Why does Hillary Clinton need to disavow the support of Michael O'Hanlon? Why does his support or non-support matter in the scheme of things? Because of the Iraq Debacle. Because of Hillary's vote in support of granting President Bush the power to go to war against Iraq in 2002. Because Michael O'Hanlon was a cheerleader for the Iraq Debacle. Because O'Hanlon was a cheerleader for the Surge. Because O'Hanlon will fiercely criticize anyone who disagrees with the current Bush Administration policy in Iraq:

Michael E. O’Hanlon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution, criticized General Sanchez for implying in his speech that the current military strategy of relying on additional troops and on protecting the Iraqi people is little different than the strategy employed when he was in command.

Because if Michael O'Hanlon were an honest man, and he is not, he should not be supporting Hillary Clinton at all. He should be fiercely criticizing her. The support of Michael O'Hanlon, supporter of the Bush policy on Iraq, must be disavowed by the Clinton campaign. She has not earned our trust on Iraq. She can not expect that her acceptance of O'Hanlon's support would not be troubling to any one who cares about ending the Iraq Debacle.

Sully has it big time. Here he is insulting civil rights movement hero John Lewis:

Fading memory has helped some to forget about the Clintons, their political machine and their ruthlessness. A rising black politician in the Democratic party is a threat to them and their power over blacks. So they are doing what they can to crush him, and punish any Democrat who associates with him. . . . I don't know what prompted Lewis to back Clinton; he marched between Obama and Clinton in Selma, but worshipped with Obama afterwards. . . . Again: the way in which Hillary uses her marriage to advance her own power is striking. No real feminist would do this; only someone who postures as a feminist while using her husband as a tool.

(Emphasis supplied.) Um, is he serious? Sully can't even hold a consistent thought in his head. If the threat is Hillary winning, how could Bill be the reason behind Lewis' alleged (no evidence whasoever to support this BTW) "conversion?" Coupled with his nasty attack on Ezra Klein, it seems clear that Sully has gone unhinged, again.

Despite settling with Duke University last year over his forced resignation as coach of the Duke Lacrosse team following the barrage of publicity of the unfounded sexual assault charges against some of the team's players, Mike Pressler is suing Duke and trying to rescind the settlement.

His reason: a Senior VP at Duke disparaged him after the settlement.

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Round the Blogosphere today:

• Avedon Carol at Sideshow on why she's lukewarm to a draft Gore bid for 2008. Me too. I also don't think there's a chance it would happen. If Hillary isn't unstoppable, it goes to Obama (even though I wish it would go to Edwards in that event.)

• Call Your Senators On FISA. I support The "FISA Modernization Bill of 2007 (H.R. 3782)", introduced by Rush Holt, not the Democrats' RESTORE Act. FISA should not ignore the Constitution and in particular, the Fourth Amendment.

The ACLU, while it prefers the FISA Modernization Bill, says it has turned its attention to fixing the RESTORE Act since the Modernization bill has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Please, call your representative right now. Tell him or her to only pass a FISA modernization bill that has individualized warrants for people in the United States and NOT to provide telecom companies with immunity for breaking the law.

• Libby at The NewsHoggers on why the Dutch ban on mushrooms is a bad idea.

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Yesterday, Rudy Giuliani "offered his strongest defense yet" of Bernie Kerik.

"I mean the reality is, if we just look at Bernard Kerik's service as police commissioner, he was an excellent police commissioner," Giuliani said at a campaign stop in this key early primary state.

...."He was there on Sept. 11," Giuliani said. "He was heroic on Sept. 11."

He continues to admit his recommendation of Kerik for Homeland Security Secretary was his fault and a mistake.

Can Rudy overcome the problems with his personal life, his past positions on social issues conservatives find troubling and his lack of judgment in personnel decisions? Digby says Kerik is a disqualifying mistake for Rudy.

Via Marcy at Next Hurrah and ScoutPrime at First Draft:

A Vermont law firm with overseas clients, including one at Guantanamo Bay, believes the Feds are wiretapping their telephone calls. In a letter to their clients, the firm wrote:

“Although our investigation is not complete, we are quite confident that it is the United States government that has been doing the phone tapping and computer hacking,” said the letter, dated Oct. 2.

