Bob Somerby on Josh Marshall.

I'll make this an Open Thread.

Cite to Somerby on Marshall endorsed solely by me.

The U.S. today moved to dismiss the cases of five Guantanamo detainees facing criminal charges: Binyam Mohamed, Noor Uthman Muhammed, Sufyiam Barhoumi, Ghassan Abdullah al Sharbi and Jabran Said Bin al Qahtani.

Clive Stafford Smith, a civilian attorney representing one of the five, Binyam Mohamed, said he has already been notified that charges against his client will be reinstated. "Far from being a victory for Mr. Mohamed in his long-running struggle for justice, this is more of the same farce that is Guantanamo," Stafford Smith said. "The military has informed us that they plan to charge him again within a month, after the election."

Army Lt. Col. Bryan Broyles, who represents another of the five detainees, said the military might be preparing the tribunals to face increased scrutiny following next month's presidential election. John McCain and Barack Obama have both said they want to close Guantanamo Bay.

The Government's less than credible explanation: [More...]

liburro points us to this in last weekend's NYTimes magazine:

“If voters are similarly polarized and if they’re seeing two different realities, a Sean Hannity reality and a Keith Olbermann reality, then we’re not going to be able to get done the work we need to get done,” Obama said.

He said it, I didn't.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Obama's lead remains steady and significant. DKos/R2000 has Obama by 8, 50-42. Gallup has Obama up 11, 52-41, among RVs, and up 10 among LVs (Expanded.) Hotline has Obama by 6, 47-41. Ras has Obama by 4, 50-46. The one poll McCain wants to believe in now is Battleground, which has Obama going from a 13 point lead 8 days ago to a 1 point lead today.

Still Obama's election.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

It is a matter of record that I am not a fan of what Keith Olbermann has become. It might interest some to know that I was actually one of the first bloggers (when I FPed at daily kos in 2005) to notice that Olbermann was successfully employing a counter Fox programming idea that many of us, Atrios most prominently, had suggested to the other cable networks (this was when Tweety still saved his tingles for George W. Bush.) The early Olbermann was not Obama's O'Reilly as he is today. Back then, he was more like Rachel Maddow is now.

One fairly predictable result of the success garnered by Olbermann (besides making him a lot of money) is the diminishment of Matt Drudge's influence. Eric Boehlert writes:

Keith Olbermann was certainly correct that giving a liberal commentator a show behind his lead-in would be a sure success. Rachel Maddow demonstrates this. But let me state this - Maddow has been surprisingly effective the times I have watched her in presenting the liberal perspective while retaining a sense of fealty to the facts. Facts good for Democrats of course (and what facts are not these days?), but facts nonetheless.

It seems a good thing for Maddow imo that she did not get a show during the Democratic primaries. When she was a guest on Olbermann's show and as part of NBC's election coverage, she demonstrated every tendency of becoming as hackish as Olbermann. I think she has largely avoided that, at least when I have watched her show. Good show, Rachel

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The McCain campaign continues to deny reports that it is ceding Colorado to Barack Obama.

"We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling. We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win," said Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's national communications director.

Gov. Sarah Palin is on to her next stop, leaving Alaska "First Dude" Todd Palin to campaign alone today in Glenwood Springs and Denver.

The Obama campaign, on the other hand, is in full swing. Not only is Sen. Joe Biden here today and tomorrow, but check out the other political magnets holding rallies the next few days .[More...]

The LA Times reports on Gov. Sarah Palin's college years.

In the five years of her collegiate career, spanning four universities in three states, Palin left behind few traces. Not many professors or students even remember her.....interviews with a dozen professors yielded not a single snippet of a memory.

...."Looking at this dynamic personality now, it mystifies me that I wouldn't remember her," said Jim Fisher, Palin's journalism instructor at the University of Idaho, where she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in journalism in 1987.

Palin, he said, took his public affairs reporting class, an upper-division course limited to 15 students. "It's the funniest damn thing," Fisher said. "No one can recall her." "I don't remember her," said Roy Atwood, Palin's academic advisor at the university.

The Times says it's different for the other candidates: [More...]

By a 2 to 1 vote, a three judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Government's motion for a stay of the District Court's order directing the Bush Administration to release the 17 Uighur detainees held at Guantanamo into the U.S. (Background here and here.)

The government has been trying to find new homes for the Uighurs for years. It no longer considers them enemy combatants and provided no evidence in court that they posed a security risk. The men cannot be returned to their homeland because they face the prospect of being tortured and killed. China considers the men terrorists.

Judge Judith Rogers dissented. Her reasoning: [More...]

AARP has an innovative ad campaign for November 4. It puts you in the ad as being the person who can bring change to Washington by voting.

Here's the one they sent me. If you want to be featured or make one for your friends and e-mail it to them, use this widget:

AARP 08 Video

Enter your name to see who can bring real change to Washington. First Name: Last Name:

Here's one for Big Tent Democrat. Go ahead, it takes about 5 seconds.

CNN's John King reported earlier the McCain campaign had decided to give up on Colorado to focus on Pennsylvania and other big states.

Watching my 10pm local news, McCain is denying it. The regional spokesman for the campaign says McCain will continue to fight for our 9 electoral vote. The station has confirmed that McCain intends to be here Friday.

Checking McCain's campaign schedule at his website tonight, there are no events listed after Wednesday, when he'll be in Ohio with Sarah Palin. Palin will stay in Ohio on Thursday, but no details are given for McCain. [More...]

The outgoing British director of public prosecutions warned his country against using technologies that erode freedom to create a "security state" in the name of combating terrorism.

Proposals to extend the storage and use of communications data, such as e-mails and mobile phone records, for security purposes are proving highly contentious. The government also faces continued opposition to its proposals on identity cards.

Sir Ken Macdonald also assured his fellow citizens that "special courts, vetted judges and all the other paraphernalia of paranoia" are an unnecessary response to terrorism. Successful terrorism prosecutions prove that the existing legal system capably addresses crimes of terror without sacrificing civil liberties.