Moment of Reckoning

He concludes: "Is that our message to the world? That we are a government of laws except when it is inconvenient? If so, then what was done in the name of security has greatly harmed security.

"Weapons keep our enemies at bay, but our real security rests on whether the rest of the world comes to share our values or the values of those who oppose us, and whether all people are better served by a government of laws or what someone decides the law ought to be at some particular moment. Have we helped our cause when--with the rest of the world when they come to believe we have sunk to using the tactics of those who oppose us, when we no longer can be trusted to practice what we preach? Is this what we want the world to know about us? More importantly, is it what we want our children to know?"

Congressional Complicity

Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen write in The Washington Post: "In September 2002, four members of Congress met in secret for a first look at a unique CIA program designed to wring vital information from reticent terrorism suspects in U.S. custody. For more than an hour, the bipartisan group, which included current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was given a virtual tour of the CIA's overseas detention sites and the harsh techniques interrogators had devised to try to make their prisoners talk.

"Among the techniques described, said two officials present, was waterboarding, a practice that years later would be condemned as torture by Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. But on that day, no objections were raised. Instead, at least two lawmakers in the room asked the CIA to push harder, two U.S. officials said."

Cheney Watch

Maria Sudekum Fisher writes for the Associated Press: "Vice President Dick Cheney used a speech Friday at a military museum on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack to criticize Congress for its 'irresponsible' approach to war funding."

Said Cheney, to an invitation-only audience: "We've shown a watching world that we are a good and a just nation, secure in our ideals, fearless in their defense, and willing to sacrifice greatly for the cause of long-term peace and freedom. This cause is bigger than the quarrels of party and the agendas of politicians; and at this hour in our history, it's the cause of America -- and the best among us are fighting and sacrificing for its success. And if we in Washington, all of us, can only see our way to work together, then the outcome is not in doubt. We will press on in our mission, and we will achieve victory."

Remember Iraq?

Ned Parker writes in the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. troop buildup in Iraq was meant to freeze the country's civil war so political leaders could rebuild their fractured nation. Ten months later, the country's bloodshed has dropped, but the military strategy has failed to reverse Iraq's disintegration into areas dominated by militias, tribes and parties, with a weak central government struggling to assert its influence. . . .

"'Iraq is moving in the direction of a failed state, a highly decentralized situation -- totally unplanned, of course -- with competing centers of power run by warlords and militias,' said Joost Hiltermann of the International Crisis Group. 'The central government has no political control whatsoever beyond Baghdad, maybe not even beyond the Green Zone.'"

Less Faith Talk

Julie Mason writes in the Houston Chronicle: "There is something missing from President Bush's speeches these days, an omission all the more profound because what's lacking used to be so prevalent.

"Bush is not talking about his faith anymore. . . .

"Bush's 2005 inaugural address was full of religious references and imagery from several faiths. The same year, Bush reportedly told high-ranking Palestinian leaders that his own faith directed him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Bush has justified military action by saying that 'freedom is almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.' . . .

"These days, God is out of U.S. foreign policy, at least in Bush's public remarks.

"The president finishes most of his appearances with a polite 'God bless,' but talk of his Creator is harder to come by."

Subprime Subsolution

Paul Krugman writes in his New York Times opinion column about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's mortgage relief plan: "The plan is, as a Times editorial put it yesterday, 'too little, too late and too voluntary.' But from the administration's point of view these failings aren't bugs, they're features.

"In fact, there's a growing consensus among financial observers that the Paulson plan isn't mainly intended to achieve real results. The point is, instead, to create the appearance of action, thereby undercutting political support for actual attempts to help families in trouble."

Columnist Humor

Krugman blogs for the Times: "Back when Hillary Clinton described Dick Cheney as Darth Vader, a number of people pointed out that this was an unfair comparison. For example, Darth Vader once served in the military.

"Here's another reason the comparison is invalid: the contractors Darth Vader hired to build the Death Star actually got the job done."

Blogger Brad DeLong provides a specific example of the difference between the Vader and Cheney attitudes about accountability.

Gift Watch

Christine Simmons of the Associated Press writes about "an $11,000 Cartier Santos Dumont watch with an 18K white gold case, given to Bush in April 2006 by Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra," as well as other foreign gifts received by administration officials.

Here are some of the highlights, including, for Bush, a "CD titled 'Junichiro Koizumi Presents: My Favorite Elvis Songs,' from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and for Cheney, a "fur-lined cashmere Arabic coat" and a "gold vermeil sword with diamond-studded hilt" from Saudi King Abdullah.

The complete list from the Federal Register shows that almost all of the gifts were turned over to the archives.

Perino's Sense of History

Mark Silva blogs for Tribune about Perino's guest appearance on an NPR Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me episode that aired over the weekend. Said Perino: "I had a situation the other day when they said President Putin thought that our missile defense program was like the Cuban Missile Crisis, and so I got asked about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I was - panicked a bit -- because I really know about nothing about the Cuban Missile Crisis.''

Mike Nizza blogs for the New York Times about the ensuing blog uproar.

Karl Rove Watch

In a Boston Globe op-ed, author Stephen McCauley calls Karl Rove a literary genius, "after watching your recent performance on 'The Charlie Rose Show.'"

Cartoon Watch

Tom Toles on torture, John Sherffius on the Bush mortgage plan, and cartoons about Cheney by R.J. Matson and Mike Thompson make Time's list of the top 10 editorial cartoons of 2007.