Richard Jewell, falsely implicated in the Atlanta bombing murders, died today. He was 44 and is believed to have died of natural causes, probably kidney or diabetes-related problems.

Jewell will always be known as a casualty of a police rush to judgment:

After 12 weeks of scrutiny following the bombing, Jewell was cleared by the FBI and U.S. Attorney Kent Alexander in an unprecedented government acknowledgment of wrongful accusation. "I am not the Olympic park bomber," Jewell told reporters after being cleared. "I am a man who has lived 88 days afraid of being arrested for a crime I did not commit."

Jewell's name was leaked to the media by the FBI. Thanks to Atlanta attorney Lin Wood, he was able to collect damages from several news organizations, including NBC.

Via e-mail from Matt from Dodd's campaign:

Reporter: "Senator, there were reports this morning that President Bush will ask Congress for $50 billion more dollars for the Iraq war. What do you have to say about that? Dodd: "Well, I'm not surprised and I'd be very resistant to that request. I think we've, as I said we're spending well over now half a trillion dollars in this conflict. And again, it's a civil war in Iraq. This is the middle of a civil war and those who have understood this issue have argued from the very beginning that there was never going to be a military solution to the civil war in Iraq. And so I'd be very resistant and I intend to fight any efforts here, I'll do whatever I can to support whatever our troops need to have a safe and secure withdrawal from Iraq. But I don't intend to continue to fund the war over there that I think has no end. As long as we're there, I think the Iraqis are not going to come together as a people it's about time we wound down our military presence there."

(Emphasis mine.)

Two years ago, we burned up this website with postings about Katrina and the debacle of the government's response. How far have they (we) come?

CNN, MSNBC, and Fox had the best live coverage, and the public knew more than the government. The best coverage anywhere: The New Orleans Times-Picayue. Even when they couldn't a publish a print edition because their printing press was flooded, they published a massive number of stories online, and they had a depth of coverage and understanding that only a local could have.

More....

Yesterday in his press conference and on his website, Sen. Larry Craig said:

In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision. While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct at the Minneapolis airport or anywhere else, I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in the hope of making it go away. I did not seek any counsel, either from an attorney, staff, friends, or family. That was a mistake, and I deeply regret it. Because of that, I have now retained counsel and I am asking my counsel to review this matter and to advise me on how to proceed.

Does he want a trial? Can he win a trial? I don't think so.

More....

The Bush Administration will request the Congress exercise its Spending Power and increase the funding for the Iraq Debacle:

President Bush plans to ask Congress next month for up to $50 billion in additional funding for the war in Iraq, a White House official said yesterday, a move that appears to reflect increasing administration confidence that it can fend off congressional calls for a rapid drawdown of U.S. forces.

The request -- which would come on top of about $460 billion in the fiscal 2008 defense budget and $147 billion in a pending supplemental bill to fund the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- is expected to be announced after congressional hearings scheduled for mid-September featuring the two top U.S. officials in Iraq. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker will assess the state of the war and the effect of the new strategy the U.S. military has pursued this year.

. . . Most of the additional funding in a revised supplemental bill would pay for the current counteroffensive in Iraq. . . . The decision to seek about $50 billion more appears to reflect the view in the administration that the counteroffensive will last into the spring of 2008 and will not be shortened by Congress.

I believe this request provides Congress another chance to set an end date to the Iraq Debacle. The Congress must set a date certain for ending funding for Iraq Debacle operations. If they lack the political courage to say no to this funding request, the Congress must insist that this is the LAST request and that there will be no more funding for Iraq Debacle operations after a date certain. I suggest March 31, 2008. The Reid-Feingold framework:

After yesterday's Wall St. Journal article on fundraising bundler Norman Hsu who is a big contributor this year to Hillary Clinton and who has contributed to many other Democrats in the past three years, his lawyer responded and the media got its interest piqued.

There's still no indication there are any problems with Hsu's political contributions or activities, which began about three years ago, but the LA Times is reporting a "teaser" for a story today that Hsu pleaded guilty to grand theft and agreed to serve a three year prison sentence, but never showed up, making him a fugitive.

I did check California's criminal records database and there are entries in San Mateo County for San Francisco Municipal Court and Redwoods Superior Court for a Norman Hsu....back in 1991. No other details are included.

Hsu's lawyer says he has no recollection of pleading guilty or agreeing to prison time.

