This is progress. The Supreme Court has announced that beginning next month, it will post transcripts of oral arguments the same day they are argued. They will be available free on the court's website.

I hope televised oral arguments are next. While I am not in favor of televising criminal trials or pre-trial hearings without the consent of the defendant, I think appellate hearings consisting solely of legal arguments should be available to all. They are a tremendous educational tool.

(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

Since, unlike Jeralyn, I am not a blog leader ("Pres. Bill Clinton sat down with leaders of the lefty blogging community in his Harlem offices 9/12 and TalkLeft 's Jeralyn Merritt noted those in attendance . . . [not me] . . .") I don't get to ask President Bill Clinton questions. And to add insult to injury, Jeralyn has already thrown me overboard, offering my guest blogging gig to Clinton (yes I am sulking over here). All that said, I asked myself what I would have liked to discuss with Clinton. I thought of this issue most of all - 'does Clinton think his Third Way/New Democrat approach, that worked so well for him (did it work for the Dem Party?) in the 90s (of course since he is the best politician of his generation it is not clear that using of other approaches would not have worked for him) is the right political approach in today's hyperpartisan age of Bush Republicanism?'.

Anyone who has read my posts here knows by now I tremendously admire the work of the late Richard Hofstadter (an admiration shared by The Mahablog) and believe that our current Democrat political rock star - the new Bill Clinton - Barack Obama (a tremendously talented politician in his own right) has much to learn from him, as well as FDR. I think blurring the differences between the parties is bad politics, and that we Democrats must highlight the differences between Democrat amd Republican. I wonder what Clinton thinks and on the flip are some of the thoughts I would present for his consideration.

Senate Minority leader Harry Reid held a blogger conference call today. McJoan at Daily Kos has the details. Shorter version: Sen. Arlen Specter's warrantless NSA electronic surveillance bill will not pass. The Democrats will prevent it. McJoan says:

"...given the already expressed bipartisan opposition to the Specter legislation in the Senate, it seems that a filibuster will be unnecessary."

Blogger Glenn Greenwald asked Reid directly:

Sen. Reid stated flatly and unequivocally -- and I'm paraphrasing -- that the Specter bill was not going anywhere, that it would not be enacted. I then asked him how he could be so certain about that -- specifically, I asked where the 51 votes against the Specter bill would come from in light of the support it enjoys from both the White House and at least some of the ostensibly "independent" Republicans, exacerbated by the fact that all 10 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee voted in favor of it yesterday (at least they voted in favor of sending it to the Senate floor).

by TChris

Although the president wants you to be afraid -- very afraid -- it's time to replace fear with courage.

It's time to suck it up, America. You can't just go around being terrified all the time. It's time to stop sniveling in a corner and get The Right Stuff -- the courage to have principles and STAND for something. Truth. Justice. Freedom. Education. Jobs. Honest Elections. The Ten Commandments. And commercial-free TV!

If you nonetheless insist on being afraid, here are ten things that are scarier than terrorists.

Oh, no! My pal Duane Chapman, also known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, was arrested by U.S. Marshals today on an extradition warrant out of Mexico for his actions in apprehending since convicted multiple date-rapist Max Factor heir Andrew Luster.

In 2003, Chapman traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to retrieve Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster, who was wanted in the U.S. on rape charges. Luster is now in jail, serving a 124-year term. The Chapmans were jailed in Mexico for a brief time for the incident three years ago. Bounty hunting is considered a crime in Mexico.

Dog's wife, Beth Chapman, said 12 armed marshals "came through the door" at 6:00AM this morning. She said they took their daughter's boyfriend down at gunpoint. Dog was sleeping at the time. TMZ spoke with Nicky Credic from the U.S. Marshals Office. She said, "The arrest warrant was signed by a U.S. magistrate in Hawaii on September 13. The warrant was based on a formal request based on a diplomatic note from the government of Mexico."

Free Dog! He did a great public service in apprehending the fugitive Andrew Luster. The Mexican authorities had it in for him. See this 2003 CNN article.