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The Associated Press has a very intimate and honest interview today with Hunter Thompson's wife, Anita. The occasion is the recent release of her new book, The Gonzo Way, which I wrote about here at 5280.

In her new book, "The Gonzo Way: A Celebration of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," Thompson says her husband built his career with a tireless dedication to the craft of reporting, a keen awareness of his own shortcomings and his personal blend of patriotism: loving his country while mistrusting authority.

And in a wide-ranging interview, she spoke about a rift between her and Hunter Thompson's son and the agonizing doubts that dogged her in the days after her husband's suicide.

Anita has become a good friend of mine since Hunter's death -- I hope you'll read the interview, and if you're a fan of Hunter's writing, get the book. If you missed my recap of spending a weekend in June at Owl Farm, you can read it here. My video of Owl Farm from 2006 is here.)

Also check out Anita's Owl Farm blog. Here's a photo I took of Anita and Hunter's son, Juan.

Since generally I don't think what the She-Pundit with long blonde hair says is of any import, I haven't written about the latest imbroglio over her comments about perfecting Jews. While I got that it was insulting, I didn't have any idea what it meant, having never heard the term before. Nor was I inclined to look it up.

Inadvertantly, I came across this LA Times commentary which explains it very well and has convinced me that it's a dangerous concept that needs to be exposed for its anti-semitism.

First, her comments on the Donny Deutsch show:

At one point, Deutsch asked her what an ideal country would be like, and she replied that it would be one in which everyone was "a Christian." Deutsch, who happens to be Jewish, protested that Coulter was advocating his people's elimination. She responded that she simply hoped to see Jews "perfected" through conversion to Christianity.

What it means:

Ricardo Sanchez:

In a sweeping indictment of the four-year effort in Iraq, the former top American commander called the Bush administration’s handling of the war incompetent and warned that the United States was “living a nightmare with no end in sight.” In one of his first major public speeches since leaving the Army in late 2006, retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez blamed the administration for a “catastrophically flawed, unrealistically optimistic war plan” and denounced the current “surge” strategy as a “desperate” move that will not achieve long-term stability. . . . “There was been a glaring and unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders,” he said, adding later in his remarks that civilian officials have been “derelict in their duties” and guilty of a “lust for power.”

Cue Rush. We got another Jesse Macbeth on our hands.

The Netherlands has banned psychodelic mushrooms after some tourists died.

Magic mushrooms, more properly known as psilocybe, contain the psychedelic chemicals psilocybin and psilocin.

"We intend to forbid the sale of magic mushrooms," said justice ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen. "That means shops caught doing so will be closed."

Unbelievable. The guards at the Florida boot camp have been acquitted in charges arising from the death of Martin Lee Anderson. (Background here and here.)

[A] video showed the boy was kicked and hit repeatedly by guards.....A second autopsy found the boy died of suffocation because his mouth was blocked and he was forced to inhale ammonia smelling salts, which resulted in a blockage of his airway. The medical examiner said he died as a result of the "actions of the guards."

Here's what's been happening at teen boot camps.

Bump: Because this needs more attention and we've blogged so much the past day it already fell off the front page.

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Via USA Today:

Since 2006, the Justice Department has yet to spend any of the $8 million set aside by Congress for DNA tests for convicts to prove their innocence while it has used $214 million to collect DNA from convicted criminals and improve crime labs, records show.

"DNA evidence is such a powerful tool in proving guilt or innocence that it's inexcusable not to use it," says Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the chief sponsor of a bill to provide more funding for what is known as innocence testing. If spent, the $8 million could affect dozens of cases, says Barry Scheck, a defense lawyer who specializes in using DNA to overturn convictions.

I'm not surprised, given DOJ's opposition to the Innocence Protection Act all along. By the time the bill was passed, it was stripped of the most meaningful protections and turned into a victims' rights bill, even being renamed The Justice For All Act.

So today we learn, according to the National Institute of Justice (the DOJ's non-partisan research arm that administers the funds) the reason even the paltry (by comparison) $8 million isn't being spent is a deficiency in the law.

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