ProgressOhio

Sen. Jay Rockefeller alarmed technology and telecommunications firms last year when he announced a plan for the president to seize "emergency" control of the Internet. Now the West Virginia Democrat is trying again with a new version that aides hope will be seen as less extreme.

During a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday attended by about a dozen industry representatives, CNET has learned, Rockefeller's staff pitched a revised version of his controversial cybersecurity legislation.

It says that after the president chooses to "declare a cybersecurity emergency," he can activate a "response and restoration plan" involving networks owned and operated by the private sector. In an attempt to limit criticism, instead of spelling out the plan's details, the latest draft simply says that it must be developed by the White House in advance.

There is no requirement that the emergency response plan be made public, meaning it could still include a forcible disconnection of critical Web sites from the Internet--which is what the March 2009 version of the legislation had proposed.

Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance, whose members include Verisign, Verizon, and Raytheon, says no disconnection language is explicitly in the bill: "We are pleased that the 'kill switch' allowing for the government to shut down private sector access to the Internet has been eliminated."

But, Clinton said, "We think the bill still has a long way to go." If the private sector is expected to help out with national security, he said, there ought to be liability protections, insurance breaks, and tax credits for small businesses.

Read the rest of the article here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) received the Major General Charles Dick Award for Legislative Excellence Award from the Ohio National Guard Association in Columbus on Saturday. Brown discussed his efforts to ensure that the Ohio National Guard has superior equipment and facilities for training and that all Guards members have increased benefits and improved health care.

The award is presented to an elected official who has made outstanding contributions in support of the Ohio National Guard.

"Senator Brown has been a champion for the Soldiers and Airmen of the Ohio National Guard for almost two decades," said Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Wayt, Ohio adjutant general. "On behalf of the almost 17,000 members of the Ohio National Guard, we honor him for his staunch support of our organization."

Retired Brig. Gen. Robert L. Lawson, executive director of the Ohio National Guard Association said Sen. Brown "has developed a very strong personal relationship with the Ohio National Guard and we are proud to present him with this recognition."

Brown is also working with the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau to ensure that critical missions and jobs remain in Ohio.

"Senator Brown affords the National Guard the opportunity to become part of the larger debate on issues of importance to our Soldiers and Airmen at times when our input can have the greatest impact," said Wayt.

This letter to the editor appeared recently in the Boston Globe.

REPRESENTATIVE STEPHEN Lynch (my congressman) writes in a Feb. 17 op-ed that the United States must preserve the rights of Afghan women by avoiding any reconciliation with the Taliban (“The price of appeasing the Taliban’’).

But the warlord-dominated regime that the United States currently supports in Kabul has brought nothing but disaster for Afghan women. Eight years after the US military intervention in Afghanistan, Afghan women still die in childbirth more than women in any other country, women’s life expectancy is one of the lowest in the world (about 42 years), and UNICEF has just announced that Afghanistan has replaced Sierra Leone as the worst place in the world for a child to be born today.

Lynch must not use Afghan women as a cover for continued US occupation of their country. He should vote to deny funds for the Afghanistan war, to bring all the troops home and end the bloodshed. Afghan women’s struggle for rights will be a long one, but it cannot be waged by our military. Let’s get out of their way.

Cole Harrison
Roslindale
The writer is the organizer of a task force on Afghanistan in association with United for Justice with Peace, a coalition of more than 100 Boston-area groups.

Gen. David Petraeus, the military hero of the Republican (and even non-Republican) masses and the current leader of U.S. Central Command, cast himself as decidedly outside the Dick Cheney school of counter-terrorism thought on Sunday.

Appearing on Meet the Press, the general made a compelling case against torturing terrorist detainees, saying he found it far more pragmatic and beneficial to stick to methods authorized by the army field manual.

"I have always been on the record, in fact, since 2003, with the concept of living our values. And I think that whenever we've perhaps taken expedient measures, they've turned around and bitten us in the backside. We decided early on, in the 101st airborne division, we just said, we decided to obey the Geneva Conventions...

"In the cases where that is not true [where torture takes place or international human rights groups aren't granted access to detention sites] we end up paying a price for it, ultimately," he added. "Abu Ghraib and other situations like that are non biodegradable. They don't go away. The enemy continues to beat you with them like a stick.... Beyond that, frankly, we have found that the use of interrogation methods in the army field manual that was given the force of law by Congress, that that works."

Petraeus wasn't done there. In another contrast with former Vice President Cheney -- as well as the vast majority of congressional Republicans -- he reiterated his support for closing Gitmo, albeit without a date-specific time frame.

