Unbelieveable. Literally. Think Progress reports Press Secretary Scott McClellan today said he never heard of the U.S. sending detainees to Syria. When told it had been well-publicized, he asked, "by who, bloggers?"

Are we supposed to believe that McClelland never heard of the lawsuit filed against Attorney General Ashcroft and others over Maher's seizure at JFK, extraordinary rendition to Syria and alleged torture? The Toronto Star reported that the U.S. tried to have the lawsuit dismissed claiming the litigation would jeopardize national security. Here's the Justice Department's brief, filed in the lawsuit. (Via Democracy Now.)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will announce his decision on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito at 11:00 am Thursday, from the Georgetown University Law Center. The press is invited. His talk is officially titled "The Alito Nomination, The Supreme Court, And Presidential Power." He's expected to oppose Alito.

Sen. Ted Kennedy will announce his opposition to Alito in a speech tomorrow at 1:30 at the Center for American Progress. (received by e-mail.)

So far, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the only turncoat. But, several Democrats are up in the air, among them, Carl Levin.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, along with Senators Dick Durbin, Charles Schumer and Debbie Stabenow, wrote this letter (html) yesterday to President Bush, asking for "an accounting of Mr. Abramoff’s personal contacts with Bush Administration officials and the official acts that may have been undertaken at his request."

Sen. Dick Durbin introduced a cell phone privacy bill today. From his press release (received by e-mail.)

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today introduced legislation to prohibit the sale, fraudulent transfer or use of cellular telephone records. Durbin's bill would make it illegal to transfer personal information from cell phone companies to online brokers and the legislation provides tough criminal penalties, including up to 10 years in prison, for those found guilty of violating phone users’ privacy.

“The acquisition and sale of an individual’s personal cell phone call list record is a violation of privacy, and can pose a real threat to personal safety,” Durbin said. “The fraudulent acquisition of records needs to be punishable as a true criminal offense, subject to jail time and fines. The sale and transfer of this information needs to be clearly prohibited by law.”

Update: Newsweek has a new article on the proposed Russian compromise.

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Condoleeza Rice, on behalf of the U.S., saying "there's not much to talk about," and France have rejected Iran's request for talks over their nuclear program.

First Post (UK) says the neo-cons are behind the stand-off. Simon Jenkins in the Guardian writes the U.S. has picked a fight it cannot win.

The Supreme Court ruled today in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. (opinion here in pdf). In the opinion, authored by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the Court made it clear they were not writing new law on abortion. At issue was the New Hampshire parental notification law which the lower court had struck down as unconstitutional.

Rather than decide the issue, the Supreme Court said there were problems with the law and sent it back to the lower courts.

ScotusBlog opines that the decision could be viewed as limiting abortion rights:

If, in fact, that is the way the decision is applied by lower courts in this and other cases, it could amount to a narrowing of abortion rights. That is because it would amount as a legal matter to less reliance upon an individual doctor's professional judgment in individual cases, especially when the abortion option is not considered in a truly emergency situation, but is only deemed medically advisable for a given patient.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The NY Times reports today that, with the GOP leading, both parties in Congress are proposing new ethics rules to limit relations with lobbyists.

Barn door? Damage control?

Update (TL): AmericaBlog reports on the loophole which Atrios says is hilarious. Sean-Paul at Agonist says it's a bad idea for Democrats to get involved in the lobbying reform debate. Firedoglake weighs in.

I echo TChris' sentiments on the Supreme Court's assisted suicide decision yesterday (opinion here).
If you haven't read about the case yet, the Washington Post has an easy to follow report:

The Supreme Court upheld Oregon's law on physician-assisted suicide yesterday, ruling that the Justice Department may not punish doctors who help terminally ill patients end their lives. By a vote of 6 to 3, the court ruled that Attorney General John D. Ashcroft exceeded his legal authority in 2001 when he threatened to prohibit doctors from prescribing federally controlled drugs if they authorized lethal doses of the medications under the Oregon Death With Dignity Act.

The case was not about the right to die, per se. The Supreme Court has previously ruled there is no constitutional right to die. States are free to enact their own laws on the issue. Oregon did that, with a law that had been upheld by state and federal courts. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether Ashcroft could extend the drug laws to punish doctors who provide lethal drugs to patients who have requested them so they can die on their own terms.

Right to life groups are already promising a pitch to have Congress pass a "John Ashcroft, MD" law...(my term, not theirs):

If you are going to be in New York City this weekend, check out the second and final installment of the Commission hearings against Bush for crimes against humanity, to be held at the Riverside Church and Columbia Law School. It is organized by the Not in Our Name Statement of Conscience and is endorsed by: Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild, After Downing Street.org and others. You can register online.

Among the witnesses at the tribunal (full schedule here):

• former commander of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski,
• former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray who exposed the use of information gathered through torture,
• former arms inspector Scott Ritter,
• ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern,
• Dahr Jamail (journalist who has reported extensively from Iraq),
• Guantanamo prisoners’ lawyer Michael Ratner,

Bush was indicted at the first session. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern delivered the Indictment to the White House on January 10. The Bush White House has been invited to defend itself at this weekend's hearing.

Michael Fortier, who pleaded guilty to knowing about plans to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995 and not reporting the plans to authorities is set to be released from prison, having finished 85% of his 12 year sentence. Fortier testified against McVeigh and Nichols.

Fortier, who served in the Army with bombing conspirators Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols....also pleaded guilty to helping McVeigh and Nichols move and sell stolen guns, and for lying to federal authorities after the Oklahoma City bombing.

Fortier could have been sentenced to 23 years but because of his cooperation against McVeigh and Nichols, was sentenced to only 12. His wife received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.

Fortier's plea agreement is here.

Statement today by Al Gore (received by e-mail):

The Administration’s response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA wiretapping program. The Attorney General is making a political defense of the President without even addressing the substantive legal questions that have so troubled millions of Americans in both political parties.

There are two problems with the Attorney General's effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present Administration's behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law.

by Last Night in Little Rock

With Brokeback Mountain winning the Golden Globe for Best Drama, it is "a solid front-runner for the Academy Awards, whose nominations come out Jan. 31, with the Oscars handed out March 5," according to CNN. The Golden Globes always have been a strong indicator of the Academy Award winners.

The fact that "Brokeback Mountain" has found eager audiences across the country, including the conservative heartland, shows that Americans are willing to embrace stories of love in all forms, [Director Ang] Lee said.

Before that, one can predict that the Right will again attack the movie industry for its values, centering on the fact that it is a "love story" that happens to involves (horrors) men.