POLITICAL ROUNDUP: TORTURE IN A BOTTLE EDITION

Xtina Behind Bars

• Dirrty Tactics: I'm not a fan of Christina Aguilera, but I admit I feel sorry for her. Could there be any greater insult than your own government using your music to torture captives at Guantanamo Bay? The Penatgon confirmed that Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged 20th hijacker, was interrogated for 20 hours a day and kept awake by Aguilera's music. Given our military's penchant for removing suspects' clothing, I certainly will never look at Xtina's album titles -- "Stripped" and "Just Be Free" -- the same way. Maybe Rummy could win the so-called war on terror if he blasted the Counting Crows instead.

• Forever ever ... forever ever? Speaking of Gitmo, the White House is apparently taking the legal position that suspects at Guantanamo Bay can be held there "in perpetuity." According to BushCo's fuzzy logic, since a 'war on terror' doesn't ever end, Guantanamo can stick around forever.

You know, even if I put myself into the repressed shoes of a Bush-loving conservative and even if I believed that the hundreds of un-charged captives at Gitmo are connected to specific terrorist activities, I would still demand Bush close Guantanamo Bay.

Once the Supreme Court intervenes to preserve Gitmo inmates' basic rights and Amnesty International describes Gitmo as the "gulag of our time" and NY Times columnist Tom Friedman (who's no liberal) refers to it as the "anti-Statue of Liberty" and Senator Leahy decries it is "a festering threat to our security" and every other country on our planet proclaims us the model of inhumanity, it's clearly in our national interest to shut it down. [Insert Public Enemy soundtrack here.]

• Shhhh! This Is A Library Terrorist Cell: Amazingly, the Democrats and 38 Republicans in the House just passed an amendment to the Patriot Act that removes those provisions allowing our government to spy on our library activities and bookstore purchases. Of course, don't get your read on just yet. You will probably still end up on a government list if you check out The Anarchist's Cookbook or Aviation for Dummies since Dubya is threatening to veto the amendment.

• Impeach the President: In case you haven't heard of the infamous Downing Street Memo, click here. This smoking gun firmly establishes how BushCo and Blair fabricated reasons to go to war with Iraq in an attempt to make their otherwise-illegal plans for regime change legitimate. The White House has yet to dispute the accuracy of the leaked memo. To take action, click here or here. If you've been waiting to pick and choose a battle, this is the one.
  

And finally:

• Bank of White America: A new study shows that black Americans are still 60% more likely to be rejected for a mortgage than similarly creditworthy white Americans. Thankfully, Tim Wise takes on the neocons who suggest that this discrepancy is not the result of racial bias.

--Junichi