John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed Karl Rove to testify about the Bush administration’s firing of United States attorneys. The subpoena could force an interesting constitutional fight since President Obama would now be in a position to waive executive privilege and Attorney General nominee Eric Holder could allow the matter to go to a grand jury. I discussed this issue last night on Countdown in this segment.
It is conceivable that former President Bush could ask a court to uphold his prior claim of privilege. However, courts generally defer to the sitting president on question of privilege. The biggest change would be the lifting of Mukasey’s order blocking the submission of the case to a grand jury. The Congress had a strong case of criminal contempt against Bush officials. It could now conceivably go to a jury. I would be surprised if Rove would risk such a trial in Washington.
For the full story, click here.
Nope.
Not a word past your name, Nazi-boy.
I dont really care. And you probably read it so what the heck.
Figured out you’re totally discredited yet?
Just not that bright I guess.
I dont know who Yoo is I have never read Yoo. It seemed to me that toture is torture if physical damage is inflicted. (And I suppose it may be torture if permanent emotional damage is imposed. Hmm that may be grounds for a law suit for this site. Although since I believe in personal responsibility I did subject myself to this bs). That is what should rise to the level of a war crime. If the Bush administration did tissue damage then fry them. However I think in the environment after 9/11 some consideration should be given.
Personally I will take the word of a Marine officer. He did say it induced panic and was not pleasant. Any of you been water boarded? Most likely not, so you dont know what it is either and you are also taking someone elses opinion, at least I sought someone out that had actually undergone the real procedure. That is what I am talking about you all look to others for your opinions to JT and others, you talk about me being a mind numbed right wing troll most of you are left wing mind numbed robots at least a troll has autonomy of thought. Just a bunch of left wingers – JT’s sycophantic trolls
As far as my mother inlaw goes I mentioned it was a limited sampling and that I was aware of that. I was going from the particular to the general. But I dont see how extraplation is a problem in this case. I come into contact with government workers on a regular basis and most are not much better than workers at fast food restaurants and the politicians are even worse. I would not trust most of them to walk my dog. And that goes for either party. I met the former governor of CT. when he was a congressman and was not surprised by his arrest. Are all govt workers slothful and lazy absolutely not but the system does tend to promote that. Much as socialism leads to lower production and inefficiency so to does government work promote mediocrity because of the nature of the system.
You all dont think in abstracts it is actually quite fascinating. You quote other people at great length and put much stock in what they say as evidenced by how you respond to me. Go look at this website or that website look there it must be true if it is on the web. And I think some of you actually are quoting other people but not giving credit to the person whose thoughts they actually are and you all call me pathetic?
Regards,
the theocraticanarchist troll
ps I still dont understand how I can be a theocrat and an anarchist at the same time. But then that is what I am talking about.
Mike S., what is a “Gomer Pyle intellectual” and is there some sort of test one takes for that certification?
Patty:
My blood sugar is rising just reading these posts!!
I thought for a second that I had wandered into the Food Network site. Bronnie Boy, I am glad that you like Patty’s cookies, but let’s get down to it. I think Mike said it best. Your so-called evidence that a friend said waterboarding wasn’t torture is sophmoric at best. The experts that I linked to earlier agree that the process is torture. But more importantly, the law says it is torture. Not some other country’s laws, but ours. One more point about your comment about tissue damage being required for it to be torture. Once again, your opinion and John Yoos misguided claim that tissue damage is necessary for the technique to be considered torture is not the law of the land. You are attempting to use the discredited opinion of John Yoo and Addington as your definitive threshold for torture. Your and their opinion(s) do(es) not agree with US law and international law. That is one of the reasons why the OLC pulled that opinion. I think you need to read some of Prof. Tutley’s earlier postings on torture. I have an idea. Try bringing some facts with you next time. And lay off the fictional character in “24”. A fictional character can’t be patriotic. He or she can only pretend to be someone who claims to be patriotic. That “24” character may have patriotic leanings, but once he repeatedly and intentionally breaks the law, he is no longer a patriot. He becomes a felon. I would recommend watching some shows other than “24” and Fox News. The facts are very rarely found on Fox News.
