When Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party nomination for President at Invesco Field in Denver, 75,000 will be in attendance. Who are they and what can they do for Obama? He's got it all planned out and it's very clever. If it works, the Republicans may not know what hit them in November.

The campaign recognizes that people who live in battleground states will be more effective at persuading their neighbors than the traditional advertising campaigns, which is why it's important to send the masses who will be in Denver out with instructions and training to bring in votes.

....Enter the 75,000 people who will have to come hours early for Obama's acceptance speech to get through security, most carrying cell phones. As they settle in their seats, campaign aides will be on stage asking them to text message their friends and use call sheets to get people to register. "There will be a lot of idle time. We put idle people to work," Hildebrand said.

Now consider how one gets to be one of the 75,000 in attendance, considering only 5,000 are delegates and the press accounts for another 15,000, leaving 55,000 seats. [More...]

It's funny how police and prosecutors rarely take the word of anyone who has been arrested for a crime, unless they want to use that person to testify against someone else. The criminal who wants to buy his way out of a sentence is suddenly a model of rectitude, a sterling citizen who would never dream of lying.

Snitches who testify against someone else for personal gain -- whether freedom or money -- are unworthy of belief. Yet their testimony sends people to prison every day, or convinces judges to impose harsher sentences by (for instance) painting a street level dealer as a drug kingpin. After all, the "better" a snitch makes his information sound, the more valuable it becomes and the better deal he expects in return for snitching.

An excellent article by Christopher Moraff explains why the rat trap is sending innocent people to prison. [more ...]

The Nation is organizing a nice letter to Barack Obama asking him to be the progressive they believe him to be:

Dear Senator Obama,

We write to congratulate you on the tremendous achievements of your campaign for the presidency of the United States.

Your candidacy has inspired a wave of political enthusiasm like nothing seen in this country for decades. In your speeches, you have sketched out a vision of a better future--in which the United States sheds its warlike stance around the globe and focuses on diplomacy abroad and greater equality and freedom for its citizens at home--that has thrilled voters across the political spectrum. Hundreds of thousands of young people have entered the political process for the first time, African-American voters have rallied behind you, and many of those alienated from politics-as-usual have been re-engaged.

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Former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio can't be happy today. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Government's request for an en banc rehearing of his appeal. The three judge panel which initially heard the appeal threw out Nacchio's convictions because the trial court didn't allow his expert witness to testify. The Government sought review by the full court. Its petition is here(pdf).

Here's today's order (pdf), which specifies the topics they will be addressing at a September 24 hearing. The first relates to whether Nacchio had to ask the court before trial to hold a Daubert hearing and present the methodology of his expert at the hearing -- or demonstrate his expert's methodology some other way before trial, such as in a brief. Next the appeals court will address whether the trial judge failed to give Nacchio the opportunity to do either. [More...]

Resolving a 25 year inability to just get along, Cheech and Chong, recognizing they aren't getting any younger, are going to reunite and go on tour with a comedy show, called "Hey, What's That Smell?" Details will be announced this afternoon.

Says Cheech Marin:

Marin said he thinks dope humor can be as funny today as it was back in the '70s.

"I think it's time for a revival of dope jokes. It's a much bigger audience now, it's much more widespread and institutionalized," he said in an interview earlier this month.

I hope someone books them for Denver the week of the Convention. The Dems could use some prodding about the need to reform our marijuana laws.

Here's my 90 second video interview of Tommy Chong at Owl Farm last year, with Jimmy Ibbotson (formerly of the Nitty Gritty Dirt band) singing in the background.)

So John McCain is being bashed for his mendacious ad about Obama not visiting the troops because he could not bring cameras. Whoop dee doo. The problem is for three days that ad got run on free media. Dirty politics works and McCain has now shown who will go as far down in the gutter as it takes.

And why not? Dirty politics works. The Gallup tracker now has a once 9 point gap Obama held down to 4. Rassmussen has its Obama 7 point gap down to 2. Three guesses how that happened.

Keep waiting for the "new" politics and see where it gets you. Here is where Obama has lost his way - not in the positive side of his campaign, that's worked well. It is in his negative branding, or lack there of. When is the last time you have heard the Obama campaign use the words Bush and McCain together? This ain't rocket science. If the Obama campaign is not saying "Bush's third term" half the day, it is not doing its job. That's politics folks. Wishing won't make it not so.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Via the ACLU (link will be up here shortly):

In a brief filed late yesterday with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the Bush administration asked that any review of the new warrantless surveillance law be kept secret and that the court refuse to accept legal briefs from anyone other than the Justice Department itself. The government is responding to a motion the American Civil Liberties Union filed earlier this month asking the FISC to ensure that any proceedings relating to the scope, meaning or constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) be open to the public to the extent possible.

As to the lack of transparency the Bush Administration is seeking, the ACLU says: [More...}

The House Judiciary Committee today voted to hold Karl Rove in contempt for failing to comply with its subpoena. Here's Rep. John Conyers report (pdf) to the Committee. Marcy at Empty Wheel has analysis.

Trapper John has an interesting post on how Barack Obama MIGHT be approaching his VP choice. Trapper's bottom line? Obama will choose the "do no harm" option. I suspect that is the thinking in the Obama camp and likely the McCain camp (though clearly McCain will be more likely to take a risk for some upside). Here's the problem I see with Trapper's analysis - it is impossible for any choice to not do some harm.

I know they do not like to hear this at daily kos, but the day Obama announces his VP and it is not Hillary Clinton, that will cause Obama harm. It may be unfair, it may be wrong, but it is a fact. (My own view is that picking Hillary Clinton clearly remains the best choice for Obama, both on the positive and negative side. Clinton's supporters will be energized, her fundraisers will work their heart out, the Clinton brand will help with voters on the issue of the economy, she has become a first rate campaigner, etc. But he will not pick her for reasons only Obama can and will have to explain.)

More . . .

The Nation's Chris Hayes's article on Move On has sparked a healthy debate on what exactly Move On is doing and whether it is effective. John Stauber critiques:

[Move On is] an important organization that is tremendously successful as a fundraiser, cheerleader and marketer for liberal Democratic causes, MoveOn. I have praise for MoveOn in what they have accomplished, but their limitations are becoming more and more glaring and in the case of the continued Democratic funding of the war in Iraq, problematic.

I criticize MoveOn for what they are not doing, and that is empowering a bottom-up, democratic, progressive movement for fundamental social and political change. I am certainly not trying to reform MoveOn, that would be impossible because they are a tightly controlled organization and there is no access from the outside to change their modus operandi. Rather, I think we all should learn from MoveOn and focus on how we can use the MoveOn style, which has now been copied by thousands of groups and candidates, to actually empower a movement.

Matt Stoller defends Move On:

Use your website or social networking page to take a stand for human rights. Sign up to be a part of Amnesty International's day of protest tomorrow against internet censorship in China.

Stand up against Internet censorship in China by registering your page as part of the online the Day of Protest. On the 10 day countdown to the Beijing Olympics (July 30), we will demonstrate our solidarity with netizens in China and strengthen our call on major internet companies to uphold human rights through ‘occupying’ as many online spaces as possible.

More...

Sen. Hillary Clinton is having a contest. For a $5.00 contribution to help her retire her campaign debt, you will be entered. The winner gets dinner with Hillary.

If you are a Democrat or were a Hillary supporter during the primaries, I hope you'll help her out.