Readers, we’ve just been informed by the Mysterious People Who Run the Blogs that we’ll be changing servers sometime in the next couple of days.
That means that the blog — and the comments — will be most likely be "temporarily unavailable." We’re told that switching to this new Super Duper Quad-X Mega-Server 2000XLS — Now With 20 Percent Fewer Electrons©, or whatever, will avoid us having to change servers and experience these kinds of interruptions in the future.
So please, if the blog goes away for a short while, don’t fret that we’ve been fired. It’s just a little information-age glitch. We’ll be back. We promise.
Our own Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid added his voice to the chorus of those opposing President George W. Bush’s nomination of former federal judge Michael Mukasey to replace former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Here’s Reid’s statement on the matter:
"I was profoundly disturbed by statements Judge Michael Mukasey made during his confirmation hearings concerning executive power, and about the legality of the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique. As a result, I cannot in good conscience vote to approve his nomination to be attorney general of the United States.
"I do not believe this is a difficult or complex legal question; waterboarding is illegal under current law. After World War II, the U.S. prosecuted and convicted Japanese soldiers for engaging in this practice. Senators [John] McCain, [Lindsey] Graham and [John] Warner – who have served as leaders in the U.S. Senate on this issue, recently issued a detailed legal analysis unambiguously concluding that waterboarding ‘represents a clear violation of U.S. law,’ that Congress has repeatedly outlawed. Further, former and sitting Judge Advocates Generals [sic] agree that waterboarding is illegal. On Friday, in a letter to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, several prominent former Judge Advocate Generals [sic] declared unequivocally: ‘Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal… Waterboarding detainees amounts to illegal torture in all circumstances.’
"I respect Judge Mukasey and believe he is an intelligent, capable man. If he is confirmed, I believe he will take steps to depoliticize the Department of Justice and to help restore the integrity and credibility that was so lacking under his predecessor, Attorney General Gonzales. However, given our recent history, it is of crucial importance that our next attorney general be able to stand up to the president and for the rule of law. Because I am not confident that Judge Mukasey will, I will oppose his nomination."
You may have heard of Valerie Plame. She’s the covert CIA officer who was working on keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of evildoers when she was outed in a column by corpulent conservative columnist Robert Novak. It turns out her name and secret job became "fair game" after her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, had the audacity to call bullshit on President George W. Bush for a line in his State of the Union speech.
Now, a lot of people have said that Plame wasn’t really a "covert" operative, and that naming her didn’t really hurt national security. But remember something: Plame had worked undercover for her entire career. When she was outed to the world (thanks, Novak!) every foreign agent she’d ever worked with — hell, who she’d ever met with — came under suspicion. And every person they ever worked with or met with also came under suspicion. In the good old days of the Cold War, that could mean bullets to the backs of heads.
Plus, let’s not forget that at least one front company that allegedly employed Plame was comprised as soon as Novak’s column hit the streets. Those aren’t cheap to set up, and every other CIA employee employed at that front company was similarly compromised. So, there are ripple effects, the likes of which were totally lost on the disgraceful administration employees who spoke so freely of Plame’s employment: Richard Armitage of the State Department; Karl Rove of the White House and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney who narrowly avoided jail time for lying to the FBI about his activities, thanks to intervention from Bush.
As a result of being named, Plame’s covert CIA career was over (and who knows if the damage was limited to that). She retired and wrote a book about her experiences, titled Fair Game. She’s been making the rounds on talk shows, too, appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Real Time with Bill Maher.
Well, on Wednesday, she’ll be appearing locally on the Basham and Cornell radio show, hosted by Doug Basham and Lydia Cornell. The show starts at 8 a.m. on 1230-AM KLAV. The show is also simulcast on the Internet, at www.BashamAndCornell.com.
We encourage you to tune in, because Ms. Plame has some interesting things to say, and not just about being totally screwed over by the War Party, despite working to keep America safe. Her insights as to how such disclosures can hurt the CIA and its (admittedly, sometimes inadequate) efforts are worth the price of admission. So check it out. 
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