You wouldn't have wanted to be Charles Dean Hood last night.

Hood waited in a holding cell adjacent to the death chamber in Huntsville for hours while lawyers with the Collin County district attorney's office sought his execution and Hood's lawyers tried to prevent the death sentence from being carried out.

You'll remember Hood is the defendant who was sentenced to death by the judge who was allegedly having an affair with the district attorney who prosecuted Hood's case. The death warrant was recalled after Hood raised the issue, only to be reinstated by the state's highest court. But the wrangling lasted so long that the warrant expired before Hood could be executed.

"Only in Texas," said Lawrence Fox, who teaches law at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.

From Radley Balko's first post about Ryan Frederick:

Officer Jarrod Shivers was shot and killed while executing a search warrant in Cheseapeake, Virginia Thursday night. ... [Frederick said] in an interview from jail he had no idea the undercover cops breaking into his home were police. ... Though the raid was apparently part of a drug investigation, police aren't saying what if any drugs were found.

Turns out they were searching for a large marijuana grow operation. They found only a small amount of pot.

Botched drug raids by SWAT teams that employ military tactics too often end in tragedy. Whether or not there was good reason to think Frederick was growing some weed, there are ways to address that crime without senselessly risking lives.

Today's post points to evidence that raises serious questions about the murder charge against Frederick : [more ...]

Via Politico:

Clark was sitting at Obama's side when he met with retired flag officers earlier this afternoon. An Obama campaign aide emails that "General Clark attended the meeting that Obama had with retired military and admirals this afternoon and he will be an important voice on this campaign."

I like that the Obama camp made a point of correcting the Politico report that General Clark was not part of the Obama national security team. Ok, I cheerlead for one figure in politics, Wes Clark. So sue me.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Via mcjoan, the NYTimes Ed Board writes:

If Congress cannot pass a clean bill that fixes the one real problem with FISA, it should simply extend the temporary authorization. At a minimum, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, should oppose FISA expansion and pledge to revisit it next year. If any significant changes are going to be made, they should be made under the next president. There are clear differences between the candidates. Senator John McCain, who is sounding more like Mr. Bush every day, believes the president has the power to eavesdrop on Americans without a warrant.

Senator Barack Obama opposes immunity and voted against the temporary expansion of FISA. We hope he will show strong leadership this time. He might even take time off from the campaign to vote against the disturbing deal brewing in the back rooms of Congress.

(Emphasis supplied.) The time to lead on FISA is now Senator Obama.

Speaking for me only

This is the Barack Obama I really like a lot. The one who is going to be a great President:

Sometimes during campaigns the rhetoric gets overheated and amplified," he conceded, after I reminded him that he had called NAFTA "devastating" and "a big mistake," despite nonpartisan studies concluding that the trade zone has had a mild, positive effect on the U.S. economy.

Does that mean his rhetoric was overheated and amplified? "Politicians are always guilty of that, and I don't exempt myself," he answered.

Self aware, rational and intelligent. He knows better than to believe his own press clippings. Good for him.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Americans who are convicted of crimes do not lose their citizenship, are not relieved of their obligation to pay taxes, and should be just as entitled to participate in the democratic process as everyone else. In Florida, however, even after felons are released from prison and from supervision, even after they've paid their fines and made restitution, there are still barriers to voting. Those barriers stem from an ugly history of disenfranchising black voters.

The issue of voting rights here has long been intertwined with race. The ban on voting by felons became part of the state Constitution in 1868, when many Southern states found ways to suppress black votes in the wake of the Civil War.

Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist has advocated a measure of reform that, since April, has reinstated voting rights for 115,232 ex-offenders. But 80 percent of them remain disenfranchised. [more ...]

One thing does bother me about the polling lately - while the state polls have shown a huge shift towards Obama - big leads in blue states (CA, NY, IL), sizable leads in big swing states (FL, OH, PA), ties in big red states (VA, NC) and yet the national polling has Obama by 4 after Obama opened as much as a 9 point lead in some national tracking polls.

The results do not jibe. One possible explanation is that the Q polls were taken from the 9th to the 16th. Early in that period, Obama's results ramped up nationally before coming back to 4. In a sense, perhaps the Q polls are already out of date. Just a thought.

By Big Tent Democrat

We now have ARG joining Quinnipiac in putting Obama ahead in Florida. To me this is the most stunning and welcome development of the general election campaign and I am wondering how it happened. I have seen no major campaigning by Obama in Florida, no ad blitz, no nothing really, to explain it.

So I want to drill down into the numbers a bit to consider what is going on. The Q-Poll has the following demographic breakdown for Florida:

Florida women likely voters back Obama 50 - 40 percent, while men go 47 percent for McCain and 44 percent for Obama. White voters back McCain 50 - 40 percent while black voters back Obama 95 - 4 percent. Obama leads 57 -35 percent with voters 18 to 34 years old; he splits 48 - 46 percent with McCain among voters 35 to 54, and 44 - 46 percent with voters over 55.

Now that I've wasted my morning watching the vapid View, I'm going to work. I feel like I need to do penance, like write a slew of motions or go to two jails instead of one.

Your turn.

I've never watched an entire episode of the View (or Oprah or Ellen or any day time talk show.) But, I'm going to give it a shot today to watch Michelle Obama. I'll post my reactions (not a live transcript) here.

If you're watching the show, feel free to live-blog in comments. Please keep your comments on topic, which is her guest-hosting of the show. (If you just want to express your general opinions of her for other reasons or discuss sexism or Hillary, please do it elsewhere.)

Noon ET: The show begins, updates below.

Quinnipiac has terrific news for Barack Obama today. In Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania:

This is the first time Sen. Obama has led in all three states. No one has been elected President since 1960 without taking two of these three largest swing states in the Electoral College. Results from the independent Quinnipiac University polls show:

* Florida: Obama edges McCain 47 - 43 percent;
* Ohio: Obama tops McCain 48 - 42 percent;
* Pennsylvania: Obama leads McCain 52 - 40 percent.

(Emphasis supplied.) If these numbers are real and hold up, Obama will win in a landslide.

By Big Tent Democrat

The New York Times presents the new Michelle Obama. The campaign, as I noted here, has been carefully re-working her image since the end of the primary.

The new Michelle is softer, less lawyer-like and the focus is on her past successful efforts at helping minorities, both African-American and Latino, and working to better race relations.

....her husband’s presidential campaign is giving her image a subtle makeover, with a new speech in the works to emphasize her humble roots and a tough new chief of staff. On Wednesday, Mrs. Obama will do a guest turn on “The View,” the daytime talk show on ABC, with an eye toward softening her reputation.

Details below the fold, but let me state here, this post is not intended as criticism of Michelle Obama and gratuitous insults to her in comments will be deleted. Feel free to discuss your opinions as to the impact of her makeover on voters or its factual details, but angry, personal hostility to her is not acceptable. [More..]