Friday Talking Points [101] -- Count Me With The Misfits

Chris Weigant, 11.15.2009

Author, Political Commentator, and Blogger (ChrisWeigant.com)

Whether or not Harry Reid ever gets his act together, the achievement of Nancy Pelosi getting healthcare reform legislation should stand on its own as an admirable political achievement.

The Word Not Spoken: Bagram

Harry Shearer, 11.13.2009

Actor, author, director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, multi-media artist

When Fox staged a special Veterans Day version of its NFL pregame show at Bagram AF Base last Sunday, they failed to mention one interesting fact about Bagram: It's the site of America's other Gitmo.

Obama in Asia: West Looks East After "The End of History"

Kishore Mahbubani, 11.11.2009

Author of The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East

The loss of the West's moral authority is the exact opposite outcome that Western minds expected when they celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The Tide is Turning in the Fight to Close Guantanamo

Sharon Kelly, 11.10.2009

Director of Communications at Human Rights First

As we await the announcement of President Obama's plan to close Guantanamo, we can be hopeful that the tide of fear-mongering that has muddied this debate is being to ebb.

Close it Right: Guantanamo Must Be Shut Down Quickly and Properly

Anthony D. Romero, 11.11.2009

Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union

The clock's ticking and it's not looking good. As January 22, 2010 fast approaches, the administration is signaling that it's unlikely to meet its own deadline to close

Beyond Guantanamo

Ginny Sloan, 11.05.2009

The Declaration represents the largest collection of policy experts yet to lend their voices to a responsible plan to process the cases of suspected terrorist detainees held at the Guantanamo detention facility.

Who Are the Six Uighurs Released From Guantanamo to Palau?

Andy Worthington, 11.04.2009

Journalist and author of "The Guantanamo Files"

I am drawing together here the stories of six men who, nearly eight years after their wrongful and mistaken capture, are finally free from Guantánamo, even if an uncertain future awaits them.

Playing 'Gotcha' on Gitmo

Rep. David Price, 11.03.2009

he administration's efforts to close the facility have been hampered by another more cynical reality: Congressional Republicans have turned the debate over closing Guantánamo into a partisan game of "gotcha."

Stephen Colbert Signs Campaign Letter to Close Guantanamo Now (Video)

Tom Andrews, 10.30.2009

Former Member of Congress, Maine

Rosanne Cash appeared on the Colbert Report last night on the use of music to torture at Guantanamo, and she made it clear: using music as torture is wrong and there's no gray area.

"Friending" Binyam Mohamed

Naomi Wolf, 11.04.2009

Bestselling Author, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

Recently I have been in touch with Binyam Mohamed, who was released from Guantánamo in February -- after seven years' captivity without charges.

Obtaining the Playlist from Guantanamo

Lawrence Iser, 10.28.2009

Partner, Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP

Once a prison guard purchases a copy of his favorite Nine Inch Nails CD, he is free to play it on his boombox. He is free to put a particular song on "repeat" and to play it as loud as he wants to.

Obama Strikes Back -- First Year Agenda, Phase III

Michael B. Laskoff, 10.30.2009

"...content against obedience..." ––W.S.

Phase III: Obama Strikes Back. The Republicans are still leaderless and teabaggers have hung up their Lipton for the winter. Meanwhile, two-thirds of Americans still want health care reform.

Cheney: A Tortured Soul

Lance Simmens, 10.26.2009

Has spent the last three decades involved in a variety of public policy issues.

Mr. Vice-President, you and your President had eight full years to chart a direction for this nation. That direction was soundly rejected by the voters in the most recent national election.

Guantanamo Bay: College Division

Stu Kreisman, 10.26.2009

Emmy award winning writer-producer and author.

Is a school entitled to discipline a student? Of course -- if a crime is committed. But let's get real here. We're talking about freedom of speech on the Internet.

Friday Talking Points [99] -- Misdirection

Chris Weigant, 10.26.2009

Author, Political Commentator, and Blogger (ChrisWeigant.com)

The real head-scratcher for serious media-watchers right now is what the "war" between the White House and Fox News was meant to distract us from this week. The "war" itself is laughable, for a number of reasons.

Stop Using America's Top 40 for Torture

Eric Dezenhall, 10.23.2009

Co-founded Dezenhall Resources and today serves as the company's CEO

Call me a socialist, but I have believed for decades that the Department of Justice should actively monitor Top 40 Hits because certain songs could lead upstanding citizens to confess to crimes that they did not commit.

The Company You Keep

Tom Andrews, 10.26.2009

Former Member of Congress, Maine

Yesterday's announcement by acclaimed musicians that they were signing onto our National Campaign to Close Guantanamo Bay generated a harsh response from Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol.

Why Musicians Are Right, Liz Cheney Is Wrong

Jon Soltz, 10.23.2009

Co-Founder of VoteVets.org, served as a Captain in Operation Iraqi Freedom

By lobbying to keep Guantanamo Bay open, Liz Cheney's group is helping keep alive one of the greatest recruiting posters that al Qaeda ever had.

Music Matters

Matthew Alexander, 10.24.2009

Led the interrogations that found Zarqawi

Music is perhaps the freest expression of art in an open society. In my travels to more than 50 countries, a sense of pride has always emerged for American culture abroad in the form of music.

Stop the Music...and the Torture

Harry Shearer, 10.22.2009

Actor, author, director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright, multi-media artist

Those who focus solely on the closing of Gitmo merely invite the US government to move any detainees still in need of further 'care' to Bagram, which is in a similarly lawless situation, if not more so.

Guantanamo Accountability

Mike Smith, 10.22.2009

www.mikesmithpa.com

Common Cause recently sponsored a compelling session at the National Press Club on prisoner abuse, military commissions trying detainees, and who is responsible for torturous interrogations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.