Rumsfeld has fled from human rights charges in France.

The criminal complaint states that because of the failure of authorities in the United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the responsibility of Rumsfeld and other high-level U.S. officials for torture despite a documented paper trail and government memos implicating ( Read more... )

Anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment stays off the ballot in Massachusetts:

A proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was swiftly defeated today by a joint session of the Legislature by a vote of 45 to 151, eliminating any chance of getting it on the ballot in November 2008. The measure needed at least 50 votes to advance ( Read more... )

... (although it may well be eclipsed by saber-rattling towards Iran in tonight's SOTU speech).

Stephen Colbert beat me to it, but I had to talk about this quote by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales speaking to Congress last week. I heard this on the radio when I was driving, and was just flat-out floored.

"There is no expressed grant of habeas ( Read more... )

Bush signed the Military Commissions Law today. Now Bush can hold people without charge, try them without letting them see the evidence, and have the final word on what counts as torture. (Hint: "If the President doesallows it, it's legal.")

I find myself without anything to say. Thankfully, others aren't similarly affected.

Glenn Greenwald: " ( Read more... )

I don't know about you, but the horrible insanity that is the impending legalization of torture in this country has kinda knocked me back. It's the sort of thing that leads to a sense of futility, and a recurrence of that sinking feeling all too common in the last six years that we are headed into darkness. Hello, Stalin's RussiaLuckily, people ( Read more... )

We're gonna legalize torture. These are the torture tactics the Pentagon recently repudiated. Bush wants to sic dogs on naked people; the military doesn't.

And, you can now be disappeared and held indefinitely without charge! Well, that sure brightens my day. I look sexy in orange! And then there's this gem from Fox/White House Spokesperson ( Read more... )

America's stance on torture and prisoner handling has come under more intense scrutiny these past twenty-four hours. Yesterday, disturbing previously unpublished images and footage taken in 2003 from Abu Ghraib were released. Today, the UN has called for Guantanamo Bay's closure.

From the BBC:
UN human rights investigators have called for the ( Read more... )