"I've been on the record on that for well over a year, saying it should be closed," he said. "But it should be done in a responsible matter. So I'm not seized with the issue that it won't be done by a certain date. In fact, I think it is prudent to insure that as we move forward with that, the remaining detainees are relocated and so forth... is really thought through and done in a very pragmatic and sensible manner."

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Scott Horton adds to the legal ramifications of Dick Cheney's remarkable confession of committing a war crime on national television:

Section 2340A of the federal criminal code makes it an offense to torture or to conspire to torture. Violators are subject to jail terms or to death in appropriate cases, as where death results from the application of torture techniques. Prosecutors have argued that a criminal investigation into torture undertaken with the direction of the Bush White House would raise complex legal issues, and proof would be difficult. But what about cases in which an instigator openly and notoriously brags about his role in torture?

Cheney told Jonathan Karl that he used his position within the National Security Council to advocate for the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques. Former CIA agent John Kiriakou and others have confirmed that when waterboarding was administered, it was only after receiving NSC clearance. Hence, Cheney was not speaking hypothetically but admitting his involvement in the process that led to decisions to waterboard in at least three cases.

What prosecutor can look away when a perpetrator mocks the law itself and revels in his role in violating it? Such cases cry out for prosecution. Dick Cheney wants to be prosecuted. And prosecutors should give him what he wants.

HT: Daily Dish

AP reports:

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, described as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar, has been in Pakistan's custody for several days...

Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times reported. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said.

Baradar heads the Taliban's military council and was elevated in the body after the 2006 death of military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani. Baradar is known to coordinate the movement's military operations throughout the south and southwest of Afghanistan. His area of direct responsibility stretches over Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

If confirmed, Baradar's arrest would be a major setback for the Taliban.

He may also have information on the whereabouts of Omar and bin Laden.

The Advocate is reporting that Army Lt. Dan Choi, a West Point graduate and Arabic translator who famously challenged ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ last year, has been recalled to active duty. The Advocates's story is based upon this report from The Bilerica Progject.,

If these reports of Lt. Choi being called back to service are in fact correct, that’s a strong sign that even ahead of a full repeal of the so-called gay ban, proceeding at a deliberate, year-long pace advocated by the Pentagon’s top leadership, relaxed enforcement of the policy is already in place.

In an oped in USA Today, John Brennan -- Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism -- responds to critics of the Obama administration's counterterrorism policies by saying "Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda."

Brennan writes that, "Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill."

In the oped, titled "'We need no lectures': Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad," Brennan writes that politics "should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe."

Brennan provides a detailed defense of the administration's handling of failed Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab whom, he says, was "thoroughly interrogated and provided important information."

He suggests that many critics are hypocritical and clueless.

John Brennan is Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism:

Opposing view: 'We need no lectures'

Administration disrupts terrorists’ plots, takes fight to them abroad.

Politics should never get in the way of national security. But too many in Washington are now misrepresenting the facts to score political points, instead of coming together to keep us safe.

Immediately after the failed Christmas Day attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was thoroughly interrogated and provided important information. Senior counterterrorism officials from the White House, the intelligence community and the military were all actively discussing this case before he was Mirandized and supported the decision to charge him in criminal court.

The most important breakthrough occurred after Abdulmutallab was read his rights, which the FBI made standard policy under Michael Mukasey, President Bush's attorney general. The critics who want the FBI to ignore this long-established practice also ignore the lessons we have learned in waging this war: Terrorists such as Jose Padilla and Saleh al-Mari did not cooperate when transferred to military custody, which can harden one's determination to resist cooperation.

It's naive to think that transferring Abdulmutallab to military custody would have caused an outpouring of information. There is little difference between military and civilian custody, other than an interrogator with a uniform. The suspect gets access to a lawyer, and interrogation rules are nearly identical.

Would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid was read his Miranda rights five minutes after being taken off a plane he tried to blow up. The same people who criticize the president today were silent back then.

Read Te Full Piece At USAToday

See Also: John Brennan: All Former Detainees Who Returned to Terrorism Were Released By Bush

America spends $1 billion a day on crude oil from other countries.

Depending on foreign oil puts both our national security and our checkbooks at risk.

We’re funding those who want to see our county fail.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

A real clean energy bill will put us back in control by using energy that’s made in America and works for Americans.

A real energy bill will create 1.7 million new jobs and put us back on track.

This isn’t politics, this is common sense. Watch this video to find out why American energy is safe energy.

Three years ago, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was pretty clear about his stand on the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

McCain said he would support ending the ban once the military's top brass told him that they agreed with the change.

"The day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it," McCain said in October 2006 to an audience of Iowa State University students.

That day arrived Tuesday, with Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen testifying to senators after President Obama's announcement that he would seek a congressional repeal of the 15-year-old policy.

McCain went into his first flip-flop. (View Video)

"At this moment of immense hardship for our armed services, we should not be seeking to overturn the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," he said bluntly, before describing it as "imperfect but effective."

Now he's going to have to perform his second.

In the same interview in 2006, McCain said, "I listen to leaders like Colin Powell on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell".

Watch It:

Gen. Colin L. Powell, who as the nation’s top military officer in the 1990s opposed allowing gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the military, switched gears today and threw his support behind efforts to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” law he helped shepherd in.

“In the almost 17 years since the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ legislation was passed, attitudes and circumstances have changed,” General Powell said in a statement issued by his office. He added: “I fully support the new approach presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee this week by Secretary of Defense Gates and Admiral Mullen.”

Ooops!  McCain it's your move!

In his weekly address, President Barack Obama promised to rein the deficit, citing three specific steps to this end.

He praised the Senate for restoring the pay-as-you-go law, which in the 1990’s contributed to the $236 billion surplus at the end of the decade. It is no coincidence that after ending PAYGO, that surplus became a $1.3 trillion deficit.

He has also proposed a freeze in discretionary spending, which will increase investments in jobs creation and middle class tax cuts while cutting spending for redundant or ineffective programs.

And finally, the President called for a bi-partisan Fiscal Commission to hammer out concrete deficit reduction proposals.

Watch It:

Full transcript of the President's remarks below:

Interrogation Team Is Still Months Away; The Wall Street Journal

The head of a new elite terrorism-interrogation program said Thursday that it will take several more months to establish teams that could question high-profile suspects. The teams are part of an overhaul of counterterrorism policy and have become an issue in a partisan battle over the Obama administration's handling of the suspect in a botched Christmas Day airline bombing attempt.

The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG, will consist of three to five teams of interrogators based in Washington and largely drawn from the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with some from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Department.

Andrew McCabe, a veteran FBI counterterrorism investigator who is leading the new program, said in an interview that the bureau can currently cobble together an ad-hoc team of interrogators if the need arises. ...

Administration officials say the National Security Council is still reviewing operational details of how the teams will operate. Mr. McCabe and deputies from the CIA and Defense Department are seeking office space in Washington's Virginia suburbs and preparing to pick members of the interrogation teams.

Initial plans are for the teams to be used overseas only, though the administration hasn't ruled out using them in the U.S. for incidents such as the Christmas bomb plot.

"It seems absolutely foolish not to use it domestically," said Philip Heymann, a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration and one of the chief developers of the new teams. Mr. Heymann and other members of a small government advisory board proposed the development of the teams to replace the government's reliance on CIA interrogators for terror suspects.

The recommendation was largely adopted by the White House in August. "They were moving forward, but carefully, to set up their operation," Mr. Heymann said. He added that he wasn't troubled by the time it's taking to launch the teams because he expects them to be used for years to come and it's important they be carefully assembled.

Erick Erickson at Redstate makes a case against TSA administrator-designee Errol Southers by suggesting that only Muslims can be terrorists, and for Southers to dare suggest that there are other kinds of terrorism makes the would-be TSA official totally unacceptable.

Mr. Southers, in 2008, said he was more worried about “Christian identity” terrorist groups inside the U.S. than islamic terrorists. What are “Christian identity” terrorist groups? White-supremacists naturally. The KKK. And the Southern Baptist Convention.

Southers identifies pro-life groups and anti-government activists as particular problems.

Well, of course they're problems. If you look at the raw numbers from 1993-2009, there were many more terrorist attacks inside the U.S. by anti-abortion evildoers than by Islamic evildoers.

Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog

GOP Wheels Out Top Terrorist Attack Dog Cheney

Every since the failed underpants bomber plot on Christmas day the GOP has made every effort to politicize the event in an attempt to portray President Obama as somehow weak on terror.

Based on a poll released by CNN today the results of their efforts are in.

AEF: ANOTHER EPIC FAIL!

In the wake of the Christmas day attempt to blow up a U.S. airliner, most Americans remain confident that the Obama administration can protect the country from terrorism, according to a new national poll.

Nearly two-thirds of people questioned in the poll say they have a moderate or great deal of confidence in the administration to protect the public from future terrorist attacks, up 2 points from August. Thirty-five percent say they have not much or no confidence at all, down 1 point from August.

A number of Republicans have criticized the president over his handling of the attempted bombing of Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. But according to the survey, 57 percent approve of the way President Barack Obama's responded, with 39 percent disapproving of how he handled the situation.

"Only a third of Republicans have a positive view of Obama on this matter, but the key for the administration is the 55 percent of independents who approve of how the president responded to the incident on Christmas Day," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

"The public seems to react calmly to individual incidents, possibly because most Americans believe that the government cannot prevent every single terrorist plot from occurring."

