Saddam Hussein's trial will begin October 19. Knights Ridder reports on the rules of the Iraq tribunal trying Saddam Hussein:

Once the court is finished with the first case, Saddam will likely face another trial for allegedly committing similar crimes in other communities, mostly Shiite Muslim and Kurdish areas, the official said. ....If he is sentenced to death in the Dujail case, he will also begin his appeals process, the official said. Should he lose his appeal, he'd be executed 30 days later. That could occur, the official continued, "before all the cases have been decided."

Who made the court rules?

The FBI is considering relaxing its pot-smoking policy. Don't get excited though, its not a policy aimed at current smokers or the general public, but one of its hiring policies. Apparently, some really good candidates have been disqualified from working for the agency due to smoking pot in college.

The change would ease limits about how often - and how many years ago - applicants for jobs such as intelligence analysts, linguists, computer specialists, accountants and others had used illegal drugs.

The change wouldn't apply to actual FBI agents.

Avedon Carol at Sideshow weighs in on last week's policy study (pdf) which said Dems can't win unless they become more centrist and less left.

I'm sick and tired of being told the base is too far left. What does the base believe in? Universal health care, universal education, safe and fair employment, a healthy economy that provides good jobs, regulation to prevent corporations from defrauding us, care for our environment.

I like Jane Hamsher's and Empty Wheels' latest theories on RoveGate, as summed up by Mark Klieman at HuffPo, who says, and I agree, they would make a great legal novel, but I see one problem with calling Judith Miller's notes "missing" or "suddenly discovered" or concluding that Miller hid them and may be facing a perjury charge.

Go back to her subpoena. It only asked for notes and documents from July 6 to July 13. It didn't ask for notes from June 2003. From the Court of Appeals decision:

... on August 12 and August 14, grand jury subpoenas were issued to Judith Miller, seeking documents and testimony related to conversations between her and a specified government official “occurring from on or about July 6, 2003, to on or about July 13, 2003, . . . concerning Valerie Plame Wilson (whether referred to by name or by description as the wife of Ambassador Wilson) or concerning Iraqi efforts to obtain uranium.”

When Fitzgerald agreed to limit Miller's testimony to conversations with Libby about Plame, Miller turned over the notes from the requested time period, redacted to reflect only such conversations.

Deepak Chopra, writing at Huffington Post, says Justice Grows to the Left. On Harriet Miers, he makes this excellent point:

In Ms. Miers we seem to have someone who is a blank slate, but whose private inclinations are tolerant, cautious, compassionate to the underprivileged, and politically flexible. On the surface her nomination is unfair, in that she seems to have a private agreement on ideology with the President and no public trail; therefore, she is immune to being examined. Matters are made worse by Pres. Bush's wink-and-a-nod comments implying that she has her marching orders and will be a loyal foot soldier. That demeans both Ms. Miers and the Court itself.

If indeed her flaw is rigid loyalty to the right wing, we are no worse off than if the President had nominated another Scalia. But if Miers grows to the left, which is to say, if she begins to empathize with America's vast, diverse population instead of the rich white males who have determined her fate so far, the country will be well served by her.

Digby has two fabulous guest bloggers this weekend - Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake and Tristero. Jane's RoveGate writing has been top notch.

Two more RoveGate bloggers to read every day: Tom Maguire of Just One Minute and Empty Wheel of The Next Hurrah. [Addition: Needlenose is another one.]

Regarding Karl Rove, this blast from the past by Murray Waas that appeared in the March 4, 2004 American Prospect is well worth re-reading:

by TChris

According to CNN, the recent terrorist threat to the New York City subway system originated in Iraq. If this turns out to be true, the president's professed strategy of "fighting the terrorists there so we don't have to fight them here" has been a dud. We didn't have to fight Iraqi terrorists anywhere until the president invaded Iraq, creating a new threat to national security.

by TChris

Harriet Miers served one term on the Dallas City Council. A WaPo article summarizes her mixed record.

She would meet with abortion rights advocates and gay rights activists but tell them firmly she did not agree with them. She backed a redistricting plan aimed at electing more minorities even though conservatives called it a quota system. She voted to raise taxes two years in a row, disagreeing with some colleagues who favored deeper budget cuts.

Miers told gay activists that she could not support the repeal of a Texas law banning sodomy. On the other hand, she stated in a questionnaire for the Lesbian/Gay Political Coalition of Dallas that she supported equal rights for gays.

Abortion rights activists asked Miers if she supported an ordinance that protected abortion clinic patients from harassment.

by TChris

A new AP-Ipsos poll shows that the president's base is increasingly disappointed with his job performance:

The number of people who strongly approve of Bush's job performance has eroded over the last year, most notably among key groups like evangelical voters, down from 49 percent who strongly approved in January to 33 percent now; Republican men, down from 57 percent to 42 percent; Protestants, down from 36 percent to 25 percent; and Southerners, down from 32 percent to 22 percent.

New York City Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer came under fire Friday from death penalty opponents for saying that the death penalty is justified in some cases.

"After 10 years of experience with the death penalty, New Yorkers have rethought their position on the issue, and Mr. Ferrer should, too," said David Kaczynski, executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty, which was influential in virtually scuttling the state's death penalty law this year. "We would welcome the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Ferrer to help him sort through the various issues."

Ferrer has flip-flopped before on capital punishment. He has said he's opposed to the death penalty. He's also said he supports it in some cases. At other times he has said he supports a moratorium until flaws can be removed.

Murray Waas has a new RoveGate article today at National Journal (free link). He adds another aspect: Did Rove intentionally mislead Bush and could that be a crime in itself?

In his own interview with prosecutors on June 24, 2004, Bush testified that Rove assured him he had not disclosed Plame as a CIA employee and had said nothing to the press to discredit Wilson, according to sources familiar with the president's interview. Bush said that Rove never mentioned the conversation with Cooper. James E. Sharp, Bush's private attorney, who was present at the president's interview with prosecutors, declined to comment for this story.

If you are in Houston, Nogales, AZ, Nogales, Sonora, MX, Sunland Park, NM or Anapra, Chihuahua, MX, organizations from both sides of the border will rally for social justice and against the anti-immigrant actions of the so-called “Minutemen Project” tomorrow.

Houston:

On Saturday, October 8, from 3 pm to 5 pm, at Burnett Bayland Park(Chimney Rock & Gulfton), there will be speakers, poets and music to rally supporters of immigrants and against the Minuteman Project's call to patrol Houston streets and US/Mexico border areas. Rally speakers include Juan Alvarez, Teodoro Aguiluz, Rev. Jezer Urena, poets Joe B., Claudia Peña, and singers Chuy Negrete and Xavier Herrera.