Paul Waldman writes a good piece about Rush Limbaugh saga. I especially like his connecting Rush's New McCarthyism techniques to the Republican Party New McCarthyism on Iraq:

Think about how much time and effort they expend on convincing Americans that progressives and Democrats are "anti-military," "hate the troops," and even "hate America." So any progressive veteran who criticizes Bush administration policies represents a profound threat to all the arguments they have made. It becomes particularly thorny when nearly the entire current leadership of the conservative movement -- not only media figures like Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly, but also political figures including President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and many others -- were of draft age during the Vietnam war but managed to stay out of harm's way.

But Democrats and their allies like Move On do not win this battle by aping this strategy, as Move On wrongly did; this battle is won by Democrats standing up against these McCarthyite tactics and, more importantly, standing up to Bush on Iraq. That means not funding the Iraq debacle after a date certain. More.

I'm trying to get my taxes ready for the accountant. I've been working on them for days and it's crunch time.

So, here's an open thread for you. If anyone writes diaries, I'll add a link to them here.

With all the candidates focused on Iowa, now would be a good time for Iowans to ask them what they plan on doing to reduce the racial disparity in prison sentences for blacks and whites when it comes to drug crimes.

It's an issue that affects them directly.

The number of blacks behind bars for drug-related crimes is rising again in Iowa. At the same time, a new anti-methamphetamine law has resulted in fewer new prison admissions for white Iowans.

Officials in drug, corrections and law enforcement circles say it's not yet clear why more blacks are being sent to prison, but the impact is clear: The state's notorious disproportion of blacks behind bars vs. whites is growing again.

How bad is it in Iowa?

Emotions on the issue flared anew this July when the Sentencing Project released its study showing the rate of black incarceration in Iowa was six times that of whites. Feeding that disparity, researchers said, was that blacks make up just 2.3 percent of Iowa's 2.98 million residents.

...Those who defend and advocate for the disadvantaged argue that state leaders have done almost nothing to address the biases in the justice system that contribute to Iowa's notoriety.

The problem also exists at the federal level. It's time the candidates were called on to address it.

John David "Roy" Atchison, the Florida federal prosecutor arrested in Detroit and charged with planning to have sex with a five year old girl, and who unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide days later, has now succeeded.

He hanged himself this morning at the federal prison in Milan, where he was taken after trying to commit suicide last month at Sanilac County Jail, authorities said.

Officials said Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., had been housed in solitary confinement and was under close supervision, adding that he had shown no signs of despondency.

Very sad. If the charges were true, this was a man in desperate need of psychiatric help. Our system, it seems, is only geared towards punishment.

Troy Davis is on Georgia's death row. He may be innocent.

Tuesday is Troy's birthday. Check out the Troy Davis "Innocence Matters" Video Project.

Troy Davis' birthday is October 9th and to mark this occasion, a coalition of global supporters have organized this video project to wish Troy a 'Happy Birthday' and to reaffirm to the state of Georgia that 'Innocence Matters!

The Troy video project is simple. Using a webcam, camera phone, camcorder or any other recording device, simply record as creatively as possible a positive video of 60-seconds or less wishing Troy a ‘Happy Birthday’ while reaffirming to the state of Georgia that the global support network behind Troy believes Innocence Matters!

There are 35 videos so far. For the non-video savvy, there's also the NCADP's action alert page for Troy with the ability to send a letter.

You can read Troy's story here.

Until I watched the video, I thought maybe there wasn't much to complain about with this story.

A 15-year-old girl is facing a felony battery charge from a curfew violation incident in which a city police officer struck and pepper sprayed her after she bit him — actions shown in a police videotape released Thursday. Fort Pierce Police Chief Sean Baldwin said he stands by how Officer Dan Gilroy handled the July arrest.

The video changed my mind. I come down on the girl's side. First off, why arrest teens on curfew violations? Why not just give them a citation?

Even if arrest is warranted for a curfew violation, handcuffing a teen in back is unnecessary force. It's painful. They are children. Surely he could have cuffed her in front. She's screaming in pain and then he slams her face into the car hood. It's not until afterwards that she finally bites his hand (which is protected by a glove.) Then he hits her and sprays the pepper spray directly in her eyes.

More...

