On John Yoo’s Constitution

Contrary to popular belief, I do not have an Enemy’s List. Yes, Warren Ellis is my nemesis, but only because his writing makes me feel like an amateur. (Though I’m not sure what to think — yet — about Crooked Little Vein, which makes me realize how completely undepraved I am. That is a goodContinue reading “On John Yoo’s Constitution”

On Rating the Fictional Presidents

Historians like to create lists. Which presidents were best? Which were worst? So on, and so forth. My brother called. He mentioned that a television station was showing Dave, that wonderful film about a man called upon to impersonate the president when he suffered a stroke, and his transformation from the tool of the imperiousContinue reading “On Rating the Fictional Presidents”

On John Yoo and the Legality of Torture

I don’t like John Yoo. Yoo served in President Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel during the early years of his administration. Yoo was known to have penned two memos outlining the legal basis for detainee confinement at Guantanamo Bay and for coercive interrogation tactics — torture, let’s just say it — that led to prisonContinue reading “On John Yoo and the Legality of Torture”

On Sending Gonzales the Constitution

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail from the John Edwards campaign asking for signatures for a petition they wanted to send to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. What sort of petition? They wanted to send him a ginormous copy of the United States Constitution. Because, clearly, Gonzales had never read it. As long-time readers knowContinue reading “On Sending Gonzales the Constitution”

On Things That Need To Be Said

In all the insanity of the week–from a scandal that could bring down a government to an appalling crime in Pennsylvania–Garrison Keillor offered some words on what our country has become that went overlooked. I would quote only excerpts, but the whole thing need to be read. So, let’s look at then–“A Shameful Retreat fromContinue reading “On Things That Need To Be Said”