GITMO Detainee To Be Tried In New York

Ahmed Ghailani will be the fist Guantanamo detainee to be brought to the United States for trial in a civilian criminal court.

An official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to disclose the decision, tells The Associated Press that the administration has decided to bring Ghailani to trial in New York. He was indicted there for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa – attacks that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Ghailani, a Tanzanian, is a high-value detainee captured in Pakistan in 2004 and transferred to the U.S. detention center in Cuba …

GOP Passes Resolution Condemning Democrats For A “March Toward Socialism”

The plan to refer to the Democratic Party as the “Democrat Socialist Party” has been voted down by the RNC.  They did, however, agree to condemn Democrats for “a march toward socialism.”

The original resolution was, backed by some of the party’s more conservative members but leader, as was opposed by the party chairman, Michael Steele, as well as other Republican leaders. The opponents said the proposal to impose a new name on the Democrats , who said it made the Republican party appear trite and, overly partisan, and would prove politically embarrassing.

Henry Barbour, nephew of …

On Wednesday’s Radio Show…

• Renowned attorney Michael Ratner discusses the Senate’s decision to block funding to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

• More questions are being raised by top Democrats about the accuracy of the CIA’s account of congressional briefings regarding interrogation techniques. Alan examines it from both sides.

• An arrest warrant was issued by a Minnesota judge today for the mother of a 13 year-old boy who is dying from cancer and is refusing chemotherapy. Alan analyzes the authority the government has in this case.…

Should The State Be Able To Order Chemo Treatment For A 13-Year-Old?

Thirteen-year-old Daniel Hauser and his mother, Colleen,  disappeared on purpose this week, looking to avoid forced chemo treatment   Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The two have not been seen since Monday, after a court-mandated X-ray revealed the teen’s tumor had grown. Daniel’s father was open to some sort of treatment — his mother was not.

“Once Daniel has been found and brought before the court, the court is either going to have them immediately determine an oncologist, or the court’s going to make that decision for them,” Brown County Attorney James Olson said.

After his diagnosis, Daniel received an …

Judge Nap: Congress Can’t Stop Pres From Closing Gitmo

My friend, the great constitutionalist Judge Andrew Napolitano, says Congress can’t stop the president from closing Gitmo.

The Congress can deny the funds for a particular budget item, but it cannot prohibit the President from closing Gitmo or moving the detainees wherever he wants. He has the power under Bush-era legislation to move defense budget items from one column to another, to open and close bases and prisons at will, and to put the detainees wherever he wants. Isn’t it odd that Republicans trusted President Bush with these powers, but Democrats do not trust President Obama with them? I have …

Will The Real Republican Party Please Stand Up!

Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney don’t want Colin Powell in their party.  There’s no room at the inn for anyone who is critical of showman Limbaugh or torture-supporter Cheney. If John McCain had put Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman on this ticket, both of whom are pro-choice, it would have been a closer race, but ideological purity is more important than big tentism.

In 2000, the GOP nomination could have been Colin Powell’s for the asking;  it would have been an historic candidacy, much as Obama’s was eight years later. The very people who took over the GOP in his …

More Questions About the CIA’s Veracity

Nancy Pelosi is being targeted because of saying the CIA lied.  Now, House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey questions the accuracy of the CIA’s accounts of CIA briefings.  And CIA chief Leon Panetta says his records may not be accurate.

In a letter Monday to CIA Director Leon Panetta, Obey questioned CIA records that show a committee aide, Paul Juola, attended a Sept. 19, 2006, briefing that included a discussion of 13 harsh interrogation techniques.

According to Obey, Juola accompanied members of Congress to the briefing room, but was told by then-CIA Director Michael Hayden and another CIA official …

Lindsey Graham Vs. Lindsey Graham

What a difference a year, and a change of administration, makes. It appears as though South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham changes his arguments more often than he changes his suit and tie.

h/t Mike Fritz at American News Project

…

On Tuesday’s Radio Show…

• Elizabeth Edwards sits down with Alan to discuss the details of her recently released book, Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gift’s of Facing Life’s Adversities.

• Former California Gov. Gray Davis, who was ousted from office in the 2003 Recall, weighs in on the potential economic impact of the Golden State’s budget proposition vote earlier today.

• RNC Chairman Michael Steele announced that it’s time for the GOP to stop playing defense and take President Obama “head on.”  Alan will examine the significance of Steele’s rallying remarks.…

Prediction: Right Wing Will Use Gitmo Funding Issue To Play Politics

Expect the right-wing media to blare: SEE? DEMOCRATS DENY OBAMA $80 MILLION TO RELOCATE 240 DETAINEES!.  But that, of course, is not the whole story.  They will ultimately provide the funds once a plan is in place.  Democrats aren’t refusing to fund it; they just want to know how to transfer and resettle the inmates.  And the Pentagon says Gitmo will likely still be closed by next January.

And expect Republicans to use this issue to bang the drum about us being less safe under Obama.

Republicans are poised with an amendment by James Inhofe of Oklahoma that would …

Lanny Davis: Indict Cheney

Former White House legal counsel Lanny Davis has reversed his position about whether to go after the former vice president.  Lanny is no angry liberal looking for revenge. He is a fair, reasonable man who more often that not favors outreach over confrontation.  He has consistently said we should look forward, not back, and refrain from going after former officials.  But not  anymore.

His insistence on putting himself on multiple TV programs and conservative radio talk shows, not only defending torture but offering the defense that it worked, has changed my mind. Not only that – he went on to …