Time Magazine has a list of the top ten crime stories of 2007. Maybe it was a last minute thing, but it's woefully inadequate. Missing from the list:

• Scooter Libby's trial and conviction in the Valerie Plame Leak Case
• Jose Padilla's trial and conviction
• Bernie Kerik's Indictment
• Crack Cocaine Sentencing Guidelines Reduction
• The 200th DNA exoneration
• The failed Duke Lacrosse Player's alleged sexual assault case
• Norman Hsu
• Larry Craig Guilty Plea
• Michael Vick Guilty Plea
• Phil Spector Trial
• Joseph Nacchio Trial
• Paris Hilton
• The Liberty City terror case acquittals
• The convictions and sentences of U.S. troops in the Mahmoudiya rape and killings

And crime stories that as yet have produced no indictments:

• the NSA warrantless wiretaps
• The U.S. Attorney Firing scandal

What else did Time leave out?

From all of us at TalkLeft to everyone in the Blogosphere and Blogtopia (yes, Skippy coined that phrase)and to all our readers, we wish you a very happy holiday.

I'm not sure about Big Tent or TChris, but I'll be blogging lightly tonight through Christmas, so if you're online, please stop by and say hello.

And yes, this is an open thread, all topics welcome.

ARG's latest:

Iowa Likely Democratic Caucus Goers Dec 16-19 Dec 20-23
Clinton 29% 34%
Edwards 18% 20%
Obama 25% 19%

All polls stink imo, especially Iowa polls. But if Hillary supporters were looking for something encouraging, they have this poll.

The House Intelligence Committee has scheduled a hearing on January 16 (pdf) regarding the destruction of CIA interrogation videotapes of two al Qaeda suspects held in secret overseas prisons, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

The order to destroy the tapes allegedly was given by Jose Rodriguez who at that time was head of the CIA’s clandestine service. Rodriguez, who has hired lawyer Robert Bennett to represent him, has no intention of being the scapegoat.

The TimesonLine reports Rodgriguez is seeking immunity for his testimony. Who might he give up?

Four names in the White House have surfaced so far. My money is on Cheney lawyer (now his Chief of Staff) David Addington.

Jose Rodriguez, former head of the CIA’s clandestine service, is determined not to become the fall guy in the controversy over the CIA’s use of torture, according to intelligence sources.

It has emerged that at least four White House staff were approached for advice about the tapes, including David Addington, a senior aide to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, but none has admitted to recommending their destruction.

Former CIA agent Larry Johnson writes the real issue isn't who ordered the tape destruction, but who lied to the Judge in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. That was my first thought when I read that one of the taped suspects was Abu Zubaydah.

Larry points out: [More...]

J. Edgar Hoover sent a memo to the White House in 1950, where it evidently languished until the Bush administration decided that Hoover had a good plan.

A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans he suspected of disloyalty.

The irony, we hope, is obvious: to protect the country from "disloyalty," Hoover urged a betrayal of the Constitution. What kind of loyal American believes that individuals should be deprived of their freedom on suspicion alone, without due process and with no right to challenge the confinement in court?

Oh, right. This kind:

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush issued an order that effectively allowed the United States to hold suspects indefinitely without a hearing, a lawyer, or formal charges.

Iowans are about to get two days of relief from political campaigning as the candidates decide to take Monday and Tuesday off.

Here's a look at their last day of stump speeches.

Hillary says she'll help veterans.

Instead of attacking her Democratic rivals, Clinton targeted the Bush administration, which she said has slashed veterans' benefits. She added that she wants to help make up for those mistakes, and said she's already been trying to assist veterans.

"I cannot tell you how many veterans I've had to intervene for, go to bat for, cut the red tape for, who were being denied what was rightfully theirs," she said. "If you are entitled to a benefit, then under our law the president of the United States shouldn't stand in the way, the president should make sure you are given what you have earned and deserve."

Clinton vowed to enact a GI Bill of Rights to expand benefits such as education and housing to service members, veterans and their families.

Barack Obama focused on trade and vowed to protect children from unsafe toys.

John Edwards released a statement responding to Obama's attack's on him: [More...]

Update: The Quad City Times in Iowa endorses Hillary Clinton.

We tested her, too, in our editorial board interview, looking for evidence of the partisan rancor that is destroying our country. We found none. Instead, we found a proven, passionate, intelligent leader with a breadth of legislative and executive experience that is the best of a good bunch. For Iowa’s Democratic caucuses, we support Hillary Clinton.

****

Sally Bedell Smith, author of a book on Hillary Clinton, has an article in Newsweek today, Hillary's Hidden Hand. It examines her years in the White House in an effort to determine her experience and preparedness to take the reins as President.

Conclusion: She is experienced. First, on an advisory level:

Hillary Clinton was no spectator at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. In campaign speeches, she often talks about what "we" thought and achieved—an acknowledgment that she and her husband have operated jointly for decades. And indeed she was uniquely immersed in the policies and politics of Bill Clinton's administration. Hillary was the first presidential spouse to have an office in the West Wing rather than the traditional First Lady's domain of the East Wing. She had no official position or specified duties, yet she was so involved in decision making that the president's staff called her "the Supreme Court" because they knew she was the last person he consulted before making up his mind.

Her advocacy for women appointees: [More...]

Republican candidate Ron Paul is on Meet the Press. (live-blog)

He wants to get rid of the IRS and income tax. We could save hundreds of millions if we had a sensible foreign policy. The goal is to cut spending.

We should bring our troops home and save hundreds of millions of dollars. We don't need to be starting wars or to be the policemen of the world. We can defend this country without troops in Germany, Japan and other places.

Presidents don't have the authority to declare war. Only Congress can declare war.

What if Iran invades Israel? They aren't going to, that's like asking what if Iran invaded Mars.

More....

The Chicago Tribune has a three page article about how prison food has evolved the past few years, the theory being, bad food can cause riots and good food makes for good inmates.

Consider the problem: How to provide 2,900 calories a day for $.92 a meal.

Since the American Correctional Association created nutritional guidelines in the 1970s, prisoner meals have adhered to strict dietary standards. Jails and prisons have their own dietitians counting calories and sodium levels, as do contractors like Aramark, which provides food to facilities across Illinois.

Consider this statistic:

From 1900 to 1995, food sparked more than 40 of the 1,334 prison riots in the United States, including the country's deadliest uprising in 1971, when 43 people died at New York's Attica prison, said Gordon A. Crews, co-author of "A History of Correctional Violence."

More...

It never fails. Every year around this time I find myself surfing around, looking for something different, something with a human touch to read. I always find it. Here's this year's story, The Gift, from Sunday's New York Times.

As a former drug addict cares for his dying mother, an unexpected bond is formed from their sometimes tortured relationship.

Very poignant, very sad, but touching.

Update: I found another story, about a judge who took a gamble on a teen who killed a neighbor who had insulted his mother. He put him in a juvenile facility for 7 years rather than sentencing him as an adult. The gamble paid off.

More....

These two stories seem related to me. First, Obama claims to have more Clintonista support than Hillary:

In Iowa on Friday, Obama suggested he had the support of more Clinton administration figures than the former first lady. Lists provided by both campaigns quickly showed hers is almost twice as large. "Why is the national security adviser of Bill Clinton, the secretary of the Navy of Bill Clinton, the assistant secretary of state for Bill Clinton, why are all these people endorsing me?" Obama said. "They apparently believe that my vision of foreign policy is better suited for the 21st century."

Clearly the Clinton mantle is still strong with Iowa Democrats and Obama is seeking to blunt it. Which makes this story even more interesting:

According to today's Washington Post, the Hillary campaign is planning to close out the Iowa and New Hampshire races with a "tight embrace" of her husband's legacy, an argument that only she is equipped to handle future foreign policy crises . . .

Makes sense to me. TPM Cafe notes:

Obama's counterargument has been that whatever the successes of the 1990s, it has also saddled Hillary with a kind of political baggage that will make her less effective as a President than his "new politics" will.

Clintonism without the Clinton baggage. It is an interesting development. I wonder if Edwards will try and flank it by rejecting Bill Clinton entirely.

As Jeralyn notes, Obama just attacked John Edwards. I guess he is a pol after all. Politico's Ben Smith reports:

"I don't just talk the talk, I walk the walk, I've been doing this all my life, and John has not had that same record," he said.

"John yesterday said that he didn't believe in 527s," he said. "We found out today that there's an outside group spending $750,000...and the individual who's running the group used to be John Edwards' campaign manager."

"You can't say yesterday you don't believe in them and today you're having three quarters of a million dollars being spent for you," he said.

Does this mean Edwards is eating into Obama's vote? Seems likely as otherwise pols don't notice their opponents. Hillary used the same trick when she was ahead and then attacked when she was being challenged. Oh and of course Edwards was the first to go really negative.

As I say, pols are pols, they do what they do.