by Last Night in Little Rock

Primary day in Arkansas is Tuesday, May 23d. I first notice this about three weeks ago but had to confirm it first: Republicans are not admitting it.

A friend of mine, a former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, is running for Lt. Gov., and there is a primary. Neither candidate has "Republican" on their yard signs.

There is a contested Republican primary for the Second District of Congress between two seemingly nice fellows, one with cheesy ads playing on the "Mayberry" theme because that's his name: Andy Mayberry. The other is irrelevant to you if you're outside this District. (The Democratic incumbent, Vic Snyder, lives two blocks from me. He's one of the few to vote against the "permanent tax cuts" that have gutted the economy.)

Our last Duke thread on this week's court hearing is full. Here's a new one for all topics related to the Duke lacrosse player's rape case.

Bump and Update: This just in from Karl Rove spokesman Mark Corallo [via e-mail in response to a question I e-mailed him]:

Nothing going on. I was told by several journalists who were down at the courthouse that the Grand Jury was not meeting today. Of course, the GJ may be meeting at the undisclosed location (as VP Cheney is out of town and not using it today...)

Thanks, Mark!

Update: Truthout Executive Director Mark Ash issues a "partial apology" regarding Jason Leopold's Saturday article.

The time has now come, however, to issue a partial apology to our readership for this story. While we paid very careful attention to the sourcing on this story, we erred in getting too far out in front of the news-cycle. In moving as quickly as we did, we caused more confusion than clarity. And that was a disservice to our readership and we regret it. As such, we will be taking the wait-and-see approach for the time being. We will keep you posted.

The AP reports:

Prisoners wielding improvised weapons clashed with guards trying to stop a detainee from committing suicide at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the military said Friday. The fight occurred Thursday in a medium-security section of the camp as guards were responding to the fourth attempted suicide that day at the detention center on the U.S. Navy base, Cmdr. Robert Durand said.

Detainees used fans, light fixtures and other improvised weapons to attack the guards as they entered a communal living area to stop a prisoner trying to hang himself, Durand said. Earlier in the day, three detainees in another part of the prison attempted suicide by swallowing prescription medicine they had been hoarding.

Time to listen to the U.N. and the wise counsel of other nations: Close Gitmo.

Update: This just in from Mark Corallo:

Nothing going on. I was told by several journalists who were down at the courthouse that the Grand Jury was not meeting today. Of course, the GJ may be meeting at the undisclosed location (as VP Cheney is out of town and not using it today...)

Thanks, Mark!

******
original post:

Okay, I don't think Karl Rove is on pins and needles any more. He obviously knows if there has been or will be action today. If the answer is "no," he's breathing a temporary sigh of relief. So he's leaving the hot seat on the pincushion. The rest of us are still on it.

But, there's no news. We've already speculated on just about every possible outcome, so how about a thread to talk about things unrelated to Rove to take our mind off the waiting. I'm headed to the gym for a boxing lesson. Then I'm going to finish my seminar outline on Terrorism and the War on Drugs that's due today for the NORML Aspen Legal seminar June 1-3.

Tell us what you're doing to pass the time -- or talk about other news and issues, your choice.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The Senate voted to make English the "national" or "common" language, according to CNN.com. Press Secretary Tony Snow said that the President supports it, too.

Too bad the Senate cannot make minimal competence in the language a requirement, too.

Several people wrote me yesterday asking why I wasn't covering The Washington Note's report that Bobby Ray Inman suggested Richard Armitage was in criminal jeopardy in the Valerie Plame investigation. The short answer is I don't believe it. I have believed for months that it is Armitage whom Patrick Fitzgerald refers to in Libby pleadings as "an innocent accused." Which to me means that he got immunity for his cooperation with Fitzgerald.

The Washington Note today updates and acknowledges Bobby Ray Inman was wrong. New sources provide opposite information on Armitage, i.e., he's been helping Fitzgerald.

That's the self-correcting nature of the blogosphere at work. Good for Steve.

Students for a Sensible Drug Policy tells us there's a new bad drug law bill in the hopper:

[There is] a new bill in Congress that would loosen the standard of evidence needed to search public school students' lockers and belongings for drugs. The so-called "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006" actually invents an entirely new standard called "colorable suspicion," whereas up until now "reasonable suspicion" was needed to search a student.

Details here.

by Last Night in Little Rock

Former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, an oft-mentioned potential presidential candidate for 08, spent yesterday in Georgia on the stump for former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed. But, Rudi had to hide his support for gay civil unions while visiting Georgia:

Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani glided over his support for gay civil unions and declared heterosexual marriage to be "inviolate" on Thursday as he helped raise money for a former leader of the Christian Coalition, Ralph Reed, who is in a tough fight to become lieutenant governor of Georgia. For Mr. Giuliani, who is considering a run for the presidency in 2008, the political foray into the South allowed him to pocket a campaign chit from Mr. Reed that could be useful if the former mayor tries to build a national coalition that includes religious-minded Republicans, who are a core part of Mr. Reed's voter base.

While we wait....From Byron York at The Corner, debunking Wayne Madsen's report last night that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met with the grand jury on Friday, May 12, where he was given a preview of the Karl Rove indictment so he could tell the White House. (Background here.)

First, a Justice Department source, speaking on background, says that Alberto Gonzales did not go to the courthouse on Friday, May 12.

Second, Gonzales, like his predecessor John Ashcroft, has recused himself from the CIA leak investigation. Gonzales, as White House counsel, had taken part in the White House's response to the Justice Department in the early days of the probe. When he became attorney general, there was no doubt that he would have to recuse himself from the matter. He was asked about it during a press conference in October 2005, when there was great anticipation that indictments were coming in the CIA leak affair, and this is what he had to say:

York quotes from the press conference:

Police in Wisconsin arrested a man they suspected of having ingested a bag of heroin. I guess they were in a hurry, because they made him drink six doses of a laxative to cause him to excrete the bag faster.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court yesterday upheld the police action.

The laxative was reasonable because police had a clear expectation it would help reveal evidence of a crime, the court ruled in reversing a state appeals court decision. The laxative also may have reduced the danger Tomas Payano-Roman would have faced had the bag ruptured in his body, the high court's decision said.

"The government would have had more difficulty in proving its case without use of the laxative," Justice Ann Walsh Bradley said in writing for the majority.

Is anyone else appalled by this decision? You can read the decision here. [Via How Appealing.]

I haven't seen anything in the news today about yesterday's court rulings denying David Safavian's motions to exclude "Other Acts" evidence, but here they are:

• Order Denying Safavian request to exclude cost of Scotland Golf trip.
• Order Denying Safavian request to exclude Tyco evidence

Issues involved in Golf trip:

This matter is before the Court on defendant Safavian's motion to exclude evidence of unalleged false statements, gratuities, bribery, or gifts from prohibited sources. Specifically, pursuant to Rule 104(a) of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the defendant asks the Court to exclude all evidence relating to the actual cost of the 2002 trip to Scotland, as well as any other evidence implicating gratuities, bribery or gifts from prohibited sources. The defendant argues that the government should not be able to present evidence of offenses not charged in the indictment, that the actual cost of the Scotland trip is not probative of the charges contained in the indictment, and that any such evidence would unfairly prejudice the defendant and confuse the jury.