Civilian oversight of police departments isn't always a useful mechanism for ridding a department of bad cops. Superintendents in the Chicago Police Department asked the Chicago Police Board to fire 80 officers between 2003 and 2007. The nine member board, appointed by the mayor, dismissed just 21 of them.

Some of the board's decisions are difficult to understand. Officer Gerald Callahan, an alcoholic and manic depressive, cost the city $15,000 after he handcuffed a bartender who refused to serve him. By itself, that incident and the settlement it provoked might have warranted discipline short of discharge. But when Callahan got out of rehab and was about to return to work, supervisors smelled alcohol on his breath. He became abusive when they asked him to submit to a breathalyzer. Callahan had been suspended twice before. How many chances does he deserve? Yet the Police Board decided he deserved yet another suspension, not termination.

[more ...]

After Maryland failed to pass a bill that would have abolished capital punishment in that state, the state legislature created a commission to "study all aspects of capital punishment as currently and historically administered in the state" and to "make recommendations concerning the application and administration of capital punishment in the state so that they are free from bias and error and achieve fairness and accuracy." The commission has held four public hearings. The latest hearing focused on the risk of a wrongful conviction leading to a wrongful execution.

A member of the commission, Kirk Bloodsworth, has unusual insight into the problem of wrongful convictions. He spent 8 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit. Also testifying was Michael Austin, who spent 27 years behind bars for murder before he was exonerated. [More ...]

This is silly. Atrios writes:

Oprah

After all these years I still get surprised at the fact that every single bit of pointless right wing manufactured horsesh!t becomes part of our elite media conversation.

Atrios links to Media Matters complaining that Tom Brokaw incorrectly stated that Oprah hosted Obama after he announced his Presidential candidacy. Of course Oprah did much more than that, she endorsed and campaigned for Obama. And this was a big Media story at the time. It is disingenuous to now pretend Oprah is not a big story this campaign season. Oprah has a perfect right to act in a partisan way, but please stop with the whining when that is pointed out. Oprah injected herself into the political campaign. And now she has to take her lumps for it, as would any other media figure who did what Oprah has done. More . .

The New York Times reports that news organizations applied pressure and the McCain campaign has agreed to make Gov. Sarah Palin available to ABC for an interview.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

CNN reports that John McCain said he'd include Democrats in his cabinet. Since Sen. Barack Obama said the same about Republicans months ago, there's no story there. (Unless it that's McCain gives us Joe Lieberman, hardly something to write home about.)

But, this quote is curious: [More...]

Andrew Cohen of CBS writes of two criminal cases that begin this week. One, the Las Vegas trial of O.J. Simpson, is high profile and will garner the attention, while the other, the scheduled Texecution of Charles Dean Hood, has far more national significance.

TChris and my earlier coverage of Charles Dean Hood is here, here and here.

Via Mahablog, the Wall St. Journal reports on one of Gov. Sarah Palin's projects as Mayor of Wasilia, Alaska.

The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin’s legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla. (my emphasis.)

On a lighter note, check out the Facebook groups against Sarah Palin. The group called "I Have More Foreign Policy Experience Than Sarah Palin" has over 41,000 members. (You have to be a Facebook member to view it.)

Also check out Alaska Blogger Mudflats who is writing a lot on Palin.

Newsweek has a five page online article examining Sarah Palin's life and career. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but this paragraph on the front page caught my attention and gets it quite right in my view:

A reformer, she faces allegations of exerting improper influence in city and state government. A self-styled regular Red State gal, she is relentlessly driven, a politician of epic ambition who is running against a Washington establishment that, if elected, she will inevitably join, and even rule over.

The election is six weeks away. For those of you who are tired of discussion of Sarah Palin, while we will continue to write about other matters during this period, the election will be the focus. It's that important to our country. Keep in mind there are more than 20 posts a day on TalkLeft. You can either use an rss feeder to spot the non-election coverage and not have to scroll through the election posts or return after the election.

The LA Times reports today that McCain's blatant attempt to target working class women voters with his choice of Sarah Palin to be vice president isn't convincing many of them.

For many of these critical swing voters, economic interests trump any admiration of the Alaska governor's maternal grit, and some are repelled by her sarcastic jabs at Obama.

As one woman put it:

"I wanted Hillary to win so bad, but I saw Sarah, and it just didn't work for me," said Heckman, taking a break in the empty courtyard of J. Paul's restaurant in a downtown struggling to revive. "I have no retirement. Obama understands it's the economy. He knows how we live."

[More...]

Time to panic!! Just kidding, but McCain has jumped ahead in the Gallup tracker with his convention bounce:

The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update shows John McCain moving ahead of Barack Obama, 48% to 45%, when registered voters are asked for whom they would vote if the presidential election were held today. These results are based on Sept. 4-6 interviewing, and include two full days of polling after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention last Thursday night. McCain has outpolled Obama on both Friday and Saturday, and is receiving a convention bounce just as Obama did last week.

Personally, I think the Media and Democratic surrogates have done McCain a great favor by aiming all their fire on Sarah Palin. Time to get back to the McCain/Palin = Bush's Third Term message. It's been lost for more than a week.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

As I've mentioned, I covered the McCain/Palin rally in Colorado Springs yesterday for Salon.com. My report is now up on their site, McCain and Palin Go to Dobsonville. The gist:

Fresh from the GOP convention, John McCain brings his Christian fundamentalist running mate to Christian fundamentalist headquarters –- but doesn't mention abortion or gay marriage.

Not surprisingly, it focuses on aspects much of the mainstream media coverage missed or ignored. Until I saw this CBS report, I was beginning to wonder whether I had attended a different event.

ABC has an article about rock stars telling McCain/Palin to stop using their music at campaign events. Jackson Browne and Heart are among them.

I heard another group yesterday blaring from the speakers at one point during the Colorado Springs event, held in a jet aviation hangar and on the tarmac: The B-52's.