Conservative and liberal bloggers alike are predicting a downfall for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

If you missed today's hearing, and don't have the time to watch it, here's the full transcript.

And this from the New York Times news article (not editorial) on the hearing:

In more than five hours of often-combative testimony, Mr. Gonzales, who sat grim-faced, clasping his hands and hunched over, struggled to offer a coherent explanation for the dismissals. He apologized for his mistakes in what he described as a flawed process, but defended the removal of eight United States attorneys as proper.

I'm not as charged up about this as most people. What will change with Gonzales gone? Bush will appoint another one of his loyal faves to replace him. The war on drugs, war on civil liberties and trend towards draconian sentences will continue. Say what you want about Gonzales, he's nowhere near the threat to constitutional rights that John Ashcroft was. He's continued Ashcroft's policies, but he seems to be more of a follower than a take-charge innovator of new ways to deprive people of their freedom.

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The jury returned guilty verdicts Thursday on 19 of 42 counts of insider trading against former Qwest CEO Joseph Nacchio.

I can't imagine sitting through the verdict, hearing 23 counts of "not guilty" one by one, only to be followed by 19 counts of guilty. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.

As to my thoughts on the verdict, I've blogged the trial over at 5280.com and my analysis is here.

In a nutshell,

Massive immigrant rights demonstrators will take to the streets of our major cities again on May Day.

Where last year's marches took aim at federal legislation that would have made assisting illegal immigrants a felony, this year's May 1 march will call for a moratorium on workplace immigration raids that have occurred nationwide in recent months, organizers said.

Demonstrators also will demand that U.S. citizenship be opened to the country's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants, an element in several competing proposals introduced this year in Congress.

Activists say this year could see even bigger turnouts.

"The difference this year is that we now have the infrastructure in place. People are easier to reach and they only have to ask: Where and what time?"

Off-topic perhaps, but it's Friday and I'm sick of all the crime news this week.

In today's Washington Post:

Data shows that baby boomers are less healthy than their parents. Hard to believe with all our focus on gyms, health food and quitting smoking, but these are the facts:

Boomers are healthier in some important ways -- they are much less likely to smoke, for example -- but large surveys are consistently finding that they tend to describe themselves as less hale and hearty than their forebears did at the same age. They are more likely to report difficulty climbing stairs, getting up from a chair and doing other routine activities, as well as more chronic problems such as high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.

One explanation:

John Podesta discusses potential Democratic strategies for reacting to a Bush veto of the Iraq supplemental funding bill scheduled to be sent the President next week:

Four Post-Veto Scenarios:

Provide a short infusion of funding of $40 billion

Demand the president to account for the military readiness of units being sent to Iraq and acknowledge the strains on troops already in Iraq in the fiscal year 2007 supplemental bill

Demand that certification of progress towards benchmarks for Iraq’s political transition remains a part of the FY2007 supplemental funding bill

Keep the pressure for redeployment dates by offering redeployment language in the markups of the fiscal year 2008 Defense Authorization and Appropriations bills.

What's missing? Reid-Feingold. Why would John Podesta not consider Reid-Feingold? Why would he ignore the stated policy of the Democratic Senate Majority Leader? Here's why -- because John Podesta and his group do not believe, apparently, that Congress can NOT fund the Debacle:

Via Think Progress: Former President Bill Clinton said on Larry King Live tonight that Alberto Gonzales should resign.

Rudy Giuliani spent today in Oklahoma City, trying to perfect his image as terrorist victim soother.

Presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani told the crowd at the former site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that the response to the 1995 attack serves as an example to others recovering from violence.

The people of Oklahoma City "became a model of compassion and strength, both, a model that helped us several years later get through Sept. 11 and a model that will help the people of Virginia Tech get through the terrible agonies that they are going through right now," said Giuliani, who was New York's mayor during the 2001 terrorist attacks.

A much better glimpse into Giuliani is provided by Watertiger over at Firedoglake.

Today is a bad day for history. It is the anniversary of the tragic deaths of the Branch Davidians at Waco in 1993.

It is also the 12th anniversary of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. (Disclosure: I was one of Timothy McVeigh's trial lawyers, so don't bother ranting about him in the comments, it will be deleted.)

Tomorrow, April 20, is the anniversary of the Columbine killings.

One of the lasting legal effects of the OKC bombing was President Bill Clinton's Anti-Terrorism and Death Penalty Enforcement Act (pdf), which restricted habeas corpus rights and added many new death penalty eligible offenses.

Like I said the other day about why we shouldn't rush to enact gun control laws in the aftermath of Virginia Tech, we should never enact laws as an emotional response to a single tragedy, no matter how horrific. Cooler heads are needed.

Update (4/20): A suspect, a homeless ex-offender, has been arrested.

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A torturer-rapist is at large in New York City. If you're a woman near Columbia, don't be walking around alone until he's caught.

It was an ordeal that lasted 19 hours. In that span, a man bound a Columbia University graduate student in her apartment, raped her, doused her with hot water and bleach, slit her eyelids and finally set a fire before fleeing, police said.

How he got into her apartment:

More....

Howard Dean's 2004 campaign manager Joe Trippi has signed onto John Edwards' presidential campaign:

I really thought that the 2004 presidential campaign would be the last I would be involved in. I have always wanted to make a difference, but for me I thought those days were over.

A few weeks ago, John and Elizabeth Edwards made their decision to continue, not just John Edwards' campaign for President, but their work together to make a difference for their country.

And that made me realize that I wasn't done trying to make a difference either. Not by a long shot. So today I am joining the John Edwards campaign.

Good move by John Edwards. I like Joe Trippi a lot and think he will be an asset to the campaign, particularly with respect to netroots support.

President Bush was pleased with the performance of his Attorney General:

President Bush was pleased with the Attorney General's testimony today. After hours of testimony in which he answered all of the Senators' questions and provided thousands of pages of documents, he again showed that nothing improper occurred. He admitted the matter could have been handled much better, and he apologized for the disruption to the lives of the U.S. Attorneys involved, as well as for the lack of clarity in his initial responses. The Attorney General has the full confidence of the President, and he appreciates the work he is doing at the Department of Justice to help keep our citizens safe from terrorists, our children safe from predators, our government safe from corruption, and our streets free from gang violence.

I have a theory Bush figures Gonzo is the one guy who can make Bush look less incompetent. For example, 'you think Bush is incompetent, you should see Gonzales.' My alternate theory is Bush enjoys seeing baby seals get clubbed.

h/t Meteor Blades