Jill,
Children of Men was a wonderful, but sad movie. There is some hope at the end, but it is very depressing throughout.
Man after my own heart, but JT’s got ‘little’ kids…
If you like chiles & chocolate, check out one of my fav chocolatiers
http://www.guannichocolates.com/Collections/VC_Classic_Collection_9_Pieces-9
Like everything else they have gone up, but really good. You CAN order
a la carte!
BTW, Gyges, if you ever get a chance to try Allagash Curieux
bourbon barrel-aged tripel, I highly recommend. And that from someone who is not a big beer drinker.
Patty and all cookie lovers,
I always add a little bit of Cayenne to my ginger snaps, and hot chocolate (but only if I’m making the REAL stuff).
Mayan Hot Chocolate
2 cups boiling water
1 chile pepper, cut in half, seeds removed (with gloves)
5 cups light cream or whole or nonfat milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 to 2 cinnamon sticks
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate or
3 tablets Mexican chocolate, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons sugar or honey, or to taste
l tablespoon almonds or hazelnuts, ground extra fine
Whipped cream
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add chile pepper to boiling water. Cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Remove chile pepper; strain water and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine cream or milk, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick until bubbles appear around the edge. Reduce heat to low; add chocolate and sugar or honey; whisk occasionally until chocolate is melted and sugar dissolves. Turn off heat; remove vanilla bean and cinnamon stick. Add chile-infused water, a little at a time, tasting to make sure the flavor isn’t too strong. If chocolate is too thick, thin with a little more milk.
Serve in small cups and offer ground almonds or hazelnuts and whipped cream.
Meow
Oh Bronnieboy your true stripes are showing, more tabby than tiger though,
‘The best thing so far was (ahem) Patty C’s cookie recipe.’
—
Thanks, and here it is again, but a slightly different version
-circular and sugared.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2007/10/chez_panisse_gi.html
Chez Panisse Ginger Snaps
Makes 40-50 cookies
From The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution (Clarkson Potter) by Alice Waters.
These cookies get crisp when cool and are great holiday cookies. I like them coated with lots of crystals of coarse sugar, which is called Hawaiian washed sugar in the US, or cassonade here in France. (Coarse sugar is also available online.)
You can also rev-up the spices, and add ¼-½ teaspoon ground cardamom, cloves, nutmeg or allspice to suit your taste.
2 cups (280 g) flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
11 tablespoons (150 g) butter, salted or unsalted, at room temperature
2/3 cup (130 g) sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (80 g) mild-flavored molasses* (sometimes called ‘light’ molasses)
1 large egg, at room temperature
my optional step: coarse sugar crystals for coating the cookies
1. Stir together the dry ingredients.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter just until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until smooth, stopping the mixer to scrape down any butter clinging to the sides of the bowl.
3. Stir in the vanilla, molasses and egg.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients gradually until the dough is smooth.
5. Divide the dough in two equal portions and roll each on a lightly-floured surface until each is about 2-inches (5cm) around. Don’t worry if they’re not perfect; you can neaten them up in a second.
6. Wrap each in plastic wrap then roll them lightly on the counter to smooth them out. Refrigerate, or better yet, freeze the cookie logs until firm.
7. To bake, preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
8. Slice cookie dough into 1/4-inch (a scant 1 cm) rounds with a sharp knife. Dip one side and press firmly in a bowl of coarse sugar if you want (you can also use granulated sugar instead), and place sugar-side up on baking sheet, evenly-spaced apart. Leave a couple of inches, about 5 cm, between cookies since they’ll spread while baking.
9. Bake for 10-14 minutes, rotating the baking sheets midway during baking, until deep-golden brown. The cookies will puff up a bit while baking, then settle down when they’re done. Bake on the lower end of the range for softer cookies, and more for snappier ones, depending on your oven.
10. Let the cookies cool two minutes, then remove them with a spatula and transfer them to a cooling rack.
Storage: The dough can be refrigerated for up to five days, or frozen for up to three months. Once baked, the cookies can be kept in an air-tight container for a couple of days but like anything made with butter, of course they’re best the day they’re baked.
*Outside the United States, molasses is often found in natural-foods stores.