Pelosi's Torture Story, the Truth Commission, and Obama's 'Controversial' Dog
Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:
Pelosi's in Trouble
We talked about it yesterday, but it looks like the fallout from Nancy Pelosi's presser has gotten a lot worse. The Washington Post's Dana Milbank describes it right: "Nancy Pelosi is a woman of many talents. Yesterday, she performed the delicate art of backtracking while walking sideways." Johanna Neuman explains: "Suddenly, it's the Democrats who are taking heat for not stopping torture instead of the Republicans who implemented the enhanced interrogation tactics in the first place." Bloggers on all sides of the aisle think it was pretty stupid for Pelosi to blame everything on the CIA. Plus, didn't she know the CIA would fight back? Conservative Ed Morrissey wonders if it's the end of Pelosi's reign as House speaker. David Ignatious thinks Pelosi's shabby defense is a nightmare. But then again: "Pelosi's apparent rewriting of the record would be shocking—if it weren't so typical of congressional behavior on this subject." Liberal Jason Linkins, however, thinks the media's got the wrong story. He writes: "The media has decided on what their big takeaway of the day is, and frankly, it has focused on the most quotidian aspect of this controversy: that Nancy Pelosi is suggesting that the CIA has misled her. Dog bites man!"
The Impending ... Truth Commission?
Torture, torture everywhere, and not a stop in sight. The longevity of the torture-related media storm owes Dick Cheney and Nancy Pelosi gratitude, suggests Pete Abel: "This much seems to be a given: Dick and Nancy will keep pounding their shoes on the table, regardless of the consequences." Conservative Jonah Goldberg thinks a truth commission looking into the Bush administration's misdeeds on torture is likely to happen... but only if Nancy Pelosi resigns. Conservative Jennifer Rubin sees an upside to the "unintended consequences and hubris" of the liberals' "hysterical desire to 'get the Bushies.' " Liberal Marc Ambinder lists 10 reasons why a torture probe is now more likely. And liberal Josh Marshall gives his take on the Pelosi-truth commission link: "Critics want her to be embarrassed and stop supporting a Truth Commission... But she's not... Her critics still want the book closed."
Disrespecting the Dog
Dogs are the political symbol du jour. Liberal Robert Schlesinger is all over it: "In a new Web video released today satirizing the well-known Visa card commercials, the RNC tasks President Obama with using $2,000 in taxpayer funds to purchase his 'new best friend': Bo the dog." Now the DNC is hitting back, and oh snap, turns out it has Michael Steele saying: "For the record, I love puppies." Greg Sargent covers the developing back and forth. Liberal Jed Lewison thinks the RNC add is proof of how far into the wilderness the GOP really is. Conservatives, however, aren't too happy about a joke that Obama adviser David Axelrod made about Carrie Prejean, and guess what? This story's dog-related too.
... Meanwhile ...
Looks like Obama's supports military commissions now... Ron Howard, pimp?... (Most of) what you need to know about Obama's upcoming commencement speech at Notre Dame... Plus: Bristol Palin graduates high school.
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Reader Comments
pelosi has got to answer one question
Nancy, You state that you were ata meeting where there was a list of possible techniques that could be used to get information from those captured. She was told that waterboarding was on the list, but had not yet been implemented. My dear nancy, if you are so against waterboarding, you should have complained before they were using it. So did you object? If the answer no,then you approved. Sp shut up!
If the answer is yes, why have you not said so. In your press conference you clearly said that you knew that waterboarding was on the list.
The Bush administratin made a tough choice, they believed was ok under current law. Let us not go back and rewrite history. Or maybe we should investigate other famous choices. Truman and the atomic bomb, that was the right choice, but could we not now after the fact say things like Japan would have surrendered without the bomb.
What about the bay of pigs, president kennedy? Wasn't that a huge mistake?
In Case There Are Still Questions About Pelosi
It's good to hear that someone besides Fox News is scrutinizing Pelosi on this; but since there is still spinning going on, I recommend everyone watch Pelosi's news conference yesterday and come to their own conclusions. For some it will enlightening, for others confirming.
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