Ned Lamont has issued a statement on the Israel-Lebanon conflict. He affirms his support for Israel and criticizes the Bush Administration for its ineffectiveness which he in large part ties to the war in Iraq.

At this critical time in the Middle East, I believe that when Israel's security is threatened, the United States must unambiguously stand with our ally to be sure that it is safe and secure. On this principle, Americans are united.

....Unlike previous administrations - Republican and Democratic - President Bush has embraced the wrong priorities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ...Let's be clear that Bush emphasized Iraq at the expense of an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, and we are reaping the consequences. Just think what the situation could have been if the United States had invested its power, prestige, and resources in a peace settlement. Instead we chose a failed war and stand virtually alone, paying a heavy price for a profoundly failed set of decisions.

His proposal:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has embarked on her trip to the Middle East. To the surprise of many, her first stop was Beirut.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise stop in the besieged Lebanese capital today to try to prop up the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and to reassure Arab allies who have become increasingly impatient with the Israeli bombardment, which has killed close to 400 people, mostly Lebanese civilians.....Besides Mr. Siniora, Ms. Rice was to meet with Shiite members of Lebanon's parliament who have close to ties to Hezbollah, the militant group that is Israel's target, aides said.

The Bush Administration doesn't want a cease-fire now. First, Hezbollah has to be taken down. Israel wants the return of its soldiers and the dismantling of Hezbolla before a cease-fire. Then, it says it may consider a peace-keeping force, something it always has opposed in the past.

Sen. Arlen Specter has an op-ed today in the Washington Post asserting that his bill to fix the problem of warrantless electronic surveillance by the National Securuity Agency is the way to go because it will provide us with "surveillance we can live with."

Many disagree. In fact, as Yale Law Professor Jack Balkin writes, this bill is a capitulation and gives Bush everything he wants.

Specter's bill looks like a moderate and wise compromise that expands the President's authority to engage in electronic surveillance under a variety of Congressional and judicial oversight procedures. But read more closely, it actually turns out to be a virtual blank check to the Executive, because under section 801 of the bill the President can route around every single one of them. Thus, all of the elegant machinery of the bill's oversight provisions is, I regret to report, a complete and total sham. Once the President obtains the powers listed in section 801, the rest of the bill is pretty much irrelevant. He will be free of Congressional oversight forever.

Note, this is Specter's second attempt at a bill. It's a modification of the bill he originally proposed -- modifications he made after closely consulting with the White House and Dick Cheney in particular. The text of this latest bill, introduced on July 14, is here. If you are not into legalese, a summary is here.

If you have a heart condition, diabetes or some other ailment for which you can't make it a few days without medication, be careful about ordering drugs from Canada. As if U.S. Customs doesn't have enough on its plate already, it has embarked on a new program at the Canadian border of seizing packages of prescription medication intended for U.S. patients.

We're not talking about illegal prescriptions here, but legal ones. Since Canada's drug prices are lower than those in the U.S., the pharaceutical companies here and their lobbyists in Congress don't want you to get your hands on them.

Earlier this month, the Senate voted 68-32 to approve an amendment to the Homeland Security appropriations bill that would bar Customs from using federal funds to seize prescription drugs imported by individuals from Canada. The House passed a similar amendment in May. However, it remains unclear whether the amendment will make it into law. Drug-industry lobbyists are expected to push to scrap it when the bill goes to conference in coming weeks. The Bush administration and Republican congressional leaders have supported the industry's stance against Canadian imports.

Saddam Hussein has been on a hunger strike since early this month. He is now hospitalized and is being force-fed.

This is also an open thread on Iraq, where the violence is growing, more people are being killed and the media is focusing almost exclusively on Israel and Lebanon.

Let's also not forget Afghanistan, where the New York Times says we are losing ground.

by TChris

Interviews of soldiers conducted by Human Rights Watch confirm that abuse of detainees in Iraq continued to be routine even after the well-publicized mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Human Rights Watch concludes that military investigations have shielded those in the chain of command who ordered or condoned abuse.

"Soldiers were told that the Geneva Conventions did not apply, and that interrogators could use abusive techniques to get detainees to talk," said John Sifton, the author of the report and the senior researcher on terrorism and counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch. "These accounts rebut U.S. government claims that torture and abuse in Iraq was unauthorized and exceptional - on the contrary, it was condoned and commonly used."

Did anyone see the replay on NBC tonight of the pilot of Miami Vice ? I forgot Jimmy Smits was in it for the first five minutes. I forgot how Don Johnson and Ricardo Tubbs became partners. I forgot how good they were, how hot Don Johnson was -- and the incredible music. The show so totally captured the 80's -- and the cocaine cowboys. Here's Phil Collins with In the Air Tonight:

What would Miami Vice be without the official theme song by Glenn Frey,You Belong to the City . Or my all-time favorite, Smuggler's Blues.

by TChris

Last October, TalkLeft spotlighted the incarceration of Gregory Dunagan for a murder he probably didn't commit. Dunagan's legal challenges to his conviction at that point had been unavailing.

Bob Ray Sanders at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that nothing has changed. Why?

You see, in Texas, once a defendant is found guilty by a jury, innocence really doesn't matter. Only the conviction counts.

Besides, who in any police department, district attorney's office or judge's chamber is ever willing to admit a mistake?

Condi Rice is delaying her trip to the Middle East. A new U.S. plan emerges.

Officials said this week that they were at the beginning stages of a plan to encourage Saudi Arabia and Egypt to make the case to the Syrians that they must turn against Hezbollah. The effort begins Sunday afternoon in the Oval Office, where President Bush is scheduled to meet the Saudi foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, and the chief of the Saudi national security council, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Prince Bandar was the Saudi ambassador to Washington until late last year and often speaks of his deep connections to both the Bush family and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Democratic National Committee has selected Nevada as an early caucus state, beating out Colorado and other states that had vied for the position. The Nevada primary will now take place in between those of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had this to say (received by e-mail, no link yet):

"I am thrilled that the Democratic National Committee has selected Nevada as an early caucus state for the 2008 presidential election and I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this possible. Specifically, I want to thank co-chairs Alexis Herman and James Roosevelt, the members of the Rules and Bylaws Committee and the other states that competed in this process.

by TChris

Had these folks been wielding signs that supported the president, do you suppose they would have been arrested?

Christine Nelson showed up at the Cedar Rapids rally with a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt; Alice McCabe clutched a small, paper sign stating "No More War." What could be more American, they thought, than mixing a little dissent with the bunting and buzz of a get-out-the-vote rally headlined by the president?

Their reward: a pair of handcuffs and a strip search at the county jail.

Authorities say they were arrested because they refused to obey reasonable security restrictions, but the women disagree: "Because I had a dissenting opinion, they did what they needed to do to get me out of the way," said Nelson, who teaches history and government at one of this city's middle schools.

Suppressing dissent has become the standard practice during Bush's presidency.

The Judge in the Duke Lacrosse players' alleged rape case issued a split decision yesterday on the unindicted players' motion to prevent the DA from gaining access to their addresses and information stored on their key cards.

Judge Ken Titus decided that Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong can have the addresses of lacrosse players not charged in the case. However, Titus will not allow Nifong to have information that is contained in the same players' key cards.

Nifong said he needs the information because all of the players could be possible witnesses. Defense attorneys said it is an invasion of the players' privacy and some argue it could compromise their safety.

The judge's decision is here . He found: