Joseph Tydings is a former U.S. senator from Maryland. As a former U.S. attorney and as a private lawyer, he has prosecuted and defended death penalty cases. Tydings therefore has credibility when he argues that the risk of executing the innocent is simply too great.

As pro bono counsel, I unsuccessfully litigated a Virginia appeal of a mentally retarded minor who had been convicted and sentenced to death for a crime that I firmly believe he didn't commit, because his court-appointed attorney didn't want to represent him and was basically worthless as his lawyer. After seven years, the Virginia governor ultimately lacked the courage to stay the sentence, and my client was executed.

Given the 129 people who were sentenced to death and who managed to establish their innocence before being executed, death penalty supporters are fooling themselves if they believe the criminal justice system is so flawless that the innocent will never be executed. [more ...]

Apparently "anybody's short list" does not include Barack Obama's:

Obama has often said, most recently on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on July 27, that Clinton “would be on anybody’s short list.” But apparently not his.

“She was never vetted,” a Democratic official reported. “She was not asked for a single piece of paper. She and Senator Obama have never had a single conversation about it. How would he know if she’d take it?” The official also said Clinton never met with Obama’s vetting team of Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy. . . . “This would be the biggest leap of faith ever,” the official said. “She’s waiting for the text message like everyone else.”

By Big Tent Democrat, Speaking for me only.

Comments closed

The good news about the house hunting story is Obama demonstrated that he is willing to use silly stuff to attack McCain. Yep, politics is stupid. The other good news is that we have a new definition of "the new politics":

The new politics is about competent governance, not getting elected, and taking accurate statements made by your opponent (in this case, their own admission they do not know how many houses they own) and highlighting them is not ceding the high ground. It is politics.

(Emphasis supplied.) Glad we finally got that straight. So much for the "say or do anything to win" attack line and the clinging to the attendant outrage about taking "accurate statements made by your opponent and highlighting them." That silly stuff really annoyed me. I am glad we are over that now.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

It's 10:30 am. Do you know where the Democratic Vice Presidential nominee is?

This is an Open Thread.

Post Script - Kevin Drum has moved to Mother Jones. As readers here know, I take an especial delight in disagreeing with Kevin, but he is a must read for all of us. Kevin has the quality of being able to intelligently discuss an issue without suffering from what I call "take out the cork syndrome." It comes from one of my favorite books, Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum":

For anyone who did not know that the Piedmontese expression, he would occasionally explain: "Me gavte la nata. Take out the cork." You say it to someone who is full of himself, the idea being that what causes him to swell and strut is the pressure of a cork stuck in his behind. Remove it and, phssssh, he returns to the human condition.

Comments closed.

As we await Sen. Obama's choice of a running mate, I'm humming the Shirelles and "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"

This is an open thread.

John Amato at Crooks and Liars, who didn't take a position during the primary, tonight makes the case for Hillary as Obama's vice presidential candidate.

Do Biden, Bayh, Kaine or any other pick left standing represent his “change narrative?” No, because Obama is the narrative. He brings the change. He won the primary. Of course there are those that feel much differently. I’m just offering my thoughts. Many of my C&L writers don’t agree with me either. The blogosphere should be the place that we discuss these issues. There are so many undecided voters that I bet many of them are Hillary supporters. In my opinion her nomination would send a jolt of electricity throughout the country and into Denver.

I agree with John that Hillary vastly improves Obama's chances of getting elected because she will bring voters from the critical, not the tiny, swing states like Ohio and Florida. Even Pennsylvania isn't a lock for Obama.

Obama seems to be using his caucus state stratgy from the primaries -- going after little states -- to win the general election, and as I've opined many times, I think it's the wrong strategy. We need Ohio, PA, FL and MI. Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Virginia pale by comparison.[More..]

Update: What a difference an hour makes. The Rocky Mountain News just updated its article to say a compromise is trying to be worked out that will allow Public Enemy to play at a concert in Denver.

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Public Enemy Won't Play at DNC Protest Event

Earlier reports that Public Enemy will play at a Recreate '68 protest event during the Denver National Convention are false. [More...]

Sen. Barack Obama has made his VP choice. While he won't say when he's going to text it out, here's how he describes him:

Obama said he wanted somebody who is "prepared to be president" and who will be "a partner with me in strengthening this economy for the middle class and working families."

He said he was looking for not just a partner but a sparring partner. "I want somebody who's independent, somebody who can push against my preconceived notions and challenge me so we have got a robust debate in the White House."

So, who is it? [Update: Another Obama clue below:

Here's a shocker:

A voting system used in 34 states contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point, the manufacturer acknowledges.

You knew it was Diebold (now known as Premier Election Solutions), right?

NOTE - this post is Obama's fault because he did not announce his VP today.

Kos quoting a WaPo blogger:

If Obama's campaign had planned to roll out their vice presidential pick at any point today, that announcement is likely to be put on hold. Why? The campaign believes the story about McCain's many houses is political gold and they won't want to step on it with a veep announcement that would immediately change the day's storyline.

Actually, it does not make sense to me. Unless, all the Obama camp will be doing tomorrow re: the VP is the text message, which I find impossible to believe. The VP rollout requires an event - where the Presidential candidate and the Vice Presidential candidate appear together. That will happen tomorrow obviously and that clearly was the plan throughout. Which, btw, leads me to linking to poblano making a good point again:

My first video on my new Flip TV Mino is of Dr. Linda Shapiro of ProActive Health in Denver. Dr. Shapiro is an M.D. and a Ph.D, and an expert in nutrition and fitness.

The topic: How to maintain stamina and your diet while in Denver for the Democratic National Convention.

Note on the audio: My voice came out so much louder than Dr. Shapiro's. I tried to adjust the audio in editing, and was mostly successful except for the last five seconds when it sounds like I'm shouting. Oh well, hopefully I'll improve during the week to come.

This is an open thread.

Texas has not yet killed Jeffery Lee Wood. Nor should it.

Jeffery Lee Wood, 35, "has never taken a human life by his own hands," and "was outside the building in a car at the time of the murder," his attorneys said in a statement.

Daniel Reneau killed a store manager during a robbery. Texas has already executed Reneau. Wood was Reneau's accomplice in the robbery, but he didn't kill anyone. His moral responsibility for the murder is also diminished if, as Wood's lawyers argue, "his longstanding mental illness ... allowed him to be easily manipulated by the principal actor, Daniel Reneau."

A court may never agree to revisit the decision that Wood deserves the death penalty. At least Wood will not die today, as scheduled, thanks to a federal judge who stayed the execution in response to concerns that Wood is not mentally competent to be executed. [more ...]