Noting she has the same initials as the Human Rights Campaign, in an unpublicized speech Friday, Hillary Clinton offered gays a partnership in her Administration.

She also opposed "Don't Ask, Don't tell" for gays serving in the military, as do John Edwards and Barack Obama.

The group hasn't yet decided whom to endorse, and like many of us, won't for some time.

As to being closed to the press:

Crooks and Liars is all over the Walter Reed hearings today, with some video.

Think Progress notes Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley has been accused over an abuse cover-up before -- with respect to the detainees. It notes, "Despite these inexcusable cover-ups, Kiley continues to serve as the Army’s surgeon general."

Sounds like it's time for Kiley to go.

You can watch the hearings at C-Span here.

An AUSA and reader of TPM explains:

I'm an Assistant United States Attorney in [*******], and am, of course, outraged by the U.S. Attorney purge, as most AUSAs are. I appreciate all the work you've been doing on this story. My own sense is that this purge has to be viewed as part a much larger story on the devastating impact of this administration's policies on the institution of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

. . . I strive every day to make sure that the Fourth Amendment rights of evn the worst criminals are scrupulously observed, only to learn that the folks I work for view those rights as disposable, inconvenient anachronisms. I operate in a criminal justice system properly designed to maximize due process for even the worst criminals, only to watch the administration kick and scream when forced to provide even the most basic due process rights to suspected terrorists.

And now the purges. So they've slashed U.S. Attorney's budgets, trashed rights we have sworn to uphold, and now, tried to toady-up the ranks of our leadership by firing some of our best and brightest, apparently to make room for wingnut-annointed political hacks. Folks who do stuff like this deserve to get caught.

Read the whole thing.

The Judge in the Scooter Libby trial today provided this written response (pdf)to the questions the jury asked Friday about reasonable doubt and Matthew Cooper and the obstruction of justice charge.

The first question read:

We would like clarification of the term "reasonable doubt." Specifically, is it necessary for the Government to present evidence that it is not humanly possible for someone not to recall an event in order to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Shorter version: Dear Jury, re-read the reasonable doubt instruction, and if you still have a problem, clarify what you mean by "humanly possible." On Matthew Cooper, you can consider all the evidence presented at trial, including all of Libby's grand jury testimony.

Marcy at Firedoglake ( here and here and most recently here)live-blogged the court hearing over how to respond to the jury.

Update: Text version of response below the fold:

Bump and Update: CREW has filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Domenici.

Today Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) violated Senate Rules by contacting the U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, David C. Iglesias, and pressuring him about an ongoing corruption probe.

Also, see this Albuquerque Tribune article:

Ethics rules permit members of congress to request a status report on a case from federal agents if they're doing so at the behest of constituents.

In his statement, Domenici seemingly moved to insulate himself from ethics charges, saying he'd received a "growing number of inquiries from constituents" about the courthouse case.

*****

Sen. Domenici Admits Urging DOJ to Fire Prosecutor

New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici today acknowledged not only calling U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to inquire about the progress of a corruption case against a Democrat, but recommending to DOJ that he be fired.

If the Bush Administration thought that Walter Reed is the only veterans hospital needing fixing, it's in for a huge awakening. In the aftermath of the publicity about the deficient conditions at Reed, soldiers elsewhere are weighing in, with similar stories about treatment across the country.

Stories of neglect and substandard care have flooded in from soldiers, their family members, veterans, doctors and nurses working inside the system. They describe depressing living conditions for outpatients at other military bases around the country, from Fort Lewis in Washington state to Fort Dix in New Jersey. They tell stories -- their own versions, not verified -- of callous responses to combat stress and a system ill equipped to handle another generation of psychologically scarred vets.

...much deeper [than Reed] has been the reaction outside Washington, including from many of the 600,000 new veterans who left the service after Iraq and Afghanistan. Wrenching questions have dominated blogs, talk shows, editorial cartoons, VFW spaghetti suppers and the solitary late nights of soldiers and former soldiers who fire off e-mails to reporters, members of Congress and the White House -- looking, finally, for attention and solutions.

The hearings that begin Monday come none too soon. They need to be expanded. We trusted the Government to treat our returning wounded soldiers with the best care possible. This is just such an outrage.

NBC is pouring a lot of advertising dollars into its new series, The Black Donnellys. If you missed the pilot, you can watch it for free at the NBC link or even download it for free from iTunes. It's by the writers of Crash.

It's about four Irish brothers in New York City whose loyalty to each other knows no bounds, particularly when it comes to the Mob. There's lots of violence.

Some compare it to the Sopranos. I don't think it has the depth. The characters are much younger -- so young, I had trouble taking them seriously. But, in the end, I did, although I kept thinking Boston would be the more appropriate setting. However, that may be because of The Departed.

More....

Well, he was in Colorado this weekend, but this is a fun rap video about Karl Rove.

Congressman Murtha said today:

MR. RUSSERT: What are the Democrats going to do to try to stop the war in Iraq? REP. MURTHA: Well, the, the details haven’t been released yet. Until the members see it, we’re not going to talk about the details of what’s going to happen. That will be released tomorrow.

I'll withhold judgment then Congressman. Meanwhile, the Out of Iraq Caucus is:

becoming increasingly frustrated by what its members say is the Democratic leadership’s unwillingness to heed their calls for decisive action to the end the war.

Me too.

The New York Times presents its "must do" list for President Bush. Excellent choices include:

• Restore Habeas Corpus

• Stop Illegal Spying

• Ban Torture, Really

In addition, the Times says, he must close secret prisons, account for the ghost prisoners, ban extraordinary rendition, tighten the definition of enemy combatant, fairly screen prisoners, ban secret and tainted evidence, better define "classified evidence" and respect the right to counsel.

It may be a to-do list for Bush, but I hope the Democrats are reading and listening. These are many of the issues we expected them to lead on when we voted in November.

Time to get busy.

Via Ben at Politico Blog, quoting the Washington Times about Rudy Giuliani's Cpac speech:

In interviews afterward, some attendees said Mr. Giuliani lost momentum when he heaped lavish praise on Abraham Lincoln.

"While many conservatives regard the Civil War president as the spiritual founder of the Republican Party, others deeply resent him as a man who ruthlessly suspended constitutional rights and freedoms in order to militarily challenge the South's belief in its right to secede. Some saw similar disdain for individuals' rights in Mr. Giuliani's successful war on crime in New York City."

Where is Rudy on civil liberties issues? Squarely with Bush (no suprise there.)

Mr. Giuliani took the side of the Bush administration on an issue that troubles civil libertarian conservatives, saying that "you need the tools like the Patriot Act and legal intelligence surveillance."

This is interesting. The Coulter line is snark, but I figured the Malkin line was too. I was wrong on that.