C&L is honored to have proud progressives Congressman Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, and 2006 Democratic nominee for US Senate from Connecticut Ned Lamont, joining us for a live chat at 3 pm Pacific / 6 pm Eastern. The conversation will be wide-ranging, from health care and the economy to the upcoming 2010 mid-term elections. Ned Lamont endorsed Joe Sestak in the Pennsylvania Senate race earlier today.

Everyone is invited; if you haven't registered as a commenter here you will need to do that at this link in order to participate.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scheduled to do a live chat with us today at 10:30 PST/1:30 EST. The topic will about the New Health Care Reform Bill they've just released. Henry Waxman says it'll be worked out in the House in the next few weeks and in Congress by the end of the year.

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act

It's receiving very good marks so far. Please check out Ezra Klein's post also on the Health-Care Reform Bill so you'll have a better idea about what we'll be chatting about. I'll have more reactions to the bill when we begin the chat. We'll see you later.

We're quite excited to welcome Nanci Griffith to the Late Nite Music Club for a live chat tomorrow at 4PM Pacific/7PM Eastern. Come by and ask her about her new album The Loving Kind, which comes out June 9th, and about her three-plus decades singing her songs, singing other people's songs, having her songs sung by other people, and much more.

In the meantime, enjoy the classic 'Love at the Five and Dime'.

Check out www.nancigriffith.com for more.

The Late Nite Music Club is proud to welcome folk/country legend Nanci Griffith this coming Thursday, May 21st at 4pm Pacific/7pm Eastern for a live chat. She'll be taking questions about her 30+ year career and her new album The Loving Kind, which comes out June 9th on Rounder Records.

The album, Griffith's most politically outspoken record in years, if not ever, is named for Richard and Mildred Loving, the plaintiffs in Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 civil rights case which finally ended the ban on interracial marriages once and for all. Mrs. Loving issued a statement before her death last year expressing her hope that soon, same-sex couples would follow in her and her late husband's footsteps to victory in their battle for marriage equality.

Music Club O.G. Howie Klein will be moderating the chat. He put together this clip for 'Across America' from The Loving Kind.

For more on Nanci Griffith go here.

I'm really delighted to have Christopher Anders with us today to live chat on what was revealed in the CIA torture memos, and what are the next steps to take now that we have these important memos: accountability efforts on the Hill, both for a select committee and an independent prosecutor. And just last night The Senate Armed Services Committee released their report:

Late last night, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) released its full report on the Department of Defense’s (DOD) role in the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody (PDF). (A summary of the report was released last December, but it was only until last night that the full report was released after the government declassified it.)

Christopher Anders is senior legislative counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office, where he represents the ACLU before Congress and the Executive Branch. His initial response to the SASC report was:

This report makes frighteningly clear that some of the darkest moments in our country’s recent past were choreographed at the highest levels of government… The people who were at the very top of the Bush administration and those at the top of the chain of command must be held accountable. Just as any other American would be investigated by a prosecutor for crimes committed, so must our government officials. We must ensure that our laws are impartially enforced against everyone.

Since joining the ACLU legislative team in 1997, Anders has represented the ACLU on a wide range of civil liberties and civil rights issues. For the past five years, Anders has led the ACLU’s legislative work on torture, detention, and Guantanamo issues. He also has served as a human rights observer at military commission proceedings held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

So please welcome Chris Anders to the pages of C&L.

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Having watched-- with a great deal of pride-- Barney Frank's congressional career for nearly 3 decades, it's with a real sense of awe that John and I are hosting him live today at Crooks and Liars. I hope you'll join us in the live comments forum to get to know the man who Roll Call rated the 7th most powerful member of the House, the man who Out just named the 5th most powerful gay person in America, and who is surely rated by Republican members in Congress as the person they least want to tangle with.

In fact the Chairman's unflappability gave me the idea of marrying his images to a classic Tom Petty song, "I Won't Back Down," something he has earned the reputation for never doing. Please enjoy the music, but also enjoy the Chairman looking very much like he's about to give Fox-thug Bill O'Reilly a coronary as Bill-O the Clown's attempts to ambush and bully him fall dismally flat. Last month when a barely literate obstructionist Missouri Congressman with a very fancy toupee attempted to read a staffer's talking points blaming the Bush-Republican economic meltdown on Barney, the Chairman let loose with a rebuttal that Todd Akin is probably still puzzling over and trying to comprehend. When congressional staffers vote in the semi-annual Washingtonian poll, somehow Todd Akin doesn't get mentioned but the Chairman always comes in at the #1 brainiest, the #1 funniest and always in the top 3 hardest working and top 3 most eloquent.

The Almanac of American Politics describes every member of Congress, They go on and on about Barney but before we start our conversation with the chairman, I thought I'd share a few lines with you:

In the House, Frank quickly gained a reputation as one of the smartest talkers and best debaters in the chamber-- maybe one of the best of all time. Frank listens to others’ arguments and engages them in his inimitable rapid-fire delivery... He is admired even by Republicans for his intellectual rigor and honesty; at the same time he is a wily political operator. He does not profess to be a political theoretician, though few in the House exceed him as such.

(h/t Heather)

After being wowed by John Cusack's incredible new film, War, Inc, John Amato and I persuaded John Cusack to come over to C&L for a live chat a little closer to the official release date. And today's the day. This week the film will start rolling out in the Toronto area and then in New York City. So at 3pm (PT) John is bringing two of his co-writers with him, Mark Leyner and Jeremy Pikser, and they'll be talking about the movie and answering questions for an hour or so. I spoke with John about it and he gave me some insights into why he made the movie. He also recited this inspiring piece by Arundhati Roy to me:

Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness-- and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we're being brainwashed to believe. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they're selling-- their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

Please join John Amato and myself with our special guests in the comment section.

As with other live chats, we ask that you limit your comments to the topic and stay respectful to our guests.