The Boston Globe, in this editorial, says that Judge James Robertson's decision Monday to halt the miltary tribunal proceedings at Guantanamo should be cheered by our troops serving abroad:

THE Federal district judge in Washington, D.C., who ruled Monday that the Bush administration has violated US and international law in its handling of Afghan war detainees ought to be thanked by members of the US armed forces all over the world. If they are captured by the enemy, their chances of being treated in accord with the Geneva Conventions will be greater if the United States holds itself to that standard.

The ruling was in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who had not been provided his right under the Geneva Convention to a hearing on his prisoner of war status.

The New York Times supports Judge Robertson's ruling in the Salim Ahmed Hamdan case. First, what happened:

A prosecution before the first American military commission since World War II was halted this week, just as it was getting started, by a federal judge in Washington who ruled that the proceedings lacked the basic elements of a fair trial and violated the Geneva Conventions.

It was the latest in a series of court decisions that have taken the Bush administration to task for trampling on the law in the name of fighting terrorists. The administration should bring its policies into compliance with the law.

The U.S. has signed the Geneva Conventions, which require,

The Firefox browser was released today in the 1.0 version. I've been using it for a few months (except when I post on TalkLeft, because I can't get the "hot buttons" in textile to work with it--although that may be my shortcoming) and it really is cool. The best feature is no pop-ups. It has tabbed browsing. It also lets you bookmark the rss version of news sites and blogs so as you run your cursor over them in your "favorite places" you can see last ten or so headlines and just click on those that interest you.

Many believe Firefox is going to give Microsoft's IE a run for its money. It's free, you can read about it and download it here.

A reader asked my opinion of Larry Thompson in the comments to the post below about Ashcroft resigning. I went on so long, I figured I'd make it a separate post.

I think Larry Thompson would be an excellent choice--the best of all the names that have been suggested so far--by miles. Is he conservative? Yes. But anyone Bush picks is going to be conservative. Most prosecutors are that way.

Larry Thompson has been a defense attorney and when he was, he was as committed to his clients and their defense as any career defense attorney.

I've known him since he was a defense attorney, and I am not the only defense attorney to have such a high opinion of him. He was a much admired and respected member of the defense organizations I belong to.

I believe that if he takes the job, he will be fair and not trample constitutional rights.

I wish he wasn't such a strong believer in the drug war, but again, no prosecutor is going to be great on defense issues. I don't know his side of the Maher Arar story, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

The other names being bandied about are no better than Ashcroft and quite possibly worse.

I heard on CNN that he recently took a job with Texaco Pepsico, and I know that being AG was very trying for him, especially the lack of time he had for his family, so I wouldn't be surprised if he decides against taking the job.

On the other hand, he has also been mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee, and that is such a much more prestigious position than AG. Since Bush is so fond of him, perhaps Larry will agree to be AG for two years or so if he's reasonably confident the Supreme Court is waiting for him afterwards.

It's that time. TalkLeft has not asked often for reader contributions in recent months due to revenue received through our blogads. But, blogads have all but disappeared since the election. Even after dropping the ad rates, there have been no takers.

As regular readers and commenters know, this site takes hours of my day and evening to maintain. What began as a fanciful hobby is now a news and opinion site read daily by 15,000 people, and growing. Many of these readers return several times throughout the day, evening and weekends, looking for fresh material. So far, I haven't disappointed.

Without the ad revenue, I have to ask for reader contributions. There really is no other way to keep the site going at the current level. So, if you are a frequent reader, or if you just like TalkLeft and want to see it continue and thrive, please make a donation. All amounts from $1 up are welcome and appreciated.

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Yes, read it again, it's true. Attorney General John Ascroft has resigned. In his resignation letter, he claims victory in the war on terrorism and crime.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Ashcroft's resignation:

I wish John Ashcroft the best as he prepares to leave the public arena for private life.

President Bush now has the opportunity to appoint a new Attorney General who will protect not only our safety, but our Constitutional rights as well.

Update: Here is the text of Ashcroft's resignation letter, which was 5 pages, written in longhand.

A blogger named "anniesj" at Live Journal criticized Bush the week before the election and received a night-time visit from the Secret Service. She is single and lives with her mother. The agents determined she was not a threat to national security, but she now has her very own FBI file that includes her photo, email, and weblog address.

Now, as to what made them pick her: She wrote a post after the presidential debate critical of Bush. Another reader called it in to the authorities. The Secret Service told her they were following up.

Some advice:

The tale is a lesson to us all. Number one lesson is that what happens on the internet can and will bite you on the a** in real life. We've seen it time and time again with internet affairs and sordid emails - now, you'd better watch where you put your political commentating toes. Number two is that no matter how cool and geeky the community - and LiveJournal is both - there will always be someone that ruins it for everyone else.

Put another way, people need to keep in mind that the internet has no erasers.

Here's Annie's version of her ordeal. [link via What Really Happened.]

Update: Not so clever attempts by Right wing bloggers, including a prosecutor, to post words in the comments to this post that will result in this site being linked to unacceptable behavior when googled have led to a decision to shut the comments down. Their comments have been edited.

A new passenger scanner being employed at London's Heathrow airport uses radiation to see through clothing. Civil liberties groups are angry.

No wonder they are angry,check out this picture of what they can see. [via the Modulator who got it from Yahoo.]

We warned about this back in June, 2003:

Airport Screeners May Get X-Ray Vision

Thinking of going to London or France? Get ready. They may be looking at your underpants.

Update: On the Guilty Verdict. Here is a live chat with questions and answers.

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Bump and Update: A juror has been replaced with an alternate in the Scott Peterson trial.

The removed juror is juror #7, an Asian woman who works for Pacific Gas and Electric who described herself during jury selection as a crusader who would never buckle under from pressure from other jurors.

The alternate juror is Alternate No. 1, "the red-haired woman dubbed "Strawberry Shortcake" by trial watchers.

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Original Post:

David Corn examines charges that the Bush forces stole the election in the new Nation. He concludes it's possible but there is no case as of yet. From the Nation's e-mail today:

Nation Washington editor David Corn looks at mounting charges of whether last week's election was stolen by the Bush forces. Corn writes, "Clear away the rhetoric, and what's mainly left are the odd early exit polls (which did show Kerry's lead in Ohio and Florida declining as Election Day went on and which ended up with the current national Bush-Kerry spread), troubling instances of bad electronic voting, and curious--or possibly curious--trends in Florida. This may be the beginning of a case; it is not a case in tself."

Ultimately, Corn concludes that a rigged election is conceivable, ut that "The system ought to be so solid that no one would have cause to even wonder whether an election has been stolen."

For those who want more on the charges, head on over to Blackboxvoting.

Bump and update: The ACLU hails the decision. More case information is available here. The decision is here. (TL)

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by TChris

An alien who is a permanent resident of the United States can be deported after conviction of "a crime of violence" that carries a potential sentence of at least one year. A "crime of violence" requires the use of physical force against another. The Supreme Court decided today (in a unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Rehnquist) that Josue Leocal, a Haitian citizen, cannot be deported despite his Florida conviction of causing injury by drunk driving because he did not "use" force when he negligently caused an accident.

Chalk this one up as a loss for John Ashcroft.

Post-election message to the south. It is very funny and angry at the same time, but if four- letter words offend you, skip it.