As former Vice President Dick Cheney and some Republican lawmakers continue to debate whether torture works and was a legitimate interrogation technique during the Bush administration, it’s almost jaw-dropping to read some of the memos that were written by the real experts on interrogation techniques in the U.S. government, warning the Defense Department all the way back in 2002 that the sorts of abusive techniques they were considering, and in some cases already using, were not only bound to fail, but were unequivocally illegal.

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After roughly 12 hours of debate — and no absence of GOP stalling — the House late last night passed an $894 billion proposal that would forever change the way the nation’s health care system operates. The vote was 220 to 215 in the lower chamber, where only a simple majority is required to pass most bills. Only one Republican, Rep. Anh Cao (La.), voted in favor of the measure — not a strongly bipartisan showing, but enough to steal the Republicans’ claim that they were united in opposition to the bill.

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The Justice Department released more documents — or, at least, less-redacted documents — late Friday to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of the government’s obligation in a pending Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

These latest documents provide a glimpse of the early struggles between the FBI and the Pentagon over just how to conduct the “war on terror” and how to interrogate and treat that war’s detainees. Sadly, they reveal that the FBI knew perfectly well — and repeatedly warned Defense Department officials, as well as Justice Department lawyers — that the abusive interrogation techniques being used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay were likely to be ineffective and make subsequent prosecutions impossible.

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Flush off of the upset Democratic victory in NY-23, which he had a big hand in, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, is demanding that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) apologize for sponsoring Thursday’s anti-health care reform rally, which brought to the hill signs comparing health reform to the Holocaust.

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Add another conservative activist to the ranks of people blaming the Ft. Hood massacre on Islam. Here’s Gary Bauer, in his end-of-day email sent to supporters, arguing that while some Muslims are all well and good, “there are also ’sleeper cells’ or ’sleeper individuals’ who are jihadist ticking time bombs inside our own ranks.”

Whole letter after the jump.

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Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy thinks he sees light at the end of the Obama administration’s strategy and resource review tunnel:

Reliable sources tell The Cable that the review has entered its final stages, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Advisor Jim Jones now taking the lead and putting on the final touches.

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Erick Erickson of RedState, whose stature in the conservative movement has risen with the Doug Hoffman insurrection, blasts out an announcement of a second anti-health care bill protest on the steps of Congress. Whole e-mail after the jump:

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Just released from the White House press office:

Our Nation’s thoughts and prayers are with the service members, civilians, and families affected by the tragic events at Fort Hood, Texas. The brave victims, who risked their lives to protect their fellow countrymen, serve as a constant source of strength and inspiration to all Americans. We ask God to watch over the fallen, the wounded, and all those who are suffering at this difficult hour.

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Spencer blogged about Florida congressional candidate Allen West’s eye-popping statement on the Ft. Hood tragedy; I spoke to West for a story about black Republicans running for Congress in 2010. West is well liked and well known in the Tea Party movement, and described himself, to me, as the “worst nightmare” of black liberals in Congress.

Who’s backing West? He has received $5,000 from the notorious National Republican Trust PAC, the PAC that ran the only national ads about Jeremiah Wright in 2008, and the one that’s run grueling negative ads in the NY-20 and NY-23 special elections. He’s gotten $1,500 from the Freedom’s Defense Fund and another $1,500 from Veterans for Victory. Other donors: Radio host Tammy Bruce ($1,000) and former Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey ($250).

So don’t make the assumption that West is some fringe candidate with no chance. He’s also on the NRCC’s “Young Guns” list.

Maggie Gallagher argues that the Dede Scozzafava debacle in NY-23 could scare New York Republicans out of supporting gay marriage in the state Senate. (New York’s upper house does not offer the minority party the right to filibuster, but the Democratic majority includes conservatives who will vote against gay marriage.) Certainly, State Senate President Malcolm Smith is worried.

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