Today the Journal follows through, apparently not knowing about the criminal charges, and explains why "bundling" is a legal practice:

It is legal for individuals to ask friends, colleagues and family members to make donations to political candidates, though not to reimburse people for such donations.

More...

Rudy Giuliani will be speaking at the sixth anniversary remembrance of 9/11, but not everyone is thrilled, to put it mildly:

"He's cashing in on 9/11 like it's his own personal tragedy. It's a photo op on a campaign swing for him," said Jimmy Riches, a deputy fire chief whose son was among the 343 firefighters killed.

Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was also killed, said she was stunned that the city would ask a presidential candidate to speak there.

"They should have every other single presidential candidate then, because this is outrageous," Regenhard said. "This is going to be seen across the country as a blanket endorsement from us. It's totally inappropriate."

If, as the organizers say, he'll merely be reading aloud from a text, that's one thing. If he gives a speech and mentions his candidacy for President, I hope he gets booed off the stage.

Just in case you thought Barack Obama was the candidate to knock some sense into White House and Congressional drug warriors, think again. Stop the Drug War quotes Obama's comments as printed in the New York Times:

If elected, Mr. Obama said he would establish a Drug Enforcement Agency office in New Orleans that would be dedicated to stopping drug gangs across the region.

New Orleans already has a DEA office. As Stop the Drug War says:

Obama's drug war revitalization plan for New Orleans is the latest step in his successful bid to be the worst on drug policy among the democratic presidential contenders. He's lamented the "political capital" required to repair the despicable crack/powder sentencing disparity, a no-brainer racial justice issue that even drug war hall-of-famer Joe Biden wants to fix. At Howard University's Democratic Debate on minority issues, he stood there like an idiot while every other candidate managed to address some type of criminal justice reform. He was also the last democratic candidate to pledge an end to federal medical marijuana raids, and not because they're heartless and evil, but because they're "not a good use of resources."

TalkLeft's post on Obama and his wavering on crack sentencing is here.

In other news . . . the United Transportation Union (UTU) endorses Senator Hillary Clinton:

The United Transportation Union on Tuesday endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president, the first national union endorsement of the 2008 campaign. "The UTU has a long history of picking winners early. Hillary will be a president that America's working families can count on. Time and again, as a United States senator, she has stood with us," UTU President Paul Thompson said in a statement.

Senator Clinton is a fine candidate for President and has run the best campaign of all the candidates . . . so far.

As J. notes below, I speak for me only on this

While the Media and some others want to call the race for the Dem nomination 5 months before a vote is cast, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is having none of it, endorsing the best candidate for President in this race, Senator Chris Dodd. Matt of the Dodd blog has the details:

The International Association of Fire Fighters has announced that Chris Dodd will recieve their endorsement. IAFF President Harold Schaitberger says Dodd is "the man we trust to keep our country safe and families secure." The Fire Fighters don’t know what challenges we will face in the future, but regardless of the situation, we know what kind of leadership Chris Dodd will offer.

Fire fighters bring more than just an endorsement in name … there are tangible benefits that come with this endorsement that build on our already strong grass roots organization - boots on the ground, organizational and volunteer strength.

. . . Dodd and Schaitberger will be visiting Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada over the next four days and meeting with local firefighters along the way. . . .

The voters will decide this race. Not the moneymen. Not the Media. And not the "buzz."

I urge everyone to really look at the candidates and decide who you think would be the best President. I think the choice is clear - Chris Dodd.

[Added by TL: As always, Big Tent Democrat speaks for himself only.]

So Craig says today in his press conference. Personally, I do not care. But I think Glenn Greenwald exposes the problem Republicans face on this matter - they hate gay persons.

The evidence seems pretty clear that Craig is in fact gay. And now Republicans have to deal with this reality, even in the face of Craig's denials.

It's time for the Tuesday open thread. You're on your own here this afternoon.

Some things I'm following:

• The only officer to be charged in the Abu Ghraib scandal has been acquitted of all charges except failing to comply with a directive not to talk about the matter.

• ABC News reports Sen. Larry Craig will hold a presser this afternoon. My prediction: He won't run for re-election.

• MSNBC names some replacements for Gonzales, quoting a source close to the White House source as saying George J. Terwilliger III is looking good.

• Texas plans to execute Kenneth Foster Thursday even though he didn't kill anyone. The Dallas Morning News explains. Visit FreeKenneth and the NCADP action alert page and try to stop this wrongful execution.