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On Monday, former Vice President Al Gore gave a speech about President Bush's recent admission that he's wiretapping American citizens without the warrants required by law. In the speech—which was sponsored by a coalition of progressive and conservative groups—Gore said it plainly: "What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compells the conclusion that the president of the United States has been breaking the law, repeatedly and persistently."...

I once had a legal dispute with a university department chairman over whether or not he had torn down the handbills I had posted announcing a campus talk I was scheduled to give. The chairman claimed he could not recall whether he had ripped down the notices. In the 9th Circuit Court hearing, Judge Stephen Reinhardt told the chairman's attorney from the Montana Attorney General's office that it was puzzling that the chairman's memory was so faulty....

The Bush administration’s open defiance of federal law and the US Constitution, in proclaiming its right to conduct unlimited warrantless surveillance of telephone and email traffic, has begun to produce a political reaction within US ruling circles....

In Chile, former political prisoner Michelle Bachelet has become the country first-ever female president. Running on the Socialist ticket, Bachelet beat her billionaire rival in Sunday's election. Bachelet is the daughter of an air force general who was tortured and died in prison after Augusto Pinochet seized power in 1973. She too was imprisoned by Pinochet's regime before fleeing into exile. We speak with Chilean-American writer Ariel Dorfman, Chilean torture survivor Emilio Banda as well ...

Al Gore made an exceptional speech at Constitution Hall, Washington, D.C. Monday, January 16 2006 12:30 PM1/16/2006. This is a 96Kbps MP3 (mono) with audio of the entire 1h 6m 35s speech delivered by al gore....

"No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush, says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people ... support your revolution," Harry Belafonte told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the broadcast Sunday of his weekly talk show, "Aló Presidente" ("Hello, President")....

When President Bush signed the new law, sponsored by Senator McCain, restricting the use of torture when interrogating detainees, he also issued a Presidential signing statement. That statement asserted that his power as Commander-in-Chief gives him the authority to bypass the very law he had just signed....

Senators fought over Alito's membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton and whether the panel should subpoena records from the group that opposed the acceptance of blacks or women at Princeton....

Frank: "If the antiwar movement really wants to take on Hillary in the electoral arena, she has to be confronted from outside the Democratic Party right up to Election Day and beyond. That is exactly what MoveOn should advocate, but never will."...

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announced Saturday he was giving up his effort to resume his position, as congressional Republicans maneuvered in the face of the influence-peddling scandal involving Republican insider Jack Abramoff. The longtime lobbyist and Bush fundraiser pled guilty January 3 to charges of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials....