Wikileaks

Major Defense Contractor Blocks Anything With 'WikiLeaks' In URL

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 7:38PM

The nation's biggest defense contractors, who employ thousands of people with security clearances, are taking steps to restrict their access to Wikileaks, including one company which is blocking employees from accessing any website, including news stories, with "wikileaks" in the URL.

An employee of one major defense contractor told TPM that she wanted to read our report on the Library of Congress blocking access to WikiLeaks, but was unable to do so because the company blocked the webpage.

"I've clicked on a lot of headlines on many different news sites and any link that includes the dreaded letter sequence ends up displaying the company's 'Access Denied' page," the employee wrote.

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Wikileaks

Columbia U To Students: If You Want A Job At State, Don't Link To Wikileaks

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 6:54PM

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

Students of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs were warned this week not to spread the Wikileak cables online if they ever wanted a job at the State Department.

The warning came through the office of career services, from an unnamed alumnus who now works at State and wanted to pass along the message.

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Judson Phillips

Tea Party Nation Founder: 'A Wise Idea' To Only Let Property Owners Vote

Jillian Rayfield | December 3, 2010, 5:35PM

Judson Phillips, leader of Tea Party Nation.

Judson Phillips, the founder of the group Tea Party Nation, has defended his comments that the Founding Fathers' original plan to only allow property owners to vote "makes a lot of sense" because "property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners."

In an email to ThinkProgress yesterday, Phillips doubled down, referring to the radio broadcast last week in which he made the comments: "During the course of our discussion, I mentioned that the Founding Fathers limited voting rights to property owners. I commented this was a wise idea."

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Wikileaks

White House Tells All Federal Agencies To Prohibit Unauthorized Employees From Wikileaks Site

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 5:26PM

The Office of Management and Budget today directed all federal agencies to bar unauthorized employees from accessing the Wikileaks web site and its leaked diplomatic cables.

In an email to federal agencies obtained by TPM, the OMB's general counsel directed the agencies to immediately tell their employees to "safeguard classified information" by not accessing Wikileaks over the Internet.

Classified information, the OMB notes, "remains classified ... until it is declassified by an appropriate U.S. Government authority." Employees may not view classified info over a non-classified system (i.e., the Internet), the OMB says, "as doing so risks that material still classified will be placed onto non-classified systems."

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Louie Puroll

AZ Sheriff Suspends Deputy Who Said He Was Shot By Smugglers

Eric Lach | December 3, 2010, 3:20PM

Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll

The Arizona deputy involved in a disputed high-profile shooting incident last spring has been put on paid administrative leave by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, after making a number of loaded statements to a reporter.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Scott Brown Will Support DADT Repeal

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 2:16PM

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)

Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) announced today that he intends to support the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

After two days of hearings in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Brown, who serves on the committee, announced that he is supporting repeal.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

McCain On DADT Repeal: 'I Will Not Agree To Have This Bill Go Forward'

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 2:11PM

Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)

At the end of the today's hearings on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) announced that he will still block the National Defense Authorization Act if it includes a repeal of the policy.

"I will not agree to have this bill go forward," he said. "Because our economy is in the tank."

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California

Feds Indict California 'Bomb Factory' Suspect On Eight Counts

Jillian Rayfield | December 3, 2010, 1:36PM

George Djura Jakubec, a San Diego County resident accused of having a "bomb factory" inside his home, was indicted yesterday on eight counts by federal prosecutors.

In light of the indictment, San Diego County prosecutors dropped their case against Jakubec.

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Wikileaks

Library of Congress Blocks Access To Wikileaks

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 1:19PM

Inside of the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress has blocked access to the Wikileaks site on its staff computers and on the wireless network that visitors use, two sources tell TPM.

The error message reportedly reads:

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Helen Thomas

Helen Thomas: Zionists Own Congress, The WH, Hollywood & Wall St.

