Fearing he might be smeared by liberals as possessing common decency, Orrin Hatch is walking back comments that suggested he supports the right of citizens to defend their country:

“It’s deeply regrettable that liberal groups are misconstruing my position on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ for activist purposes. I certainly do not support repealing this policy,” Hatch’s statement on Thursday said.

But a day earlier, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell asked Hatch in a live interview about repealing the policy…

“I believe there are very outstanding, patriotic gay people who serve in the military and they ought to be given credit for it. And they shouldn’t have to lie about being gay,” Hatch said.

Added Hatch, “I just plain do not believe in prejudice of any kind.” Unless the wrong people applaud him for it, of course.

Hatch creates uproar on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ [Deseret News, via ThinkProgress]

Bloomberg breaks a story today that tells us less than it seems:

As many as one in five former Guantanamo Bay detainees are suspected of or confirmed to have engaged in terrorist activity after their release, U.S. officials said, citing the latest government statistics.

The 20 percent rate is an increase over the 14 percent of former inmates that an April Pentagon report said were thought to have joined terrorist efforts, said the officials, who requested anonymity. The officials didn’t provide the numbers on which the 20 percent is based.

Nor did they provide documentation for why the detainees were in Gitmo to begin with. Nor did Bloomberg’s reporters ask.

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For a moment, we thought that Sarah Palin copped a roach from Dana Perino:

Really? A tax on national defense? I hear liberal Congressional proposals and I, like most Americans, wonder if they’re serious. We’re going to put a price tag on security?

Like most Americans, we wonder whether Talibunny’s a sociopath, but that’s another topic. The issue here apparently is that Nancy Pelosi is considering a “graduated surtax on American taxpayers to finance the war in Afghanistan,” so that China doesn’t have to keep underwriting our empire.

And much to the amazement of most Americans, it seems there is a price tag on security:

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McClatchy reports that Barack Obama will announce next Tuesday his plans to send 34,000 additional troops to Afghanistan:

The plan adopted by Obama would fall well short of the 80,000 troops McChrystal suggested in August as a “low-risk option” that would offer the best chance to contain the Taliban-led insurgency and stabilize Afghanistan.

It splits the difference between two other McChrystal options: a “high-risk” approach that called for 20,000 additional troops and a “medium-risk” option that would add 40,000 to 45,000 troops.

If you haven’t been keeping score, “40,000” is the magic number cited by Republicans (on top of 68,000 American troops already in-country) as the minimum needed to prevent incessant whining disaster — even though that’s only half of McChrystal’s slam-dunk estimate. But not even America’s most prominent National Guard deserter dares broach the full 80, so we’re left with what’s guaranteed to be a roaring debate about how six thousand troops means all the difference in the world.

Obama plans to send 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan [McClatchy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9glc6ZzC

Update: Think Progress retracts its characterization of Shields’ comments, which means we have to retract and apologize for our vicious caricature. Darn.

Speaking from the comfort of a DC television studio, Mark Shields pines for a President who waves his member at the world without shame:

It makes me nostalgic for those days when we had a manly man in the White House who could say, “Let’s kick some tail and ask questions afterwards” you know? That’s what we really need instead of any reflection.

We’re sure the families of the 4,363 soldiers killed in Iraq would totally agree with him.

Shields: I’m ‘Nostalgic’ For A ‘Manly Man’ President Who Will ‘Kick Some Tail And Ask Questions Afterwards’ [Think Progress]

Update: Think Progress regrets, as do we:

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Bridges collapse, roads crumble, levees are breached, but why spend money fixing that shit?

The secretive US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has awarded arms globocorp General Dynamics a $10m contract to set up a network of psychological-warfare “influence websites” supporting the Global War On Terror. France and Britain are specifically included as “targeted regions”.

According to the 14th Airborne PSYOPS Group (and just why are they airborne?)

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Remember how we couldn’t find any immediate wingnut reaction to Mancow’s waterboarding? Well, thanks to Gawker insisting on taking the word of a publicist at face value, they’re all over it now.