Christy at Firedoglake writes about Newt Gingrich's lastest announcement that if he can raise $30 million in the next three weeks, he'll hop in the presidential race seeking the Republican nomination.

Perhaps Newt thinks his marital history won't matter. Before examining his political record, let's take a look back at his personal story. From a post I wrote in 2002, Republican Sexual Hypocrisy:

In 1981, Newt dumped his first wife, Jackie Battley, for Marianne, wife number 2, while Jackie was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. Marianne and Newt divorced in December, 1999 after Marianne found out about Newt's long-running affair with Callista Bisek, his one-time congressional aide. Gingrich asked Marianne for the divorce by phoning her on Mother's Day, 1999. [Source: New York Post, July 18, 2000, Newt's Ex Wife Aiming to Pen Book by Bill Sanderson, available on lexis].

More....

A pot-smoker is arrested every 38 seconds in America. The newest figures for 2006 show marijuana arrests are at an all-time high. Via NORML:

Police arrested a record 829,625 persons for marijuana violations in 2006, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, released today. This is the largest total number of annual arrests for pot ever recorded by the FBI. Marijuana arrests now comprise nearly 44 percent of all drug arrests in the United States.

89% of those arrested in 2006 were charged only with possession. And, get this:

The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2006 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

In the past 15 years, marijuana arrests have increased by 188%. As NORML says,

"This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that diverts law enforcement personnel away from focusing on serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."

You will read headlines today blaring "Violent Crime is On the Rise." Read the small print.

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.... said the overall crime rate -- combining violent and property crimes -- "was the lowest crime rate measured by the UCR in more than 30 years."

Checking the report's table here, there were a total of 11.5 million violent and property crimes in 2005 and 11.4 million in 2006.

Politicians are going to spin this into a need for new crime bills with tougher punishment. Dems will criticize Republicans for cutting law enforcment funds and Republicans will respond pushing the Bush Adminisration's plan for mandatory minumum sentences for all federal crimes.

We already have severe punishments for violent crime, particularly murder and rape in this country. If property crime is decreasing, there's no need to change the law. Don't get fooled. Here's the report.

Update on Giuliani below:

The 100,000 member International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers today endorsed Hillary Clinton for President.

Why? They say she has the best chance to win.

This is the fifth major labor union endorsement for Hillary. She leads the other candidates in overall union endorsements.

Obama got his first union endorsement today -- from a prison guards' union. Thanking the 9,000 member New York City's Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, Obama said:

"It's an honor to have the endorsement of these men and women who put themselves at risk everyday to serve on the front lines of our nation's criminal justice system." he said.

Big news from the DEA today: A major national steroid lab bust. Results: 143 search warrants, 11.4 million steroid pills seized, 29 people arrested.

The countries that assisted in the 18 month undercover operation: China, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Thailand .

Federal agencies: FBI, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Immmgration and Customs Enforcement and the National Drug Intelligence Center.

News conferences will be held in San Diego, New York City, Houston, Kansas City and Providence, R.I., which I take it to mean those are the districts where Indictments were brought.

Just a few months ago, Gitmo seemed headed for closure, thanks to a bill introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin and another by Sen. Diane Feinstein.

Now, the passage of either bill is in serious doubt. Harkin's bill failed to generate co-sponsors.

The detention facility has been embraced by many Republicans as a potent political symbol in their quest to seize the terrorism issue ahead of next year's elections. GOP presidential candidates have jockeyed to demonstrate their support for the prison. One candidate has called for doubling its use. Another praised the menu and health plan offered to detainees.

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who supports closure, says:

This weekend we reported on Attorney General Nominee Michael Mukasey's endorsement of enhanced interrogation techniques and opposition to closing Guantanamo and some of his rulings on federal sentencing guidelines and his promise to be independent of the White House.

Today, the New York Times has a very unflattering article about his conduct and treatment of material witnesses detained after 9/11.

Let's start with the material witness detentions:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, is speaking at Columbia today. Many in NYC and the United States find this appalling. I don't.

It gives the public an opportunity to hear him and, if Columbia is doing its job, ask him questions that enables him to attempt to explain his nation's supporting terror in Iraq and maybe elsewhere and why he denies the Holocaust. Indeed, if he attempts to answer questions, he will harm his own cause because he can't rationally answer some questions.

A U.S. District Court Judge in New Hampshire shows his sense of humor, responding to an inmate's lawsuit by writing in verse, a la Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

The backdrop: New Hampshire state inmate Charles Jay Wolff doesn't like eggs. When the state prison kept providing them to him, he filed a lawsuit. Along with the lawsuit, he mailed a hard-boiled egg to the Judge.

The Judge's response:

"I do not like eggs in the file," Muirhead wrote. "I do not like them in any style. I will not take them fried or boiled. I will not take them poached or broiled. I will not take them soft or scrambled / Despite an argument well-rambled."

The verse grew heated, exclamation marks were injected, and the egg was ordered destroyed.

"No fan I am / Of the egg at hand. Destroy that egg! Today! Today! Today I say! Without delay!"

Here's the full text (verse) of the Judge's reply.

The Washington Post explores Rudy Giuliani's claim he is the go-to guy in the war on terror. Here's a snippet, to give you the flavor:

But for most of Giuliani's career as a Department of Justice official, prosecutor and New York's chief executive, terrorism was a narrow aspect of his broader crime-fighting agenda, which was dominated by drug dealers, white-collar criminals and the Mafia. Giuliani expressed confidence that Islamic extremism could be contained through vigorous investigation by law enforcement agencies and prosecution in the court system -- the same approach he now condemns.

The LA Times recounts his flip-flopping on immigration.

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To accompany this post earlier today.

The number of law-bloggers hesitant to chime in on the Jena 6 case is growing. One reason given: The facts are not only confusing, but in several significant instances, in dispute. ESPN has this pretty good primer but it's hard to get the narrative from just one source, there are just too many variations.

Earlier this week there was Instapundit and Orin Kerr. They are now joined by Ann Althouse.

So, are the facts confusing or too disputed to pass judgment? Yes and no.

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