by TChris

The military hasn't executed a soldier since 1960. It isn't likely to, and shouldn't, execute four soldiers accused of murdering three Iraqis, despite a recommendation that the death penalty is warranted.

Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. concluded that the slayings were premeditated and warranted the death sentence based on evidence he heard at an August hearing. The case will now be forwarded to Army officials, who will decide whether Daniel's recommendation should be followed.

More details about the alleged murders can be found here.

If the soldiers are convicted after a fair trial, they should be held accountable, just as they would be if their victims had been American citizens. But whether the victims were American or Iraqi, death is not the appropriate punishment. Iraq has seen enough death in the last four years.

by TChris

Search warrants reveal the cause of an FBI raid of state legislators' offices in Alaska this week:

The Associated Press in Alaska reported on Friday that it had obtained a copy of a search warrant that stated that investigators were seeking "from the period of October 2005 to the present, any and all documents concerning, reflecting or relating to proposed legislation in the state of Alaska involving either the creation of a natural gas pipeline or the petroleum production tax." ... The A.P. said the warrant sought information about possible payments to lawmakers by VECO executives. The warrant also said investigators were seeking hats or other items bearing the phrases "CBC," "Corrupt Bastards Club" or "Corrupt Bastards Caucus." Details about the supposed group were unavailable.

How stupid would a corrupt legislator have to be to wear a hat advertising his corruption? Whether the FBI recovered incriminating headgear in any of the searches hasn't been revealed. At least six offices were searched (all but one occupied by Republicans), including the office of State Senate president Ben Stevens, son of Senator Ted Stevens. Here's Ted sticking up for his son:

Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for Senator Ted Stevens, said by e-mail, "We have no comment on this matter."

by TChris

Attention often focuses on the problems of urban America -- and there are problems aplenty, to be sure -- but sparsely populated areas of the country have their own problems, one of which is identified in a study reported today by the New York Times: boredom, an affliction that leads to binge drinking.

A federal government survey recently confirmed what residents of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas already knew: people there drink to excess, at very early ages, well above the national average. The survey, conducted over three years by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said south-central Wyoming led the nation with the highest rate of alcohol abuse by people age 12 and older. In Albany and Carbon counties, more than 30 percent of people under age 20 binge drink -- 50 percent above the national average.

Western red state kids turn to alcohol, and sometimes methamphetamine, to cope with "the boredom of the big empty." Megachurches apparently aren't filling the voids in their lives.

Here's an open thread to keep you going. Comments are open, if you don't see your's, it may be in the "junk" folder on MT, and I'll be clearing them a few times a day in batches over the weekend.

Also check out the great sites on the right on our blogroll. And check back in case TChris or LNILR or Big Tent Democrat has something to say...no promises, it being a holiday and all, but you never know.

It's 50 degrees in Denver and 41 in Aspen. It will be a chilly weekend. But the music will keep us warm. Besides, I never miss a chance to hear this guy. Here's the full roster.

Here's a montage of past years.

Have a great holiday, see you soon.

Matt Yglesias is leaving the TPM conglomerate and returning to solo blogging at his own site.

I've been a big fan of Matt's since he began blogging in 2002 while still an undergraduate. I followed him to American Prospect, where he wrote as a staff writer and for Tapped. For no reason in particular, I didn't follow him on to TPM, but now that he's going back to his own site, I'll be a daily reader again.

Update your bookmarks, and Welcome Back, Matt.

by TChris

The Friday that kicks off a holiday weekend is a good time for the government to release news it hopes will go unnoticed.

In a grim 63-page report, the Pentagon chronicled bad news on a variety of fronts.

Grim indeed:

"Death squads and terrorists are locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife, with Sunni and Shia extremists each portraying themselves as the defenders of their respective sectarian groups," the report noted. "The Sunni Arab insurgence remains potent and viable."

(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

Via TNR, Slate reportsRudy saying no to the New McCarthyism:

As [Rudy Giuliaini] answered the last of the three questions from reporters, he talked about the root causes of terrorism: "oppressive governments that demagogue and blame and project their problems other places and do nothing to solve the problems of their own people."

"Sounds like the Democrats," shouted a man. The crowd roared.

