Here is news of a poll that not only shows Hillary Clinton leading, but Obama behind Edwards, thus "disproving" my theory that Edwards is done:

Dems: Clinton 31, Edwards 24, Obama 20, Richardson 11.

GOP: Romney 25, Huckabee 22, Giuliani 16, Thompson 9, McCain 8.

Margin of error: 6%

My response? All polls stink are questionable.

Bump and Update: Larry Craig denies the new allegations.

There are now a total of 8 accusers. (ABC News report here, but see McJoan's comment below.) Where's Larry Craig this week? Heading to Bali.

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Original Post: 12/2/07

The Idaho Statesman has new allegations against Larry Craig.

This is a big week for the Center for Constitutional Rights with the Supreme Court about to hear oral arguments in the Guantanamo case, Al Odah v. United States. To raise consciousness on the case, it tried to buy an ad on Fox News. Fox rejected the ad. CCR says (no link yet, received by e-mail):

In our ad, Danny Glover says the Bush administration is “destroying the Constitution,” and they said we needed proof. Were they expecting video of Bush sneaking into the Library of Congress with a shredder? I wonder how many times Bill O’Reilly has accused someone of destroying America or destroying Christmas?

You can watch the ad, Rescue the Constitution, here.

The CCR also has a campaign to send President Bush a copy of the Constitution as a Christmas present.

Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton in Iowa yesterday said she has problems with making the reduction in crack-powder cocaine penalties, minimal as they are, retroactive.

“In principle I have problems with retroactivity," she said. "It’s something a lot of communities will be concerned about as well."

Five other Dems at the forum favor retroactivity:

Her five rivals present on stage — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich — all said they favor making the shorter sentences retroactive.

Hillary needs to rethink this. As Law Prof Doug Berman says at Sentencing Law and Policy, her position is a huge disappointment. But I'm not convinced Obama's position will result in any future change of the excessive mandatory minimum sentences (as opposed to the minimal guideline reduction) for crack offenses. [More...]

Markos writes about it:

On 11/30, Rasmussen's tracking poll had Giuliani at 27%, 14% ahead of his nearest competitor. Today, he limps in at 20% after three consecutive days of losses. Meanwhile, Huckabee, at 13% on the 30th, is now at 17% and surging.

With Rudy a sure fire also ran in Iowa and trailing badly in New Hampshire, with the government funded trysts still to be explained, Rudy seems to be, well, over.

Tweety and MoDo will weep.

Timothy Rutten at the LA Times skewers CNN over the questions asked of the Republican candidates at the You Tube debate, calling it a masquerade and suggesting the focus on immigration was done to boost Lou Dobbs' ratings.

When CNN brought the Republican presidential candidates together this week for what is loosely termed a "debate," what did the country get but a discussion of immigration, Biblical inerrancy and the propriety of flying the Confederate flag?

....CNN chose to devote the first 35 minutes of this critical debate to a single issue -- immigration. Now, if that leaves you scratching your head, it's probably because you're included in the 96% of Americans who do not think immigration is the most important issue confronting this country.

The Pew Center which studies issues of concern to voters, ranks the issues of most importance as:

A repentant Don Imus returned to the airwaves this morning.

He's hired two African-American comedians as "sidekicks" and the three will provide "“an ongoing discussion about race relations in this country.”

He's vowed to avoid making racially disparaging remarks. He says he deserves this second chance. Among his guests this morning, willing to provide it to him:

Senator John McCain of Arizona, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president, and Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who is seeking the Democratic nomination; the author Doris Kearns Goodwin, and the political strategists James Carville and Mary Matalin.

Some of his targets remain the same:

“Dick Cheney is still a war criminal,” Mr. Imus, 67, told the audience, in an effort to reassure them that he did not intend to completely alter his style, or curb his tongue. “Hillary Clinton is still Satan. And I’m going on the radio.”

Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the House Oversight Committee, has sent this letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking for seven classes of documents pertaining to the Valerie Plame Investigation.

The letter says the White House has been preventing Patrick Fitzgerald from providing many of the sought documents. As to the subject matter of the investigation, the Committee wants to know:

(1) How did such a serious violation of our national security occur? (2) Did the White House take the appropriate investigative and disciplinary steps after the breach occurred? And (3) what changes in White House procedures are necessary to prevent future violations of our national security from continuing?

Why now?

As the recent disclosure from former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan underscores, there remain many unanswered questions surrounding this incident and the involvement of the President, the Vice President, and other senior White House officials in the security breach and the White House response.

Among the sought documents: [More...]

When a policy that is "properly followed" ends in the death of an innocent teenage girl and her 9 year old sister, it's time to change the policy.

Franklinton Police Chief Ray Gilliam said Sunday afternoon policy was properly followed in a high-speed police chase and crash that killed three people. ... Franklinton police officer Michael Dunlap observed Guy Christopher Ayscue, 38, of Henderson, driving very erratically in a Pontiac, according to police. Dunlap tried to stop Ayscue using his lights and siren, but Ayscue drove off, and Dunlap pursued.

Dunlop chased Ayscue for 13 miles. Three times during the chase, Dunlop saw Ayscue enter a lane of oncoming traffic, but Dunlop continued the high speed pursuit. That judgment may not have violated a flawed departmental policy, but Dunlop was foolish to give Ayscue an incentive to drive faster.

Ayscue was traveling north on U.S. Highway 15 and went to pass another vehicle in a no-passing zone when he hit a 1999 Kia head-on, Gilliam said. ... It is estimated that Ayscue was traveling at 90 mph at the time of the crash.

Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, explains why New Jersey should pass a pending bill to repeal the state's death penalty. A cost/benefit analysis favors life imprisonment, given the absence of convincing evidence that death is a more effective crime deterrent.

But decisions made about the death penalty are not chiefly about numbers. They are about right and wrong. And while some victims’ families do long to see their loved one’s killer executed, when the bipartisan New Jersey Death Penalty Study Commission heard testimony from victims’ families, a majority spoke in favor of repealing the death penalty.

Amid trauma and grief over the horrific death of a family member, these victims acknowledged the possibility that an innocent person could be executed by the state. After having survived the ordeal of a loved one’s murder, they questioned the morality of taking another life.

New in Rolling Stone, Ben Wallace-Wells has a six page article on How America Lost the Drug War.

Last week, Columnist Froma Harrop exposed the failure of the war on drugs.

If two people do it, is it a movement?

I am watching Senator Webb's appearance on Meet the Press this morning and in response to Tim Russert's playing President George Bush's statement that Congress capitulate to his demand that the Iraq Debacle be funded without conditions, Senator Webb basically said that Congress will provide funds for Bush Iraq Debacle.

Senator Webb talks a good game, but as he has done all year, the bottom line is he will vote cede Congress' Constitutional Spending Power. He will not vote to stand up to Bush. In the next breath he is real strong on nonbinding resolutions about Iran.

When asked by Russert about Joe Biden's call to impeach Bush if he attacks Iran, Webb hems and haws and says that the SPENDING POWER is the way to stop Bush from attacking Iran.

Excuse me Senator Webb, IF Bush does attack Iran, basedon your statements on Iraq funding, I would expect that you will vote for funding there too.

Senator Webb is a real mess on these issues.