Eric Lach | December 3, 2010, 12:22PM

Helen Thomas, Hearst Newspapers White House Correspondent

Helen Thomas, the long-time White House correspondent who was forced to apologize and retire last spring after making comments about Israel and Jews, stood by those remarks yesterday at an event in Dearborn, Michigan -- and then made even more fiery statements.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Service Chiefs: Pro- Or Anti-Repeal, They Say The Military Can Do It

Rachel Slajda | December 3, 2010, 11:36AM

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George Casey, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead, and vice chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. James E. Cartwright

The day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen again called for Congress to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the joint chiefs themselves testified on Capitol Hill and, as promised, were "less sanguine" about repeal than their bosses.

But whether for or against repeal, they all said their branch could and would implement it.

"At the end of the day, we are Marines," said Gen. James Amos, the commandant of the Marine Corps, in his testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Should Congress change the law, then our nation's Marine Corps will faithfully support the law."

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Alberto Gonzales

Bush Team Reunites To Cover 'Vindicated' Alberto Gonzales' Defense Bills

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 11:18AM

Fmr. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and President George W. Bush

With the Justice Department investigation of the U.S. Attorneys scandal wrapped up without charges, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has some big legal bills to pay. So Gonzales called on several Bush administration officials -- including former President George W. Bush himself -- to help.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Jon Stewart Rips John McCain Over Don't Ask, Don't Tell (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 3, 2010, 10:10AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night lampooned Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) continued stalwart opposition to repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, even after the Pentagon released its review indicating that a repeal of the ban on openly gay men and women would have little to no effect on military readiness.

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Maxine Waters

Report: Ethics Committee Probing If Financial Committee Withheld Evidence

Ryan J. Reilly | December 3, 2010, 9:37AM

The House ethics committee is probing why the House Financial Services Committee failed to fully comply with its promise to turn over all documents related to an investigation of subcommittee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Washington Post reports.

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Chris Simcox

Ex-Minuteman Demands Spousal Support From Estranged Wife He Allegedly Threatened At Gunpoint

Jillian Rayfield | December 3, 2010, 8:36AM

Chris Simcox, founder of the Minuteman Project, in 2005

In the divorce case of former Minuteman leader Chris Simcox, the plot has gotten molasses-thick.

Simcox, who helped found the anti-immigration Minuteman group and incurred a $200,000 debt in a failed bid for John McCain's Arizona Senate seat, has requested that his estranged wife, who has previously alleged that Simcox threatened her and their children at gunpoint, pay him spousal support and take on half of his campaign debt.

Alena Simcox was granted a restraining order from her husband in June, after she alleged Simcox had drunkenly threatened her, her children, and police officers on multiple occasions while wielding a gun.

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American Family Association

Bryan Fischer: Gay Rights Groups Should Pay For AIDS Research

Jillian Rayfield | December 3, 2010, 8:34AM

Conservative Radio Host Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer, the "Director of Issues Analysis" for the conservative Christian group the American Family Association, doesn't think that taxpayers should fund AIDS research anymore, since "we know what causes AIDS: homosexual sex and injection drug use," and "since we know the cause, we know the cure: stop engaging in homosexual sex and stop shooting up with drugs."

"Homosexual activist groups likewise are pushing a lifestyle that kills," Fischer wrote Wednesday, on World AIDS Day. "If anybody should be obligated to pony up funds to mitigate a health crisis, it ought to be the organizations that are responsible for advocating the very behavior that created and perpetuates the epidemic."

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Wikileaks

Amazon: We Didn't Pull Down WikiLeaks Because Of Government

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 9:49PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Say it ain't so, Joe. Amazon's web hosting service on Thursday said they didn't stop hosting WikiLeaks just because Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) asked them to.

The Lieberman camp said this week that Amazon stopped hosting WikiLeaks after inquires from the Connecticut Senator's office. But Amazon said late Thursday that reports that government inquires caused the pulldown were "inaccurate."

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Charles Rangel

Charlie Rangel's Final Plea For Reprimand (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 8:58PM

Ahead of the vote to censure Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) for ethics violations, the long-serving congressman made a final plea on the floor of the House of Representatives for his colleagues to lessen his punishment to a reprimand.

Rangel cited his record of military service as he admitted that he brought his problems upon himself. The New York Democrat was found guilty of 11 ethics violations by the House ethics panel, which then recommended Rangel be censured. The full House voted late Thursday to do so, and Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) read out that censure immediately after the vote.

