Approaching the Midnight Hour

Here's an unofficial translation.

Illegal to Start With?

Richard Norton-Taylor writes in the Guardian: "One of Britain's most authoritative judicial figures last night delivered a blistering attack on the invasion of Iraq, describing it as a serious violation of international law, and accusing Britain and the US of acting like a 'world vigilante'."

Abuse Watch

The American Civil Liberties Union has released newly-obtained Department of Defense documents that it says provide further evidence that prisoner abuse in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq was systemic.

Rollback Watch

James Oliphant write in the Los Angeles Times: "Civil liberties groups and others have compiled a wish list of sorts, seeking the repudiation of controversial tactics such as domestic surveillance, extended detention, 'enhanced' interrogation and 'extraordinary rendition.'"

Spencer Ackerman writes for the Washington Independent: "Buoyed by high expectations for the first year of Barack Obama's administration, an informal coalition of progressive national-security and civil-liberties experts are urging the president-elect to redefine the war on terrorism. . . .

"[M]any of their proposals for Obama go beyond merely rolling back President George W. Bush's policies -- withdrawing from Iraq, shuttering the Guantanamo Bay detention complex, abolishing torture -- to offer new areas of emphasis, like stabilizing Afghanistan, an Arab-Israeli peace and a re-envisioned balance between security and liberty."

Pardon Watch

Democratic Senator Russ Feingold writes for Salon: "At the end of his term . . . this president should think twice before issuing pardons that call his judgment, and the integrity of the rule of law, into question.

"If President Bush were to pardon key individuals involved in the misdeeds of his administration, from warrantless wiretapping to torture to the firing of U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the courts would be unable to address criminality, or pass judgment on the legality of some of the president's worst abuses. Issuing such pardons now would be particularly egregious, since voters just issued such a strong condemnation of the Bush administration at the ballot box. There is nothing to prevent President Bush from using the pardon in such a short-sighted and self-serving manner -- except, perhaps, public pressure that may itself be a window on the judgment of history. Everyone who can exert that pressure, from members of Congress to the press and the public, should express their views on whether it would be appropriate for President Bush to use his pardon power in this way. . . .

"The current president, who has shown such disrespect for the rule of law during his term, will have a chance to show to all of us, and to history, whether he respects it enough not to short-circuit the judicial process after he leaves office."

ProPublica's Dafna Linzer rates potential high-profile pardonees' chances from zero to four 'Get of Jail Free' cards. Former Cheney aide Scooter Libby and former junk-bond king Michael Milken are atop her list.

Finger-Pointing Time

Who will save the automakers? Or rather: Who will be blamed if they go under?

Bill Vlasic and David M. Herszenhorn write in the New York Times that Senate Democrats yesterday put forth a "plan to provide $25 billion in aid from the $700 billion financial bailout program. The Republicans objected, effectively killing the plan.

"Senator Christopher S. Bond, Republican of Missouri, then requested that the Senate consider a compromise measure that would speed access to $25 billion in federally subsidized loans that have been signed into law by President Bush."

Lori Montgomery and Kendra Marr write in The Washington Post: "That proposal, which was endorsed by the White House, calls for modifying a loan program created to help the automakers develop advanced technologies and retool factories to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles. . . .

"But . . . House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has ruled out changes to the existing loan program. Several companies have already applied for the funds, and Democrats fear the car companies might back away from their commitment to build cleaner cars if the program's terms are changed. . . .

"With the impasse unbroken, Congress is on the verge of leaving the possible collapse of the domestic auto industry in the hands of the departing Bush administration. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) yesterday urged Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to use his vast authority over the rescue money to help the car companies on his own initiative. . . .

"White House officials retorted that congressional inaction would be to blame for any disruption of the auto industry over the holidays.

"'If Congress leaves for a two-month vacation without having addressed this important issue, and especially if the Senate leaves without Senator Reid even allowing a vote on this [Republican] amendment, then the Congress will bear responsibility for anything that happens in the next couple of months during their long vacation,' White House press secretary Dana Perino said yesterday."

Fiscal Conservative?

Dan Eggen writes in The Washington Post: "After pledging more than $1 trillion to rescue financial markets, President Bush has sought a return to his fiscal conservative roots in recent weeks by opposing additional government interventions and extolling the benefits of free markets.

"The White House, joined by Republicans on Capitol Hill, has derailed a second economic stimulus plan, fought a Democratic proposal to spend $25 billion to bolster Detroit automakers and continues to press for approval of a trio of stalled trade deals. Bush also persuaded foreign leaders to commit to free-trade principles during a global economic summit in Washington last weekend and will attempt the same at a meeting of Pacific Rim nations in Peru this weekend.

"The moves follow weeks of complaints from fiscal conservatives that Bush and other Republicans strayed from their principles with a $700 billion rescue plan and other steps aimed at staving off a Wall Street collapse. . . .

"Bush's critics argue that he is merely attempting to bolster his conservative bona fides during his final months in office. J. Bradford DeLong, a former Clinton administration official who teaches economics at the University of California at Berkeley, said the Bush White House 'has never been that clear on what its economic priorities or policies are.'"

Obama White House Watch

Michael A. Fletcher writes for The Washington Post: "President-elect Barack Obama continued assembling his White House team today, naming Lisa Brown, a former counsel to Vice President Gore, staff secretary and tapping his former Senate legislative director, Christopher P. Lu, to be Cabinet secretary. . . .

"As staff secretary, Brown will serve as the final filter for the crush of documents, from speeches to executive orders, that goes before the president. Lu, meanwhile, will be responsible for ensuring that Obama administration initiatives are coordinated across the federal government."

Obama also "made official two other selections that had previously surfaced: David Axelrod, the chief strategist of his presidential campaign, will serve as a senior adviser to Obama, while Gregory B. Craig, a highly regarded litigator who directed President Clinton's impeachment defense, has been appointed White House counsel."

Ceci Connolly writes in The Washington Post: "Thomas A. Daschle, a former Senate majority leader and a confidant of President-elect Barack Obama, will be nominated as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and will take on a broader role as the administration's health policy chief, said several sources close to the transition process."

Spencer S. Hsu writes in The Washington Post: "Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D), whose handling of immigration issues brought her accolades from fellow governors, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to serve as secretary of homeland security, Democratic sources said late Wednesday."

The Long Goodbye

Mark Knoller writes for CBS News that "it seems President Bush is accepting the ever-nearing end of his term in good spirits. . . .

"When we see Mr. Bush at the increasingly-few public events on his daily schedule, he appears upbeat and even good humored."

Cheney Watch

Christopher Sherman writes for the Associated Press: "A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a federal detention center.

"Cheney, Gonzales and the others will not be arrested, and do not need to appear in person at the arraignment, Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said.

"In the latest bizarre development in the case, the lame-duck prosecutor who won the indictments was a no-show in court Wednesday. The judge ordered Texas Rangers to go to Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra's house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday."

Late Night Humor

Jon Stewart on the Cheney-Gonzales indictment: "We can do that? And we're just thinking of it now?"

Cartoon Watch

Don Wright on a long two months.