believed in gay marriage, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, said “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a …

John McCain: Waterboarding Once Is Too Much

John McCain knows about torture.  And he realizes those who are tortured will say whatever the interrogator wants to hear, and that when we exhibit such behavior it’s a recruiting tool for our enemies.

…

Waterboarding Used 266 Times On Two Suspects

Is it possible that after the 200th time they might have realized it wasn’t doing them any good?  Abu Zubayda was waterboarded 83 times in August 2005.  But former CIA officer John Kriakou told ABC News in 2007 that he told them everything he knew after 35 seconds.  Guess that wasn’t true.  The 2005 memo describing these activities says waterboarding was used 183 times against Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who also received harsh interrogation methods so many times (100) that CIA officers worried they went beyond legal limits.

The Bush administration told us how effective waterboarding was, and that it …

A Great Day To Be Gay

Ellis Henican (r) at Newsday says if he were gay it would be a great time to come out. (Sorry guys, he’s married).  You’ve got the New York governor pushing for it.  Massachusetts and Connecticut are already there.  Even Steve Schmidt, who ran the McCain campaign, now says he favors gay marriage.  And so does campaign progeny Meghan McCain, by the way.

Hopefully, we can soon get beyond the ignorance of arguing whether it’s nature or nurture (an attempt by the Christian right to convince gays they can change via Jesus), and just accept people for who they are.  …

Roxana Saberi: A Political Pawn?

The detention in Tehran of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi is likely an attempt by hardliners to poison the possibility of better relations between our two countries.  She was accused of spying and sentenced to 8 years, but given the right to appeal.

Saeed Leylaz, a political analyst in Iran, said he believed that his country wanted to use Ms. Saberi in negotiations with the United States, but would not keep her for long because it would tarnish its human rights record.

Iran has also been pressing for the release of three Iranian officials whom the United States took into custody in …