The Dish

A reader writes:

You wrote:

"What matters is faith in a leader and unremitting violence in accomplishing goals. Whatever else this is, it isn’t conservatism as I have come to understand it."

What American ‘conservatism’ has become fits closely within the definition of fascism: an intensely nationalist movement intent on defining membership in the ‘nation’ on linguistic, religious, and (increasingly) ethnic/racial criteria, accompanied by an unquestioning loyalty to (male) authority, enshrined in family leaders, business leaders, religious leaders, and especially, the leader of the nation, who is seen as embodying the Nation. Loyalty to the Party or Movement and its ideology is of great importance. Violence is the preferred means of accomplishing goals. Diplomacy, compromise, negotiation, are all identified with (feminine) weakness. The rule of law is also despised, because it lacks the immediacy of (violent) action, and its emphasis on balance and its concern with proper procedure is also seen as a sign of (feminine) weakness.

This is the outcome of the bargain the GOP made with the Devil back when it decided to go for the Wallace voters after the ’68 and ’72 elections.  Kevin Phillips has repented a hundred times over for counseling the Southern Strategy, but too late. The GOP has discovered that when you sell your soul to the Devil, the only question is when does the Devil come to collect? Well, he’s come.

And he’s brought the waterboard.

Rudy Giuliani argued in Tuesday’s debate that any notion that U.S. involvement in the Middle East has contributed to anti-American feeling there and therefore helps foment Islamist terror is "absurd." But the 9/11 Commission explored just that dynamic. Has he read the report? I am not an isolationist. But I do believe that assessing the consequences of our foreign policy with respect to the power of Islamist sentiment in the Middle East is a legitimate inquiry. To give a simple example: the decision to bomb Iran for its nuclear activity may be wise or unwise. But we surely have to factor into our decision the blowback across the Muslim world that bombing a Muslim country would create. We have to assess whether it would so inflame Iranian public opinion that it would do more harm than good. This isn’t leftism or anti-Americanism. It’s common sense and prudence. There is something about the current debate about the war on the right that is deeply unhealthy. Ron Paul, for all his faults, is fresh air. We need more of it. To stir things up some more, here’s a direct challenge to Rudy Giuliani. Quit the bullying and start debating, Mr Mayor. And get off that white horse. You’re not our dictator yet.

If it weren’t for the Republican debate, the death of Christianist Falwell, and the continuing U.S. Attorneys scandal, the Comey testimony would, I think, have been a huge story. Marty Lederman has gone cable on it. Here’s a must-read post. And here’s another.

He’s sending letters to administration officals that ring with the kind of passion usually reserved for condo association meetings. Josh has the documents here and here. Money quote to Gonzales:

You ignored the subpoena, did not come forward today, did not produce the documents and did not even offer an explanation for your noncompliance. Your action today is in defiance of the Committee’s subpoena without explanation of any legal basis for doing so.

To which Gonzales offers no real response. He doesn’t care. And neither does the president.

Protein as melody:

"We assigned a chord to each amino acid."

A mourner pays her respects at a viewing for the late Rev. Jerry Falwell at Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center of Liberty University May 17, 2007 in Lynchburg, Virginia. By Alex Wong/Getty.

Commander Matthew Diaz is being prosecuted by the government for trying to secure legal representation for some of the many detainees locked up for ever in Gitmo. We know what Mitt Romney believes: no suspect detained by the military should have a right to lawyers, even military ones. But Diaz was a military lawyer of 18 years’ experience. And he knows the law – and the Geneva Conventions. That’s why he’s been targeted by the Bush administration. The Dallas Morning News has an exclusive interview with Diaz. Money quote from an explanatory piece:

In an hourlong interview after the opening day of trial on Monday, Cmdr. Diaz laid out his reasoning.

What is illegal, he said, is the Bush administration’s prosecution of the war on terror. He accused officials of violating international law, such as the Geneva Conventions on the humane treatment of war prisoners, and the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of due process. "I made a stupid decision, I know, but I felt it was the right decision, the moral decision, the decision that was required by international law," Cmdr. Diaz said. "No matter how the conflict was identified, we were to treat them in accordance with Geneva, and it just wasn’t being done." …

In his interview with the News, he recalled two prosecutors, in particular, who "objected to the way the system was set up to guarantee a conviction. I don’t believe they lasted long … they didn’t make it to the first hearings."

Of course they didn’t. Video of the Diaz interview here.

The Washington Post and Greg Djerejian weigh in on the Republican party’s shift toward withdrawal from the U.N. Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions.

The Onion has the scoop.

Hollywood, California, 3 pm.