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Charlie Rangel

House Votes To Censure Charlie Rangel For Ethics Violations (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 5:53PM

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., speaking of the floor of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/House Television)

The House of Representatives voted 332 to 79 to censure Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) on Thursday for violations of the body's ethics laws.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) read the censure on the floor of the House immediately following the vote.

Today's vote brought an end to the investigation of the long serving New York Democrat, who was found to have violated 11 of the House ethics rules. The charges centered upon four issues: that Rangel used Congressional resources to raise money for an educational center bearing his name; that he failed to report taxable income on a rental villa in the Dominican Republic; the he filed inaccurate financial disclosure forms; and that he used a rent-controlled apartment in Harlem as a campaign office.

Several members from both parties spoke in support changing the punishment from censure to reprimand (For more on how these punishments have played out in the past, see here.)

And Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), a member of the ethics committee, proposed a motion to lessen the sanction from censure to reprimand that ultimately failed by a vote of 146-267. It had the support of 143 Democrats and three Republicans: Reps. Pete King (NY), Ron Paul (TX) and Don Young (AK).

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Joe Lieberman

After Getting Amazon To Boot Wikileaks, Lieberman Eyes Other Firms (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 5:33PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, yesterday succeeded in getting Amazon.com to boot Wikileaks off its servers.

Now, Lieberman says he's widening his scope.

"We've gotta put pressure on any companies -- like Amazon, [which] just cut Wikileaks off from its servers to distribute -- there's a company now in Sweden, I think it's called Bahnhof, which is providing that kind of access to the Internet to Wikileaks," he said on MSNBC this afternoon. "We've got to stop them from doing that."

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Excuses, Excuses: Why Top GOPers Say They Can't Vote For DADT Repeal

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 3:06PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, Department of Defense General Counsel Jeh C. Johnson, and U.S. Army Gen. Carter Ham

In his opening statement at a Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearing today, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen systematically blew apart the classic attacks on repeal.

"Repeal of the law will not prove an unacceptable risk to military readiness. Unit cohesion will not suffer," Mullen said. "And families will not encourage their loved ones to leave the service in droves."

"And I find the argument that war is not the time to change to be antithetical with our own experience since 2001," he said. "War does not stifle change; it demands it."

He destroyed Sen. John McCain's suggestion that the opinions of the service chiefs were more important than those of Mullen. McCain had said Mullen "is not directly in charge of the troops."

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Wikileaks

Rasmussen Poll: Majority Of Americans Believe WikiLeaks Committed Treason

Marc Kilstein | December 2, 2010, 1:56PM

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

Politicians have not shied away from expressing their outrage over WikiLeaks' release of secret State Department cables -- from the call to treat Julian Assange as an enemy combatant to the suggested execution of the leak's source. According to a newly released Rasmussen poll, the majority of Americans also have negative feelings on the massive leak -- 51% of respondents answered affirmatively when asked if the leak was an act of treason.

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J.C. Owsley

An Answer To The Times' Titans Of Industry Mystery

Eric Lach | December 2, 2010, 1:16PM

J.E. Owsley (right) in 1905, when he coached Yale's football team.

Who is J.C. Owsley? Yesterday, we pointed out a terrific infographic in The New York Times, which listed the top salary earners in the country in 1941, and their tax rates. Among the names were well-known titans of industry: Thomas J. Watson, President of IBM; Eugene G. Grace, President of Bethlehem Steel; and Louis B. Mayer, General Manager of MGM. Number one on the list was a gun manufacturer, Carl Swebilius, and his wife Hulda Swebilius. But two of the names on the list, J.C. Owsley and C.S. Woolman, were labeled "unable to identify" by the Times. In a footnote, the paper attributed the lack of information to possible typographical errors in the documents it had received from the National Archives. According to the list, Owsley earned $486,244 and Woolman earned $442,142 in 1941. Could some of the nation's richest individuals really be so obscure? After some research (and the help of some reader tips), we think we've identified both men -- but Owsley's is the trickier case.

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California

CA 'Bomb Factory' Suspect Admits To Three Bank Robberies

Jillian Rayfield | December 2, 2010, 1:04PM

George Djura Jakubec, a California man accused of running a "bomb factory" in his Escondido home, admitted to San Diego County sheriff's deputies that he robbed three banks, according to an affidavit obtained by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday.

