http://www.theittlist.com/ The ITT List is a weblog run by the editors and staff of In These Times magazine. en brian@inthesetimes.com 2008-07-17T17:44:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/end_the_prison_industrial_complex_end_it_now/ (Via Doster), In light of this: Unnecessary deaths and amputation, grossly inadequate medical care, systematic prisoner beatings. These are just some of the findings from a 17-month probe of the Cook County Jail by the U.S. attorney’s office. In one case, an inmate left untreated for a gunshot wound developed sepsis and died. Another inmate went untreated and needed an amputation. Just one dentist serves 9,800 inmates and he only deals in extractions. The U.S. attorney’s office found that 25 percent of the dental procedures result in infection. It's really loooong past time we start thinking about this: If the… Brian Cook 2008-07-17T16:44:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/write_in_john_quincy_addams/ Oh Bruce Bartlett, your logic makes so much sense! Many 23-year old Chicagoans like myself think highly of public education. I think that means we should vote Whig in 2008, no? Scott Lemieux has more. Adam Doster 2008-07-17T16:34:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/chris_hayes_is_a_machine/ Read his 6,000 word opus on MoveOn. He gets at some of the tensions I highlighted in my piece from last year on the intersection between progressive activists and the Democratic Party leadership, but presents it in more interesting and erudite fashion than my little brain is capable of producing. Read it now. Adam Doster 2008-07-17T16:27:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/the_opposite_of_a_good_read/ Just when you thought "Plame-gate" couldn't continue, couldn't possibly become a more byzantine saga, simply had to collapse under the massive weight of its own complexity, President Bush and the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee (read: Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.) are still keeping this party going. I don't mean to say the Plame party should stop (although I stopped tracking it after Scooter walked), or to suggest this particular legislative/executive round is unnecessary or futile. I just want to express my deepest sympathies for the reporters covering this new executive privilege battle; they must know it's only… Jeremy Gantz 2008-07-16T20:22:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/whats_next_for_guantanamo/ Now that detainees held by the U.S. at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, have the right of habeas corpus, members of one congressional body are asking, howwill that work? While the Supreme Court, with its decision in Boumediene v. Bush, granted prisoners held as enemy combatants at Guantánamo the right to their day in court, many questions remain unanswered -- including whether the Boumediene decision applies to "enemy combatant" prisoners held by the U.S. in facilities other than the famed prison camp in Cuba. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, an entity of Congress also known as the Helsinki Commission,… Adele Stan, Media Consortium 2008-07-16T19:09:01-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/obamas_iraq_policy/ In today's New York Times, Barack Obama pens an op-ed about his plan for troop redeployment in Iraq: We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous… Dan Dineen 2008-07-14T14:04:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/greens_pick_mckinney/ Greens from all over the country gathered at Chicago's Symphony Hall yesterday to cast their votes for the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee. Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney received 313 of the 532 votes cast, enough to secure the nomination on the first round. Despite not actively seeking the Party's nod, Ralph Nader received the second highest total, with 78.5 votes. The voting process got off to a slow start as technical problems arose with the big-screen scoreboard. But after a half-successful attempt by restless delegates to initiate "the wave" and chants of "turn the White House green," things eventually… Mark Berlin 2008-07-13T18:39:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/turning_the_grassroots_green/ The Green Party is holding their national convention this weekend in Chicago. Former Georgia Congresswoman (and former Democrat) Cynthia McKinney is favored to beat out three other candidates to win the presidential nomination. Earlier this week she tapped community organizer and Hip-Hop activist Rosa Clemente to be her running mate. Despite the quixotic vibe running through the halls at the historic Palmer House Hotel, I don't think anyone has any illusions as to the Greens' presidential chances this November. The real action in the Greenosphere, however, is happening on the local level. "It's the grassroots where we make a difference,"… Mark Berlin 2008-07-11T19:40:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/the_hits_keep_coming/ As if John McCain hadn't already established himself as woefully unsympathetic to women's issues, yesterday brought another illuminating episode. A reporter asked McCain about health insurance companies that cover Viagra but not birth control. Earlier this week, McCain adviser Carly Fiorina said that she thought the practice was unfair. Not only did McCain dodge the question, but it was clear that had never even thought about the issue: When McCain was asked for his position on the issue, he said—with a nervous laugh–“I certainly do not want to discuss that issue.” The reporter pressed. “But apparently you’ve voted against—“ “I… Mark Berlin 2008-07-10T05:35:00-06:00 http://www.theittlist.com/site/ittlist/ind/a_full_scale_attack_on_the_rule_of_law_in_this_country/ Greenwald's final summary on George Bush's total victory (achieved with the total complicity of our Democratic-led Congress) on FISA today. Obama's vote in favor of cloture, in particular, cemented the complete betrayal of the commitment he made back in October when seeking the Democratic nomination. Back then, Obama's spokesman -- in response to demands for a clear statement of Obama's views on the spying controversy after he had previously given a vague and noncommittal statement -- issued this emphatic vow: To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. With their… Jarrett 2008-07-10T00:59:01-06:00