Judge Robert Conrad, Jr., one of the four judges President Bush nominated last week to be federal appeals court judges sounds dangerous. Check out what Sen. Patrick Leahy said (scroll down) about him in 2005 when he was nominated to the District Court:

Listen to what he wrote about Sister Helen Prejean, one of the bravest and most caring people I have ever met. He calls her book, “Dead Man Walking,” “liberal drivel,” and shows nothing but contempt for her compassionate work with condemned prisoners. The rhetoric he uses is heated, and his bias for the death penalty is clear. Will any defendant in a capital case who comes before a Judge Conrad feel that they will get a fair hearing from him?

On Planned Parenthood:

Mr. Conrad’s view of the well-respected family planning organization is that it is a “most radical legal advocate of unfettered abortion on demand,” and argues they do nothing to reduce teen pregnancy.

Leahy also says then Senator John Edwards opposed Conrad's nomination when it first came up in 2002.

Wikipedia mentions "He is best known for recommending an independent counsel be named to investigate then Vice President Al Gore."

He's had a rather meteoric rise in the past few years, from U.S. Attorney in North Carolina, to federal judge in 2005 to Chief Judge (Western District of North Carolina) in 2006 and now to the Court of Appeals.

I think we need more information on Judge Conrad before his confirmation. How has he ruled while on the District Court?

Via Crooks and Liars and U.S.A. Today:

The Bush administration announced a new tool Tuesday to freeze financial assets of those who want to destabilize Iraq.

President Bush unveiled a new executive order that allows the administration to block bank accounts and any other financial assets that might be found in this country belonging to people, companies or groups that the United States deems are working to threaten stability in Iraq.

Is this really necessary?

The administration already has tools to clamp down financially on people, companies and groups that seek to bankroll terrorist activities or help funds specific terror groups, such as al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. The United States also has financial sanctions against countries accused of fostering terrorism, such as Iran.

I love the line about "threatening stability" in Iraq. As if there's any stability left to threaten.

Former President Bill Clinton appeared on Good Morning America today. As to Hillary's record of supporting women, he said:

"I defy you to find anybody who has run for office in recent history who's got a longer history of working for women, for families and children, than Hillary does," he said. "I don't think it's inconsistent with being a woman that you can also be knowledgeable on military and security affairs, and be strong when the occasion demands it. I don't consider that being manly -- I consider that being a leader."

He also said the U.S. cannot succeed militarily in Iraq and come September, President Bush will be out excuses.

More...

As I mentioned yesterday, the idea that in September the report of General David Petraeus on the Surge will weaken Godot Republican resolve on following Bush's Iraq Debacle policy is simply unrealistic. Glenn Greenwald catches Gen. Petraeus interviewed by Hugh Hewitt of all people:

HH: Now you’re due to make a report back in September, I don’t know if it’s early, mid or late September, General Petraeus, is that enough time to really get a fix on how the surge is progressing? DP: Well, I have always said that we will have a sense by that time of basically, of how things are going, have we been able to achieve progress on the ground, where have their been shortfalls, and so forth. And I think that is a reasonable amount of time to have had all the forces on the ground, again, for about three months, to have that kind of sense. . . .

Does anyone believe that a proud soldier like Petraeus will provide a sense that he can't succeed? Of course he will not. Heck, if he would, would you really want him to be leading the forces? Unlike Glenn, I am not as skeptical of Petraeus' intentions; I just realize he is human and the commander of the operation is not going to be the one to declare his operation a failure. More.

The defense begins its case today in the terrorism trial of Jose Padilla and two codefendants.

How big are the holes in the case? Journalist Lew Z. Koch, writing at Firedoglake, counts the ways. He concludes:

Ashcroft, then Comey, and now Gonzales, Frazier, Shipley, Killinger and Pell have built a case on fantasy, supposition, prejudice and fear mongering. Can the defense make the jury see the shocking inadequacies of the prosecution’s case?

The Christian Science Monitor asks, Without a Plot, Is Padilla Guilty?

More....

Tens of thousands of graduating law students around the country (11,000 in New York alone) are in final crunch mode studying for next week's bar exam.

The TL kid is one of them.

Above the Law has put up an open thread for sharing bar exam tips and stories. I'm doing the same here. Humor is appreciated. (And thanks to all of you who responded here.)