Jakubec reportedly admitted to the three robberies, at Bank of America branches on November 13, 2009, June 25, 2010, and July 17, 2010, during a jailhouse interview with San Diego officials.

Jakubec pleaded not guilty last Monday to 26 charges related to nine pounds of explosive materials allegedly found in his home. Officials announced Tuesday that they will burn down his home, possibly next week, since removing the materials manually proved too dangerous.

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Pigford settlement

The Other Racist Thing Rep. King Said About Pigford (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 12:11PM

Rep Steve King and John Boyd

A few days ago we told you about some of the things that Rep. Steve King (R-IA) had said on the House floor in opposition to a settlement that will benefit black farmers discriminated against by the USDA. Those things included that the claims amount to "slavery reparations" orchestrated by a "very, very urban president."

Well, we missed something, which MSNBC's Ed Schultz played last night:

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John McCain

The DADT Review Has Apparently Not Changed McCain's Mind

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 11:39AM

Sen. John McCan (R-AZ)

At today's hearing on the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review, Sen. John McCain made it clear that the Pentagon's review of the policy has not changed his mind.

McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, started saying last Sunday that the review itself wasn't done correctly, nine months after it was announced and two days before he would see the report.

Now that he's seen the report -- which concludes that repealing DADT would not harm the military's effectiveness or unit cohesion -- McCain has apparently not changed his mind.

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Hate Crimes

Swastika-Branding Case Leads To First Charges Under Shepard Hate Crimes Law

Rachel Slajda | December 2, 2010, 10:44AM

William Hatch, Jesse Sanford, and Paul Beebe

A case in which three men allegedly kidnapped a mentally disabled Navajo man and branded him with a coat hanger shaped into a swastika has prompted the first-ever charges under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Tom Perez, the head of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, this week called the crime "a devastatingly persistent reminder that bigotry and hate continue."

According to prosecutors, the three men in their early 20s, all of whom worked at a McDonald's in Farmington, N.M., lured a 22-year-old man, whose name has not been released, into an apartment. While there, they allegedly drew on him, using permanent marker, a pentagram, an ejaculating penis, "white power" and "KKK." They allegedly shaved his head, leaving only the shape of a swastika.

Then, according to prosecutors, they bent a coat hanger into the shape of half a swastika and pressed it into his arm twice, branding him. They took cell phone of the act, allegedly, as well as video of the victim -- whose family says he has the mind of a 12-year-old as a result of being born with fetal alcohol syndrome-- "consenting" to the branding.

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Keith Ellison

Christian Minister: Muslim Congressman's Support Of 'Homosexuals' Is Part Of Sharia Plot

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 10:38AM

Radio host Bradlee Dean and Keith Ellison (D-MN)

A Christian minister in Minnesota said on his radio program that the nation's first Muslim member of Congress was soliciting the support of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to implement Sharia law. Follow his logic with us, wouldn't you?

Bradlee Dean of the religious ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International said on his radio program that Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) is only supporting LGBT rights as part of a strategy to bring Sharia law to the United States, the Minnesota Independent reported.

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Maxine Waters

Report: House Ethics Lawyers Kept Probing Waters After Investigation Phase Ended

Ryan J. Reilly | December 2, 2010, 9:30AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Two former federal prosecutors who were suspended from the House ethics committee -- both of whom previously worked for Republican appointed judges -- reportedly kept probing allegations against Rep. Maxine Waters even after the subcommittee recommended the California Democrat be tried for ethics violations.

Cindy Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign apparently ruffled feathers by continuing to investigate Waters after the investigative subcommittee made its recommendations in August, several Republican sources on Capitol Hill told the Washington Post.

"They were pushing too hard" to broaden the investigation, one Republican staff aide told the newspaper. Kim and Sovereign circulated a memo supporting the postponement of the trial and imploring the committee to investigate further, the source said.

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District Attorney

Wisconsin Gov't Won't Provide Defense For 'Sexting' Former DA

Jillian Rayfield | December 2, 2010, 9:14AM

Calumet County DA Kenneth Kratz

The state of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Department of Justice have refused to defend former District Attorney Kenneth Kratz, who is facing a lawsuit from a woman who alleges Kratz sent her sexually suggestive text messages while he was handling her domestic abuse case.

