The court docket in Scooter Libby's case shows San Francisco lawyer John Cline has filed an entry of appearance. He's an expert in classified documents. The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Cline has been involved in several high-profile criminal cases whose outcomes turned in part on demands for the introduction of such government secrets at trial. These have included the criminal defense of Oliver North and the case of Wen Ho Lee, a former nuclear scientist who had been accused of mishandling nuclear secrets. Reached in Washington on Monday, Cline confirmed that he had been retained by Libby, but he said he could not comment on the case.

The Chronicle has this assessment of why Libby added Cline to the team:

After a three hour hearing and ordering briefs from counsel, the Judge in the Tom DeLay case said a ruling would take about two weeks. He told DeLay's lawyers, who want an early trial, not to expect it will before January 1.

by TChris

Despite administration protests that it is "irresponsible" to suggest that the U.S. should establish a timetable for withdrawing from Iraq, the idea finds support among Iraqi leaders.

Reaching out to the Sunni Arab community, Iraqi leaders called for a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces and said Iraq's opposition had a "legitimate right" of resistance.

Shouldn't an administration that has frequently labeled post-invasion Iraq a sovereign nation respect the wishes of its leaders?

Is anyone else trying to get ready for Thanksgiving? Here's an open thread with open topics until I get back this afternoon.

The Government has indicted Jose Padilla. He's charged with conspiracy to kill and maim people overseas. The indictment does not allege Padilla was planning attacks in the U.S.

• President's Memo - November 20, 2005
• Notice of Release and Transfer - November 22, 2005
• Indictment - November 17, 2005

On December 5, Dick Cheney is scheduled to speak at a big-time fundraiser for Tom DeLay's 2006 re-election campaign.

Some of the highest-ranking Republicans in Texas, including Gov. Rick Perry and Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, are serving as chairs of the fundraising event.

For $4,200, a donor gets an invitation to a VIP reception, a photograph with Cheney, and recognition at the event. For $2,100, attendees can rub elbows at a "congressional reception" and have their photo taken with DeLay. Regular tickets to the event cost $500.

DeLay returns to court in Houston Tuesday, for a hearing on his motions to dismiss the state indictment against him. Here are the issues he has raised:

Good for Pajamas Media. They have decided to give up the bland, already claimed moniker "open source media" and return to being Pajamas Media. Pajamas Media has personality and a history, or at least a story behind it. OSM seemed like a corporation rather than a creative syndicate.

The other thing Pajamas could use is a hand-rolled newsfeed. It looks like they paid big bucks to some corporate outfit to create their newsfeed, and it seems to me to be an automated, overly-inclusive, non-specific feed that doesn't inform on any topics bloggers would be interested in.

For a lot less money they could have hired one person to create a unique feed using uncomplicated software that would automatically update throughout the day.

Former DeLay aide and Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon pleaded guilty today to a five year count of conspiracy that included bribery of public officials and devising a scheme to defraud his firm's lobbying clients. The plea agreement called for $19 million in restitution. The agreement isn't up on the court's website yet, but with that amount of restitution, his sentencing guidelines would be at the maximum range of 5 years. [Update: Findlaw has it here (pdf).

The court agreed to defer his sentencing until his cooperation is over, which means if he tells the truth from the Government's point of view, the Government will file a motion before sentencing seeking a reduction below his guideline range. That is not likely to occur for some time, as the Court is going to hold status conferences every three months, and set the first one for March 1, 2006.

Bob Woodward was Larry King's guest for the entire hour tonight, talking about his revelation that his secret source told him in June, 2003 that Joseph Wilson's wife worked for the CIA as an analyst on weapons of mass destruction. Atrios has the transcript here.

Very little was illuminating, except for this exchange in which Woodward makes it clear it came up in the first place because he specifically asked the source about Joe Wilson and that the conversation took place after reading Walter Pincus' June 12 article.

Stanley Tookie Williams' life is hanging in the balance. The Crips founder has been on death row for 24 years. While in jail, he became an anti-gang activist, wrote children's books and was nominated by a member of the Swiss Parliament for the Nobel Prize. Snoop Dogg is rounding up support for Tookie who is scheduled to be killed on December 13.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering a clemency petition to spare his life. If granted, he would remain in prison for the rest of his life, where he could continue his good works. He just wouldn't be killed.

Here is a fact sheet on Tookie's case (pdf). There is still time for you to sign a petition to Gov. Arnold. Or, check here for a sample letter to fax.

Tell the Governor to choose life.

The Washington Post reports on President Bush's trip to Asia, the recreational highlight of which was a bike ride:

For the president, it was a rare moment of fun on an otherwise dreary overseas trip. In five years in the presidency, Bush has proved a decidedly unadventurous traveler, an impression undispelled by the weeklong journey through Asia that wraps up Monday. As he barnstormed through Japan, South Korea and China, with a final stop in Mongolia still to come, Bush visited no museums, tried no restaurants, bought no souvenirs and made no effort to meet ordinary local people.

"I live in a bubble," Bush once said, explaining his anti-tourist tendencies by citing the enormous security and logistical considerations involved in arranging any sightseeing. "That's just life."

Atrios has some choice comments on our adventurous President.

Here's a novel idea. A think tank in Afghanistan has a proposed solution to the opium problem in Afghanistan.

The West should buy up Afghanistan's opium crop and license its use for pain-relief medicines rather than trying to destroy the crop.

The Senlis Council, an international drug policy think-tank with operations in Afghanistan, says the planned deployment of 3,000 British troops to smash the narcotics trade there is doomed to fail. Senlis will present a feasibility study of its plan today at Chatham House in London. The idea is to establish a licensing system under which the Afghan government would control poppy cultivation for the production of opium-based pain killers, such as morphine and codeine, rather than trying to suppress it.