Trial begins Tuesday morning for Lynndie England, accused of abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison:

Three months after England's attempt at a plea agreement fell apart, her lead defense lawyer, Capt. Jonathan Crisp, said "there's not going to be a deal."

Crisp said he plans to base much of his defense on England's history of mental health problems that date back to her childhood. He said he also will focus on the influence exerted over England by Pvt. Charles Graner, the reputed abuse ringleader. Graner, who England has said fathered her young son while they were deployed, is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted at trial in January.

As TChris reported here, her statements have been suppressed and can't be used as evidence against her. Other case highlights worth revisiting include: Judge Halts Guilty Plea and Deprived of Oxygen at Birth. All of TalkLeft's coverage of the case is accessible here.

Last Night in Little Rock sent me this earlier today. It was written by someone named Harry Humphries in July, 2002 2004. Bottom line: It's always someone else's fault:

It's the liberals. It's the ACLU. It's Clinton. It's Monica. It's the "climate of permissiveness". It's France. It's the liberal media. It's Clinton's p*nis. It's Hillary. It's Gov. Dean. We never could have known they'd fly planes into buildings. "No actionable intelligence". They didn't tell us to do anything. O'Neill's lying. Clarke's lying. General Shinseki's lying. The Union of Concerned Scientists is lying. Our own weapons inspector David Kay's lying. Wilson's lying. John Dean's lying. Everyone's lying but us. We had to lie. We never lied.

Bon Jovi live in concert in New York is free and on AOL now. I think he has the best face in music, I could watch it for hours. According to the blog for the concert, I'm not alone:

All female, the first 50 or so were all old enough to have been Bon Jovi fans since high school. I don't doubt they were. And since that time, these women have not lost any of the ferocity of a 16-year-old about to see Justin Timberlake, Bret Michaels, Lief Garrett or Elvis Presley. They were primed to get the front-row floor space, throwing blocks that would make the Jets' defensive line blush. The other several hundred due to watch the show must have been still outside getting drinks, but this lot -- they are fans.

Even if Bon Jovi doesn't appeal to you, it's a pretty cool thing that AOL is broadcasting entire live concerts over the internet for free.

Update: Bon Jovi trashes Tom Cruise and praises Angelina Jolie in this new interview in the Independent.

The latest casualty of the Bush Administration is one with ties to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff:

A former Bush administration official was arrested Monday on charges he made false statements and obstructed a federal investigation into his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to court documents and government officials.

David Safavian, then-chief of staff of the General Services Administration and a former Abramoff lobbying associate, concealed from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with GSA when Safavian joined him on a golf trip to Scotland in 2002, according to an FBI affidavit and the officials.

Atrios provides some important context.

President Bush's ratings are in free-fall. How low will they go?

Bush's rating for handling each of those issues dropped to the lowest of his presidency in a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday. (Related: Poll results)

Assessments of his personal qualities also fell: For the first time, a majority say he isn't a strong and decisive leader. Bush's overall approval rating is 40%, equaling a previous low. His overall disapproval rating is 58%, a new high.

Two pictures worth 1,000 words: As glad I am that these animals were saved, the comparison to how humans were treated in the aftermath of Katrina tells a shocking story.

by TChris

Raw Story has an advance copy of a speech that John Kerry will deliver today at Brown University. If only he had been this forcefully critical of President Bush during his campaign, he might be president today.

I know the President went on national television last week and accepted responsibility for Washington's poor response to Katrina. That's admirable. And it's a first. As they say, the first step towards recovery is to get out of denial. But don't hold your breath hoping acceptance of responsibility will become a habit for this administration. On the other hand, if they are up to another "accountability moment" they ought to start by admitting one or two of the countless mistakes in conceiving, "selling", planning and executing their war of choice in Iraq.

Via Daily Kos: Right now with 5,000 votes it would be a Clark-Feingold ticket.

Update: Final poll results are here.

Via Making Light:

From another book George didn’t read at Yale:

When resources are exhausted, then levies are made under pressure. When power and resources are exhausted, then the homeland is drained. The common people are deprived of seventy percent of their budget, while the government’s expenses for equipment amount to sixty percent of the budget.

— Sun Tzu
The Art of War

What kind of military "medical test" confirms one is telling the truth? Did they inject the bomber with scopolamine? Or is a lie dector now a "medical test?" If the military used scopolamine, did the bomber consent or was he given a choice?

A suicide bomber captured before he could blow himself up in a Shiite mosque claimed he was kidnapped, beaten and drugged by insurgents who forced him to take on the mission. The U.S. military said its medical tests indicated the man was telling the truth.

Eric Alterman: "Nope, Nothing at all like Vietnam."

Using enemy body counts as a benchmark, the U.S. military claimed gains against Abu Musab Zarqawi's foreign-led fighters last week even as they mounted their deadliest attacks on Iraq's capital.

But by many standards, including increasingly high death tolls in insurgent strikes, Zarqawi's group, al Qaeda in Iraq, could claim to be the side that's gaining after 2 1/2 years of war. August was the third-deadliest month of the war for U.S. troops.

Bump and Update: Jury selection is underway. Six jurors have been dismissed and opening arguments likely will begin Thursday.

********
Original Post (9/18)

Former Illinois Governor George Ryan's federal corruption trial begins Monday.

Accused of doling out big-money state contracts and leases to political insiders, the 71-year-old veteran politician is scheduled to go to trial Monday, charged in a 22-count indictment with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, lying to the FBI and tax fraud.

It's another case of purchased testimony, testimony bought with promises of leniency. Freedom is a far more precious commodity than money. How's it looking for Gov. Ryan?