State Justice Department spokesman William Cosh confirmed to TPM that the DOJ declined to represent Kratz, who is also under criminal investigation by the Wisconsin DOJ, which Cosh said "remains an open and ongoing investigation."

Cosh noted that it would be up to the Governor to decide whether the state should provide a defense for Kratz, which Chief Legal Counsel Susan Crawford declined to do yesterday evening.

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Steve Beshear

KY Gov. Beshear Unveils Plans For Creationist Theme Park Complete With Full-Sized Ark

David Taintor | December 2, 2010, 8:32AM

TPM Photo Illustration

Aqua Buddhists need not apply: Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) on Wednesday unveiled some interesting tourism plans for his state, announcing a plan to construct a "creationist theme park."

A joint project between Beshear and Answers in Genesis -- a Christian organization that also built a similar attraction, the Creation Museum -- the park will reportedly cost at least $150 million and create 900 jobs, according to the news release.

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Maxine Waters

Waters Has Plenty Of Questions On Suspension Of Ethics Lawyers

Ryan J. Reilly | December 1, 2010, 6:03PM

Rep. Maxine Waters

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) doesn't know why two of the ethics committee lawyers who had been working on the ethics case against her were placed on administrative leave. But she does know that something "has gone wrong in the ethics process." And she's got plenty of questions.

Waters said in a statement late Wednesday that the House ethics committee has yet to inform her directly that two of the lawyers working on the ethics case against her had been suspended. She said the "integrity of the Committee and its investigative process have been compromised" and called on the panel to clarify why the disciplinary action had been taken.

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Wikileaks

How Lieberman Got Amazon To Drop Wikileaks

Rachel Slajda | December 1, 2010, 5:56PM

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT)

Early this week, after hacker attacks on its site, Wikileaks moved its operation, including all those diplomatic cables, to the greener pastures of Amazon.com's cloud servers. But today, it was down again and mid-afternoon we found out the reason: Amazon had axed Wikileaks from its servers.

The announcement came from Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Lieberman said in a statement that Amazon's "decision to cut off Wikileaks now is the right decision and should set the standard for other companies Wikileaks is using to distribute its illegally seized material."

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John Ensign

Ensign Says DOJ Has Dropped Investigation

Rachel Slajda | December 1, 2010, 3:46PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

The Department of Justice has dropped its investigation of Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Ensign's office announced today.

"Senator Ensign is certainly pleased that the Department of Justice no longer views him as a target in their investigation, and has long-stated that he acted in accordance with the law," his spokeswoman said in a statement. "Our office and the Senator have been cooperative with this investigation, and it's important that the truth in this matter is finally coming to light. It is the Senator's hope that the Ethics Committee soon follows suit."

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Wikileaks

With Russia In Assange's Sights, Is He In Theirs?

Megan Carpentier | December 1, 2010, 2:15PM

Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange

Yesterday, The Daily Beast reported that the National Security Agency is aware that the FSB -- the post-Soviet KGB -- is closely monitoring Wikileaks, though the U.S. has no "direct evidence" that the Russians are behind the days-long denial-of-service attacks that have brought down the Wikileaks website over and over again.

But why would the Russians care that much? In part, because Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has said that between the leaked cables and other information he got separately, high-level corrupt Russian officials should be worried. And some observers think that Assange's efforts to expose corruption in Russia could be more harmful to his site and himself than exposing America's secrets have been. One law enforcement source told The Daily Beast, "The Russians play by different rules," adding that they would be "ruthless" in their attempts to stop him.

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Bomb-Making

Officials Will Burn Down Giant Home 'Bomb Factory' In California

Jillian Rayfield | December 1, 2010, 2:13PM

San Diego County officials announced last night that they will torch a home "bomb factory" because the huge cache of explosives proved too dangerous to remove manually.

Last week, the San Diego Sheriff's Department suspended its investigation of the Escondido home of George Djura Jakubec due to dangerous conditions, resulting from at least nine pounds of explosives found in the home.

Jakubec pleaded not guilty last Monday to "12 felony counts of possessing destructive devices and 14 counts of possessing ingredients to make destructive devices, along with two bank robbery charges," according to KGTV news in San Diego.