Rush Limbaugh is in his final month of probation. When the month is up, the charge of doctor shopping will be dismissed without his ever having had to enter a plea. He will have a clean record.

According to records, he'll have made an estimated $50 million while on conditional liberty.

"All's well that ends well," he said, contemplating the Oct. 31 finish of his 18-month probation, barring unforeseen trouble. "The system is what it is," Limbaugh, 56, said from his oceanfront compound in Palm Beach. "I became addicted to drugs because of a medical condition" - a bad back - "and I'm convinced now that most addicts come to a point where they do drugs just to stave off withdrawal.

The details of Rush's plea bargain are here.

According to court documents, investigators alleged Rush obtained 2,000 pills over a five month period. What a great job his lawyer, Roy Black, did for him. I'm sure it cost him a pretty penny but I hope he appreciates it.

When we last checked in on the Darren Mack case, the prosecutor had been found to have engaged in unethical conduct by speaking with Mack to elicit a confession even though he knew Mack's family had retained counsel for him. The conversation was suppressed.

Mack is accused of killing his wife and then shooting the couples' divorce judge. He was on the lam in Mexico for days before surrendering. He's represented by David Chesnoff of Las Vegas (former partner of Mayor Oscar Goodman) and Scott Freeman.

Today, after three days of jury selection in Reno failed to yield sufficient jurors due to pretrial publicity, the judge ordered the trial moved to Las Vegas.

Mack has plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

The three much maligned and wrongfully charged Duke lacrosse players filed their civil suit against ex-DA Mike Nifong and the City of Durham today.

The three former Duke lacrosse players wrongly accused of rape filed a sweeping civil rights lawsuit today against the city of Durham, a host of police officers, former District Attorney Mike Nifong, and the DNA laboratory hired by the disbarred former prosecutor.

The 162-page lawsuit called the case "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial, and scientific misconduct in modern American history, which resulted in charges brought and maintained against three innocent Duke University students and lacrosse players over a period of more than one year. "

Here's what the players want. The copy of the complaint is here (pdf).

The Defendants:

At the elite colleges - dim White kids
By Peter Schmidt

September 28, 2007

AUTUMN AND a new academic year are upon us, which means that selective colleges are engaged in the annual ritual of singing the praises of their new freshman classes.

Surf the websites of such institutions and you will find press releases boasting that they have increased their black and Hispanic enrollments, admitted bumper crops of National Merit scholars or became the destination of choice for hordes of high school valedictorians. Many are bragging about the large share of applicants they rejected, as a way of conveying to the world just how popular and selective they are.

What they almost never say is that many of the applicants who were rejected were far more qualified than those accepted. Moreover, contrary to popular belief, it was not the black and Hispanic beneficiaries of affirmative action, but the rich white kids with cash and connections who elbowed most of the worthier applicants aside.

White Man's Burden.

First the cheers. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has declared the war on drugs a failure.

"If you want to get serious, if you want to reduce crime by 70% in this country overnight, end this war on drugs," he told reporters at City Hall on Thursday. "You want to get serious, seriously serious about crime and violence end this war on drugs."

The mayor maintained local jails are overcrowded with people incarcerated for drug offenses, taking up room that could be used to hold more violent criminal offenders. He said violent criminals with lengthy felony records are being turned loose, too often.

San Francisco Sheriff San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey agrees with him.

Now the jeers. San Francisco is initiating a program of busting the homeless on "quality of life" crimes.

More...

Good on the Progressive Caucus:

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, postponed a press conference announcing new reforms of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act after progressive lawmakers banded together and said they would fight any legislation that did not include a set of eight principles on wiretapping that preserve the "rule of law."

"What's most significant is that the Progressive Caucus came together and said to the leadership that all 72 of us require that these provisions be included," said Caroline Fredercikson, Legislative Director for the American Civil Liberties Union. "This changes the dynamic significantly."

Rep. Hoyer had planned to roll out the new FISA reform bill at 1:30 PM today. A spokesperson from his office told the Huffington Post that the House Intelligence Committee had decided to postpone completion of the legislation, though it's not clear that the announcement from the Progressive Caucus influenced their decision. Votes in the House were also canceled today. The committee was not available at press time.

Now do the same on any Iraq funding without a date certain to end the Debacle.