As if Macaca wasn't enough, there's this:

Stock options that Senator George Allen described as worthless were worth as much as $1.1 million at one point, according to a review of Senate disclosure forms and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The records appear to contradict remarks he made to the Associated Press. ``I got paid in stock options which were worthless,'' AP quoted him as saying.

Allen served as a board member of Chantilly, Virginia-based Xybernaut Corp. from 1998 until December 2000 and was awarded options on 110,000 shares during that period. His Senate financial disclosure form for 1999, required for candidates as well as officeholders, doesn't report that he owned the options.

[Hat tip Patriot Daily.]

Professor Stephen Griffin over at Balkanization has a thoughtful post on torture and the ticking time bomb theory in the context of Judge Richard Posner's new book, Not a Suicide Pact. Posner seems to embrace the TTB theory.

Posner comments: "In the era of weapons of mass destruction, torture may sometimes be the only means of averting the death of thousands, even millions, of Americans. In such a situation it would be the moral and political duty of the president to authorize torture. It seems odd that people who accept this point nevertheless denounce torture with such ferocity."

Griffen says,

What disturbs me is the moral shallowness of this particular scenario. Defined in a common sense way, torture involves deliberate cruelty and, as such, should be absolutely prohibited.

The Southern District of Florida Blog details Jose Padilla's Motion to Dismiss for Outrageous Government Conduct. It's well-worth reading for Padilla's factual recitation of what was done to him during his three years of confinement. I especially like the introduction:

"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."

Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil 89 (Walter Kaufmann trans., Vintage Books 1966) (1886).\

Legal reporter Vanessa Blum covers the motion here.\

Update: The motion itself is here.

(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat)

In discussing Scott Lemieux's piece on Dred Scott (Lemieux responded here), I touched upon the issue of Constitutional Interpretation. On Constitutional interpretation I wrote:

It seems undeniable to me that Dred Scott was a results oriented decision. And in that respect, Lemieux's statement that "[a]spirational" jurisprudence is only as good as the aspirations of the judge involved" is obviously correct. However, that does the "theory of a living Constitution" short shrift. The theory (or at least my theory) of a Living Constitution does not rest on "aspirational jurisprudence", but rather on common law judicial principles and the Constitution itself.

More on this on the other side.

Santa Barbara prosecutor Joyce Dudley wrote a novel about herself and her life as a prosecutor. Obviously, not lacking in ego, she describes her character as:

Ms. Danner, Ms. Dudley writes, has "the poise and sexiness of a dancer, the brains of a scholar and the protective passion of a mother." "She had always been attractive," Ms. Dudley continues, "but now, having reached middle age, experience, confidence and poise further enhanced her beauty."

She also suffers from Dick Wolf syndrome, where prosecutors are g-ds and defense lawyers are scum.

Prosecutors in "Intoxicating Agent" are fearless champions of the truth; defense lawyers, unethical and manipulative; and defendants, despicable and unattractive. One is called "felony ugly."

A real-life defendant in a date-rape drug case sued because one of the cases in her book is so close to his still-pending case. The judge issued a strong opinion, disqualifying her from the real-life case.

by TChris

Heck of a job there, Bushy.

Nearly five years after President Bush introduced the concept of an "axis of evil" comprising Iraq, Iran and North Korea, the administration has reached a crisis point with each nation: North Korea has claimed it conducted its first nuclear test, Iran refuses to halt its uranium-enrichment program, and Iraq appears to be tipping into a civil war 3 1/2 years after the U.S.-led invasion.

Isn't it about time for the president to award himself a medal?

by TChris

Another poll, this one conducted by The NY Times and CBS News, brings more bad news for Republicans. Perhaps the most telling finding:

Americans - including women and suburbanites - are more likely to say that Democrats, and not Republicans, share their moral values.

by TChris

As the military redeploys troops to hold Baghdad, it's in danger of losing the rest of the country.

"We do not have sufficient troop strength to secure the entire country simultaneously," Andrew Krepinevich, a military analyst, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Trying to be strong everywhere will lead us to being strong nowhere."

Meanwhile, we're told that the administration's policy isn't to "stay the course" -- a prospect that looks bleak no matter how often the president repeats the mantra. Instead, the policy is "constantly being adjusted." Is this the latest version of the "adapt to win" slogan that never seemed to gain traction?

A new CNN poll finds a majority of respondents say Denny Hastert should resign over FoleyGate.

The poll, conducted Friday through Sunday by Opinion Research Corporation, found that 52 percent of the 1,028 adults interviewed think Hastert should step aside. Only 31 percent said they think he should keep his post, and 17 percent had no opinion. The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent. (Full poll results)

I agree but I hope he continues to follow his ego instead of poll results so the Dems can win by an even greater margin in November.

I guess "the buck stops here" doesn't have the same meaning it used to.

Must read of the day: When Lawyers are War Criminals: Remarks delivered by Scott Horton at the ASIL Centennial Conference on The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, Bowling Green, OH, Oct. 7, 2006.

On the Military Commissions bill:

I want to ask today: What has this legislation done to the legacy of Nuremberg? Has it granted impunity to persons who committed war crimes? Is that impunity effective, and might it have unintended consequences?

At Nuremberg, Justice Jackson promised that this process would not be "victor's justice." He said "We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our lips as well." Powerful words. A moral compact. Did the Bush Administration seek to repudiate Jackson's commitment? This can be answered quite clearly: yes. But did they succeed? That is less clear.

Law Prof Marjorie Cohn warns that the military commissions bill authorizes Bush to round of thousands, including Americans, and hold them in detention camps.

The contract, she writes, has already been awarded to a Haliburton subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root.

As I wrote back in May, when warning about the Republican immigration bill, immigrants aren't safe either.

Australian news reports that North Korea seems to be preparing for a second nuclear weapon test.

Kim Seung-Gyu, head of South Korea's spy agency, told parliament that activity involving vehicles and as many as 40 people was under way at Punggyeri in the north-eastern county of Kilju, Yonhap news agency reported.

"From 4pm (AEST) today, there have been some unusual movements under way at Punggyeri where we had thought the first nuclear test would be carried out," Mr Kim was quoted as saying. "We have been closely following developments there to find out whether North Korea is moving to conduct a series of tests as India and Pakistan did," he said.

What we should do about Korea is far beyond my expertise, but Matt Yglesias and Brad Plumer have some thoughts.