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Maxine Waters

Two House Ethics Lawyers Involved With Waters Case Suspended

Ryan J. Reilly | December 1, 2010, 11:40AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Two lawyers from the House ethics committee, including the chief prosecutor working on the case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), were suspended last month on the same day the panel announced an indefinite delay in Waters' public trial.

Cindy Morgan Kim and Stacy Sovereign were placed on administrative leave on Nov. 19 -- the same day that the panel announced an indefinite delay of Waters trial. The suspensions were first reported by Politico.

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Jack Draxler

Utah GOPer Defends His Efforts To Teach Kids To Love Mining

Eric Lach | December 1, 2010, 11:01AM

While others harp about the big subjects being neglected by the American education system, like science and math, one Utah Republican has a more particular curricular interest: mineral industry appreciation.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Eyes On The Clock For DADT Repeal Advocates After Pentagon Report

Rachel Slajda | December 1, 2010, 10:45AM

A crowd protests "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" outside the White House

The release of the Pentagon's Don't Ask, Don't Tell review yesterday brought a collective sigh of relief from the gay advocacy and progressive organizations lobbying for the policy's repeal. Now, they say, they can zero in on the senators who told them this summer that they couldn't vote for repeal until the review was done.

"It's probably one of the best tools repeal advocates can us in the Senate lame duck session," Aubrey Sarvis, the head of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said yesterday.

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Wikileaks

Daily Show: WikiLeaks Founder A Cross Between Osama Bin Laden And Magneto (VIDEO)

David Taintor | December 1, 2010, 10:13AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart last night opened his program by focusing on the ongoing coverage of WikiLeaks' release of secret State Department cables, and addressed Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) call for WikiLeaks to be declared a terrorist organization.

Clearly, Jon Stewart said, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is "Osama bin Laden, crossed with Magneto, and the albino from the matrix with more than a scootch of the Dyson vacuum guy."

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Citizens United

Citizens United President Enjoys 'Bitching And Moaning' Over Supreme Court Case

Ryan J. Reilly | December 1, 2010, 8:37AM

Citizens United President David Bossie

The "newfound freedoms" granted in the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision will allow the conservative movement to participate on a "level playing field" with groups like MoveOn.org and labor unions, Citizens United President David Bossie said Tuesday.

Bossie also said he enjoys hearing liberals complain about the outcome of the Citizens United case. "Somebody's always bitching and moaning," Bossie said.

He specifically mentioned former Justice John Paul Stevens, who said in an interview aired on 60 Minutes over the weekend that the court made several mistakes in the Citizens United ruling.

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Pentagon: No Separate Facilities For Gay Servicemembers

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 5:15PM

Marines aboard the USS Blue Ridge

One of the more contentious points of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell debate was whether the Pentagon was considering building separate barracks and showers for gay servicemembers, with some fearing a "separate but equal" mandate.

But the Pentagon report on how best to repeal the policy, released today, recommends no separate facilities, saying such a move would "wrongly isolate and stigmatize" gay troops.

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Pigford settlement

Funding For Black Farmers' Settlement Passes House

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 4:44PM

John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, who advocated for the passing of the Pigford II settlement

The House today passed a bill authorizing the funding of two massive settlements, one for black farmers discriminated against by the USDA and another for American Indians whose oil, gas and water rights were mismanaged by the U.S. government. The vote was 256 to 152.

The funding will now go to the President's desk for his signature.

The $1.25 billion Pigford II settlement, for black farmers who were denied loans and other assistance in the 1980s and 90s, was settled in court in February. The $3.4 billion Cobell settlement for American Indians was settled last December. They've been attached to numerous bills since and repeatedly failed, largely due to objections from Republicans.

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Charlie Rangel

House Moves One Step Closer To Censuring Charlie Rangel

Ryan J. Reilly | November 30, 2010, 3:55PM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY)

The House of Representatives moved one step closer toward censuring Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) over the 11 ethics violations he was found guilty of earlier this month.

House Resolution 1737, filed late Monday evening by Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Chair Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), calls for "Representative Charles B. Rangel forthwith present himself in the well of the House for the pronouncement of censure." The short resolution would be read by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

A vote on the motion could come at anytime. The censure is likely to take place in the coming days, probably without much warning (a courtesy to the member so as to limit media coverage).

