Baghdad Burning is a must-read today. I can't do justice to it by paraphrasing, so please, go read.

I've just been advised people are unable to log in through TypeKey to comment. I've opened up the comments to everyone without registration until it's fixed. I'll clean the threads up tonight if need be.

Update: Typekey is indeed down.

July 12, 2006
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On July 8, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was on the Monica Crowley radio show. The Defense Department kindly has put up the transcript. Here's a snippet:

this is not an army fighting an army under the laws of war. This is a world that's confronted by terrorist networks that are -- don't wear uniforms, and they don't carry their weapons publicly, and they kill innocent men, women and children. And their goal is to terrorize people and to alter free people's behavior.

And the idea that we need to treat them as though they're stealing hubcaps off the streets of our cities and then have a jury trial and then send them to jail for a month is certainly not going to work. The people down in Guantanamo Bay are people that have been deeply involved in killing Americans and in threatening to kill people, and they're bad people. This fellow Hamdan was a -- one of the drivers and associates of Osama bin Laden.

by TChris

In 1975, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that Alaskans have a right to privacy in their own homes that is violated by laws criminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use within the home. The state legislature attempted to reinstate a broad marijuana possession prohibition, but a superior court judge struck down the law, ruling this week that criminalizing the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for personal use within a home was contrary to the state supreme court's precedent.

The state Department of Law argued that new findings of marijuana's increased potency since the 1975 decision justify reconsidering the issue.

The court essentially held that the Department of Law's attempt to demonize "potent" marijuana should be taken to the state supreme court. The superior court's decision is here (pdf). The ACLU of Alaska brought the challenge to the new law; its press release announcing the result is here.

Thanks to Tom Maguire for reminding me of this old post of mine in which I cite Timothy M. Phelps and Knut Royce's Newsday article of July 22, 2003, 8 days after Novak's column outing Valerie Plame was printed, in which he is quoted as saying,

Novak, in an interview, said his sources had come to him with the information. "I didn't dig it out, it was given to me," he said. "They thought it was significant, they gave me the name and I used it." (my emphasis.)

Now he says he got it from Who's Who and no one in the Administration told him her name.

Your turn. Be aware some new right-wing commenters have discovered TalkLeft. A few are interested in reasonable and civil discussion but several are here just to mock or stir up trouble. Don't feed the trolls, and when I return, troll comments and insulting comments will be deleted. Otherwise, enjoy the day.

To get you started, check out Think Progress -- the head of DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel told the Senate yesterday "The President is always right." They even have the video.

And Rudy Giuliani's ex-wife Donna Hanover has taken a gig as AOL's online love and sex coach. "You could easily imagine what her advice would have been to Judith Nathan, the current Mrs. Rudy Giuliani, who began the relationship while he was still married to Hanover."

One more: Attytood, telling America's news directors to cancel Bush's "fear factor."

You'll notice today a new ad on TalkLeft, one that's been here before. It will be up for the next month, through the August 7 Colorado primary. Colorado has three great Democrats running for the open seat in the 7th Congressional District, being vacated by Bob Beauprez who is going to challenge Democrat Bill Ritter (a real favorite of mine) for Governor. The race will be one of the most closely watched races in the country. There have been no dirty spats in this race, the three Dems have conducted themselves with integrity and positive campaigning.

But click on Peggy's video, hear her message and watch her. I've spent a few hours with her here and there over the last year and I believe she means what she says and she's very strong. She's doing well in the polls, has high name recognition and knows how to talk to people.

Get to know her, and see what you think. You can read my short interview with her here.

Murray Waas, who has been following Rove and Novak as close as anyone in Plamegate, offers up his reactions to Bob Novak's latest disclosure on his role in leaks investigation, particularly Novak's willingness to out Karl Rove.

Also on Novak's latest: Think Progress which notes he has backtracked on his prior promise to tell all.

My reaction, posted yesterday, is here.

Update: See Swopa here, who asks who the first person was to tell Novak that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA and whether he knew this before he talked to his "primary source"? Swopa says it's a subject Novak dances around in his latest column. Also see Christy at Firedoglake who calls Novak's statement a "big yawn."

Bob Novak gave up two sources, and is holding on to the third by a thread. What happens when you give people up? The Eagles had it right, in Tequilla Sunrise:

Oh, and it's a hollow feelin' when
It comes down to dealin' friends
It never ends

Take another shot of courage
Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb
It's another tequila sunrise,this old world
still looks the same,
Another frame, mm...

Here are the Eagles:

After Colin Finnerty was named in the Duke Lacrosse case, prosecutors in D.C. moved to revoke his deferred prosecution and make him stand trial on a misdemeanor assault charge. Finnerty's trial to the court (no jury) concluded today and the judge found him guilty and sentenced him to 6 months probation. The prosecution did not object to the sentence.

One of the victims, Jeffrey Bloxsom, testified that Finnerty pushed him on several occasions during a prolonged confrontation on Georgetown's main drag. Finnerty also threw fake punches that landed within inches of Bloxsom's face and hurled various vulgar homophobic epithets, Bloxsom said.

Bayly said he believed Bloxsom was guilty of "menacing" Bloxsom as part of an assault, even though it was one of Finnerty's friends who admitted punching Bloxsom at the conclusion of the confrontation, giving him a bloody lip.

Finnerty's lawyer, who said he will appeal the conviction, had this to say:

Bob Novak says his lawyers have told him Patrick Fitzgerald says the Valerie Plame leaks investigation is over as to him. The column is available to subscribers, which I am not, but I just got a full copy. Here's what's available on their website, more is below the fold:

I have cooperated in the investigation while trying to protect journalistic privileges under the First Amendment and shield sources who have not revealed themselves. I have been subpoenaed by and testified to a federal grand jury. Published reports that I took the Fifth Amendment, made a plea bargain with the prosecutors or was a prosecutorial target were all untrue.

Bump and Update: A big thanks to the Wall St. Journal which has agreed to put the full article online for free. You can read it here.

*******
Original Post

Stories like these make me so angry. The Wall St. Journal (subscription only) reports:

Last November, when Yassine Ouassif crossed into Champlain, N.Y., from Canada, border agents questioned him for several hours. Then they took away his green card and sent him home to San Francisco by bus, with strict instructions: As soon as he got there, he was to call a man named Dan.

Ouassif met with Dan, who of course was an FBI agent, and Dan (Fliflet) told him:

Mr. Fliflet told the 24-year-old Moroccan that he'd been monitoring his friends and him for many months, Mr. Ouassif recalls. Mr. Fliflet made him an offer: Become an informant and regularly report to the FBI on what his Muslim friends in San Francisco were saying and doing. In exchange, he would get back his green card. He could resume his education, bring his Moroccan wife to America, and pursue his dream of buying a car, moving to Sacramento and becoming an engineer.