“If the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the presidency is to have any validity at all, it must be equally applicable to a president after his term of office has expired,” Truman wrote to the committee.

Congress backed down, establishing a precedent suggesting that former presidents wield lingering powers to keep matters from their administration secret. Now, as Congressional Democrats prepare to move forward with investigations of the Bush administration, they wonder whether that claim may be invoked again.

One man showed up at a federal building, asking for release from the reality show he was sure was being made of his life.

2 news stories that will ruin your day.

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You left academia to study physics on your own. Why?

Freedom.

The world today is defined by overlapping networks. National identity remains elemental, but in almost every conflict across the globe, we are witnessing the influence of transnational linkages and networks that put a claim on community identity. Afghanistan, Georgia, Kenya, Kosovo, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Timor, Ukraine, Zimbabwe. All of these nations are facing conflicts where religious, ethnic, tribal and family identities are threatening the primacy national identity as a unifying force.

A year with Obama - New Statesman

Alec MacGillis

The journey from college kid to presidential candidate was short. Yet it is the audacity of that choice, his faith in himself, that could see Barack Obama succeed. Alec MacGillis travelled with him on his year-long attempt to win over America.

This is a great overview of the last year of this presidential campaign and why Obama is going to win it when no one at all thought he could. I've read a lot of these types of articles and this one is the best.

Torturing Democracy

Watch these outtakes and watch the full video at torturingdemocracy.org. The bald guy is Richard Armitage who was Deputy Decretary of State under Bush/Powell. This video is extremely well done and features dozens of top military and government officials all who believe what Bush authorized after 9/11 is, by any rational evaluation, torture. Listening to these guys who have served and love their country talk about this issue gives it a particularly heavy weight. It is also yet another reminder of the catastrophic failure of the Bush presidency.

McCain is funnier than Obama...

I don't vote for funny though.