1) This New York Times story today tells us the following…
WASHINGTON — Porter J. Goss, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, in 2005 approved of the decision by one of his top aides to destroy dozens of videotapes documenting the brutal interrogation of two detainees, according to an internal C.I.A. document released Thursday.
Shortly after the tapes were destroyed at the order of Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the head of the C.I.A.’s clandestine service, Mr. Goss told Mr. Rodriguez that he “agreed” with the decision, according to the document. He even joked after Mr. Rodriguez offered to “take the heat” for destroying the tapes.
“PG laughed and said that actually, it would be he, PG, who would take the heat,” according to one document, an internal C.I.A. e-mail message.
By the way, I thought this TPM post provided a good timeline of the history of the CIA torture tapes in question, including the first request by Senate Intelligence Committee Ranking Democrat Jay Rockefeller in May 2005 to view “over a hundred documents” dealing with the interrogations (no month has ever been assigned to exactly when the tapes were destroyed in 2005; if that were ever to occur, I have no doubt that it would have been after Rockefeller’s request, which would thus implicate definitely Rodriguez and probably Goss also – for starters – on a charge of obstruction of justice).
And of course, as noted in the TPM post, U.S. House Intelligence Committee Repug Pete Hoekstra, along with Dem chair Silvestre Reyes, announced an inquiry in 2006 to look into the destruction of the tapes, though in the Murdoch Street Journal Op-Ed noted here, Hoekstra accused the Obama Administration of “endanger(ing) the security our nation has enjoyed because of interrogations and other antiterrorism measures implemented since Sept. 12, 2001” with its own investigation.
Typical Repug garbage…
And Goss “laughed” when he heard about the destruction of the tapes, huh? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; as Wikipedia tells us here, Goss’s sense of humor leaves something to be desired…
Goss publicly declared his opposition to the creation of an independent 9-11 Commission (from a 2006 news story). A year later, he declined to open committee hearings into the (Valerie) Plame affair, saying: "Somebody sends me a blue dress and some DNA, I'll have an investigation."[14]
Ha, ha, ha (and by the way, give our best to “Dusty” Foggo, will you “PG”? - here).
(Also, just as I was about to post this, I saw this item from mcjoan at The Daily Kos…and I very definitely agree also that Obama can’t keep falling back to that “don’t want to look backward” defense – if he expects to maintain any credibility this country still has for the rule of law, he and Holder will have to start turning over from pretty putrid rocks PDQ.)
2) It’s been a little while since I journeyed to the blog of Bucks County’s self-styled right-wing pundit J.D. Mullane, but I did so after taking some Pepto-Bismol just to make sure (here)…
ObamaCare places more than 30 million people into the health care system, creating shortage of about 150,000 doctors over the next 15 years. Just unplug grandma and reduce the surplus population.
By the way, I have a suspicion that this line about “150,000 doctors needed for ObamaCare,” or any variation thereof, is something that will ultimately be disproven long after it has become ingrained as part of corporate media “conventional wisdom,” right up there with Al Gore saying he invented the Internet and Bob Casey, Sr. supposedly not being allowed to address the 1992 Democratic National Convention because he was pro-life.
However, even if that charge contains a semblance of truth, there actually is something we can do about it; this post provides more details…
With a looming shortage of primary care doctors, 28 states are considering expanding the authority of nurse practitioners. These nurses with advanced degrees want the right to practice without a doctor's watchful eye and to prescribe narcotics. And if they hold a doctorate, they want to be called "Doctor."
For years, nurse practitioners have been playing a bigger role in the nation's health care, especially in regions with few doctors. With 32 million more Americans gaining health insurance within a few years, the health care overhaul is putting more money into nurse-managed clinics.
Those newly insured patients will be looking for doctors and may find nurses instead.
The medical establishment is fighting to protect turf. In some statehouses, doctors have shown up in white coats to testify against nurse practitioner bills. The American Medical Association, which supported the national health care overhaul, says a doctor shortage is no reason to put nurses in charge and endanger patients.
Nurse practitioners argue there's no danger. They say they're highly trained and as skilled as doctors at diagnosing illness during office visits. They know when to refer the sickest patients to doctor specialists. Plus, they spend more time with patients and charge less.
"We're constantly having to prove ourselves," said Chicago nurse practitioner Amanda Cockrell, 32, who tells patients she's just like a doctor "except for the pay."
