CONYERS: Could the President order a suspect buried alive?

YOO: Uh, Mr. Chairman, I don't think I've ever given advice that the President could order someone buried alive...

CONYERS: I didn't ask you if you ever gave him advice. I asked you thought the President could order a suspect buried alive.

YOO: Well Chairman, my view right now is that I don't think a President — no American President would ever have to order that or feel it necessary to order that.

CONYERS: I think we understand the games that are being played.

John Yoo is, of course, the man who said the Presidnet has virtually unlimited power in a "time of crisis," which apperently does not rule out burying people alive. God Bless America.

"Either the companies and the President acted outside of the rule of law, or they followed it," he said. "Either the underlying program was legal or it wasn't. Because of this legislation, none of the questions will be answered."

That's exactly the point. You don't grant immunity to someone who has not broken the law. So, what did the telecoms do that would require immunity and shouldn't that be examined? We really are talking about the fundamentals of law and ordert here.

Via Salon

A few gems from some of the "conservative" comments regarding the CNN.com article include:

Freida NYC wrote, "This is scary, he even wants to change the American logo-seal, by replacing it with his name. Americans please wake up and do not vote for Obama. Are these the kind of changes you really want.?He will turn this country into a Muslim sect, Just wait and see."

dz in Austin wrote, "Arrogance has no limits!"

Mary from Westport CT wrote, "He thinks he can take a presidential symbol and make it his. Very disrespectful. If that's not another example of his elitist attitude I don't know what is."

Ruth Bell wrote, "The Logo is just a logo and should not resemble the Presidential Seal. This is another Obama attempt to belittle the traditions of the United States of America, our Nation under God, and he should develop something entirely different. He doesn't like our National Anthem and is making every effort
to undermine our traditional American beliefs."

I'll openly admit to doing a double-take the first time I saw the new logo. At first glance I thought it odd that Obama would be speaking from a podium with the Seal on it until I looked a little closer and saw that the inscription read, "Obama for America - www.barackobama.com" and included his campaign's trademark "O" in the middle. Then I got a bit of a chuckle out of it. It seemed to me to have a bit of a tongue-in-cheek quality to it, almost as if it was a creation of the Daily Show or the Onion. I mean, the man clearly knows he isn't the President yet. I also thought it was brilliant and clever from a marketing standpoint. How better to advertise a candidate as presidential than to put him behind a podium with a very presidential-looking seal on it? For worse or for worse, appearances count for way too much in presidential contests and I would count on a full slate of mainstream media pundits to glowingly remark that John McCain just "looks presidential" as we march toward November. There was no shortage of talking heads who told us, with straight faces, that George W. Bush "looked presidential" and look where that got us.

So, which is it? Should presidential candidates adopt images of the American flag or the Presidency into their campaigns or not? I mean, who the hell does John McCain think he is wearing an American flag lapel pin? Is he so arrogant that he already assumes that he has won and that he represents all Americans? This is exactly the same kind of logic presented by Obama's critics on this matter. This is so loony that we might as well call into question the patriotism of every single candidate for public office in America who has ever used any likeness of the American flag in their campaign. There's not nearly enough room at Gitmo for that many traitors...

So I am glad to see that a portion of Route 20 that runs past the Buffalo Bills stadium was up for renaming in honor of Russert, a native of the area. Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY) are planning to introduce legislation to rename a portion of Route 20 near the Buffalo Bills' stadium after him and I hope it passes.

Today McCain pushed the old right-wing oil talking point by saying the ban on off-shore drilling should be lifted. Now, folks in Florida will not likely take kindly to the idea of oil rigs dotting their tourist magnet ocean front, but John McCain thinks it's a great idea.

With gasoline prices rising and the United States chronically dependent on foreign oil, the Republican presidential contender said his proposal would "be very helpful in the short term resolving our energy crisis."

That of course is horseshit as oil is traded on a global market and any oil tapped from the ocean (or ANWR, for that matter) would have little if any influence on the price of oil. Even if it had a nominal effect it would be at least five years before US consumers saw it. It's not like US oil companies would find new oil reserves and only sell it to Americans for a discount. They sell it to the highest bidder, which may be China or India. And then there's the problem of refineries...

But that's a more complicated message than telling the American people that crazy environmentalists are keeping gas prices high by blocking exploration on our own shores. So much for straight talk..

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: I think maybe legislation working with the Congress, which would define more narrowly the habeas corpus rights of people who we have detained. It's very broad right now. At least try to provide some definition of that so we're not ending up in endless lawsuits. Already the detainees have brought suit on diet, on reading material, on all kinds of other things that are certainly not central to what we have detained them for. So I would hope that we could at least do that.

The Supreme Court's recent decision regarding habeas corpus and limitless detention has nothing to do with lawsuits regarding diet and reading materials. Nothing at all. Does he even read the papers or is he that confused about what is going on at GITMO?

