The American Trial Lawyers Association

After months of waiting, the unthinkable has finally happened. Spanish prosecutors have announced that they will seek criminal charges against Alberto Gonzales and five other high-ranking Bush administration officials for the sanctioning of torture at Guantánamo Bay. The six defendants—who in addition to Gonzales, include former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, John Yoo, William Haynes, Dick Cheney's former chief of staff David Addington, and former Undersecretary of Defense Douglas J. Feith—are accused of having given the green light to the torture and mistreatment of prisoners held in U.S. detention in “the war on terror.” A group of human-rights lawyers originally filed a criminal complaint asking the court to look at the possibility of charges against the six American lawyers. Baltasar Garzón Real, the investigating judge, accepted the complaint and referred it to Spanish prosecutors for a view as to whether they would accept the case and press it forward. “The evidence provided was more than sufficient to justify a more comprehensive investigation,” one of the lawyers associated with the prosecution stated.

But with that good news today, its important to not forget about the war that's currently taking place. And no, I'm not talking about the Middle East, I'm talking about the war occurring in the United States within the ranks of the Republican Party. The infighting among conservatives has been notched up another degree, with Rush Limbaugh attempting to blast Jonah Goldberg out of the water for daring to suggest that President Obama deserves congratulations for the successful rescue of an American captain from Somali pirates. Goldberg wrote on his blog at the National Review on Sunday evening, "Good For President Obama. He approved the rescue. It was the right thing to do, with no small amount of risk. And God bless the SEALs." Goldberg said that within a few short hours, his inbox was full of hate mail from his fellow conservatives, angry that he would ever offer the president a congratulatory line. Goldberg said that the thought of having to be critical of the president no matter what he does is exhaustingly unappealing. Limbaugh began his Monday show by saying -- every word dripping with extreme sarcasm -- "I want to single out today, Jonah Goldberg at National Review Online for being the first that I saw to have the proper reaction to the rescue of Captain Phillips from the merchant marine organizers, and that was to congratulate President Obama for a job well done.” Limbaugh's assault might be considered ill-natured, given that Goldberg had defended him just last month -- when Limbaugh came under fire for saying he wanted to see Obama fail -- and had condemned the attacks on Limbaugh as "a tired rehash." The betting window is still open for wagers on how long it will take before Goldberg is forced to issue an active apology.

And finally today, if you're one of the millions of college kids addicted to Facebook, your grades are probably slipping. Facebook users have lower overall grades than non-users, according to a survey of college students who also ironically said the social networking site does not interfere with studying. Facebook user GPAs were in the 3.0 to 3.5 range on average, compared to 3.5 to 4.0 for non-users. Facebook users also studied anywhere from one to five hours per week, compared to non-users who studied 11 to 15 or more hours per week. The study did show that students who work more hours at jobs spend less time on Facebook, while students involved in more extracurricular activities were also more likely to use Facebook. And in a related story, make sure you keep checking Facebook as we will soon have our very own GoLeft TV page.

Labels: alberto gonzalez, Civil War, College, Facebook, Farron Cousins, GOP, Indictment, Infighting, IQ, Jonah Goldberg, rush limbaugh, Spain, War Crimes