Our earlier open thread is full, and it seems like people have a lot to vent about today. Here's another thread, all topics welcome, just please keep it civil.

A federal judge in Washington today ruled against former Bush White House Counsel Harriet Miers and former White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolton in a lawsuit filed by the House Judiciary Committee. (See also, Dan Froomkin on the White House Immune Deficiency and Marcy Wheeler).

The Committee subpoenaed Ms. Miers to testify in the U.S. Attorney firing scandal. It also subpoenaed He a privilege log from Mr. Bolton. At the direction of President Bush, Miers and Bolton claimed that presidential aides are immune from congressional subpoenas based on principles of separation of powers and presidential autonomy.

The Court today ruled for the Judiciary Committee and rejected the immunity claim. The 93 page opinion is here.

The decision did not address Miers' and Boltons' claims of executive privilege, only immunity.[More...]

This is a follow-up to my post last night on why I think the Obama campaign is floating Tim Kaine as a smokescreen in the Veepstakes and the frontrunner is Kathleen Sebelius.

Here's the latest veep sweepstakes numbers from 538.com. Law Prof Michael Froomkin at Discourse.Net says the Bayh numbers may be misleading. Froomkin thinks, as do I, that Sebelius may get the nod from Obama.

Why does Obama need Kaine as a smokescreen? To make Sebelius more palatable to Hillary supporters who will be more than a bit upset at his choosing a woman other than Hillary. [More...]:

The new Quinnipiac polls for Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania are mostly encouraging for John McCain. How can that be? you might ask. McCain trails in all 3 states according to Q. Here's why - Barack Obama has lost ground in these 3 states.

First of all, I do not believe Obama is leading in Florida. In fact, since he is not going to pick Hillary Clinton, I do not think he has a chance in Florida. The crosstabs tell the tale in my opinion. Two key numbers - Obama leads with women NOW 47-42 (not enough, McCain will win men by more than the 47-45 the Q poll is showing.) He will lose women, especially in South Florida, when he does not pick Hillary. McCain leads with white voters 53-39. He will lead by more than that come November, especially if he does not pick Hillary. Obama will not win Florida. More . . .

I've got nothing for you yet. So tell me what is going on.

I just spent two hours writing up a theory that came to me at midnight. The gist is that Sen. Barack Obama, by leaking to the mainstream media that Hillary is not on his shortlist while not discouraging talk about Virgina Gov. Tim Kaine, is manipulating a planned succession of leaks.

Obama has hit his truth in advertising wall: He's got to show he's the progressive candidate for real change because that is how he sold himself to American voters. He's committed to expending untold sums of money to go after unregistered voters in the swing states -- the young, minorities and others who firmly believe he represents change. If his VP choice doesn't also embody change from politics as usual in Washington, he becomes reduced to spouting just words about change, which in turn gives him an electability problem. [More...]

The group Vote Both is shutting down:

The two former Clinton staffers who started the group Vote Both say Obama's decision to offer Clinton a prime-time speaking role at the Democratic Party nominating convention and other signals suggest Obama will not chose her.

"Because it seems that Senator Obama has made his decision to offer the slot on the ticket to another candidate, we believe that continuing to ask him to pick Hillary is no longer helpful to our party's chances of winning in November," Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Arora wrote in an e-mail they planned to send Thursday to the 40,000-plus supporters who signed onto their online petition.

Hillary is likely to speak on the second night of the convention, August 26, which is the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving the women the right to vote. Here's my recap of what it was when she spoke at the 2004 convention in Boston.

Obama's acceptance speech is on August 28, which is the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I have a Dream" Speech, which by the way, included this line:

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Update: Lanny Davis makes a final pitch for Hillary -- like a last chance college try. Too late I think.

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.

[MORE . . .]

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.)