Six in 10 say the terrorists will always find a way to launch an attack, no matter what the government does, he adds - identical to the number who felt that way during the Bush administration.

The Washington Monthly:

Jon Stewart asked President Obama's Republican critics the other night exactly what they would have the president do differently about national security and counter-terrorism. Over the last week or so, the answer has become clear but unsatisfying: the right wants the administration to use the word "terror" a whole lot, under the assumption that the mere repetition would help keep Americans safe.

This reached comical depths yesterday when Rep. Pete King (R) of New York -- who, remember, is the ranking GOP lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee -- was asked for a "specific recommendation" that the administration could "implement right now" to improve the nation's security. "I think one main thing would be to -- just himself to use the word 'terrorism' more often," King replied.

There's obviously two angles to this. The first is that anyone over the age of five should realize that using the word "terrorism" over and over again does not actually serve a larger policy goal. And the second is that, far-right whining notwithstanding, the president and his team do use the word all the time. Rachel Maddow covered this quite effectively last night.

She noted, for example, that Republicans are "lying in a way that can be obviously, demonstrably, embarrassingly proven by anyone who has a spare 45 seconds and the Google."

Watch It:

If Rep. King is so darn eager to be super-terrified then why hasn't he been listening to what the President and the Administration have actually been saying?

For example from a search of whitehouse.gov:

1. 70 examples of remarks by the President mentioning terror or its derivatives.

1. 83 statements or releases.

1. And 64 press briefings.

This afternoon the President met with relevant agency heads to discuss the ongoing reviews of the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day and move forward on rectifying the problems that were exhibited that day.

Afterwards he spoke to the press and the American people about what he and his Administration is doing to keep America safe.

Watch It:

Transcript of the President's Remarks Below:

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama discussed his solemn responsibility to protect the nation and the steps the administration has taken to that end. From ordering reviews into the attempted act of terrorism in Detroit to a comprehensive strategy that has refocused our efforts on the fight against al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan and strengthened international partnerships to keep unrelenting pressure on extremists across the globe, the President will continue to do everything in his power to uphold the nation’s security.

Watch It:

Full Remarks Below:

An attempt to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day would be all-consuming for the administrator of the Transportation Security Administration — if there were one.

The post remains vacant because Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., has held up President Barack Obama's nominee in opposition to the prospect of TSA workers joining a labor union.

As al Qaida claimed responsibility Monday for the thwarted attack and President Barack Obama made a public statement about it, Democrats urged DeMint to drop his objection and allow quick confirmation of nominee Erroll Southers, a counterterrorism expert, when the Senate reconvenes in three weeks.

Last Sunday Republican Jim DeMint appeared on Fox News and used the alleged Christmas Bomber issue to attack President Obama and the TSA because the agency's screeners might *gasp* unionize.

As it turns out, DeMint was really trying to deflect attention away from the fact that he voted against TSA funding earlier this year and has put a hold on Obama's nominee to head the department - hampering the agency's ability to put leadership in place:

As Republicans seek to put the blame for the widespread perception of ineptness at the Transportation Security Administration on the Obama administration, Democrats are arguing that Republican legislators bear part of the blame and that they're politically vulnerable on the subject.

Perhaps the largest impediment to change at the agency: South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint has a hold on the appointment of a TSA chief, over his concern that the new administration could allow security screeners to unionize.

DeMint spokesman Wesley Denton responds: Democrats have only themselves to blame for not having a confirmed TSA administrator. President Obama waited 243 days in office before making a nomination and Harry Reid has been too busy trading earmarks for votes on health care to schedule debate on the nominee. This is an important debate because many Americans don't want someone running the TSA who stands ready to give union bosses the power to veto or delay future security measures at our airports.

HT: Crooks and Liars

See Also: Continuing his war on labor, DeMint blocks nominated TSA chief

"You know, on the Internet there's an acronym that's used to apply to situations like this," Grayson said. "It's called 'STFU.' I don't think I can say that on the air, but I think you know what that means."

Grayson also addressed Republican complaints about President Obama bowing when he greeted the Emperor of Japan. Grayson said how he remembered when George Bush Senior "did something really awful" to the Prime Minister of Japan at a state dinner -- to which Matthews objected that vomiting on someone is an accident, not an action done on command.

"Well what about Bush Junior?" said Grayson. "I remember Bush Junior kissing Prince Abdullah on the cheek, and then holding his hand for an extended period of time. Maybe if he'd let him get to second base, then gasoline would be a dollar a gallon."

Matthews also asked Grayson about Cheney's statement that Obama's bow to the Emperor of Japan was a display of weakness that would lead to more terrorist attacks. "It's just too bad that it's too late to impeach him," Grayson answered. "That's all I can say."

Watch It: