American Footprints

Very quotable Dahlia Lithwick on our collective terrorist derangement syndrome, and its corrosive effects on the rule of law:

Moreover, each time Republicans go to their terrorism crazy-place, they go just a little bit farther than they did the last time, so that things that made us feel safe last year make us feel vulnerable today. [...]

Glenn Greenwald makes a very good point about recent revelations that the President is claiming the authority to assassinate U.S. citizens that the President labels “terrorists.” 

But even if you’re someone who does want the President to have the power to order American citizens killed without a trial by decreeing that they are Terrorists (and it’s worth remembering that [...]

The new NIE Annual Threat Assessment on Iran is consistent with my theory that Iran does not intend to build an actual nuclear weapon any time soon, but rather wants to bring their capacity to the point that they can do so on short notice should the need arise.  From the NIE Annual Threat Assessment (warning: pdf):

We [...]