At this point, unless a judicial nominee is completely uncontroversial, there's no reason for the Senate Judiciary Committee even to consider a potential judge chosen by President Bush. Michael O’Neill, who is proud to have helped some of the president's more contentious nominees achieve confirmation, would be controversial even in the absence of questions about his ethics as a scholar:

Last year, a peer-reviewed legal journal, the Supreme Court Economic Review, issued a retraction of an article by Mr. O’Neill in 2004. “Substantial portions” of the article, the editors wrote, were “appropriated without attribution” from a book review by another law professor. In addition, at least four articles by Mr. O’Neill in other publications contain passages that appear to have been lifted from other scholars’ works without quotation marks or attribution.

Long passages in the 2004 article are virtually identical to the book review, which was published in 2000 in the Virginia Law Review and was written by Anne C. Dailey, a law professor at the University of Connecticut. [emphasis added]

Accusations of plagarism do not trouble the president. Nor do they bother Sen. Arlen Specter, who argues that "a mistake ... ought not negate an extraordinary record of public service." Putting aside the senator's definition of "extraordinary," it's hard to believe that five separate instances of lifting another writer's work without attribution can reasonably be characterized as a mere "mistake." [more ...]

What Bowers Said:

According to Rasmussen, that CW is mirrored by the shifting perceptions of the general public, who view Obama as less liberal than they did one month ago. . . . So, now that Obama is perceived as moving to the center, while McCain is still perceived as conservative, Obama's poll numbers should improve, right? Wrong. According to the daily tracking poll from the same polling firm, Rasmussen, the campaign has not changed at all as a result of Obama being perceived as less liberal.

I will go one step further. Ras does not publish crosstabs, but I would bet dollars to donuts that most of the folks who now perceive Obama as "less liberal" are liberals themselves. It seems to me all Obama has accomplished with his "move to the middle" is anger the Dem base, created a "flip flopper" meme and changed the terms of the debate to one where the Dem position is the "Far Left" one. So Obama has ceded important ground on issues and gotten no help at all (indeed, it likely will hurt him in the longer run) politically. Hell of a move there Obama campaign.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Comments now closed.

Today Tomorrow the Democrats in DC, led by the nominee of the party, will capitulate to the 23% approval rating Bush led GOP on FISA. The NYTimes Ed Board writes:

Congress has been far too compliant as President Bush undermined the Bill of Rights and the balance of powers. It now has a chance to undo some of that damage — if it has the courage and good sense to stand up to the White House and for the Constitution. The Senate should reject a bill this week that would needlessly expand the government’s ability to spy on Americans and ensure that the country never learns the full extent of President Bush’s unlawful wiretapping. The bill dangerously weakens the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

More...

Fred Hiatt gives the Left a lesson on how to keep your eye on the issues you care about and not fully focus on the fate of the candidates. There is nothing Hiatt cares about more than continuing the Iraq Debacle. Nothing. Barack Obama's weeks of "moving to the middle" coupled with his inartful use of the word "refine" in reference to his Iraq policy has given Hiatt his opening. Writing for the WaPo Ed Board, Hiatt states:

BARACK OBAMA has taken a small but important step toward adjusting his outdated position on Iraq to the military and strategic realities of the war he may inherit. . . . Mr. Obama's shift came when he was asked last week about his withdrawal plan, which he first proposed in late 2006, a time when Iraq appeared to be sliding into a sectarian civil war. . . . As we see it, [Obama's shift is] a modest but real step toward a responsible position on a conflict that, like it or not, involves vital U.S. interests.

Maybe this is what Obama intends - a wink towards the Hiatts of the world on Iraq. Maybe not. In either event, Hiatt saw his opportunity and he took it. And the debate on Iraq policy has shifted. More . . .

This is all you need to know about John McCain's stance on disability rights:

A wheel-chair bound woman asked McCain about the Community Choice Act, a piece of legislation for disabled Americans that would give individuals greater freedom on where to live. “What that would do is it would end the institutional bias,” the questioner said, then asked him if he would consider supporting it.

“I will not,” McCain responded, “because I don’t think it’s the right kind of legislation.” A trio of people in wheelchairs left the room shortly after his response.

It's not "the right kind of legislation" because it would actually be useful. The Wall Street Journal response, naturally enough, is not to criticize McCain's position, or even to suggest that it might merit criticism, but to applaud his "straight talk."

Since I'll be awol this evening-- see post below -- here's an open thread for you.

All topics welcome, but please remember the site rules.

I can tell this is going to be one of those threads where no one cares to discuss my topic. That's okay, it has nothing to do with politics or crime. But I'm writing about it anyway.

Tonight is the final episode of The Bachelorette where Deanna picks between Colorado snowboarder Jesse Csincsak and Seattle single dad Jason Mesnick. (A pretty good synopsis is here.)

The two hour finale was filmed during the first ten days in May, in Georgia where Deanna's family lives and in the Bahamas where she makes her final choice after both propose.

We don't know who she chooses, only that sometime between that final day of shooting in May and last week, she got engaged.

As to who I think will win: [More...]

Boston police officials are trying to investigate a website, Badgewars.com, dedicated to complaints against and by officers of the Boston police department. Police officials have "launched an internal affairs investigation to find out who is behind the website."

They also want to know whether the bloggers have any evidence to support the allegations they make about Boston officers violating department rules, such as abusing construction details or claiming false injuries to get time off work.

Here's a better idea: investigate the misconduct complaints that appear on the website, not the identities of the website owners.

Speaking of misconduct, albeit in a different city:

Via Progress Now, which captured the video, Carole Kreck, a 61 year librarian was waiting in line this morning at the Denver Center for Performing Arts to attend the John McCain town hall meeting. She held a sign that said "McCain = Bush."

McCain's security detail told her to leave. The police were called. They issued her a ticket for trespassing and escorted her out.

The event was open to the public. They advised people to arrive a few hours early. How can you trespass on public property if you've been invited to the event being held on that property?

Despite John McCain's confessed inability to use the electronic tools of the modern economic age (a computer chief among them), McCain managed to enlist former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina to convince voters (or at least corporate leaders) "that he's the right choice for the high-tech industry."

McCain knows the importance of technology to the economy and has an economic plan to encourage the type of innovation the industry thrives on, Fiorina said this morning in Washington, D.C.

Of course, when sucking up to corporate leaders it doesn't hurt to mention, as Fiorina does, that McCain is opposed to network neutrality, a position that would advantage some internet content providers at the expense of others. [more ...]

Via digby, Clark sidelined:

“On a scale of 1 to 10, Clark’s words were a 10 in terms of unhelpfulness,” said one Democrat who has helped manage past presidential campaigns.

Bob Shrum? Bob Beckel? Donna Brazile? What a bunch of losers. Cowering and flinching is what Dems are known for. Looks like that ain't changing.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Sonja Henie's out. We'll take Danny Noonan.

-Ty Webb in Caddyshack

Jim Webb says no to VP:

"Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for vice president,” the Virginia Democrat said in a statement released to reporters. “Last week I communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country,” Webb said.

Allrighty then. So who's Obama's Danny Noonan?

By Big Tent Democrat