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Don't Ask Don't Tell

Gates to Congress: Repeal DADT Now

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 2:17PM

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Defense Secretary Robert Gates today urged the Senate to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell before the end of the year, saying a Pentagon review showed repeal won't damage troop readiness. He warned that those who vote against repeal are "rolling the dice," risking the courts overturning the policy by "judicial fiat" -- a move that would, he said, hurt the military.

The review, ordered by Gates, found that most troops don't care if they serve alongside homosexual colleagues. Some 70 percent of troops overall said repealing the law would have positive, mixed or no effects. And a whopping 92 percent, according to the AP, of troops who've worked with a gay service member said the experience was either good or neutral.

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Campaign Contributions

New Tool Tracks How Shopping Habits Impact Political Process

Ryan J. Reilly | November 30, 2010, 2:06PM

https://checking.influenceexplorer.com/

Worried your donation to the Human Rights Campaign could be diluted thanks to your Target habit and the company's support of anti-gay politicians?

The Sunlight Foundation has you covered with their new Checking Influence tool, which analyzes online bank account and credit card statements to show how your spending is being used to influence the political process. The tool allows users to determine if their spending habits are aligning with their political beliefs.

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Pigford settlement

Steve King: Black Farmers' Settlement Is 'Slavery Reparations' (VIDEO)

Rachel Slajda | November 30, 2010, 1:43PM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

The Senate last week finally approved the multi-billion-dollar funding for the Pigford II and Cobell settlements, which will allow the government to pay out claims to African-American farmers and American Indians who were discriminated against in recent decades by government agencies. Now, the House -- which has passed the funding several times over -- will have to approve it, probably this week. The House, in fact, was voting on procedural motions surrounding the bill as this post was written.

That means the opponents are coming out of the woodwork.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who's been one of the most vocal opponents of the Pigford settlement for black farmers, has taken to cable news and the floor of the House to speak against the settlement. King's argument is that the bulk of the Pigford II claims are fraudulent because there are fewer black farmers than claimants -- a flimsy argument when you consider that many African-Americans lost their farms over the past few decades due, in part, to USDA discrimination that denied them loans -- which is the point of the settlement program.

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Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper Shellacks Texas Birther With Torrent Of Facts (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 30, 2010, 1:19PM

CNN's Anderson Cooper took Texas birther and state Rep. Leo Berman (R) down a whole bunch of pegs last night over Berman's birther bill. "You're basing legislation on stuff that's just rumors and stuff that's been proven to be false," Cooper told him.

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Michael Steele

Michael Steele's Longtime Assistant, Her Family Living Large On RNC's Dime

Ryan J. Reilly | November 30, 2010, 12:04PM

RNC Chair Michael Steele

The 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, Fla. won't get underway for another 636 days. But that hasn't stopped the Republican National Committee from spending over $636,800 on the convention more than a year and a half before it starts.

That's 18 times the amount spent that was spent in a comparable time frame four years ago, the Washington Post reported, causing more than a few raised eyebrows within the party.

Critics of RNC Chairman Michael Steele have also focused on a lucrative job given to his longtime aide, Belinda Cook, convention-related gigs given to her family and friends and a variety of large expenses footed by the RNC.

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Tom DeLay

Colbert Laments DeLay Conviction, Bakes Him A 'Hammer' Cake ... Full Of Iron

David Taintor | November 30, 2010, 11:02AM

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert last night wagged a finger at the American criminal justice system for convicting former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on two counts of money laundering.

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Hezbollah

Huckabee Buys GOP Rep's Claim That Hezbollah Is Infiltrating The U.S. Through Mexican Border

Jillian Rayfield | November 30, 2010, 11:01AM

Mike Huckabee on Fox News

Republican Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) often appears on Fox News to discuss her theory that agents of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are infiltrating the U.S. through the Mexican border by posing as illegal immigrants.

On Sunday, former (and possibly future) presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was shocked that the Obama Administration is ignoring the threat: "This porous border, where we see people running across at will, if Hezbollah, a very, very deadly terrorist organization, can use that network to get into the U.S., all of these pat-downs at the airport are meaningless."

