Almost 400 undocumented workers, mostly from Guatemala, were arrested at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant near Waterloo, Iowa on May 12. Instead of following the customary practice of deporting them, the Justice Department decided to charge a large number with fraud for falsifying social security numbers in order to be hired. The result was assembly line justice:

During fast-paced hearings in May, 262 of the illegal immigrants pleaded guilty in one week and were sentenced to prison — most for five months ....

The immigrants were threatened with heavier identity theft charges and more time if they didn't promptly accept the government's deal. An interpreter who was horrified by the proceedings is now speaking out. [more ...]

Karl Rove did not appear today before the Congressional Committee that subpoenaed him to testify regarding its investigation into the politicization of the White House, including the Don Siegelman matter.

His lawyer, Robert Luskin, explains why here (pdf). While Rove didn't claim any personal privilege, Luskin notes the White House directed Rove not to appear. His letter includes a written letter from the White House dated yesterday and two memorandums from the Justice Department explaining why Rove, as a former close adviser to the President, cannot be compelled to answer questions about matters that arose during his tenure and relate to his official duties. Luskin says Rove is immune from compelled Congressional testimony.

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I've been in court all day so I'm ready for a new segment of America's Best Dance Crew on MTV tonight -- especially since Bachelorette Deanna and her snowboarder fiancee Jesse will be on. It starts at 8pm MT and repeats.

What are you watching tonight?

On the campaign trail this week, some sharp differences emerge (or reemerge) between candidates McCain and Obama.

Obama would require employers to expand family and medical leave, for example, while McCain said Thursday it should "be subject to negotiations between management and labor."

Negotiations between management and labor? What power do employees have to negotiate family leave rights? Does McCain assume that most employees belong to a union that can bargain collectively for them? This from the man who voted to block a Senate vote on the union-friendly Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that Obama co-sponsored.

On reproductive rights: [more ...]

Whether or not it makes sense to require eighth grade students to take algebra, as California will now do, the state's effort to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act raises a bigger issue. Sure, a basic understanding of science and math is useful, and exposure to those subjects (at least with good teachers) may encourage kids to explore fields that they didn't realize were of interest to them.

But as important as science and math may be, isn't it equally important for students to understand the basic structure of government and to have a fundamental grasp of the United States Constitution? Aren't children being left behind if they don't know that the Constitution protects rights and imposes limits upon governmental authority? What is the purpose of a law that focuses on "core" subjects like reading and math while neglecting a subject that is equally important to a functioning democracy: the workings of American government and the role that voters are supposed to play in shaping it?

Kevin Drum discusses Andrew Sullivan' reaction to the Obama kids doing an Access Hollywood interview. Personally, I have a hard enough time being a father to my own girls without taking time off to critique how anyone else is raising their own. But I was struck how Sullivan rates this and others issues in terms of importance:

A few things have unsettled me these past couple of weeks about the Obama campaign. It is not the small adjustments to previously-held positions - FISA, the Second Amendment, Iraq. It's a sense that Obama's ample self-regard is lapsing into hubris. The signs of this are pretty trivial on the surface, but they are troubling nonetheless.

That simulated faux-presidential seal was both tacky, silly and presumptive - a small version of "Mission Accomplished" Obama could well do without. The decision to give his acceptance speech in a stadium, rather than the traditional convention hall is also an unnecessary over-reach. . . . Lastly, I was gob-smacked by the Obamas' decision to include their children in a soft-focus TV interview.

(Emphasis supplied.) More . .

We never know what the future holds, but for the present, Senator Kennedy is still fighting the good fight.

Mr. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, flown in virtual secrecy to Washington, stirred the normally staid chamber to a rousing ovation and moved many colleagues to tears when he made a surprise appearance in the Senate in the late afternoon to break a Republican filibuster on a Medicare bill. ... Once it became clear that Democrats had the votes to push the bill through, Republican resistance collapsed and the procedural obstacle was cleared on a vote of 69 to 30.

You could call the appearance a profile in courage.

Mr. Dodd said that Mr. Kennedy’s medical team had cautioned against the visit but that Mr. Kennedy would not be deterred.

I join Jeralyn (who discussed the merits of this important bill yesterday) in saying: Thank you, Senator Kennedy.

President Bush will sign the new FISA bill into law today at a ceremony in the Rose Garden.

Just like when I watch the Bachelorette, I'm counting down to his final rose ceremony.

Hillary Clinton's campaign today announced the winner of their t-shirt contest.

(larger version here.)

I like it. The graphic is so Hillary. Especially the tiny heels. Every time I got to see her in person she was wearing shoes with those tiny heels. Go on over and buy one. It will help her retire her debt.

At Barack Obama's Unity Fundraiser in New York last night, filled with Hillary supporters who were being asked to contribute to his campaign, Obama finished his speech but forgot one thing: to ask them to contribute to retiring her debt. He stopped the music and returned to the stage to do his part.

Video here.

Your turn. Keep it civil.

This is an Open Thread.

Last night, on Countdown, Russ Feingold said we can fix it FISA if Barack Obama is elected President. Fine. Now here is what Obama can do now to help that happen.

Barack Obama can pledge, if he is elected President, to instruct his Administration to comply with FISA, as it existed prior to the passage of the Protect America Act and the most recent Amendment, passed yesterday. Barack Obama can pledge that in his Administration, the Executive Branch will comply with FISA (with the caveat that the one fix that was considered necessary, that telephone calls whose only nexus with the United States is the incidental passage of the communication through a United States based telecommunications node). Just because the Congress gutted FISA does not mean that an Obama Administration needs to act like the Bush Administration.

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