I think it’s fair to say that the attorney general stepped into this Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with the world on his back and left standing tall. My wrapup for the Washington Independent. Update, 4:22 p.m.: Mike Isikoff agrees.

Out-of-left-field stuff: Steve Kappes will retire next month from the CIA. Think Jeff Stein’s damning profile this month had something to do with that surprise decision? Notice that his replacement will not come from a wing in CIA that was involved in interrogations. Update, 1:38 p.m.: CIA sends me a very firm denial that Jeff’s [...]

Sessions says the Justice Department claimed to the Senate Judiciary Committee that classified information is in fact better protected in military commissions than civilian courts. Holder says that’s not what the Justice Department disclosed. Well, screw he-said-she-saids. This Windy post contains everything you need to determine who’s telling the truth.

I’ll be covering Eric Holder’s showdown testimony in the Senate Judiciary Committee for the Washington Independent this morning. Just to torture me, the Senate Armed Services Committee counterprogrammed a really big hearing on Iran, with every administration witness you would want: Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy. Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint [...]

A conversation last night with a friend indicated to me that I should write something about why it was important for the D.C. area to suffer paralyzing traffic and the intimidating presence of Humvees and pixel-camo’d-up soldiers on its streets. I don’t know if we’ll ever get back, institutionally, to the balance between liberty and [...]

Thanks to everyone who came to Laughing Man tonight. I was touched by the packed crowd and everyone’s enthusiasm/indulgence of our wonk-nerd complexes (particularly Julian’s and mine). Matt Klokel of Fantom Comics is the best Comic Book Guy in the game. Now that I’m in love with Marvel’s iPhone app I don’t know how long [...]

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 292-10 April 13, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Spc. Joseph T. Caron, 21, of Tacoma, Wash., died April 11 in Char Bagh, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive [...]

I’m about to leave for my comic book talk, but before I do, let me highlight this impressive Griff Witte/Karen DeYoung tour through North Waziristan. There’s a lot here and it’s a rare story and I have no time, so I’ll need to come back to this. But it ends on quite the pregnant, judicious [...]

Barack Obama is going to be the president who successfully maneuvers an economic sanctions package through the United Nations Security Council and the right will bash the sanctions package precisely because he was able to get it through the United Nations Security Council.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 293-10 April 13, 2010 DOD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Cpl. Michael D. Jankiewicz, 23, of Ramsey, N.J., died April 9 in Zabul, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when the CV-22 Osprey he was flying in crashed. He [...]