For all the reading Ive done in recent months, I have not quite gotten to this whole issue of military versus criminal court systems for trying the Gitmo prisoners, so Im pretty clueless here. I can gather a few things from this article but I just don’t have the whole picture at all. The article has an awful lot of “could be’s” and “mights”.

New York Times has U.S. May Revive Guantánamo Military Courts today.

Anyone care to fill me in or comment further?

NOTE: This story was diaried last night at the orange, by marketgeek,  but went without much comment. It was late I guess.

crosspublished at the orange! 10am, ET

And the beat goes on.

After an extremely intense Torture News, (link to emptywheel’s Document Dump Timeline) week prior to this, these past few days have quieted down a bit. However, the noise makers continue to try to justify torture and we find ourselves sometimes in debates. I hope to take this week’s Action Diary to stress  how important it is that we continue having conversations and yelling louder about the realities of the crimes that have been carried out in our names. And, if we must argue, can we please try to keep it civil, amongst ourselves, in the “progressive” sphere…? Please?

Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles – a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other – that kept me going.

~HST, The Rum Diary

I’m talking about “mad” as in eccentric, and genius, maybe more so, as in creative. Not to say that I am one, no… I lack the genius aspect. I just have an affinity for some. Been known to, on occasion, marry one or two. Heh.

NOTE: This is not a political essay. As my essays often are, it’s intended to be an Open Random, for fun  Please add your nominees to the pool in the comments.  

Just had the idea… May 28th is the deadline of when we expect the release of 2,000 new photos from the Pentagon (ACLU)… that is Memorial Day weekend!?! Anyone have any ideas of some kind of online ACTION we can organize around this ironic convergence?  

I feel strongly that it is important to honor the service of our servicemen and women, and especially honor the memory of those who have fallen. Yet, these photos, on that weekend, will likely be plastered everywhere.

Brainstorm ideas here.

What a week, eh?! OLC Memo’s released last Thursday, a weekend of TV spots with Rahm, Axelrod, then finally, from the horse’s mouth, Barack Obama on Monday says, “we are not ruling out prosecutions”. (yay). Then we close the week on Tuesday/Wednesday, with the release of the Full Report from the SASC, the Levin Report. Open the floodgates.

I’ve created this place, this series, to be something of a landing zone for us, any of us in the progressive  community who feel the grief, who wish to contribute in some way to this growing call for justice, and/or who want to stay tuned in to any ACTION activities that emerge around this cause. I will publish every week, on Thursday mornings.

Loaded with linky goodness this week, follow me… and more coming!

Had to do it… Keith is interviewing  Eliz. de la Vega now.

anyone else watching?

Or misspeaks, perhaps.

Or ABC News “This Week” online headline reads:

“Obama Administration: No Prosecution of Officials for Bush-Era Torture Policy”

Rahm Emanuel on This Week

says: No Prosecution of Officials for Bush-Era Torture Policy.

another link, more general to the ABC show

GS: I asked [Rahm] Emanuel: “The president has ruled out prosecution for CIA officials who believed they were following the law. Does he believe that the officials who devised the policies should be immune from prosecution?”

Recommend this diary and this one too.

News when I can get over my outrage.- ek hornbeck

UPDATE: This Diary has now morphed into a LIVEBLOG to watch the day unfold and hear the official News from the WH this afternoon re the release of the DoJ Memos… at the orange (link below in comments).

lots of News coming in this morning with several diaries at the orange now:

from Vyan: Spain Calls Off Torture Probe

from ctexrep: Spain a No Go

from J. Radack: OLC Memos: FOIA Test Fails

….

Eyes on the stars.

As an American, I have always believed in the concept that we, as a nation, are rooted in the ideals and values of our Constitution, that we have inalienable rights and all that jazz.  Now, at this fragile and tenuous time in our history, we have to remain grounded in them. We elect leaders who we expect to abide by their oaths of office and lead the way. We have to hold them to account when they waiver or fail.

We want to get it right … with or without you …

                                 

 Editorial note: Quite by accident, my first diary of this series had an undercurrent theme of Water. The second, Wind/Air. So, this third one has, for its theme, Earth … in the sense of being grounded, rooted. Next week should be fun. Heh.

  I’ve created this place, this series, to be something of a landing zone for us, any of us in the progressive  community who feel the grief, who wish to contribute in some way to this growing call for justice, and/or who want to stay tuned in to any ACTION activities that emerge around this cause. I will publish every week, on Thursday’s. I invite you to share your thoughts.

        Some important ACTION Alerts below the fold…

Winds of change indeed ….  

This whole past year+ has been both exhilarating and, at times, exhausting. Now, it feels a bit like that calm that you know isn’t really calm at all.  We’re still in that First Hundred Days window. “Honeymoon”. Yeah.

For me, this cause (not an “issue”)…  Justice against the torture that’s been propagated in my name, nothing less than a groundswell will do. We have to make him do it.

Keep talking. Keep blogging. Keep writing. Keep working.

Ripple out.

I’ve created this place, this series, to be something of a landing zone for us, any of us in the progressive  community who feel the grief, who wish to contribute in some way to this growing call for justice, and/or who want to stay tuned in to any ACTION activities that emerge around this cause. I will publish every week, on Thursday’s. I invite you to share your thoughts.

UPDATE: now up at the orange.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Are we there yet? No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. In fact, it’s gonna be a long haul. So. What can we do? What can we get going … ya know, now-ish…?

Well. We begin here, and other inner circles. We read, learn, watch, listen. And talk with one another. And we do that with the same respect and care that we like to believe is at the core of the values that we hold so dear, that have been so brutally violated and betrayed. We start with each other. Then, ripple out.

I’m creating this place, this series, to be something of a landing zone for us, any of us in the progressive community who feel the grief, who wish to contribute in some way to this growing call for justice, and/or who want to stay tuned in to any ACTION activities that emerge around this cause. I will publish every week, on Thursday’s. I invite you to join me around the bend.