Ohio Sunday Papers – Ill winds beginning to blow on Cap Square

• Governor’s doubters grow – Columbus Dispatch
• Foreclosure crisis everywhere in Cleveland – The Plain Dealer
• 1933 eviction riots in Cleveland bear similarities to today – The Plain Dealer
• Plummeting stock prices rock four venerable Toledo firms – The Toledo Blade
• Op-Ed, Joe Hallett: Brunner v. Fisher could be Dem nightmare – Columbus Dispatch
• Op-Ed, Dennis Willard: Ohio legislators divided and evasive – Akron Beacon Journal
• Op-Ed, Aaron Marshall: Ohio House Republicans ready to fight – The Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Jonathan Riskind: Voinovich far from being lame duck – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Ohio Auditor has waited long enough for data – The Plain Dealer
• Editorial: Stimulus should focus on fixing what’s broken – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Passenger rail – waiting at the station – Akron Beacon Journal
• Some Lucas County agency heads get raises – The Toledo Blade
• Use of furloughs for workers on the rise – The Plain Dealer
• Personal bailouts sought on Ohio site – Akron Beacon Journal
• Where will the local stimulus dollars go? – Akron Beacon Journal
• Ohio stimulus proposals point out crumbling infrastructure – The Plain Dealer
• Fragile mental health safety net – Columbus Dispatch
• Ohio mental health facts – Columbus Dispatch
• Traficant could be back in Ohio soon – Youngstown Vindicator
• Dettelbach rises to top of U.S. Atty list – The Plain Dealer

Eric Holder Declares Rule of Law Back in Force at Justice

From remarks the Attorney General gave today at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs:

… There is no reason we cannot wage an effective fight against those who have sworn to harm us while we respect our most honored constitutional traditions. We can never put the welfare of the American people at risk but we can also never choose actions that we know will weaken the legal and moral fiber of our nation.

The rule of law is not, as some have seen it, an obstacle to be overcome, but the very foundation of our nation. It is the rule of law that has held us together despite our differences, while other nations have faltered, and it is the rule of law that has made the United States a beacon to the world, a nation that others aspire to emulate. …

… While many practices will be subject to review under these executive orders, one in particular will not. As I unequivocally stated in my confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate, waterboarding is torture. My Justice Department will not justify it, rationalize it, or condone it. The sanction of torture is at odds with the history of American jurisprudence and American principles. It undermines our ability to pursue justice fairly, and it puts our own brave soldiers in peril should they ever be captured on a foreign battlefield. …

LMAO: Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh Fight Over Who’s In Charge of Republicanland

This is great.  Here’s where it starts, an exchange between D.L. Hughley during his show on CNN and Michael Steele, the trying to be hip new chairman of the Republican National Committee:

HUGHLEY: Rush Limbaugh, who is the de facto leader of the Republican Party –

STEELE: No, he’s not.

HUGHLEY: Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ve never –

STEELE: I’m the de facto leader of the Republican Party.

HUGHLEY: Then you know what? Then I can appreciate that, but no — no one will — will actually pry down some of the things he says, like when he comes out and says that he wants the president to fail, I understand he wants liberalism to fail.

STEELE: How is that any different than what was said about George Bush during his presidency? Let’s put it into context here. Rush Limbaugh is an entertainer. Rush Limbaugh, the whole thing is entertainment. Yes, it’s incendiary, yes, it’s ugly –

Today, El Rushbo answered and then some.  They used to tell politicians, “Don’t pick a fight with a guy who buys ink by the barrel.”  Someone ought to tell Steele if you’re a Republican leader you don’t pick a fight with the only guy who brings 22 million drones to the culture war every day.  Here’s some of what Rush said:

RUSH: Okay, so I am an entertainer, and I have 20 million listeners, 22 million listeners because of my great song-and-dance routines here. Yes, said Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, I’m incendiary, and yes, it’s ugly. Michael Steele, you are head of the RNC. You are not head of the Republican Party. Tens of millions of conservatives and Republicans have nothing to do with the RNC and right now they want nothing to do with it, and when you call them asking them for money, they hang up on you. I hope that changes. I hope the RNC will get its act together. I hope the RNC chairman will realize he’s not a talking head pundit, that he is supposed to be working on the grassroots and rebuilding it, and maybe doing something about our open primary system and fixing it so that Democrats do not nominate our candidates. It’s time, Mr. Steele, for you to go behind the scenes and start doing the work that you were elected to do instead of trying to be some talking head media star, which you’re having a tough time pulling off. I hope you figure out how to run a primary system. But it seems to me that it’s Michael Steele who is off to a shaky start.

I can’t believe I’ve had two or three posts lately about Rush Limbaugh, but my Lord people, we’re seeing the further disintegration of the GOP before our very eyes.  The stupidity of Steele and the Republican appeal to the lowest common denominator is so out of step with today, it’s incredible.  Then you have Rush out there basically saying, “I’ll take my 22 million drones and we’ll go do our own thing.”

The difference in the once scary-organized Republicans from 2000 – 06 to today is breathtaking.

Obama Transparency Train Makes a Stop at Justice Dept.

Several Bush/Cheney Memos Secret Memos Not Secret Any Longer

If there’s one thing the Bush/Cheney Administration loved, it was secrecy.  They would say the president had the power to authorize things like shipping enemy combatants to other countries to be softened up, write a memo or legal opinion, then lock it away.  Today, several of these memos were released by the U.S. Dept. of Justice after years of being locked in someone’s safe there.

Now, these legal opinions may see the light of day where scholars and the public can judge their merits.

Why should you care?  Because we elect presidents to exercise their power within the bounds of the Constitution, existing laws and treaty obligations.  This is the rule of law.  We deserve to know whether or not the law is being observed or bent to the will of maniacs like DICK Cheney and David Addington.

• DoJ Press Release
• Link to PDFs of the Released Memos/Opinions
  

Transcript: Rush Limbaugh at CPAC

Update: Limbaugh and Steele Fight Over Who’s In Charge of Republicanland

(Source: rushlimbaugh.com)
RUSH:  Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you all very, very much. Thank you all. I can’t tell you how wonderful that makes me feel. It happens everywhere I go, but it’s still special here. [ Laughter ] If you all will indulge me, I learned something, I guess, it’s early Friday morning that I didn’t know. Friday morning is when I learned this. I learned that Fox, God love them, is televising this speech on the Fox News Channel, which means, ladies and gentleman, this is my first ever address to the nation. [Applause]

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NYT Magazine: Matt Bai Writes on Newt Gingrich

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