VIDEO- Ed Show: Jane Hamsher in Lanny Davis' face on health care

By GottaLaff

Jane Hamsher tried her best to stick it to Lanny Davis. Emotions sure are running high these days:



Fast work getting this video posted, Firedoglake!

Lobbyist Lanny Davis Won't Say Who's Paying Him

Lanny Davis's Big Fat Cheney About-Face

By GottaLaff

An about-face by someone who wants to save face for being a tool? Fine. The Nation of Dick finally had a positive effect on someone:

This article appears originally in The Washington Times of Monday, May 18.

I have written many times in this space that I oppose any criminal prosecution of prior-administration officials on torture or other issues relating to the Iraq War and the war on terrorism, especially those CIA interrogators who relied in good faith on the instructions of policymakers and the legal opinions issued by Justice Department senior officials.

I have agreed with President Obama on the need to look forward, not backward.

But … I have changed my mind about the need to indict former Vice President Dick Cheney for complicity in illegal torture.

His insistence on putting himself on multiple TV programs and conservative radio talk shows, not only defending torture but offering the defense that it worked, has changed my mind. Not only that — he went on to attack Mr. Obama as weakening the United States in the war on terrorism because Mr. Obama immediately announced that torture would no longer be allowed.

Dem's fighting words. They are also, in my view, reckless and irresponsible. They seem to be laying down a marker that in case, God forbid, there is a terrorist attack, Mr. Cheney can be the first to blame it on Mr. Obama's policies and say, "I told you so." [...]

So as to Mr. Cheney: I think it is time to take him up on his implicit dare and indict him for violating the 1994 federal law against torture. [...]

So I think it's important to take Mr. Cheney up on his challenge, despite all the disadvantages that had led me to oppose prosecutions of the former administration.

Here is what the indictment of Mr. Cheney would look like; it's not that complicated. [...]

• We know that waterboarding was intentionally used against detainees to obtain information.

• We know that waterboarding causes "severe pain or suffering." It involves strapping a man to an inclined board with his head below his feet, wrapping a cloth across his face, and pouring water into his nostrils and mouth, which convinces the victim that he faces imminent death by drowning. It has been used as torture from the Inquisition to Nazi Germany, and was prosecuted as a war crime after World War II.

• Finally, there is strong circumstantial evidence that Mr. Cheney knew waterboarding was being used against detainees, that he expressly approved its use, or that he actually directed interrogators to use it. If any of these are true, then Mr. Cheney could be guilty under U.S. laws of being a co-conspirator or an accessory to a crime. [...]

Many people still think, and I was among them until recently, that it would be better not to put the country through the divisive and backward-looking experience of seeing a former vice president on trial for crimes committed while in office. But given Mr. Cheney's decision to publicly attack the president on the subject, perhaps we have no choice but to take Mr. Cheney up on his challenge.

Follow the link for more.

Cliff Schecter Has Some Choice Words For Lanny Davis

Why oh why can't we clone Cliff? Go read.

The choice is Obama's, so ignore the 25,000 signatures

By GottaLaff
The decision about a running mate is purely Barack Obama's, remember? It's his choice. No pressure, because, as everyone knows, it's up to the nominee, who in this case would be Obama. Yes, only Obama:

VoteBoth, the organization that is aggressively seeking to land Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama's presidential ticket, says it has upwards of 25,000 signatures on its petition calling for the New York senator to serve as No. 2.

Move along, just a few thousand people breathing down your neck, just ignore them.

"The choice is Sen. Obama's alone, and we hope to continue making the case to him that choosing Sen. Clinton would unite the Party and lead us to victory in November," he also said.

See? Obama is the decider, nobody else is, just him. Oh, and there's this: There will be nagging and begging and screaming and tantruming and signature-collecting to reinforce that very sentiment. Because the choice that is his must be the one they choose for him:

Those who have signed the petition include several prominent Democrats, most of whom were backers of Clinton, including Govs. Ed Rendell and Tom Vilsack and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein.

Since Obama officially clinched the nomination Tuesday night, several high-profile backers of Clinton have publicly urged she serve as the Illinois senator's running mate.

This reinforces Hillary's declaration that she is not seeking the position. Not her. It's so obvious, I don't know why she felt it necessary to even make the point. She's supportive that way, making superfluous points and all.

Arora said the organization will continue to step up its efforts for a unity ticket, and explore several different avenues for getting its message out. On Thursday, ardent Clinton support Lanny Davis, whose fierce support of the former presidential candidate has become a fixture on cable news shows, signed on to the group as a senior adviser.

Barack Obama, June 5:

"The next time you hear from me about the vice presidential selection process will be when I have selected a vice president," he said. "If you hear secondhand accounts, rumors, gossip about the selection process, you can take it from me that it is wrong, because we're not going to be talking about it in the press."

But Hillary supporters will talk to the press. It's perfectly fine though. They're just making sure Obama knows what he's doing. No pressure.

Hillary supporters say no more letter pressuring Obama on v.p.

By GottaLaff
Good riddance to a bad, bad idea... Lanny:

Several of Hillary Clinton's congressional supporters have nixed their plan to write a letter to Barack Obama advocating he ask the New York Democrat to serve as his running mate.

According to Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the supporters felt the letter would be misunderstood as them demanding the Illinois senator choose Clinton.

Misunderstood? What's there to misunderstand? Dear Senator Obama:

We write to urge you to select Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to be your choice for vice president because we believe that she would be, by far, the most qualified and strongest candidate to be your running mate. [...]

We know this is ultimately your decision on who is to be your running mate. But with the greatest respect, we ask you to select Senator Clinton in recognition of the more than 17 million Democrats who supported her at the polls and who, in combination with your more than 17 million supporters, would form the base of a successful presidential campaign in the November election.

Nope, no demands there. It's all a big misunderstanding.

"We've decided to communicate our views informally," Schultz said Thursday.

But nobody will mind if we make numerous informal calls and get informal in your face in person and stuff, right? That's not nearly as demanding as saying the exact same thing in a letter.

Love, Lanny