I didn't understand the dispute over whether the already approved (and already spendthrift) $25 billion in loans to create more energy efficient vehicles should be used for the bailout, versus carving out $25 billion from the TARP bailout. Wasn't it $25 billion either way?

Well, no, Ed Morrissey explains. The bailout promoters wanted both that $25 billion in energy-efficiency-promoting loans and a fresh $25 billion in new loans for a sweet, sweet $50 billion haul.

So, we "won" -- they won't have their fresh $25 billion in loans, but they get the $25 billion already authorized, which will be "restructured," i.e., turned into a general slush fund for any purpose.

Yayyyy....?

Posted by: Ace at 10:11 AM | Comments (41)
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I'm really tired of the "irony" defense. Sullivan, I know irony, I've worked irony, and you sir are no practitioner of irony.

OJ Simpson should have tried this defense. Apparently it's an all-purpose mulligan. "Yes, detective, I did stab a man to death and then three-quarters-of-the-way saw my estranged wife's head off. But I intended it ironically."

-- "Ironically? In what fashion?"

"I was attempting, by ironically committing murder, to show that it's bad to kill people. By sawing my wife's head off, I was clearly saying, 'Hey, kids-- don't saw your wives' heads off. And, uh, stay in school, don't do drugs."

-- "ohhhhOOHHHH! It's a bit 'thinky' but I get it now. Well played, sir. You are a national treasure. You're like Cosby with a butcher's knife."

Anyway. More stupidity from Sullivan, and we get a look at the commenters he would have if he allowed them on his site.

I'll link this "goof" clip from The Ten, despite the sad fact that I'm the only one who finds it funny. more...

Posted by: Ace at 10:00 AM | Comments (21)
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Getting judges involved in national security matters, what could go wrong?

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon, in the first ruling to carry out the Supreme Court’s June decision on detainees’ rights, ordered the federal government to release five Guantanamo Bay detainees “forthwith.” The judge found, however, that the government had justified the continued imprisonment of a sixth detainee, Belkacem ben Sayah.

The judge, in an unusual added comment, suggested to senior government leaders that they forgo an appeal of his ruling on freeing the five prisoners, suggesting that “seven years is enough” in captivity. He argued that the government could pursue whatever legal issues it wished to while defending on appeal his ruling in the case of ben Sayah.

One of those covered in this decision is Lakhdar Boumediene. It was Boumedinene who was the named defendant in the Supreme Court case which granted foreign nationals, held outside of US territory access to American courts.

Lawfare! It's Awesome.

Thanks to Gabe who is too busy working to blog for you. Just remember who really cares about you morons.

UPDATE: Gabe sends this along in email.

Judge Leon has been extremely fair in all his war on terror cases. If he says the classified documents provided by the government do not credibly establish that these five men are enemy combatants, I am inclined to believe him. That he did, in fact, rule that the sixth should continue to be detained reinforces the idea that he is giving some deference to the military's evidence.

Keep in mind that he is required at this point to rule on their habeas petitions. He originally upheld the MCA and was subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court. It was not his idea to allow overseas detained enemy combatants access to the federal courts. But now that they have been given such access, he is bound by his oath to give them a fair hearing.

I can't speak to Judge Leon's previous record or the benefit of the doubt he should get (though there's no reason to doubt Gabe on that) but I absolutely agree with his larger point...this isn't about any particular district judge's decision, it's about the Supreme Court.

Boumediene v. Bush basically offered these detainees a way to short circuit the military tribunals and threw open the court house doors by saying detainees had Habeas rights. They basically then told the lower courts to work out what other rights they had and the standards to adjudicate them. Judge Leon, like all other lower court judges have to figure this out for themselves but they are bound to give these guys fair hearings and that's not their fault, that's the Supreme Court's fault.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:40 AM | Comments (144)
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Fresh new breath of life for a clip that's been beaten into the ground.

Thanks to longtime tipster Tom M., who I'll finally get to meet this weekend at the moron thingy.

Posted by: LauraW at 08:35 AM | Comments (11)
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Maupin as you may remember was captured in 2004 by terrorists and in a gross violations of his Geneva Convention rights* was murdered in cold blood. His body was not found until earlier this year.

Now comes word that one of the pieces of shit responsible for killing Maupin has met his well deserved fate.

The U.S. military has confirmed Hajji Hammadi was killed with another armed insurgent on November 11 during a raid by U.S. forces in Baghdad's Mansour neighborhood.

...Hammadi is also thought to be the mastermind behind an attack in Anbar on June 26 of this year that killed three U.S. Marines, two interpreters and more than 20 Iraqis.

Keith Maupin says he was informed earlier this year that several others of his son's captors had been caught and would be placed on trial in Iraq.

I kind of like the coincidental justice of this terrorist being dispatched to Hell on Veterans Day.

(h/t LGF's reader link thing)

*I don't mean to make light of this, just to point out the absurdity of the left's fetish with legal rights for those who operate outside the law while killing Americans.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:22 AM | Comments (19)
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The voters have spoken but as we know laws and initiatives passed by the people or their elected representatives are really just first drafts. Nothing is final until the judges have their say.

