by TChris

Mitchell Lawrence sold a little more than a gram of marijuana to an undercover cop for $20.

In the months that followed, the cop approached Lawrence again for marijuana. This time, however, Lawrence refused. Weeks later, a crew of undercover cops stormed Lawrence's home and placed him under arrest. On March 22, 2006, Lawrence was sentenced to two years in prison.

Two years for about a joint's worth of weed? Will this benefit society?

Lawrence was set to graduate from high school this spring. Instead, he will watch his fellow classmates graduate from his prison cell.

As the linked editorial opines, "the case of Mitchell Lawrence is one of countless tales of drug war madness that takes place on America's streets daily." Stop the madness. Just Say No to "drug free zones," mandatory minimum sentences, and other ridiculous laws that target insignificant drug crimes. And Just Say No to the politicians who support and promote those laws without regard to the lives they destroy.

Ari Fleischer is a very dangerous witness for Scooter Libby. Check out Fitz's affidavit from August, 2004 submitted in the Judith Miller subpoena suit, which was unsealed by the Court in February, 2006. You can read the unredacted portions in the Court's opinion here or in my prior summary with lengthy quotes.

It's not just that Libby allegedly told Fleischer at lunch on July 7 before Fleischer left for Africa with President Bush that Joseph Wilson's wife worked in the Counterproliferation area of the CIA and that she was involved in the decision to send Wilson to Niger. It's that Fleisher told Fitz and the grand jury that Libby told him the information was "hush-hush" and "on the qt."

Via Signifying Nothing, the Associated Press reports a radio call by one of the officers responding to the grocery store 9-11 call five minutes after it was made at 1:30 a.m. reported the accuser was passed out drunk and not in need of medical attention.

The officer gave the dispatcher the police code for an intoxicated person and said the woman was unconscious. When asked whether she needed medical help, the officer said: "She's breathing and appears to be fine. She's not in distress. She's just passed-out drunk."

Contrary to earlier reports by the media, no more DNA testing is being done. All the results are in.

Bump and Update: More Moussaoui testimony today:

Confessed al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui said Thursday it made his day to hear accounts of Americans' suffering from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and he would like to see similar attacks "every day."

He mocked the military witnesses at his trial for crying.

"I think it was disgusting for a military person" to cry, Moussaoui said of the testimony of Navy Lt. Nancy McKeown. "She is military, she should expect people at war with her to want to kill her." Asked if he was happy to hear her sobbing, he said, "Make my day."

He said he hopes the attacks on America continue.

Moussaoui said he had "no regret, no remorse" about the 9/11 attacks. Asked by prosecutor Rob Spencer if he would like to see it happen again, Moussaoui responded: "Every day until we get you."

And he expects Bush will release him before the end of Bush's term and he'll return to London.

The Judge in the Scooter Libby trial issued this order (pdf) today threatening a gag order for leaking material not on (or in advance of posting on) the court's docket.

I assume this has to do with the msm writing about Fitzgerald's letter of correction the night before it was filed.

For the record, I have had no contact whatsoever with the Libby defense team or anyone connected to the case or the investigation. When I wrote about the correction letter, my source was the Washington Post.

Maven at Daily Kos has more.

Larissa at Raw Story has a new Iran report. She writes that on orders from Cheney and Rumsfeld, the terrorist group Mujahedeen-e Khalq (MEK) is being used for special ops in Iran to pave the way for a military strike.

According to all three intelligence sources, military and intelligence officials alike were alarmed that instead of securing a known terrorist organization, which has been responsible for acts of terror against Iranian targets and individuals all over the world - including US civilian and military casualties - Rumsfeld under instructions from Cheney, began using the group on special ops missions into Iran to pave the way for a potential Iran strike.

"They are doing whatever they want, no oversight at all," one intelligence source said.

Not only will TSA attorney Carla Martin have to face the Judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial over her bizarre conduct that nearly derailed the death penalty trial, but she has now been sued by families of the 9/11 victims for interfering in the civil lawsuit.