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Oklahoma

Judge Blocks Okla. Sharia Ban: Case Goes To 'Very Foundation Of Our Country'

Rachel Slajda | November 29, 2010, 5:26PM

CAIR Oklahoma Director Muneer Awad

A federal judge has granted a preliminary injunction against Oklahoma's so-called "Sharia ban," saying the case goes "to the very foundation of our country, our Constitution, and particularly, the Bill of Rights."

Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange, who presides over a federal court in the western district of Oklahoma, ruled that a CAIR official suing to block the law will likely succeed in his efforts.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Feds Raid Illegal Retail Websites -- But Some Just Pop Back Up

Eric Lach | November 29, 2010, 3:42PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

In a move timed to disrupt illegal retail activity on "cyber Monday," the government has executed seizure orders against 82 domain names of websites selling counterfeit goods or enabling illegal file-sharing, the DOJ announced today. But some of the websites whose URLs were seized last week have already migrated to new web addresses, and are back up and running.

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Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer On SPLC 'Hate Group' List: 'We Are Truth Groups, Not Hate Groups'

Jillian Rayfield | November 29, 2010, 11:23AM

Bryan Fischer, issues director at American Family Association

Bryan Fischer defended the American Family Association against the Southern Poverty Law Center's "hate group" designation , arguing that "what the SPLC calls 'myths' about homosexuality turn out to be what neutral observers call 'truths' about homosexuality."

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Maxine Waters

Waters Delivers Statement Excoriating Ethics Panel For Hearing Postponement

Rachel Slajda | November 29, 2010, 10:46AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), whose ethics hearing was scheduled to begin today before the House ethics committee postponed it indefinitely, delivered a statement in front of the room where the hearing would have taken place. As she has over the past several months, she excoriated the committee.

Waters called the panel's reason for delaying the hearing -- that new evidence could change the case -- "nothing more than an excuse."

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Wikileaks

Bomb, Bomb Iran: The Top 5 Most Shocking Things About The Wikileaks

Megan Carpentier | November 29, 2010, 8:43AM

Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

Yesterday, Wikileaks released a selection of more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables dating from the mid-sixties to the present day -- widely presumed to have been provided to them by the currently-incarcerated Private Bradley Manning -- accessed through the military's SPIRNET system that was intended to reduce the bureaucratic "siloing" on information deemed partially responsible for the intelligence failures in a pre-9/11 world. Those cables were provided earlier under embargo to five international media outlets: the New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais, La Monde and Der Spiegel. For most readers, it made for a dizzying array of information: the cables themselves incorporated both banal gossip and important intelligence, and each media outlet attempted to give as much context to their release (and the reactions to their release) as to the nuggets of information found therein.

But for all the Administration's condemnations and the muted international response to date, there were five astonishing revelations uncovered by the 120 reporters given early access to the documents.

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Focus On The Family

Focus On The Family Saves Students' Anti-Homosexuality Day

Eric Lach | November 29, 2010, 8:38AM

James Dobson

In the wake of a number of gay students' suicides this fall, and a national conversation about bullying, Exodus International, a group dedicated to "freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ," announced that it would no longer sponsor The Day of Truth. An annual event that encourages students to "counter the promotion of homosexual behavior," The Day of Truth has been organized as a counter-event to the much larger, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network-sponsored Day of Silence held every April.

But The Day of Truth is not going away. The James Dobson-founded Christian ministry Focus on the Family has stepped in to replace Exodus International as the event's sponsor, and has re-branded and re-framed it The Day of Dialogue.

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Climate-Gate

'Plagiarized' GOP-Commissioned Climate Change Report Laid Groundwork For Climate-Gate

Rachel Slajda | November 29, 2010, 8:36AM

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX)

In 2005, the then-chairman of the House Energy Committee, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), a climate change skeptic, commissioned a report that would challenge the data in two major climate change papers, including the popular "hockey stick" theory. In 2006, the Barton-commissioned report was released and heralded by climate change skeptics the country over, laying the groundwork for last year's "Climate-Gate" controversies.

Last week, experts who reviewed the report for USA Today determined that the report was largely plagiarized.

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