I can't imagine taking a bar exam in a room with thousands of other people. Nor can I imagine rules like these.

Applicants are NOT permitted to bring any items into the examination room other than one (1) clear, gallon-sized plastic food storage bag which may contain:

Pens (blue or black ink only)
Medication
No. 2 Pencils, Erasers, Highlighters
Feminine Hygiene Products
Beverage in plastic container or juice box only
Tissues
Quiet Snack (No peanut or tree nut products)
Ordinary Earplugs

More....

Let's hope the Democrats are as resolute.

Hunter S. Thompson's 70th birthday is today. His wife Anita shares her thoughts.

There's a birthday party tonight at Owl Farm for Hunter,which I'm missing because I have court here in Denver tomorrow. Owl Farm parties are always a great time and Hunter's spirit is right at hand.

(Update: Looks like the party didn't happen, but I'm told a small group assembled to toast Hunter and they did shoot a cannon or two.)

Saturday, the Aspen Daily News will run a commemorative issue for Hunter, with Anita as the paper's guest editor. Ralph Steadman will grace the cover and Walter Isaacson and others will be contributors. Anita writes:

I’ll be including a cut-out card to put in your wallet with the things to do and not do while talking to the police.

The timing of the special edition is not just for Hunter's birthday, but for the Aspen Institute Symposium on Hunter's writings, Politics, Truth and Justice, to be held Saturday night. Hunter's son Juan has done a great job of putting it together.

More....

Todd Beeton discusses John Edwards and Barack Obama's speeches on poverty:

John Edwards concludes his Road To One America poverty tour today with a major speech in Kentucky, the site where Robert F Kennedy ended a similar trek in 1968. . . [L]last night on Hardball, Chris Matthews asked a more meta question that hit on the larger ramifications of Edwards' focus on poverty:

MATTHEWS: . . . How do you get back to being the party of regular folk? EDWARDS: My party and the Democratic party that I believe in stands up for ordinary people, stands up for the little guy, stands up for people who don't have health insurance, who live in poverty and who don't go to fundraisers. That's what the heart and soul of the Democratic Party is and we can never lose that because if we lose it we lose our soul. And it's gonna require us to have a little backbone and stand up for what we believe is right regardless of who's affected by it.

Barack Obama gave a speech about poverty invoking Bobby Kennedy today as well. . . [N]o matter how you read Obama's timing, it's telling that his speech doesn't contain the word "Democrat" once.

More.

The Sentencing Project has released its latest report on racial disparties in prison sentences. Among the findings:

Blacks in the United States are imprisoned at more than five times the rate of whites, and Hispanics are locked up at nearly double the white rate, according to a study released Wednesday by a criminal justice policy group.

The worst of the states:

In five states - Iowa, Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Wisconsin - African Americans are incarcerated at more than ten times the rate of whites.

You can read the report here (pdf.)

Among the recommended fixes:

Headlines, NYTimes:

Democrats Fail to Force Vote on Iraq Pullout . . . The measure, which called for troops to begin departing within 120 days, was defeated in a procedural vote on what is known as a cloture motion. It received 52 “yes” votes, to 47 “no” votes, but Senate rules require 60 yes votes to pass the motion, which would have overcome a Republican filibuster of the measure.

How about this headline? "Dems Fail To Overcome GOP Filibuster on Iraq"? Same number of words and actually accurate.

Impeachment X KagroX writes a relatively balanced piece on defunding:

Defunding presents a more muddied picture. Savage notes:

Prompted in part by Cheney, the Bush administration has championed an aggressive view of executive power under which Congress cannot restrict the commander in chief's options, short of cutting off funds for the troops. This constitutional interpretation, which is disputed by many legal scholars, has surfaced repeatedly in recent months.

I think this presents an accurate picture of what's been said on the record -- that is, that even lunatics like Cheney, Addington and Yoo say in public that defunding the war ends it. . . .

Interestingly, Kagro is skeptical:

It's taking it with a large grain of salt. Like I said, I make no objection to your preferred method, and would vote (or not) with you when the time comes.

Funny how Kagro has no salt available when it comes to the possibility of removing Bush and Cheney even though that requires 17 Republican Senators voting for removal. More.