Here’s the speech, video and text (after the jump):
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“There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn’t, or couldn’t have been, gained from regular tactics. In addition, I saw that using these alternative methods on other terrorists backfired on more than a few occasions — all of which are still classified. The short sightedness behind the use of these techniques ignored the unreliability of the methods, the nature of the threat, the mentality and modus operandi of the terrorists, and due process.”

Interesting video. For those of you out there who still believe that waterboarding is not torture, watch this.

“Sen. Ted Stevens from Alaska, the longest serving U.S. Republican senator ever, was indicted on Tuesday on seven counts of making false statements, according to a federal grand jury indictment. The U.S. Justice Department has scheduled a news conference for 1:20 p.m. to make an announcement “regarding a significant criminal matter.” A federal law enforcement official said the news conference would discuss the criminal charges against Stevens. The 28-page indictment outlining the charges against Stevens was released by the Justice Department right before the news conference.” [LINK]

If any of our enemies, from Europe or from Asia, attempt long-range raids by “suicide” squadrons of bombing planes, they will do so only in the hope of terrorizing our people and disrupting our morale. Our people are not afraid of that. We know that we may have to pay a heavy price for freedom. We will pay this price with a will. Whatever the price, it is a thousand times worth it. No matter what our enemies, in their desperation, may attempt to do to us- we will say, as the people of London have said, “We can take it.” And what’s more we can give it back and we will give it back–with compound interest.

– President Frank Delano Roosevelt’s 9th State of the Union, January 6, 1942

(via)

The McCain campaign has said that Obama has changed his position on the Iraq War…

BUT HE HAS NOT.

Barack Obama on the Iraq War.

And the YouTube:

Up to now, I haven’t really bought into the theory that some have been pushing about McCain being confused. Obviously, I don’t agree with him on many important issues, but I have chalked that up to him being on the other side of the aisle from me. However, this morning he had another one of those “confused” moments on ABC’s Good Morning America and now I’m really starting to get concerned that this pattern of forgetting important moments could really hurt his ability to serve as POTUS.

McCain has clearly stated that he is not an expert on the economy. I’ve heard it many times, you’ve heard it, we’ve all heard it. It’s on video…it’s clearly in the public record. However, McCain has either erased it from his memory, lost it from his memory, or he has decided to just outright fib about past statements he has made. I watched this clip live this morning and I was utterly shocked when he pushed back as he did.

Is John McCain not telling the truth or is he really confused about on the record statements he has made?

UPDATE: MSNBC’s First Read has more.

I took the bus to Philadelphia this weekend, because it’s just too expensive to drive. I made sure to take note throughout my trip of the incredibly high gas prices between D.C. and Philly. I didn’t see any regular gas under $4/gallon. On my ride back last night, it hit me that President Bush was asked a few months ago about the rising gas prices and the prospect of prices hitting $4/gallon. He shrugged of the notion that prices would get that high, even in the face of analysts predictions. This was the line of questioning from a CBS news reporter on February 29, 2008:

Peter Maer of CBS News Radio asked: “What’s your advice to the average American who is hurting now, facing the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline, a lot of people facing … ”

“Wait, what did you just say?” the president interrupted. “You’re predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?”

Maer responded: “A number of analysts are predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline.”

Bush’s rejoinder: “Oh, yeah? That’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that.”

Hadn’t heard that? Maybe that’s because President Bush doesn’t have to buy gas, or pay utility bills – the tax payers cover that for him.

Bush went further to reject the idea that gas could hit $4/gallon.

The president, however, had difficulty grasping the possibility, even after Maer told him.

“You just said the price of gasoline may be up to $4 a gallon — or some expert told you that,” Bush repeated. “That creates a lot of uncertainty.”

Here’s some video of that press conference.

Bush was asked about the rising gas prices back in February and here we are in June, about to enter the heavy summer driving months and gas now looks like it could top $5, or more in the near future. We need to remind people that Bush is wildly out of touch and that he doesn’t understand the problems people are facing filling up their cars everyday.

Maybe a reporter should ask John McCain to respond to Bush’s naivety on this important issue for the American people. I’d be interested to see what McCain’s response would be? Would he embrace Bush’s brazen aloofness, or would he have to further distance himself from his fundraiser-in-chief?

More: H/T to Jeff for sending in the “$4/gallon remix.”

Yesterday John McCain, the self proclaimed expert on Iraq and foreign policy, told an audience in Wisconsin that we “have drawn down to pre-surge levels” in Iraq.

John McCain is wrong.

Before the surge, there were 135,000 US troops in Iraq. Today there are 155,000. Last I checked 155,000 is greater than 135,000. Oops.

I just came across this piece by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) on The Huffington Post. I think it’s a really good tribute on this sad anniversary; five years in Iraq. I’ll post it verbatim.

Last week marked the fifth anniversary of the start of our nation’s invasion of Iraq. Again we are confronted with a sorrowful reminder of the consequences of that fateful decision by the death of four Americans killed in Baghdad, bringing the total number of American troops who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq to 4000. Each brave soul leaves behind devastated loved ones — sons, daughters, wives, husbands, moms, and dads. Each tragic loss leaves a void — a missing smile and loving embrace, an empty chair at the family dinner table — that can never be filled.

As we mark this painful milestone, we must ask ourselves: what is the moral justification for allowing this war to continue? Can we honestly say that the disastrous mission in Iraq warrants the sacrifice of more of our troops and the heartache and loss that so many loved ones continue to suffer?

In March of 2003, just prior to the invasion of Iraq, I made a final plea to the administration and my colleagues in Congress to avert a war that I believed would reap sorrowful consequences for our nation. In a speech entitled “We Stand Passively Mute”, I expressed my outrage at the fact that the United States Senate — the world’s greatest deliberative body — stood “for the most part-silent-ominously, dreadfully silent” on this monumental question.

Sadly, my worst fears have been realized. The decision to invade Iraq may go down as one of the gravest foreign policy blunders in our nation’s history.

Yet the war continues. American troop levels are higher than they were the day President Bush flamboyantly swooped onto the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln to declare “Mission Accomplished.”

Four thousand Americans have now lost their lives, including twenty-three brave West Virginians. Almost thirty-thousand Americans have been wounded in action, many gravely, and countless thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed.

It is long past time to start bringing our troops home. Our men and women in uniform toppled the dictator. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There is scarce evidence that the Iraqi government is working to achieve the kind of political reconciliation that could end the continuing sacrifice of our brave men and women.

At this somber moment, let us resolve to take steps to finally bring this tragic war to an end. In 2008, the American people must not stand passively mute, as far too many of their leaders did five years ago. Let your voices be heard.