. . . "Time out," [Giuliani] said . . .The other thing we have to learn is that we can't get into this partisan bickering. The fact is that Republicans and Democrats have the same objectives. Democrats are loyal Americans. Republicans are loyal Americans. I think we have better answers, but we have to respect each other."

Say what? No more calling Democrats traitors? No more comparing them to terrorists? What will that leave Rove and Cheney and Rummy and Lieberman? Next thing you know Rudy will be defending gay marriage and the right to choose. I saw that season of the West Wing -- did Alan Alda win? I forget.

From the ACLU (received by e-mail):

[N]ext week Congress returns from recess, and at the top of their agenda is passing legislation that would attempt to retroactively legitimize President Bush's unconstitutional warrantless wiretapping program. Two similar bills are slated to be marked up in, and possibly voted out of, committee next week - Rep. Wilson's H.R.5825 in House Judiciary on Wednesday, September 6, and Sen. Specter's S.2453 in Senate Judiciary on Thursday, September 7.

As part of our effort to spread the word about these bills and the danger they pose to civil liberties, I'm asking for your help. My goal is to get as many people as possible talking about NSA next week, especially on Wednesday, September 6.

Bloggers can help get this issue back into the national consciousness. Here's how.

Some good news out of Hawaii today. The Hawaii Supreme Court has held that an employer can't fire an employee just because of a past criminal conviction. There must be a rational relationship between the conviction and the job duties.

The high court overturned a lower court decision Wednesday that threw out an anti-discrimination complaint filed by Jon S. Logan Wright in April 2004. In it he claimed the Kahului Home Depot fired him after a background check conducted more than a year after he began working revealed he had a 1996 Nevada drug conviction. In that case he served no jail time and was placed on probation, which ended in November 1997.

Logan had passed numerous drug tests showing he was clean.

(Guest Post by Big Tent Democrat)

Yesterday I wrote about President Bush's citing General John Abizaid as saying "If we withdraw before the job is done, the enemy will follow us here." And in fact, General Abizaid said something much different. It is indeed a fascinating read about Abizaid from March 2005 on many levels. Specifically on what Bush discussed though, I want to excerpt at some length from two discussions Gen. Abizaid had with soldiers in Iraq:

Capt. John Benoit, an artilleryman from the Louisiana National Guard, looked Gen. John Abizaid squarely in the eye and asked bluntly: How's the war going? . . . The insurgency, Abizaid acknowledged, has grown worse over the past year. [Remember this was March 2005!!] There's no defensiveness on that point, though, as he segues into a discussion of why the insurgents--particularly the radical Islamists--must be confronted. "What we can't allow to happen is guys like Abu Musab Zarqawi to get started," Abizaid told Benoit and the soldiers of the 1-141 Field Artillery. "It's the same way that we turned our back when Hitler was getting going and Lenin was getting going. You just cannot turn your back on these types of people. You have to stand up and fight."

. . . A day after he met with the Louisiana guardsmen, Abizaid flew to Al Anbar province to bid goodbye to Maj. Gen. John Sattler before his force is replaced with a new rotation of marines. Generals across Iraq have been talking about the need to have Iraqi forces take on an increased role in fighting insurgents. On the wall of the marines' conference room hangs a sign quoting Lawrence of Arabia. "Better the Arabs do it tolerably than you do it perfectly," it reads in part. "It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them . . . . " Abizaid drove home the same point. "The hardest thing your successors need to do is take their hand off the wheel. What we have to do is set the Iraqis in front to fight the insurgency," he told the marines. "The insurgency will go on long past the time we are gone."

How would the insurgency go on if the insurgents follow us home? It would not of course. Abizaid did not mean what Bush means. Yet again the President of the United States chooses to lie to the American People. It is now old hat. But Abizaid is an interesting figure and there is more to discuss about his statements. I'll do so in extended copy.

Keith Longtin spent 8 months in jail after police interrogated him for 38 hours and got him to falsely confess to murdering his wife. A Prince George County, Va MD. jury has awarded him $6.8 million in damages.

Longtin, now 50, was released from jail only after DNA evidence found in his slain wife was matched with a serial rapist. The sexual offender was later convicted of the murder.

The Circuit Court jury awarded $5.2 million in compensatory damages to Longtin. It also leveled punitive damages of nearly $1.2 million against four county homicide detectives -- one of whom is retired -- who, the jury found, violated Longtin's civil rights.