I thought Bush went to war in Iraq to destroy its non-existent weapons of mass destruction, bring democracy to Iraq and dethrone Saddam.

The Pentagon, in releasing the names today of the latest U.S. troops to die in Iraq, says they died while supporting the "global war on terror."

Marine Sgt. Luke J. Zimmerman, 24, of Luxemburg, Wis., died Oct. 27 from injuries suffered while conducting combat operations in Iraq’s Anbar province. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Army 1st Sgt. Ricky L. McGinnis, 42, of Hamilton, Ohio, died Oct. 26 in Balad, Iraq, when a roadside bomb detonated near his dismounted patrol in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. McGinnis was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

How transparent. Now that there's no support for the war in Iraq and civil war is rampant, Bush thinks he can change the name and fool us into thinking we're fighting in Iraq to destroy amorphous terrorists.

Last week we wrote about two border agents sentenced to 11 and 12 years respectively for shooting a pot smuggler and an ensuing cover-up at the border.

In an unrelated case today, a federal judge sentenced two veteran border patrol agents to six years each for bribery in an immigrant smuggling scam.

Mario Alvarez and Samuel McClaren released smugglers and their customers from jail while working on a prisoner transfer program with the Mexican government. They once released a prisoner in a Wal-Mart parking lot for a fee of $6,000, according to court documents.

The agents, based in El Centro, once smuggled two illegal immigrants across the border themselves in a government vehicle and released them for cash, according to court documents. They turned over the location of surveillance cameras and other Border Patrol intelligence to smugglers.

Total amount of the bribes received by the agents: $180,000.00. According to the Justice Department:

Another jury got it wrong. Another innocent man languished in prison. And another DNA test set him free.

You've heard the story before. (If you haven't, check out TalkLeft's innocence cases link.) This man's name is Larry Fuller. He served honorably in Vietnam before he served two decades for a rape he didn't commit.

The woman looked at two photo lineups, both of which included Fuller. She picked him in the second one, even though Fuller was bearded in the picture and she said her attacker had no facial hair.

The police contributed to Fuller's misidentification by including his photo in two photo arrays. The unduly suggestive tactic (I know I've seen that face before) all but assured that the victim would pick Fuller. (TalkLeft explores identification procedures in more detail here.)

Fuller has consistently asked for the DNA evidence to be retested, but the Dallas County prosecutors didn't agree to retesting until this year. Remarkably, Fuller is the tenth Dallas County prisoner to be exonerated by DNA testing in the last five years.

I have no interest in watching pundits rail ad nauseum tonight about John Kerry. I've already written two posts today about his statement which is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

Searching for alternative viewing, I found my pick. At 7:45 ET, the Sundance Channel airs the 1972 Tuesday Weld - Anthony Perkins movie, Play it As It Lays.

Based on the Joan Didion novel of the same name, which was my favorite book in law school (my copy is dog-eared and highlighted to death), the movie is rarely shown on tv and not available on DVD or VHS as far as I know. I have a copy that I've seen a dozen times over the years. Why? I'm not quite sure, but it's just like a train wreck, I can't not watch it.

So I'll be skipping the Kerry non-news and watching the film. Especially if you enjoyed Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins in Pretty Poison, you might want to do the same.

With a week to go, Republicans are backing out of supporting Bush/Cheney favorite Rick O'Donnell who has been trailing the excellent Ed Perlmutter in Colorado's 7th District for the seat being vacated by Bob Beauprez, who is running a seemingly losing race for Colorado Governor.

The beneficiary of the money that will not be spent on O'Donnell? Marilyn Musgrave, mother of the anti-gay marriage amendment.

The AP reports:

It must have seemed like a good idea at the time:

The mayor [of Edmond, OK] personally distributed thousands of fliers discouraging underage drinking only to find they mistakenly contained the phone number for a sex talk line.

The mayor insists that the mistake is "not part of the story." Correction: it is the story. And it's a pretty funny story, at that.

Who cares what John Kerry said? The issue is Iraq.

Guantanamo

Torture

John Kerry flubbed a live statement on Iraq. Here's the video.

What Kerry meant to say:

"I can't overstress the importance of a great education. Do you know where you end up if you don't study, if you aren't smart, if you're intellectually lazy? You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq. Just Ask President Bush." - Senator John Kerry.

What Kerry said:

If you make the most of it, if you study hard and do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.

Here's Kerry's official statement castigating those who are castigating him.

Of all people it would be wrong to accuse of not supporting the troops, John Kerry is at the top of the list. It's a side issue people, a distraction, let's move on.

Republicans and their supporters will jump at anything this last week to mitigate their upcoming losses. Balloon Juice explains how it works.

There's been a flurry of filings in the Scooter Libby case. Shorter version: Both Fitz and Libby want to keep information about l'affaire du Plame from the jury. Courtesy of Next Hurrah:

• Libby's Motion in Limine (pdf)

• Libby's Motion to Exclude Evidence re: reporters' litigation and Judith Miller's confinement. (pdf)

• Libby's Motion to Exclude information about Valerie Plame's employment status. (pdf)

Libby doesn't want it to be inferred that his talks with Judith Miller about the NIE were improper. He doesn't want it inferred that he thought he could lie because he believed reporters would refuse to testify. He doesn't think Valerie Plame's covert or non-covert employment status, or any damages she may have sustained, are relevant to the trial.

Fitz' filing is here (pdf.) Fitz doesn't want the jury to hear:

I, as do many, hurl words of invective at many I disagree with, too often. But those words are not meant to question the good faith of those who disagree with me in good faith and fairly. Republicans have a different world view and ideology than I, but this does not mean their expressions are not made in good faith. Too often, the Right, and to a lesser extent, the Left, questions motives, patriotism and honor. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it is merited. But not always.

Today, Andrew Sullivan acknowledges this and his excesses in the past:

I have indeed come to see that many, many liberals are indeed my brothers and my sisters. And increasing numbers of conservatives as well, thank God. For some on the far left, Bush could never have done any right, ever. I'm not going to exculpate the hate-filled parts of the far-left. But many, many others on the left were right about these people in power; and I was wrong. I threw some smug invective their way and, in retrospect, I am ashamed of it. Sure, I recognized my error before the last election, but that doesn't excuse it. Sure, some of it was just misunderstanding each other, in a climate of great fear, and some of it was just my arrogance that I was right. But that doesn't excuse it all either. My book is an attempt to rescue something from the wreckage - an atonement of sorts - and to move forward.

I welcome Andrew's acknowledgment and regret. But I have one bone to pick.

Media Matters reports that a group of almost 100 advertisers on ABC radio networks have demanded their ads not air on Air America Radio.

Among the advertisers listed are Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Federal Express, General Electric, McDonald's, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Navy.

The actual memo is here.

He was yelling "I want Jesus" and carrying a bible. The cops tasered him. He died at the hospital.

Will the cops say they thought the bible was a gun?

In a report released in March, international human rights group Amnesty International said it had logged at least 156 deaths across the country in the previous five years related to police stun guns.

The rise in deaths accompanies a marked increase in the number of U.S. law enforcement agencies employing devices made by Taser International Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz. ....Police had used Tasers more than 70,000 times as of last year, Congress' Government Accountability Office said.