The military judge presiding over the trial of accused "9/11 mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has ordered he and five other detainees be provided battery power in their cells 12 hours a day to use their laptops and prepare for trial. They won't be allowed to use the internet. The opinion is here (pdf).

The Government is seeking death for Mohammed. The Military Commissions Procedures are not fair, and the trial won't be fair, but to deny the accused the opportunity to adequately review the evidence against him would be completely unacceptable.

Guantanamo has eroded our reputation in the world. It should be closed. Those accused of crimes should be tried either in our federal courts, an international tribunal or under the Military Code of Justice. Providing laptops with discovery is a crumb that won't cure the problem.

I don't like the economic stimulus plans of either the Government or the candidates. With the October 15 deadline for filing our 2007 tax returns a few days away, I've been focused on tax issues. Here's what I would propose for next year.

• Something similar to the donation boxes for social causes on our tax returns, whereby we could specify an amount up to $10,000 of the taxes we are paying and fill in details of our credit card accounts, and the government would send that amount to the credit card companies and our debt would be reduced. This would give the credit card companies money so they could extend more credit and give consumers more money to spend.

• A moratorium on credit card interest for 180 days. The moratorium on home foreclosures is a great idea for those whose homes are at risk, but it does nothing for renters or homeowners who are current on their mortgages. It's only fair to give everyone a break.

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I honestly have never seen anything this bizarre:

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The complete text, via Sargent, is on the flip. Two things stood out for me. First, the 90 day moratorium on mortgage foreclosures. This was first proposed by Hillary Clinton in December 2007, when she also proposed a temporary interest rate freeze. If my memory serves, Obama agreed with the idea at the time.

The second thing that strikes me is that there is no HOLC in Obama's plans. It seems to be up to Congress folks who care about HOLC who will have to make Obama do it. It seems to not be in his plans. The complete text of the speech on the flip.

Today was a good day on Wall Street as the Dow gained over 900 points and 11% in value:

The markets made a comeback on Monday. Last week’s stock sell-off gave way to a big rally, with the Dow Jones industrial average having its largest-ever point gain. The surge came as countries around the world took steps to ease the financial crisis, ushering in a drastic reshaping of the banking industry even as doubts lingered about its long-term effects.

. . . At the close, the blue-chip index was up more than 935 points or 11.1 percent. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index surged 11.6 percent and the Nasdaq was up about the same. Stocks in Paris and Frankfurt had their biggest one-day gains ever. The rallies came after central banks flooded the financial system with billions of dollars in liquidity, throwing out the traditional financial playbook in favor of a series of moves that officials hoped would get banks lending again.

Hard to say if this has turned the corner on the crisis. Credit markets were NOT open today. And hard times are clearly ahead for the economy. Recovering a third of your loss is not exactly champagne time. More . .

So this 2005 Powerline quote on Krugman is making the rounds:

It must be depressing to be Paul Krugman. No matter how well the economy performs, Krugman’s bitter vendetta against the Bush administration requires him to hunt for the black lining in a sky full of silvery clouds. With the economy now booming, what can Krugman possibly have to complain about? In today’s column, titled That Hissing Sound, Krugman says there is a housing bubble, and it’s about to burst. . .

I use John Cole's cite because he has the decency to add "[c]onsidering my recent past (at least up until mid 2005), I am not really in a position to get all high and mighty . . ." Indeed. Now, I guess it is bad form to talk about Andrew Sullivan's joining up with Donald Luskin in their anti-Krugman crusade for so many years. It seems to me Andrew would be well served to acknowledge his errors and disavow Luskin, once and for all. He could cite this rant from Luskin on Krugman's Nobel prize:

I scanned Andrew Sullivan's blog to see if he had mentioned Paul Krugman winning the Nobel Prize for Economics. He hasn't. But, after championing Donald Luskin and being, in Luskin's words, a "Krugman Truth Squad senior member," Andrew Sullivan would like you to forget he wrote outrageously stupid things about Paul Krugman (and about everything else.) Now of course, Sully hates Bush, hates Republicans, hates the Right, hates the Clintons (oh wait, he always did that) - so he is now a "Charter Member of the Left blogosphere." I personally won't forget what he wrote about Krugman and other things, even though clearly others are willing to forget (and forgive?)

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They predicted snow for Denver today but it's a gorgeous fall day so I'm going to take advantage of it.

For those of you online, here's an open thread.

Via Todd Beeton, I take my opportunity to associate myself with the remarks of a Nobel Prize winner:

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Both candidates ended up running some version of a turn out the base election. It just so happens that this year the Democratic base is much bigger than the Republican base.

. . . PAUL KRUGMAN: I was critical of Obama early on for this notion that we were going to be bi-partisan, it wasn't going to happen...

STEPHANOPOULOS: You wanted a base election...

KRUGMAN: ...and here it is.

Indeed, here it is. Events have provided Barack Obama with the opportunity for a progressive mandate. Let's hope he takes that opportunity.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

With 3 weeks to go, the polls have all switched to a LV (likely voter) model. It is important to understand the each organization has its own likely voter model. Gallup invented its famous one (the 5 questions) and, as far as I know, has not varied it much. As a result, Gallup LV polling has been subject to wild fluctuations. By contrast, Rasmussen (and others, R2000 for one, I think) on the other hand, has switched to a party ID likely voter model and is more stable. And of course each polling outfit has its own general house biases and flaws. (One misconception to be addressed here is about the Bradley Effect. That turns up, for the most degree and if at all, in exit polls, not in pre-election polling.) Later I will round up some old posts from 2004 on the LV model controversies. But for now, let's look at the polling 3 weeks out.

DKos/R2000 has Obama up 12, 52-40. WaPo/ABC has Obama up 10, 53-43. Gallup's new LV polling has Obama up 6, 51-45 (or 4, 50-46, using their 2004 model.) Hotline has Obama up 8, 49-41. Battleground has Obama up 8, 51-43. Ras has Obama up 5, 50-45.

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NYTimes:

The American economist Paul R. Krugman won the Nobel economics prize on Monday for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity. Mr. Krugman, 55, a professor at Princeton University in New Jersey and a columnist for The New York Times, formulated a new theory to answer questions about free trade, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

“What are the effects of free trade and globalization? What are the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization? Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer these questions,” the academy said in its citation.

In his spare time, Krugman has become the most important progressive opinion writer in the country. Congratulations to Professor Krugman.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Here's William Kristol's prescription for the McCain campaign:

What McCain needs to do is junk the whole thing and start over.

Right. Because junking the campaign and starting over three weeks before the election is a perfect way for McCain to counter the charge that he's erratic.

Kristol also wants McCain to run "as a cheerful, open and accessible candidate." Because that cheery smile (a/k/a forced grimace) is what will win the election for McCain.