TPM on the Ford legacy/pardon

Two good TPM posts about the Ford legacy:

Debunking Michael Beschloss' relief that Nixon's first choice for VP was passed over.

On the "healing" properties of the pardon: "...for many people Ford's signature service to the country was calming the waters so that the rabble quieted down and went home."

White House censors NYT op-ed

The White House has censored an op-ed in the Times that describes the WH rejection of diplomatic overtures from pre-Ahamdinejad Iran, and other failures in their policy towards Iran. The redacted portions of the op-ed describe events previously covered fully in the media. The article draws all of its information from a publicly available paper

Redacted op-ed ("Redacted Version of Original Op-Ed", NYT 12/22/06)

Explanatory op-ed by authors ("What We Wanted to Tell You About Iran", NYT 12/22/06)

The original paper [pdf] by Flynt Leverett (co-author of the op-ed), containing all information redacted from the op-ed by the White House

Background from blogger Steve Clemmons

Homeland Security allegedly using serial killer as informant

From the Guardian, via Glenn Greenwald: ICE, the drug enforcement arm of DHS, is currently employing an informant who has committed several brutal murders. He murders while wearing a wire, so ICE agents listen in on the murders. At least one of the murders was a case of mistaken identity. ICE initally reported this to the Justice Dept, who instructed them to continue using the murderer. Permission was given on the say-so of high Justice Dept officals, many having close ties to Alberto Gonzalez and George Bush.