More on Dog here.

by TChris

Tom DeLay may not be off the hook on a charge that he conspired to violate the Texas election code. The charge was dismissed last year, leaving DeLay to face a money laundering charge. An intermediate appellate court affirmed the dismissal, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has agreed to review that decision.

[B]y accepting the case for review, the high court likely pushed any trial in DeLay's case off until next year. No date for oral arguments has been set.

by TChris

Colin Powell is the latest Republican to stand up to President Bush's plan to reinterpret the Geneva Conventions to permit the abusive interrogation of detainees.

"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," Powell said. "To redefine [a portion of the Geneva Convention] would add to those doubts."

Powell also agrees with the argument that Americans captured in foreign countries are at greater risk of abuse if the U.S. unilaterally rewrites the Geneva Conventions.

Update: Here's the letter.

I have a brief due and other work-related stuff. Here's an open thread for you today.

West Virginia will become the first state in the country to bust drug users using the new EyeTech technology.

It is being made possible by a $2 million grant from Congressman Alan Mollohan, and will allow local law enforcement officials to receive training. The training will help them bust drug users, by learning the physiological signs, and through scanning the individual's eyes with the EyeCheck device.

The device looks like binoculars, and in seconds it scans an individuals pupils to detect a problem. "They'll be able to tell if they're on drugs, and what kind, whether marijuana, cocaine, or alcohol. Or even in the case of a tractor trailer driver, is he too tired to drive his rig?" said Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne.

The device can also detect abnormalities from chemical and biological effects, as well as natural disasters.

Can it also pick up the dry cleaning? Sounds like a hype and junk science to me.

by TChris

The White House wants to "reinterpret" the Geneva Conventions to permit a more aggressive approach to the interrogation of prisoners. John Negroponte told recalcitrant Republican senators that the Conventions "impose intolerable limits on any interrogation methods American intelligence officers might use against future terror suspects held by the Central Intelligence Agency in secret overseas prisons."

Those limits protect American soldiers from abuse and torture. It is intolerable that an administration official would advocate the weakening of an international agreement that safeguards captured Americans.

According to the NY Times, President Bush is "trying to put Democrats in a box by forcing them to take a stand and vote on Mr. Bush's authority to run two of his most controversial antiterror programs." Do Democrats need to be "forced" to take a stand against torture? Shouldn't we expect Democrats to stand in favor of long-standing agreements that assure humane treatment of American prisoners?

Talk show producers are relentless when trying to get guests with first-hand knowledge of a tragedy. They circle like wolves, cajoling and promising fair treatment.

That's not what Melissa Duckett got from Nancy Grace's show this week when she agreed to an on-air telephone interview with Nancy. She got cross-examined and practically accused of being responsible for her son's disappearance.

The interview was taped on September 7 and scheduled to air September 8. Hours before it aired, Ms. Duckett went to her grandparents' home, took a shotgun and killed herself.

Police have not named Ms. Duckett as a suspect in her son's disappearance, although she appears to be a person of interest to them (as are all parents in such cases.)

Duckett's family members disputed any suggestion that she hurt her son. They said that the strain of her son's disappearance pushed her to the brink, and the media sent her over the edge.

David Brock of Media Matters writes a great letter to ABC and Disney. First, he lists the film's major errors:

In fact, the miniseries was so rife with errors that even some conservatives spoke out against it. The first part of the film not only misrepresents some Clinton administration officials but also provides false depictions of others, including, reportedly, former FBI counterterrorism expert John O'Neill, who died on September 11, 2001, in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, where he was head of security.

The second half of the miniseries, which aired on September 11, also contained scenes that were factually inaccurate, this time showing President Bush taking aggressive action there is no indication he ever took. For example, in the film, Vice President Dick Cheney, after conversing with Bush over the phone immediately following the crash of American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, announced: "The president has just given the shoot-down order." Vanity Fair published an analysis of the recordings from the control room at NORAD's Northeast headquarters from September 11, 2001, indicating that Bush did not actually give the order to shoot down the hijacked airplanes; he authorized military commanders to make the decision themselves, and he did not grant that authorization until 41 minutes after Flight 77 had struck the Pentagon.