Not Dead

In case any of my tens of readers is wondering, no, I'm not dead. I've recently taken a job with a Major Government Contractor, and blogging from work would probably be frowned upon. This restricts my blogging to evenings and weekends, and lately I've just been too busy enjoying the implosion of the kleptocracy to feel the need to comment on it. That said, today there's a couple news items that need attention.

First, President Halliburton:

This morning on ABC, George Stephanopoulos asked Vice President Cheney if he would testify before Congress if he was subpoenaed. Cheney said “probably not in the sense at that vice president and president and constitutional officers don’t appear before the Congress.”

How 'bout a grand jury subpoena, asshole? you be inclined to blow that off too? Prediction (remember, you heard it here first): in '08, Cheney will retire to someplace that does not have extradition treaties with the US. Bahrain, for example, where he can entertain Michael Jackson.

Then there's this:

A suspected terrorist who spent years in a secret CIA prison should not be allowed to speak to a civilian attorney, the Bush administration argues, because he could reveal the agency's closely guarded interrogation techniques.

Translation: we can torture you but you can never tell anyone how.

Why don't they just kill these guys and be done with it? The whole Man in the Iron Mask shtick is just getting too expensive and embarrassing.