Afternoon (Semiannual?) Round-Up

Obviously, the big story is the continuing unrest in Iran. Protestors and police continue to spar. Meanwhile, the Iranian government did acknowledge some voting irregularity, but stated that it wouldn't have made a difference (like Florida in 2000?). And, Iran is blaming the West, especially Britain, and an exiled Iranian militant group, the MEK. As of the latest estimates, it seems that as many as 30 protestors have been killed and over 450 arrested.

Interestingly, Washington Monthly has a post that tells the story of at least one policeman who seems to be cracking under the pressure of assaulting his fellow citizens. If that policeman's unique, then it probably doesn't mean much, but if he's typical, then this could reach the point where the police refuse orders to attack the protestors. That could topple the government.

NON-IRAN:
Remember how I really want the Bushies investigated for all of their lawlessness and how I've been disappointed by Barack's unwillingness to do so? Well, a judge just added some extra pressure by allowing Jose Padilla's case against John Yoo to proceed.

Finally, John Hodgman is hilarious.

UPDATE: Wonkette links to this article explaining that since having all of his vetoes overturned by the South Carolina legislature, Governor Mark Sanford has been missing. Seriously. He's been in touch via telephone, but not even his wife knows where he is.

Momentum for Investigations into Bush Crimes

It's building. Today Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) took the Senate floor to call for a "Truth Commission" to investigate torture and other misdeeds by the Bushies. Salon's Glenn Greenwald explained that this could open to the door to prosecutions. That long post has an interesting quote from Whitehouse:

Still, regarding a potential torture commission, he told Salon, "I am convinced it is going to happen." In fact, his fervor on the issue was palpable. When asked if there is a lot the public still does not know about these issues during the Bush administration, his eyes grew large and he nodded slowly. "Stay on this," he said. "This is going to be big."

Greenwald has two other interesting points about this. First, since Barack has been saying that he wants to focus on the problems he currently has rather than past misdeeds, Congress seems to be stepping up to fill that gap. This is appropriate, since they are the body with independent investigative power. Second, Greenwald thinks that once Bush misdeeds come to light, the DOJ might be under too much pressure to avoid prosecutions.

Furthermore, Nancy Pelosi openly called for prosecutions to be on the table in an interview with Rachel Maddow today.

I'll be shocked if this ever reaches the level of Cheney or Bush (seems like the really high ups always skate), but it certainly seems like there is some momentum for some sort of reckoning for the crimes of the last administration.