There is an interesting article published in today’s New York Times, and the upshot is that 3 wins and 23 losses is exactly what the Bush/Cheney regime’s record is when their Guantanamo Detainee cases see the light of a court in habeas cases. And in most excellent news, Neal Katyal will be Obama’s Deputy Solicitor General.

In an earlier post I discussed the startling direct admission that the United States tortures terror detainees made public in yesterday’s blockbuster Bob Woodward piece in the Washington Post. As the Bush Administration’s hand picked convening authority for the military tribunals otherwise known as the “Gitmo Show Trials”, Susan Crawford’s admission carries the binding mark of credibility. It also puts the lie to the notion adopted by Obama and many others that reliance on the Army Field Manual is a panacea for reforming the torture regime the United States has enshrined.

Phred skipped town and forgot to take the hubcap she won last week, so you all have a chance to winning it off of her while she’s not looking. (She did, however, leave her picks behind–going with the home teams–so you still all have her picks, if not her trash, to contend with.)

Before we get to the Conference Championship games, though, I have to send my apologies to masaccio for stealing

The plaintiff in the FISCR opinion is almost certainly an email provider.

The Bush Administration is refusing to follow the order of the Circuit Court to look for Scooter Libby’s and Karl Rove’s emails before they leave town.

The recent FISCR opinion makes it clear that the government is not relying exclusively on PAA (or, presumably now, FISA) to wiretap Americans. Rather, it is using several measures kluged together to get around the 4th Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure.

The government says they don’t have a database of all their communications. But there’s lots of reason to disbelieve them.

BushCo just dropped all charges against Andy Card’s cousin, whom they accused of being a spy for Saddam and/or crazy. And with the dropped charges, they may have succeeded in suppressing very embarrassing information from coming to light.

Barack Obama and his new administration need to prosecute the malefactors in the outgoing Bush Administration for the crimes and crimes against humanity they perpetrated while in office; to set an example so it doesn’t happen again. Tonight on on MSNBC’s Countdown, Professor Jonathan Turley mad a passionate plea for accountability. Must see teevee.

In what is almost certainly a stunt designed to hold up Blago’s impeachment, his defense attorneys are refusing to represent him during the impeachment trial.