I just want to make a point about off topic comments. To me at least, they are unacceptable. If you do not want to talk about the issue I have posted about then you can refrain from commenting in that particular thread. I delete off topic comments and responses to such topics. Oh, and when comments are declared closed, that means you should not comment any further in that thread, I delete all comments posted after comments have been declared closed.

Open Threads, of which we now put more than a few a day, is the place to comment on your particular issues. Please use those Open Threads for that purpose.

BTW, I speak for me and my posts here. I am not sure if J sees it exactly as I do, but we are charged with policing our own comment threads. So that's the way I will regulate the comment threads to my own posts. Ironically, this is an Open Thread.

Readers have a lot to say tonight. Time for your own space where I won't intervene except for site violators. The floor is your's. All topics welcome.

I'm glad to see Harold Ickes statement today on the uncommitted Michigan delegates. It's what I've been advocating since March:

I think the DNC should remove the penalty from Michigan and Florida and seat the delegates. In Michigan's case, Hillary should get the delegates according to her vote total. The other delegates should remain "uncommitted" and vote how they want when they get to the convention.

Read the rest of my earlier post for the reasons.

This from Ras hurts my Horace Greeley Go West Young Obama Theory:

NEVADA

Obama 40
McCain 46

Clinton 46
McCain 41

It seems that Horace Greeley is demanding a Unity Ticket too:

Barack Obama has hired John Kerry's vice-presidential vetter. Here's my questions:

• Does Hillary want the vice-presidential spot on the ticket? Does she just want him to offer it to her so she can have the satisfaction of turning him down? Or, does she figure since she's promised to campaign for him if he's the nominee that she might as well still be campaigning for herself as well, even if it's just as the VP candidate?

• Can Obama win without Hillary on the ticket?

• Is serving as VP in Hillary's best interest -- or just Obama's?

• Last, if Obama, who we know doesn't want Hillary on the ticket, offers it to her due to pressure from Democratic party leaders, what does that say about his message of bringing change to Washington? [More...]

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman filed a 99 page appeal brief today. I received a copy of the brief but it says "embargoed until tomorrow" so I'm not uploading it tonight.

The part that addresses Karl Rove is contained in a sentencing argument. The Court departed upwards from the sentencing guidelines because of unspecified statements Siegelman made to the media critical of the Executive Branch. (I quote some of that argument at the end of this very long post.)

Karl Rove was subpoenaed today by the House Judiciary Committee. His lawyer will fight the subpoena. From the April, 2008 Judiciary Committee report (pdf): [More...]

A good sign:

[T]his afternoon here in Boca Raton, Barack Obama dropped his strongest hint yet that he'd consider asking Hillary Clinton to--gasp!--join his ticket.

It came in response to a question from a man named Mike, a "50 year" resident of Pompano Beach. "I want to know if you'd consider everybody who is a possible help to you as a running mate," he said. "Even if his or her spouse is an occasional pain in the butt." Obama laughed. No names necessary; he seemed to get the drift. . . .

More...

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole granted clemency to Samuel David Crowe today three hours before his scheduled execution. He had already eaten his last meal.

Crowe, age 47, will now serve life without parole. The board found he expressed sincere and exceptional remorse.

At Thursday's hearing, his lawyers presented a dossier of evidence attesting to his remorse and good behavior in jail, according to local media reports. The lawyers also said he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms from a cocaine addiction at the time of the crime.

109 men remain on Georgia's death row.

There are 48 happy mothers in Texas today:

A Texas appeals court ruled today that state child welfare authorities had no right to seize dozens of children living at the ranch of a polygamist religious sect, saying they were in no immediate danger of abuse.

The 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin ruled in favor of 48 mothers seeking the return of more than 130 children who had been living at a ranch near Eldorado, Tex., associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The ruling is here. It directs the trial court to vacate the orders granting custody of the children to Protective Services. The court should act within 10 days. If the Department of Child and Protective Services appeals, it's not clear whether the children will be returned to their parents before the appeal is decided. [More...]

Ezra Klein joins the legion of ridiculous Obama bloggers with this gem:

[Clinton's] now pursuing a political strategy meant to defeat Obama and ensure the party regrets his nomination. She will do this by convincing voters in Florida and Michigan that his campaign has wronged them and should be severely punished. It's an attempt to poison the well, to deny his campaign 44 electoral votes, or about 1/6th the total needed to win.

Suppose you were silly and stupid enough to actually believe that [More..]

Remember Bob Bauer (PDF) on the Voting Rights Act pre-clearance problem for revotes in Michigan and Florida? Well, some Florida delegates seem to think he had a point. They are suing the DNC:

Three Florida delegates, including the state's Senate Democratic leader have filed a federal lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee claiming the DNC violated their constitutional rights by barring them from the party's national convention.

More...

While the Obama blogs are having a conniption because Hillary Clinton is talking about counting the votes in Florida and Michigan, it remains striking to me that these same blogs have never expressed much concern about the Media's disgraceful behavior in this campaign. Indeed, any mention of the sexism and misogyny in the Media and elsewhere makes them look down at their shoes, or worse, even defend the perpetrators. I think it is no coincidence that it has been almost exclusively women bloggers who have discussed these issues. Take Digby for instance: [More...]