A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow for reporters Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper to determine when and if they have to report to jail.

[U.S. District Court Judge Thomas] Hogan is expected to reaffirm his original order, which would mean the reporters could be in jail as early as this week. Miller declined to comment on the case itself, other than to say she was disappointed at the high court's decision.

Judith Miller has launched a website to publicize her case.

Time said today that Cooper is deciding whether to turn over the requested docments and avoid jail:

While New York Times officials have maintained that Miller will not reveal the source who leaked to her the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, a source close to Time Inc. told E&P that the company is considering handing over documents that would reveal the source. Cooper declined to comment.

My prediction from before the decision was handed down stands: Miller will do the time standing on her head (parlance for without a problem) while Cooper will fold to avoid jail.

Enlightenment from our northern neighbor.

Canada's House of Commons voted today to legalize gay marriage, passing landmark legislation that would grant all same-sex couples in Canada the same legal rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman.

The bill passed as expected, despite opposition from Conservatives and religious leaders. The legislation drafted by Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal Party government was also expected to easily pass through the Senate and become federal law by the end of July.

Bump and Update: GPO Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham was served with a federal grand jury subpoena today.

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Original Post: June 20, 2005

This ad ran today in the online version of CongressDaily AM and should be in the PM version and The Hotline.

Background here and here.

My phone just rang. Howard Dean was on the line. I got a heads-up from Laura at the DNC about an hour ago. It was a great conversation. He explained the Dems new fundraising venture, Democracy Bonds, which launched this morning.

Governor Howard Dean launched the "Democracy Bonds" program (and bought the first one himself to signify his commitment) because he believes that we can take our country back -- precinct by precinct, block by block, with every Democrat taking responsibility for getting their family, friends and neighbors involved.

He wasn't calling to ask for a personal donation. He was calling to say he's excited about the new programs and website. We talked about Democratic values, and how we have to get the message out that we, not the Republicans, are the party of values. I completely agree with the Governor that we need to become known again for what we stand for.

Democrats believe in clean and honest government. We believe in a balanced budget and a strong economy, where after a life spent working hard, you earn a secure retirement. We believe in a strong national defense, and honoring our commitments to our veterans. We believe that health care should be affordable, and we believe in an education system that works for everybody. The Democratic Party is about everyone having a seat at the table.

Bush says in his speech:

"Like most Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture is horrifying and the suffering is real," Bush said, according to excerpts released ahead of time by the White House. "It is worth it."

Who is he kidding? This war was not worth a single life or one single survivor's lifetime of grieving - for their lost loved ones or lost limbs.

This war has not done one iota to make us safer. Nor will it.

Think Progress has the full text of the speech (prepared remarks) and is live-blogging.

Update: Rep. Charlie Rangel writes today on the Huffington Post that the war is going to get much worse.

Please remember the chatterer rule in the comments.

I have just notified a right-wing commenter who has already posted over 20 comments today that he is now limited to four a day.

If you are a conservative who disagrees with what I write, feel free to express yourself, but there is no need to comment on every post or to repeat yourself and annoy other commenters. This site exists to further my point of view, not your's.

If you haven't received a notice that you are limited to four comments a day, then this doesn't apply to you. It is very rarely necessary for me to invoke the rule as most conservatives don't abuse it.

And, whatever your politics, if you comment a lot, bandwidth is expensive and it would be very nice if you contributed through our paypal link.

Now back to our regularly scheduled converstations.

A Russian national and Muslim cleric held at Guantanamo and Kandahar and released says he witnessed episodes of Koran abuse there.

A Russian citizen released last year from Guantanamo Bay prison said on Tuesday U.S. guards at the camp regularly threw copies of the Koran into toilets. "In Cuba, they used to take them (the Koran) and throw them, take them and throw them, into lavatories or elsewhere. It happened regularly and this was to provoke protests," Airat Vakhitov, released from Guantanamo a year ago after 18 months in the camp, told reporters.

As for Kandahar, he said:

In Kandahar, they tore up copies of the Qur'an and even put it in a bucket of feces," he told the Associated Press.

Monday, several of 17 released Pakistani detainees also claim to have observed Koran desecration while at Guantanamo.

Italy has forwarded its arrest warrants for 13 CIA agents accused of kidnapping one of its citizens to Eurojust and Europol so that they can be picked up anywhere in Europe.

As of Monday, 13 CIA agents are being sought for arrest throughout Europe. The agents are accused of abducting Imam Abu Omar in Milan and taking him to Egypt where he was tortured. The formal transmission of the arrest warrants to the Eurojust judicial coordination office means that they are immediately effective throughout all E.U. member countries. [Eurojust is Europe's main agency for judicial cooperation]. At this stage every European police officer could arrest as well as identify the 13 CIA agents who are now “on the run.”

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a Tennessee death penalty case to resolve the issue of when an inmate has the right to have a court consider DNA evidence.

"This will be the first time the Supreme Court considers the impact of DNA evidence on the constitutional right to a fair trial," said Nina Morrison, an attorney with the Innocence Project in New York. "The potential implications are significant." Morrison said that her project is handling about 100 cases involving prisoners who want a chance to prove their innocence.

The death row inmate in the case, Paul House, wants a new trial. DNA tests confirmed the semen inside the murder victim was not his, but her husband's:

After 20 days of deliberation, the jury has found Richard Scrushy not guilty of all 36 fraud counts against him.

Richard Scrushy, the former chief executive of HealthSouth Corp., was acquitted of directing a $2.7 billion accounting fraud that nearly bankrupted the company he built into the largest U.S. operator of rehabilitation hospitals.

....The verdict was a resounding defeat for federal prosecutors in Birmingham, Alabama, who had the cooperation of 15 HealthSouth executives who pleaded guilty to participating in the fraud. Five former finance chiefs testified against Scrushy, who was accused of inflating profit from 1996 to 2002 and propping up HealthSouth shares to enrich himself.

Bloomberg News reports more than half of Americans think the War in Iraq was a mistake and we should set a timetable to bring the troops home:

About a third of Americans say they think the U.S. and its allies are winning the war against insurgents in Iraq, the lowest level yet, according to a poll by Gallup for USA Today and Cable News Network.

More than half of Americans say the war in Iraq was a mistake, almost half think the war has made them less safe from terrorism, and nine out of 20 say they think the U.S. won't ever be able to establish a stable government in the middle eastern nation, according to poll data published on the Gallup Web site. More than half said the U.S. should set a timetable for removing its troops from the country.

President Bush will give a televised speech tonight to try to drum up support for his increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. Should he be getting free network time for spin? David Corn shares his thoughts.

I usually blast the broadcast networks when they do not air presidential addresses. But this time around I would find it tough to insist that they displace their usual assortment of sleazy reality shows and loaded-with-gross-details crime dramas for the latest White House word games.