Think Progress

JUSTICE -- RELEASE OF BUSH LEGAL MEMOS INCREASES PRESSURE FOR TRUTH COMMISSION: This week, Attorney General Eric Holder released previously undisclosed Office of Legal Counsel memos that the Bush administration long considered secret. The memos show the astonishing extent to which the administration expanded its wartime powers. An October 2001 memo from John Yoo, for example, restricted both Fourth and First Amendment rights in wartime. The revelations have bolstered House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers's (D-MI) to call for an independent commission to investigate the "interrogation, detention, surveillance and other practices under President George W. Bush." The commission should have "the power to subpoena documents and testimony," Conyers believes, according to the New York Times. The Office of Professional Responsibility at the Justice Department is also examining the memos to determine if "political appointees in the department knowingly signed off on an unreasonable interpretation of the law to provide legal cover for a program sought by Bush White House officials."

ENVIRONMENT -- OBAMA REVERSES BUSH RULES ON ENDANGERED SPECIES: In one of his administration's last-minute regulation changes, President Bush last December "eliminated 35-year-old regulations in the Endangered Species Act that required an independent scientific review of proposed federal projects to determine whether they imperil protected plants and animals." Yesterday, President Obama vowed to reverse that ruling, in a visit to the Interior Department to mark its 150th anniversary where he signed a memo requiring agencies to seek scientific advice and input before implementing changes that might affect endangered species. "In brief remarks, the president said he had signed the memorandum to 'help restore the scientific process to its rightful place' in the working of the Endangered Species Act. 'We should be looking for ways to improve it, not weaken it,' Mr. Obama said of the act." The New York Times notes that Obama's announcement "drew loud applause." "This is very good news for endangered species," said Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The regulations that President Bush issued were clearly illegal, and they were bad policy to boot."

IRAQ -- REP. KING INTRODUCES RESOLUTION TOUTING 'SURGE': The Washington Times reports that today Rep. Steve King (R-IA) will be introducing a "Victory in Iraq" resolution, "chronicling the success of the troop surge in Iraq and warning the new commander-in-chief that if he changes strategy, he takes ownership of whatever happens on his watch." "They've left a legacy and it's up to the new leadership to preserve and enhance the victory they’ve achieved," King said. King -- who once said that Obama would turn America into a "totalitarian dictatorship" -- said that the measure should be seen as "less of a criticism of Mr. Obama and more of an encouragement that he 'expand on the victory rather than walk away.'" However, Obama's redeployment plan is doing just that. Obama himself has acknowledged that due in part to the surge, there is now a calmer security situation in Iraq that is now an opportunity for political progress. In his speech announcing his Iraq withdrawal last week, Obama made clear that withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq is part of this opportunity. "The drawdown of our military should send a clear signal that Iraq’s future is now its own responsibility," Obama said last week. In January, King paid tribute to Bush's presidency, saying, "I'm here to say thank you to President Bush for the things that he has done...especially with our national defense.'"

The fact that Rush Limbaugh has become the leader of the GOP means that Republicans missed the "unmistakable signal" of the 2008 election that “Americans wanted to turn the page on the politics of division and partisan pettiness," writes Obama campaign manager David Plouffe. In another shot at Limbaugh's GOP leadership, the DCCC released a website yesterday that "allows visitors to create an apology to Limbaugh"on behalf of Republicans who have crossed him.

"[K]ey party leaders are worried that the GOP has made a costly mistake" in electing Michael Steele as their party chairman. One month into the job, Politico explains that Steele is "[s]teadily becoming a dependable punch line" and "does not have a chief of staff, a political director, a finance director or a communications director."

A new WSJ/NBC poll has found a sharp jump in the proportion of Americans -- 41 percent -- who say the nation is "generally headed in the right direction" since President Obama’s inauguration. That number is "up dramatically" from 26 percent in mid-January. Those "who say the country is on the 'wrong track' is still higher at 44%, but given the economic conditions, pollsters expected it to be much higher."

Yesterday, President Obama nominated John Berry to head the Office of Personnel Management. If Berry, who is the current director of the National Zoo, is approved by Congress, he will become the highest-ranking openly gay appointee ever. Berry has previously worked at both the Treasury and Interior departments.

President Obama said yesterday that he will nominate Julius Genachowski as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Genachowski previously served as chief legal counsel to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, served as a technology adviser on Obama's campaign, and attended law school with Obama. In part, he will be "charged with designing a plan to bring broadband Internet to rural and low-income areas within one year."

In an effort to "quickly revive relations with Syria," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in Israel yesterday that the U.S. is "sending two senior officials to Damascus this weekend to explore how the two countries can move beyond years of bitterness over the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and Syria’s links to terrorist groups."

"For the first time in a quarter-century, Sudan has a chance for peace throughout the entire country," now that the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. "The UN estimates some 300,000 people have died and millions been displaced in six years of conflict in the region."

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) ending cost overruns in weapons systems would create "a powerful new Pentagon position" -- director of independent cost assessments. The position would have "significant authority to obtain data from the contractor and to ensure costs are justified."

The country's largest progressive bloggers conference -- Netroots Nation -- will take place Aug. 13-16 in Pittsburgh. Help set the agenda for the conference by submitting your ideas here. Also, you can register to attend the conference here.

And finally: OMB Director Peter Orszag quoted country music star Toby Keith in congressional testimony yesterday. "None of this is going to be easy," said Orszag before the House Budget Committee. "But as the country music singer Toby Keith once put it, 'There ain’t no right way to do the wrong thing.'" Indeed, the "Princeton numbers-cruncher is a huge country fan and when he goes for runs that’s what’s in his iPod," reports ABC.