Martin "interfered with plaintiffs' right to fair trial," the families' suit alleges, by having "tampered with witnesses and evidence" in the Moussaoui case. The lawsuit alleges Martin "colluded and/or conspired" with representatives of American and United airlines, defendants in a civil action brought by 90 September 11 families in New York. These families opted out of the government's $7 billion victim-compensation fund so they could sue the airlines.

Background here.

TalkLeft is being blocked at at least one public library, the Camarillo library at 3100 Ponderosa, Camarillo,CA. Here is the message that users receive (pdf). Having been through this before in 2003 when software censors used by law firms blocked TalkLeft at law firms nationally, I know how difficult it will be to get this straightened out. It took me days to track down the software censor company and get them to reinstate TalkLeft. Another time, PayPal froze TalkLeft's account for similar reasons, and it was days before I got the account reinstated.

This is the reason I insist commenters refrain from name-calling and not use profanity, name-calling and crass words in comments. It's the comments, not our posts, that result in the site being blocked. So please, be considerate in your comments. Feel free to disagree with what another commenter writes, but do so civilly without the use of profanity and explicit language. If you can't abide by these restrictions, there are plenty of other sites to comment on.

Scooter Libby has just filed a 29 page Reply Memorandum (pdf) (to Patrick Fitzgerald's Response) to Libby's Third Motion to Compel Discovery, and 25 pages of exhibits.

I just obtained them and am about to start reading. Details soon. Also, scroll to the bottom to see other bloggers' takes as they come in, as I'll be updating with links to them.

Shorter version: Watch out Marc Grossman, Ari Fleischer, Karl Rove, George Tenet and Joe Wilson: Scooter's coming after you. (more below.)

First Update: Libby may call Joe Wilson as a hostile witness (page 9)

...because the defense may call Mr. Wilson as a hostile witness, we need to prepare to examine him, if necessary, on the details of the trip, including his wife's role in selecting him for the assignment and the findings he reported to the CIA, and later, to the press.

Bump and Update: Arianna thinks we should cut Gingrich some slack and accept his repentence. I understand where she's coming from, but I can't agree. Newt Gingrich was one of the most dangerous men in politics. Don't ever forget his 1995 Contract On America and the Taking Back our Streets Act. He cannot be allowed back into the fray. He will tool us again. We're lucky we got rid of him once. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice.... (sorry about the unintended rhyme.)

Also refusing to cut Gingrich any slack: Jane at Firedoglake, Glenn Greenwald at Alternet, Matt at My DD.

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Original Post 4/11/06

Jane and Think Progress say Newt Gingrich's speech yesterday saying continued war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should leave Iraq now is not to be trusted. I agree. Here's Newt yesterday:

by TChris

A reservist, anxious to return to Minnesota after serving eight months in Iraq, was detained in Los Angeles for more than an hour because his name appeared on a "watch list" of suspected terrorists. Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown's name was listed after TSA discovered gunpowder residue on his boots last June -- "likely left over from a previous two-month tour in Iraq."

by TChris

Vernon, California consists of five square miles of "warehouses, meatpacking plants, fuel tanks and an occasional vacant lot." No parks, no schools. The city's motto is "Exclusively Industrial."

Vernon wouldn't seem like an ideal place to live, but the city owns almost all the houses within its borders, and it offers cheap rents compared to the cost of living in bordering Los Angeles. The catch: most of the renters work for the city, and therefore have an interest in perpetuating the political careers of those responsible for providing them with inexpensive housing. As a result, Vernon hasn't had an election since 1980, despite what seems to be profligate municipal spending, including employment of a city administrator who was paid $600,000 annually and given the use of a leased Cadillac Escalade, a city-owned apartment, and $120,000 for limousine services. Perhaps not coincidentally, the administrator, who retired last year, was the city clerk's father.

Don Huff thought he could do better, so he joined two others in a run for city council. Huff says city crews cut off his power before he was evicted in retaliation for opposing the entrenched government. But how did the election turn out? We don't know, because the city clerk refuses to count the ballots.