In what may be the Supreme Court's final day in session for 2006-2007, opinions handed down are a mixed bag. But at least there is one small step forward for mankind, or for the nation.

In a 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the "liberals" on the high court to rule that insane Death Row inmate Scott Panetti will not be executed under the narrow definition of delusionality supported by the lower courts, ie let's not give those mentally deranged patients and inmates any loopholes.

The case is "Panetti v. Quarterman (06-6407). Doctors who examined Scott Louis Panetti ...   more »

Negotiations are underway and are reportedly nearing some end point for global media mogul Rupert Murdoch, head of News Corporation, to buy Dow Jones, Inc.

The publicity surrounding this effort has focused entirely on Dow Jones’ Wall Street Journal, and with ample reason, since nobody in his right mind would want to see reporting at the Journal go the way of the WSJ editorial page. But Dow Jones engages in other activities besides publishing.

For example: in the past two years’ worth of motions filed by attorneys back and forth in the CIA leak case, specifically in Judith Miller and ...   more »

Uncle Sigmund, call your office . . .

The talkfest on Hardball dealt wholly with NYC Mayor Bloomberg's "switching" to "independent," and Chris Matthews absentmindedly produced the best analysis of the evening, during one Hardball segment, by referring unintentionally to Bloomberg as "Rupert Murdoch."

Instantly corrected, of course, but the slip stands up better than the correction. That's pretty much the real political news about Bloomberg. Notwithstanding the hundreds of declarations on this program that Bloomberg's announcement will shake up the presidential race, the actuality, I believe, is that if the announcement shakes up anything, it will largely shake up ...   more »

The Rudy Giuliani campaign web site has issued a terse and noncommittal statement on the federal indictment against Giuliani's South Carolina campaign manager, Thomas Ravenel:

"Our campaign has no information about the accusations pending against Mr. Ravenel. Mr. Ravenel has stepped down from his volunteer responsibilities with the campaign."

The exact extent of Giuliani's acquaintance with Ravenel remains unclear. Giuliani appeared with Ravenel at campaign stops in South Carolina in August and November of 2006, when Ravenel was the GOP nominee for state treasurer, and sat with him at a minor league Pelicans baseball game in April 2007, etc.

But ...   more »

While I do not always agree with comments posted on the Free Republic web site, sometimes the Freepers hit the nail on the head. Viz today’s response to the indictment yesterday afternoon of South Carolina state treasurer Thomas Ravenel and acquaintance Michael L. Miller on charges of cocaine distribution.

The indictment alleges that  beginning in and around late 2005, and  continuing up to the date of this indictment -- June 19, 2007 --  defs knowingly and intentionally did combine, conspire and agree together . . . to knowingly and intentionally and unlawfully to possess with intent to ...   more »

As expected, I. Lewis Scooter Libby is appealing his sentence in the DC federal District Court.

The notice of appeal, filed today, is concise -- just the vital statistics, name, address, brief summary of the sentence, and the bare statement:

"I, the above named appellant, hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from the above-stated judgment."

Signed, etc.

Two new attorneys, appeals experts in effect, were added to the Libby defense team just last week.
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Now the point of all those feeble cable jokes comes home, which is more than you can say for the cable co.

Having finally broke down, I signed up for Comcast's "basic" cable package -- no special deals, since I wdn't dream of letting them touch either my phone or my internet service. They haven't even gotten here yet, and things are already as bad as a huge co. that acts like an inept tiny and hapless co. can make them.

I. Comcast is horrible, part 1: When I signed up for the cable package, I was told by the ...   more »

Today attorney Robert F. Bauer, counsel for the Obama campaign, comes out with what he calls a “progressive case for a Libby pardon.” In a nutshell, Bauer’s blog illustrates why Democrats running for office should not recycle ‘Democratic’ advisors left over from ‘centrist’ losing campaigns. Bauer worked for Bill Bradley, one of the authors of the so-called ‘tax reform’ of the Eighties that began the mighty work of shifting our national tax burden from the wealthy and corporations to the middle class.

 

The important point here is that Bauer’s silly machiavellianism – that a Libby pardon will ...   more »

Back in grad school, several of us students, sitting around having a literary discussion, decided to come up with a quick list of authors who should be shot, and not – an impressionistic list based entirely on whether when you mention the guy’s name somebody instantly says, “he should be shot.” By now the “He should be shot” recollection has faded, but the roster wd probably include perennial candidates the older Wordsworth, who in his later years had trajected from lyrics about daffodils to sonnets praising capital  punishment; Hemingway, who started life photographed in a dress and ended as ...   more »

Clean Dirt The grave’s too new headstone’s too new granite and liver-flocked pink,    more »

Short post: To a man, or woman, TV rightwingers have adopted one of two talking points re the Libby sentence: either pardon Libby, or commute his sentence. This narrowly framed and muted debate seeped in a rather low-key way through the Sunday morning talk shows.

 

Instant run-down: a somewhat nervous-sounding Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday posed the “quick question” to guest and White House spokesman Tony Snow, who also appeared on Face the Nation (CBS) with Bob Schieffer: “Will the president step in?” – Snow, not for the moment throwing ‘red meat’ to the ‘base,’ answered guardedly, “Well, that’s ...   more »

Following up -- this transcript of Andrea Mitchell being interviewed about Joe Wilson and Valerie Wilson was posted on February 12. The Libby defense team pushed to have Ms. Mitchell testify, on the basis of some rather fuzzy statements, in the Libby trial. In spite of the strenuous defense efforts, both sides seemed unsurprised, and possibly somewhat relieved, to have Mitchell excluded as a witness. Andrea Mitchell, rather a social-chat kind of journalist more than your hardnosed Frank Fontana type (Murphy Brown, kids), would have been tied up in knots on the witness stand; in fact, she probably would have been ...   more »

Looking at television's most prominent news personalities eagerly shill for the worst of the worst in administration policy, it’s hard to blame the Libby defense team for making the news media part of its defense strategy. Serves them right: when the large media outlets engage in what amounts to tacit collusion with giant military-security contractors, roll over when they should stand up to abuses of office, and go along with what they should know are bogus ploys by the powerful, they deserve to lose credibility.

 

So once again, the motion for release on bail pending appeal filed yesterday evening ...   more »