Gay rights advocates argue that the measure was a constitutional revision, instead of a more limited amendment. A revision of the state Constitution can be placed before the voters only by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a constitutional convention. Proposition 8 reached the ballot after a signature drive.

In addition to asking for more written arguments on the revision question and the status of existing marriages, the court told lawyers to address whether Proposition 8 violated the separation of powers doctrine under the California Constitution.

Gay rights lawyers have argued that the measure took away the ability of California's courts to ensure equal protection for minorities who have historically suffered discrimination.

The lawsuits also contend that the initiative was a constitutional revision because it denied equal protection to a minority group and eviscerated a key constitutional guarantee. Supporters of Proposition 8 counter that it merely amended the Constitution by restoring a traditional definition of marriage.

The court's previous rulings on similar lawsuits have been mixed. The court has upheld at least six initiatives and rejected only two that were challenged as illegal revisions.

Eugene Volokh takes a look at the 'revision' v. 'amendment' question and thinks that Prop 8 should survive the challenge on that issue at least. Of course that presupposes a willingness of the judges to look at the law and not simply impose their previously expressed opinions.

Arguments will be in March and possibly giving some hope to supporters, the court refused to issue a stay meaning Prop 8's ban on same sex marriages will stand until the court issues its decision.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:00 AM | Comments (49)
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The AP, which has brought us such great fauxtography scandals such as “the old lady in Beirut” and “Green Helmet Guy” has found a case of fauxtography they can get really upset about. Naturally it’s because they think the "bad guy" in the story is the US military.

AP says that adjusting photos and other imagery, even for aesthetic reasons, damages the credibility of the information distributed by the military to news organisations and the public.

"For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image," said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography.

Mr Lyon said AP was developing procedures to protect against further occurrences and, once those steps were in place, it would consider lifting its ban on the use of US Department of Defense photos. He said AP was also discussing the problem with the military.

Colonel Cathy Abbott, chief of the US Army's media relations division, said the Dunwoody photo did not violate army policy that prohibited the editing of an image to misrepresent the facts or change the circumstances of an event.

So did the Army manipulate a battle image? Stage a scene to make a general look heroic and triumphant on the battlefield? Not so much. They added a flag to an image to create a headshot of the first woman to reach the rank of Four Star General. more...

Posted by: DrewM at 06:58 AM | Comments (48)
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Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 05:21 AM | Comments (34)
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A Dartmouth economist has a message for the president-elect.

The first global cost of a bailout could be less foreign direct investment (FDI) coming into the United States. On Sunday, President-elect Barack Obama asked, "What does a sustainable U.S. auto industry look like?"

Well, it looks a lot like the automotive industry run by "foreign" car companies that insource jobs into the U.S. In 2006 these foreign auto makers (multinational auto or auto-parts companies that are headquartered outside of the U.S.) employed 402,800 Americans. The average annual compensation for these employees was $63,538.

At the head of the line of sustainable auto companies stands Toyota. In its 2008 fiscal year, it earned a remarkable $17.1 billion world-wide and assembled 1.66 million motor vehicles in North America. Toyota has production facilities in seven states and R&D facilities in three others. Honda, another sustainable auto company, operates in five states and earned $6 billion in net income in 2008. In contrast, General Motors lost $38.7 billion last year.

Ahem.

An auto bailout would do more than simply reward poor business practices. As the article points out, it could have greater repercussions in the global market, including diminished investment in the United States, expanded protectionist trade policies in other countries, and a reduced foreign demand for US assets.

Plus, I hate to nitpick, but to steal one of Glenn Reynolds' favorite sayings, I'll believe the US auto industry is in crisis when its executives start acting like there's a crisis.

Posted by: Slublog at 05:04 AM | Comments (51)
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By request to Ace

Also up for discussion: Dave in Texas: ghey, metrosexual or simply misguided and can’t seem to find “Corn Husker’s Lotion” at the local drugstore?

Exhibit One: On or about the date of 2/16/07, one “Dave in Texas” posted the following.

Some excerpts:

”I know, down here in Texas we don’t get winter hands. Not like you yankees do. But I admit I haven’t been taking care of the paws like I should have been, and they were gettin a little rough.”

“And then I watch this exchange between kevlarchick and lauraw about some kinda paraffin treatment. Like it’s something or whatev. So I ask them. And they titter and ignore me for a while, and then finally give me the details like I’m some kinda cave man or whatever and I can’t appreciate the finer things in life.”

” Well, I showed them today, yes I did. I asked Mrs. Dave in Texas “what’s up with this paraffin thing”? and she said “call Elaine and see if she can work you in this afternoon”.

“Well, Elaine worked me in.”

“I will do this at least once a month in the winter for the rest of my life. I can’t wait to do my feet.”

“First, you get a massage. Elbow to pinky rub, with oil first, then lotion. She said that’s the key, oil, then lotion. Well what the hell did I know, I just slather on lotion and hit the bricks. I have been edumacated.”

Posted by: Open Blog at 08:55 PM | Comments (84)
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