Greenwald fumes:
[T]he claim that government officials enjoy a virtually impenetrable shield of immunity even in the commission of war crimes "has emerged as a sort of ignoble mantra for the Justice Department, uniting both the Bush and Obama administrations." Indeed, that is the common strain of virtually every act undertaken by the Obama DOJ with regard to our government's war crimes and other felonies, from torture to renditions to illegal eavesdropping.
Marc Santora reports on the latest aftermath of the collapse of the Iraqi election compromise:
After it collapsed, political leaders fell back to familiar and disturbing sectarian camps. Not only did the fighting threaten to complicate the American withdrawal, but it also recalled the bitter divisions that fueled a cycle of violence that led the country to the edge of anarchy.
It is in that context that one can understand the frenzied, almost panicked, negotiations that took place over the weekend to work out a compromise that would get the elections back on track. At one point on Sunday, Iraqi lawmakers argued over how long a day was — with some saying that it ended at the close of business and others contending that it ended at midnight. (Midnight won.)
A deal was reached just minutes before midnight, but not before the political impasse had grown so deep that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden had to make personal interventions to keep negotiations on track.
In the end, there are still parties not satisfied with their share, but it seems like the election will take place. When it does, the ethnic and sectarian divisions that delayed the passage of an election law could seem irrelevant. But only time will tell.
“She tells you what she believes,” Anderson said. “You don’t have to guess. It’s better to listen to her than the media.” Alice Revell, from rock-ribbed Sioux County to the north of here, sported a pin that read: “I Don’t Want To Have To Say Happy Holidays.”
“Her values are my values,” said Revell. “She’s pro-life. She doesn’t just talk the talk, she walks the walk. She’s a hunter, my husband is an avid hunter.” A pair of women from Omaha wearing shirts that identified them with the “Minuteman Patriots” said Palin represented what they called real American women. “Not the elitists you see on television,” explained Pat Carro. Asked who she had in mind, Carro cited “the ones you see on “The View.’ ” Another Omahan, Ray Hansen, braved the afternoon cold to pose for a picture in front of Palin’s book-tour bus, festooned with her image and an Alaska backdrop, after having his book signed.
“She’s a real American, that’s why,” Hansen said, when asked why he liked Palin.
There are two guests on the Joy Behar show today on CNN/HLN. They are Levi Johnston and yours truly.
Here's the PDF link to the 58-page Seton Hall University study into the three mysterious deaths at Gitmp three years ago and the even more mysterious military investigation into them. And here's Scott Horton's Q and A with its main author. Greenwald tackles the question here.
My colleague Nazil Fathi points to photographs of clashes between protesters and the security forces published by Iran’s official news agency IRNA, which look like they might have been shot in the same location as the video in our previous update. Images of stone-throwing protesters may help the authorities to tarnish the image of the demonstrators.
Indeed, Reuters reports that IRNA’s report on the clashes between the security forces and demonstrators called the protesters “rioters.” Reuters also noted that Mowjcamp, an opposition Web site, reported that “security forces shot into the air to disperse demonstrators in the Enqelab square.”
The Lede's Robert Mackey passes along this footage and notes:
According to the clip’s title, the video shows a member of the paramilitary Basij force filming students at a demonstration on Monday. In an effort to avoid identification by the authorities, many of the demonstrators in the video and photographs we have seen on the Web today were wearing masks or scarves.
HuffPo contributor Josh Shahryar has been a reliable source:
Status Update15: Rumors of Zahra Rahnavard attending protests in Tehran – can't be confirmed
Status Update14: No major reformist leader was present during the protests.
Status Update13: Clashes in Shiraz and Hamedan – many injuries in Hamedan
Status Update11: Outside Tehran, number of protesters in most cities in the hundreds and not more.
Status Update6: Number of protesters in Tehran between 5,000-10,000
Status Update2: Confirmed Protests in Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kerman, Kermanshah, Arak
ABC News' Lara Setrakian adds:
Speaking to students sunday, Rafsanjani called for a 'climate of freedom' in #Iran, accusing leadership of intolerance
Opposition supporters say yesterday's Rafsanjani speech was 'very, very important timing' ahead today's student rallies
Veteran twitterer Omid Habibinia is still going strong, and also live-blogging for France 24. Here he relays a dramatic account from an Iranian on the ground:
I'm stuck at the Talegani and Valiasr crossroads. The police and the Basij (the Iranian citizen militia) have closed both sides. The Basij are beating people with batons. There are a lot of people, certainly more than on previous student days.
They're coming! [She's starts running].
There are people at the Enghelab [Revolution] Square.
And there are clashes at the Talegani and Valiasr crossroads.
They're arresting a lot of people and leading them away, but people are trying to rescue them.
We've just stopped a Basiji and stolen his motorbike near to Enghelab square."
Scott Horton's interview with the author and chief researcher of the Seton Hall report contains this amazing interchange:
Q: One of the prisoners, Yassar Talal Al Zahrani, had been seized as a minor and survived the prison riot that occurred at the Qali Jangi Prison near Mazar-i-Sharif. When his body was turned over for burial, an independent medical examination was arranged which found that the heart, kidneys and throat had all been removed from his corpse. The medical examiner noted that the removal of the throat in particular was highly irregular, and made an independent assessment impossible. Do you have any sense why U.S. military pathologists removed his internal organs and throat? Is this discussed in the report?
A: No.
The medical examiner found that all three of the corpses had rags stuffed down their throats.
Some early analysis from Enduring America:
1) Is this only a Student Demonstration? The reports and news out so far from Tehran and other cities indicates protests, chants, and opposition activity almost entirely within university campuses. There appears to be little follow-up in the streets or little participation by ordinary people. We need more facts and evidence to prove this, but it appears as though 16 Azar did not turn into yet another day of widespread popular defiance of the regime, as seen during 13 Aban [4 November] or Quds Day [18 September].
2) Is Mir Hossein Mousavi still considered to be the Leader of the Green Wave? Another point to notice is the radicalisation of chants.
The chant considering Mousavi the figurehead of a much vaster struggle against the entire regime and the burning of posters of Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei are telling signs of impatience within the student movement and willingness to go beyond Mousavi’s stale and unattractive gradualism and his refusal to take on the pillars of the regime — Khamenei especially — in a frank and direct way.
This doesn’t bode well for the reformists, as they could have to contend with a widening gap between themselves and rank-and-file greens in the months to come. Additionally, it could also lead to repression against Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and other leaders, as they could be accused of leading a “counter-revolutionary” movement which aims to overthrow the sacred Islamic Republic, should the footage of Khamenei and Khomeini being burnt be paraded on national television.
Yes, I'm reading Merton's translations of Chuang Tzu. They're quite amazing. This little story for some reason reminded me of Obama's governing style. Not entirely of course. But there's something here that helps me understand better how he approaches things:
When we wear out our minds stubbornly clinging to our partial view of things, refusing to see a deeper agreement between this and its complementary opposite, we have what is called "three in the morning".
What is this three in the morning?
A monkey trainer went to his monkeys and told them:
"As regards your chestnuts: you're going to have three cups in the morning and four in the afternoon."
At this they all became angry. So he said: "All right, in that case I will give you four in the morning and three in the afternoon." This time they were satisfied.
The two arrangements were the same in that the number of chestnuts did not change. But in one case the animals were displeased and in the other they were satisfied. The keeper had been willing to change his personal arrrangement in order to meet objective conditions. He lost nothing by it!
The truly wise man, considering both sides of the question without partiality, sees them both in the light of Tao.
This is called following two courses at once.
The Dish 