Morning Wrap

Sotomayor Hearings: Today is the big day for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Though it is unlikely that her confirmation will be derailed given the Democratic majority in the Senate, Republicans are set to focus on questions about Sotomayor's judicial impartiality, The New York Times reports. The Washington Post reports that Democrats see the hearings as an opportunity to paint Republicans as insensitive to the Hispanic community, and that Republicans see them as a way to motivate their base. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sotomayor's hearings will be especially interesting to watch because several reports have determined that her judicial philosophy "belies easy categorization along any ideological spectrum."

Secret CIA Program: Reports emerged over the weekend of a secret CIA program that had been kept hidden from Congress based on orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney. While no one is saying what the program was actually designed to do, the agency's Director Leon Panetta shut it down as soon as he learned of it on June 23. Now the Obama administration is facing renewed pressure to ramp up investigations into the Bush-era security programs, The New York Times reports.

Torture Investigation: Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. is considering whether to appoint a prosecutor to conduct a criminal investigation of interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects during the Bush administration, Bloomberg reports. No word yet on which way Holder is leaning.

Historical Meeting: President Barack Obama assembled a group of historians at the White House to discuss past presidencies and what has worked and what has failed in the past as he makes policy today, according to a story in the U.S. News & World Report. Among the topics discussed is whether the 44th president is trying to do too much too fast. That question is one The Washington Post asks in a story about how the daily grind is affecting White House staffers.

Recession Rehab: More and more executives are following in the footsteps of rock stars and celebrities and checking into rehab as the recession continues to take its toll on businesses, the BBC reports. One center says corporate clients come chiefly from the world of investment banking and law, and are predominantly female.

In Case You Missed It: The BLT reported late Friday evening that the D.C. Council tapped Robert Bennett of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, veteran of many highly political cases, to investigate whether Marion Barry violated any laws or ethics rules when he hired his then girlfriend as a contractor in his office. In a press conference Friday, two council members walked out as Barry reiterated his innocence. 

Comments

[runescape gold]

In Cold War CIA used to do things through “contract agents” for cash, ideology or both, permitting “plausible denial.” Under Bush Keystone-type CIA agents screwed up and made their Mossad guides laugh. That’s what Cheney is hidding: the incompetence of his kind of American-know-how.