Borrowing from the Bush Administration's "preemptive war" playbook, police agencies in the Twin Cities made "preemptive strikes" against organizations planning to protest at the Republican National Convention.

Ramsey County authorities conducted raids across Minneapolis and St. Paul Friday and Saturday .... Five people were arrested and more than 100 were handcuffed, questioned and released by scores of deputies and police officers, according to police and elected officials familiar with the raids.

The police continue to be obsessed with groups that came to town to monitor police misconduct. [more ...]

The Florida Gators stomped the Rainbows Warriors of Hawaii 56-10. Michigan lost its home opener for the second year in a row, this time to Utah, 25-23. It was a good day.

This is an Open Thread.

Georgia10 plays, citing this article:

"I think [Sarah Palin] is the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history," said presidential historian Matthew Dallek.

That may well be. But isn't it true that a presidential historian could ALSO say, if asked:

I think Barack Obama is the most inexperienced person on the top of a major party ticket in modern history.

There is a reason Abraham Lincoln is invoked by Obama supporters, as Al Gore did, because you have to go back to Lincoln to find a Presidential candidate with less experience than Obama. I have consistently stated my view that experience is incredibly overrated. For a long time, I thought Obama supporters agreed with me. Seems not.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Hands-down, my favorite hangout during the Democratic National Convention was Brooklyn's, across the street from the Pepsi Center and comandeered for the week by CNN which recast it as the CNN Grill.

First, it's an excellent and inviting space, with great light, huge ceilings and many different kinds of seating. In addition to stools that run the length of the ample bar, there are also both bar and regular height tables and booths. The outside patio was roomy and festive. At night, crowds gathered round to watch the big tv's. [More...]

An episode of 48 Hours Mystery airing tonight on CBS will explore Michael Skakel's conviction of murder in the death of his neighbor Martha Moxley.

A new one-hour episode of 48 Hours Mystery will focus on a videotaped deposition by Skakel's ex-classmate at Brunswick School, Gitano "Tony" Bryant, in which he claims two Bronx, N.Y., teens confessed to him that they killed Moxley, as well as Skakel's two pending legal appeals to reverse his conviction.

TalkLeft's coverage of the Skakel case is collected here.

We can't expect a rousing acceptance speech from John McCain, so the GOP will have to look elsewhere for adrenaline. Bobby Jindal would have provided the fresh face that the moribund party needs, but the governor is intelligently staying home to preside over Louisiana's response to Hurricane Gustav.

Gustav is gaining strength and is on track to make landfall Tuesday, three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and caused more than 1,500 deaths along the Gulf Coast. Just where Hurricane Gustaf will make landfall is uncertain, but if it stays on its projected path, it will hit the central coast of Louisiana.

President Bush has already declared Louisiana a state of emergency. Now that Louisiana has a popular Republican governor in an election year, it has the president's attention. Whether his administration will be any more helpful (or competent) this time remains to be seen.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has appointed one justice to the Alaska Supreme Court: Daniel Winfree. Here's part of her statement on his appointment.(US States News November 16, 2007.)

Winfree, 54, was born in Fairbanks. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 1977 and both a law degree and a master's degree in business administration from the University of California in 1981.

He worked for Perkins, Coie law office in Anchorage 1982-85, then opened his own law office in Valdez, practicing there from 1985-90. Winfree returned to Fairbanks to open a legal partnership, Winfree and Hompesch, which he closed in 1996 in favor of the Winfree Law office, which he has operated in Fairbanks since 1996 as a six-attorney private law office.

More....

Here's more of the repsonses Sarah Palin provided the Anchorage Daily News in October, 2006 when running for Governor (Anchorage Daily News, October 22, 2006, via Lexis.com):

8. Would you introduce - or, if introduced by a legislator, would you support - a bill to adopt the death penalty in Alaska? If yes, which crimes should it apply to?

If the Legislature were to pass a bill that established a death penalty on adults who murder children, I would sign it.

6. If Roe v. Wade were overturned and states could once again prohibit abortion, in your view, to what extent should abortion be prohibited in Alaska?

Under this hypothetical scenario, it would not be up to the governor to unilaterally ban anything. It would be up to the people of Alaska to discuss and decide how we would like our society to reflect our values.

More...

Jeralyn's summary of Gov. Palin's policy positions should please the most extreme members of the GOP. She is a model of intolerance; a model Republican.

It's interesting that she admits smoking pot. Is the new Republican strategy to admit the commission of crimes that the Republican Party would like to see vigorously enforced against everyone else? If "trying" pot has become so socially acceptable that a Republican candidate for VP can admit her criminal behavior, shouldn't Palin support the federal decriminalization of marijuana? Given her reliance on state law as a mitigating argument, shouldn't Palin oppose the Justice Department's interference with rights granted by California's medical marijuana laws?

Maybe those are her views. If she's not on record, it would make a good debate question. (Biden, unfortunately, might resort to his longstanding War on Crime stance with an equally disappointing answer.)

When running for Governor in 2006, Sarah Palin was interviewed by the Anchorage Daily News. Among her dislosures: She tried pot but didn't like it and opposed civil unions as well as gay marriage and abortion. Quotes below:

Palin doesn't support legalizing marijuana, worrying about the message it would send to her four kids. But when it comes to cracking down on drugs, she says methamphetamines are the greater threat and should have a higher priority.

Palin said she has smoked marijuana -- remember, it was legal under state law, she said, even if illegal under U.S. law -- but says she didn't like it and doesn't smoke it now. "I can't claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled."

On gay rights: [More...]

Hillary Clinton gave the Democrats' weekly radio address today.

Hillary on John McCain:

"John McCain doesn't think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security and he's promised tax breaks for the biggest corporations instead of middle-class families. And in 2008, he still thinks it's OK that women aren't earning equal pay for equal work."

On why the presidential election matters: [more ...]

For me, Saturday means college football. And today the Florida Gators open their season hosting the Rainbow Warriors (I do not care what June Jones said) of Hawaii at 12:30. LSU moved up its game in Baton Rouge with Appalachian State to 11 this morning because of Gustav's approach.

What game, if any, will you be focused on?

This is an Open Thread.