The SPLC website provided the following nuggets of wisdom from some of our hate-filled white citizens:

"He will make things so bad for white people that hopefully they will finally realize how stupid they were for admiring these jigaboos all these years," "Darthvader" wrote on the neo-Nazi Vanguard News Network web forum.

Ron Doggett, a key activist in the Klan, the paramilitary White People's Party, and the neo-Nazi National Alliance, said, "I hope Obama wins because in four years, white people just might be pissed off enough to actually do something. ... White people aren't going to do a thing until their toys are taken away from them. So things have to be worse for things to be better."

"Centimanus" on the white nationalist Stormfront website. "I am gleefully, sadistically looking forward to Obama as president. ... It will be a beautiful day when the masses look at the paper and truly realize they have lost their own country."

And, of course, no sampling of white racist commentary would be complete without the insights of David Duke, who offered that, "Obama is like that new big dark spot on your arm that finally sends you to the doctor for some real medicine. ... Obama is the pain that let's [sic] your body know that something is dreadfully wrong. Obama will let the American people know that there is a real cancer eating away at the heart of our country and Republican aspirin will not only not cure it, but only masks the pain and makes you think you don't need radical surgery. ... My bet is that whether Obama wins or loses in November, millions of European Americans will inevitably react with new awareness of their heritage and the need for them to defend and advance it." European Americans! I love it.

And I thought they would just try to assassinate him. Silly me. Well, let's hope that they get their wish of an Obama presidency, but, obviously, not for their stated reasons. If Obama wins and turns out to be a good president, is it too much to wish that perhaps some of these clowns might recognize the errors of their ways? One can only hope.

It is a debate that the American people deserve on the issues that will help determine the future of this country and the future for our children.

But what you don't deserve is another election that's governed by fear, and innuendo, and division. What you won't hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge and patriotism as a bludgeon...

What you won't see from this campaign or this party is a politics that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to polarize, because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first. We are always Americans first.

After eight grueling years of Bush/Cheny/Rove political wedges and fear mongering, how does McCain respond? With an ad called "Safe" that's scheduled to run in the coming weeks.

In the ad, McCain says: "Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war. ... I was shot down over Vietnam and spent five years as a POW. ... I hate war. And I know how terrible its costs are. I'm running for president to keep the country I love safe. I'm John McCain, and I approve this message."

McCain TV Ad - Safe

Only a fool and a fraud thinks we don't see right through this. Get ready for another several months of The Fear.

VIA The Politico

Check out this video from McCain's campaign manager that is supposed to inspire--yes, inspire--supporters to engage in a little viral marketing. They are just so out of it I am actually embarassed for the old coot. Seriously, it's painful.

American Neighbor Convention Contest

VIA Talking Points Memo

On right-winger Mike Gallagher's radio show today, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) claimed that Barack Obama is a Marxist.

"I have said publicly, and I will again, that unless he proves me wrong, he is a Marxist," DeLay said.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, that's, we hear that everyday. Congressman, every day someone will say to me, and I've said it, it's as if this were a guy who's desperately trying to cover up what seems to be the kind of old school Marxist, radical liberal failed ideology.

DELAY: Absolutely.

GALLAGHER: That's what he is.

DELAY: No doubt about it.

I guess painting him a Manchurian Candidate Muslim Terrorist or radical black nationalist isn't testing well so they're going back to the hits of the 50s and 60s. I mean, who the fuck is afraid of Marxists anymore???

VIA ThinkProgress, who has audio of tis absurd exchange.

One hundred percent awesome.

His first honoree is Gregg Pollowitz at National Review Online for this bit of pure genius:

U2's "Beautiful Day" is playing at the Barack Obama rally. No Americans write music Obama likes?

Seriously? That's the best you have? November is looking good, folks.

• Former President Jimmy Carter, who had dropped hints for quite a while that he was for Obama, and officially confirmed the news with the Associated Press.

• South Carolina Congressman John Spratt.

• DNC member Ralph Dawson, from Hillary Clinton's home state of New York.

• Massachusetts DNC member Deb Kozikowski.

• Massachusetts Congressman John Olver.

• DNC member Joyce Beatty of Ohio.

• DNC member Jennifer Dechant of Maine.

• DNC member Maria Chappelle-Nadal of Missouri.

• DNC member Carnelia Fondren of Mississippi.

• DNC member John Perez of California.

• Five Michigan super-dels, who each count as half a vote: Detroit Mayor and DNC member Kwame Kilpatrick, Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, and DNC members Debbie Dingell, Rick Wiener and Joyce Lalonde.

Score: Obama +12.5, Clinton +0.5. According to DemConWatch, Obama now has 2,089.5 delegates to Clinton's 1,917

AP tally: Obama clinches Democratic nomination

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday after a grueling marathon, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.

So, will Hillary concede tonight? Tomorrow? This weekend? When Hell freezes over?