Keeping the lights on

There are two must reads on the Web today. The first is another in a long line of outstanding exposés by New Yorker investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, titled "The General's Report." In it, Hersh details the experience of Major General Antonio Taguba when he was assigned to investigate the torture of Iraqi prisoners at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. In an interview with Hersh on Democracy Now, he related that Taguba said this about the resistance at the Pentagon to his investigation: “I had been in the Army then for thirty-two years, and it was the first time I thought I was in the Mafia.” I have been saying that the Bush regime is a criminal gang since before the "Iraq" war. It's nice to have a bit of company.

The other must read is Glenn Greenwald's column in Salon today, in which he introduced a new slogan for the Washington press corps. He discovered the new motto in the Washington Post, where columnist Richard Cohen criticized the trial and conviction of Irv Lewis Libby by saying "As with sex or real estate, it is often best to keep the lights off."

Greenwald's column is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. You may have to become a paying subscriber to read his work, but it will be well worth it. I wrote a comment to the article here.