This USA Today story from last month tells us about the evolving role of nurse practitioners in Ohio, Hawaii and Kentucky, and this tells us that legislation establishing the tasks and responsibilities of nurse practitioners passed the Maryland state house and senate last May (don’t know if it was signed into law or not).
I realize that, when it comes to closing ranks, no group of individuals outside of the Catholic Church is as proficient at doing this as doctors are. However, it is time that they ceded whatever “turf” is necessary in order to allow nurse practitioners to do their jobs on behalf of as many people as possible (and I’m not aware of federal legislation in this regard as opposed to the “patchwork” of measures originating in many states – something like this on a national front could be a good thing I’m sure).
Actually, I forgot that right-wing pundits could be as much of a “secret society” as either the AMA or the church, which might be one of the reasons why I haven’t found any conservatives who support an expanded role for nurse practitioners. I would guess that, if a group of people were tasked to perform “triage” when trying to “heal” all that was inflicted by people of Mullane’s ideological ilk, their work would never end.
3) Finally, in a story close to home in my beloved commonwealth, it looks like something that was presumed to be a new revenue stream isn’t going to “flow” after all (here - and as noted here, couldn't we have found a better consultant than somebody in Louisiana that ran jails and just changed its name?)…
The 311-mile route from Ohio to New Jersey has long been the free-ride northern equivalent of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and it's used by thousands of long-haul tractor-trailers every day. Even setting toll booths far enough apart to exempt residents who use the interstate as a local road, the state expected I-80 tolls to amount to several hundred million dollars annually, and perhaps $60 billion over the next 50 years. That money was already earmarked for urgent highway and bridge projects across the state. There was also supposed to be money for mass transit. SEPTA, for example, was counting on $110 million a year.
Relying so heavily for critical revenue on I-80 tolls that had not yet been approved tells us Gov. Rendell and state officials were either supremely confident the Federal Highway Administration would sign off on the plan or else overtaken by a fit of wishful thinking.
In either case, the FHA said no, explaining that any money generated from I-80 tolls could only have been used to operate and maintain that particular highway. The feds recognized that Pennsylvania's application went far beyond that limited usage. That's too bad. Among all the highways and roads and bridges in the state that need work, I-80 gets beat up as much as any of them. Even if toll revenues were restricted, they would at least enable maintenance crews to keep that highway in shape.
People who live along the I-80 corridor and businesses that operate there are pleased with the federal decision. They and their lawmakers had lobbied hard against the toll plan even with the local exemption, warning of business flight and the diversion of traffic onto other roads.
Their victory, however, is the state's loss, and now Rendell and the Legislature are going to have to find another way to pay to maintain the state's transportation infrastructure.
I have to admit that I went back and forth on the idea of privatizing the PA Turnpike (I mean, could a third party actually do a worse job of maintaining it and padding its costs in the process?), but I wonder if those who were so quick to pan the idea are reconsidering given this latest setback (and trust me, I usually favor some kind of a municipal solution as opposed to “the magic of the marketplace,” but if there’s one place that needs a good de-lousing, it’s the PA Turnpike Commission).
And now, we have leaping into the budgetary void a certain Rick Geist of Altoona, PA, someone who is no doubt breathing a huge sigh of relief over the now-defunct plan to toll I-80.
What’s his brilliant idea, I wonder? Only this (from here)…
Rep. Rick Geist (R., Blair), the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee, offered his own ideas Wednesday, including adding tolls to the 50 miles of I-95 in Southeastern Pennsylvania, contracting out maintenance of entire highways or parts of them, and allowing counties and municipalities to raise revenue.
"It's time to get on with the business of fully funding Pennsylvania's transportation system," Geist said. "We can no longer afford to stand idly by as our transportation infrastructure deteriorates."
It is to laugh, my fellow prisoners.
So, as opposed to tolling about 300 miles of road near and dear to Geist’s district, he wants to toll 50 of perhaps the most heavily congested rush-hour miles in this state instead?
If anyone reading this has any familiarity with the construction of I-95 south through Philadelphia into Delaware and north into New Jersey, you know how ludicrous an idea this is.
I’ll tell you what; here is a map of Geist’s district. Pick out a numbered road, contact him, and tell him to stop being such a hypocrite and allow any one of those roads to be tolled and thus defray our transportation and infrastructure expense in this state (I won’t be greedy – I only suggest one road as opposed to two or three…or four or five).
And in other Altoona news, it looks like the authorities are closing in on those sling-shot vandals (here – hope they don’t have to clean out a gumball machine or two gathering the money for the reward).
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