Last night’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann did a piece on the Bush administration’s politicization of the Justice Department.  This video from MSNBC’s Countdown begins with a rundown of the events that led up to the DOJ’s release yesterday of an internal report entitled, An Investigation of Allegations of Politicized Hiring by Monica Goodling and Other Staff in the Office of the Attorney General(links to pdf of the official document).

The video includes commentary from Constitutional Law Professor, Jonathan Turley, whose perspective is always worthwhile.  If the video fails to play, click here.

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Salon’s Glenn Greenwald rolls out the online opinion & news outlet’s audio presentation.  The debut of Salon Radio features Greenwald’s interview of Daniel Ellsberg.

From the July 25, 2008, Salon Post:

Knowing that he was risking life imprisonment, Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in an attempt to alert the public to what the Government was doing (he did so only after numerous members of Congress refused his pleas to make those documents public). The NYT then waged an epic battle with the Nixon administration for the right to publish those papers, resulting in one of the most important First Amendment victories in Supreme Court history. For his efforts, Ellsberg was subjected to extensive warrantless eavesdropping by the Nixon White House, had his psychoanalyst’s office invaded and searched at Nixon’s behest in an attempt to obtain incriminating information about him, and was arrested and then brought to trial where he faced life imprisonment for having leaked the report (though the charges were ultimately dropped as a result of the Nixon administration’s misconduct towards him).

Follow the read more link below to see the whole post and listen to the audio of the Ellsberg interview.

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Look for more podcasts of Salon Radio with Glenn Greenwald, posted at Salon.com on Mon, Wed, & Friday @ 1:PM CST.

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God bless Jon Stewart and his Daily Show staff. Last night they presented a fantastic satirical segment on how Bush administration officials, past and present, have avoided answering questions posed by Congress. Daily Show correspondent John Oliver put it best: “Classic Hall of Fame Bullshit.”

Oliver’s remarks were in response to John Ashcroft’s testimony before Congress. When the former Attorney General was asked about his recollection of discussions regarding the treatment of “enemy combatants,” Ashcroft claimed he couldn’t differentiate his own memories of events with the accounts of others.

The exchange between Stewart and Oliver is below, and lasts 3:25.  For information that is less satirical, see:

From the New York Times:  Two Testify on Memo Spelling Out Interrogation, 27 June 2008.

or this from the American Constitution Society for Law & Policy: Former AG John Ashcroft Before House Committee On Interrogation, 18 July 2008.

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From the History News Network, by way of the Chronicle of Higher Ed:

“It remains to be seen if the new law will prod more institutions to reach out to veterans or if it will transform veterans’ enrollment patterns. But history suggests a skeptical view.”

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People get their history knowledge from a variety of sources, and too often those sources are yawn inspiring. When I tell people of my interest in history, their responses generally include tales of how they avoided being caught sleeping by their history instructors. I don’t take it personally. However, I came across a web video that offered a short history lesson that is more likely to be giggled through, rather than slept through.

The video: Drunk History 3 – Featuring Danny McBride is just one of four episodes from creator, Derek Waters. The intro says it all:

“Late one night Jen Kirkman drank a bottle and a half of wine And then discussed an historical event.”

Kirkman, obviously shitfaced and fighting off the hiccups, recalls the tale of Oney Judge, George & Martha Washington’s favorite slave. Kirkman’s slurred recollection is complimented by Waters’ portrayal of events, this particular webisode stars Danny McBride as George Washington.

If you enjoy this one, be sure to check out Drunk History 2 & 2.5 in which Derek Falconer discusses Ben Franklin after ingesting eight vodka cranberries. Waters probably could have left out the footage of Falconer pausing his story for regurgetation purposes, but with Jack Black portraying Ben Franklin, I was glad that the storyteller was able two resume after throwing up…twice.

Those offended by harsh language would be wise to refrain from viewing.

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The measure aims to keep electronic records for use by congressional investigators and historians.

From latimes.com, July 10, 2008:

The measure was in response to an uproar over e-mails found missing by recent Capitol Hill probes of Bush aides, including Rove, then the president’s chief political strategist. Investigators have tried to determine whether Rove and others used Republican National Committee e-mail accounts to conduct government business in an attempt to circumvent the Presidential Records Act, a post-Watergate law designed to preserve White House records.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has said that White House e-mails transmitted over several hundred days between 2003 and 2005 also are unaccounted for, an assertion that the administration disputes.

“Some have said that this bill is about preserving history, and it is,” said Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills). “But it also is about our constitutional responsibility for oversight and for holding this and any administration accountable.”

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From “Remembering Brainwashing” July 6, 2008, NYT post:

In the early 1950s, American troops were being killed and captured by the thousands in Korea. Panic spread that China’s Communists had learned how to penetrate and control the minds of American prisoners of war. Finding out what others are thinking is the job of spies. The Korean experience spurred the C.I.A.’s search for mind-control techniques.

The post’s author, Tim Weiner, is also the author of Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA

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