Mark Cuban doesn't know what he's talking about.

U Tube is an online service provider for purposes of section 512 of the Copyright Act.  In general terms, that section bars the recovery of damages against people that (a) make other people's content available and (b) set up a notice and takedown procedure in conformance with the statute.  A copyright owner worried about content on that site is stuck with playing whack-a-mole.

Once, this was a country that at least tried to follow a relatively simple rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That is no longer the case. When our citizens and soldiers are detained, beaten, deprived of sleep, waterboarded, and subjected to hypothermia, we have lost our moral standing to complain.

The Democrats--in particular Lieberman, Landrieu, Carper and the other nine that voted for the torture bill have become the party of moral cowards. The only thing that one can say about the Democrats is that they (generally) voted against it. Some fights are worth having, even if you lose.

There is no reason to vote for the Democrats except one: that they will be better than the Republicans. They will have a naked, callow political self-interest in exposing the sociopathic excesses of the war on terror. That will help bring the Executive branch into check. On the other hand, if the Republicans retain control of Congress, this country will begin a slide from which it could take decades to recover. We are one 86-year old justice away from becoming a police state living in fear of a knock on the door.

Procedural hurdles for detainee legilsation cleared. R's have blocked all D amendments.

The existing version of the torture legislation allows the DOD to classify anyone as an enemy combatant, and once that happens, you're screwed. Read the following paragraph from the NIE:

Anti-US and anti-globalization sentiment is on the rise and fueling other radical ideologies. This could prompt some leftist, nationalist, or separatist groups to adopt terrorist methods to attack US interests. The radicalization process is occurring more quickly, more widely, and more anonymously in the Internet age, raising the likelihood of surprise attacks by unknown groups whose members and supporters may be difficult to pinpoint. (emphasis supplied--hat tip to dailykos).

Now connect the dots. Communist china does this.  The US does not.

The Democratic silence continues to be baffling. I have seen it argued that this silence is a canny political move, as the Supreme Court will likely strike down the torture legislation and its elimination of habeas corpus.

 Waiting for the "Supreme Court" to strike it down is unconscionably risky for several reasons. First, the fact that legislation might be constitutionally permissible (for example, providing unrestricted federal grants to individuals making over ten million per year in capital gains income) does not make it wise or morally defensible. Second, each branch has an obligation to interpret the Constitution--not just the Courts. The president is certainly "interpreting"--with a large red pen that strikes out the sections that he doesn't like. This Supreme Court will not be shy--For god's sake, Justice "plain Language" Scalia signed onto Alito's elevation of signing statements. That's two votes for anything that W wants to do--roberts and thomas makes four for everything except ignoring a statute. Even putting aside the fact that Justice Stevens is 86 years old, the vote balance is different than it was, as Kennedy is friendlier to executive power than O'Connor. In other words, the Supreme Court may, in its current formulation, bless legislation that most of the country finds outrageous. It is far easier to kill legislation than it is to pass it, and any amendment will be portrayed as "soft on terror." That's a far bigger political risk. And what if Stevens dies?

These superficial and, frankly, ill-advised political calculations do not and cannot excuse incumbent legislators from their civil and moral duty to stand up and be counted. These politicians are asking us to stake the freedom of ourselves, our friends and our families on a series of highly questionable probabilities. This legislation is not that of a tough democracy--it is that of a cowed military dictatorship. Stand up and say so. Litigation should be a last resort. For god's sake, watch Clinton's response. He's had the entire Bush administration in damage control for the last several days and it's only getting worse for them.