Report from DC: A Saturday night in a random upscale but not luxe-luxe hotel bar in the heart of DC. Not a single person mentioned Ronald Reagan. The topics of discussion at the bar: Kobe Bryant, Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson, JonBenet Ramsey and Michael Skakel, in that order. All topics were introduced by the female bartender who has been on the job at this establishement for 16 years. Here's the consensus, from bartender and patrons:

• Kobe: Not guilty
• Scott Peterson: He did it but it was an accident and he panicked, denying all.
• Michael Jackson: Not sure, but the settlement in the first case a decade ago makes them think he might be guilty.
• JonBenet: The killer's out there and they think it's great that her father, John Ramsey, is running for office in Michigan.
• Michael Skakel: His own words convicted him, but it might have been his brother.
• OJ: He either did it or had someone go over there to cause mischief which got out of control--but the prosecution didn't prove its case and Mark Furhman has zero credibility.

Talk about a jury pool...we've been in enough hotel bars around the country to know they are a pretty good barometer. And, by the way, the show this group watched most consistently, usually the late night re-run, and the host they trusted the most, was Dan Abrams of MSNBC.

US News and World Report says there is now evidence that Gen. Richard Sanchez was directly involved in hiding prisoners from the Red Cross:

The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, issued a classified order last November directing military guards to hide a prisoner, later dubbed "Triple X" by soldiers, from Red Cross inspectors and keep his name off official rosters. The disclosure, by military sources, is the first indication that Sanchez was directly involved in efforts to hide prisoners from the Red Cross, a practice that was sharply criticized by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba in a report describing abuses of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

....The disclosure of Sanchez's involvement may focus more attention on him. There have been reports that his top Army lawyers sought to curb Red Cross access to Abu Ghraib, only weeks after the humanitarian agency uncovered abuses and sexual humiliation at the prison late last year. Some Army officers, including Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the commander of the 800th MP Brigade, have blamed Sanchez's staff for refusing to release security detainees from Abu Ghraib even when they were believed to pose no threat to coalition forces.

Police in Portugal will be allowing fans to smoke pot without penalty at the big game Sunday--they'll be watching out for drunks instead:

ENGLAND fans will be allowed to smoke dope before Sunday’s crunch clash with France — to keep them calm. Cops in Lisbon plan to crack down on drunk supporters while turning a blind eye to those spotted puffing on a spliff. Pot-smoking fans have been assured they will not be arrested, cautioned — or even have their drugs confiscated. Last night experts said the Portuguese police’s “Here We Blow” policy would reduce chances of a punch-up between rival fans....Fans who seem to be drunk may be breath-tested and refused entry.

[link via Drug War Rant.]

This is not good news:

"We do have reports of a missing American," an embassy spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are working with local authorities to find him and are in touch with his family." The al-Qaida statement, posted late Saturday on an Islamic Web site, showed a passport-size photo of a brown-haired man and a business card bearing the name Paul M. Johnson. It said he was born in 1955.

The statement said the terror group would deal with the hostage just as "the Americans dealt with our brothers in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib" - a reference to sexual and other alleged abuses of Iraqi and Muslim prisoners by U.S. troops. The statement said Johnson is one of four experts in Saudi Arabia working on developing Apache helicopter systems and that the American killed worked in the same industry. ... It said it would release a video tape later to list its demands and show Johnson's confessions.

Update: Authorities are searching for Mr. Johnson, who works for Lockheed Martin.

Army policy says contractors should not be used as interrogators. So what happened?

The Army hired private interrogators to work in Iraq and Afghanistan despite the service's policy of barring contractors from military intelligence jobs such as interrogating prisoners. A policy memo from December 2000 says letting private workers gather military intelligence would jeopardize national security. An Army spokeswoman said senior commanders have the authority to override the contractor ban.

The citizens of Oklahoma shelled out more than $5.2 million to try and kill Terry Nichols:

The final costs of Terry Nichols' state case will exceed $5.2
million. More than $3.75 million has already been paid on his defense since 1999, records show. Another $115,361 in defense bills for May is being processed. The defense costs includes the salaries of six court-appointed attorneys, their investigators and other staff. It also includes overhead, housing expenses, a jury consultant's fee, a public opinion survey and expert witness fees. The latest expenses in May include the cost of motel rooms for defense
witnesses.

The security costs for the trial and for Nichols' stay in McAlester were $288,355 through May, records show. Guards watched the Pittsburg County Courthouse around the clock. Nichols is held at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Jury costs so far exceed $67,400. Much of that was spent for jury selectionon the hundreds of candidates who were summoned for jury duty. Jurors are paid $20 a day plus mileage.

Update: The jurors speak.

Update: Teflon Terry Nichols

Functional Ambivalent does the math and concludes we, the taxpayers, spent $400 million on late President's Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Beautiful ceremony. Spectacular setting. We just don't understand why America thinks Ronald Reagan was so deserving of it. He was a conservative who was not a friend of civil libertarians or minorities or the citizen accused. We feel sorry for Nancy Reagan, but enough is enough. Reagan was not a hero to many Americans. He's an ex-President who suffered cruelly from a terrible disease. Respect, yes. Deification, no. And we resent Bush and his family's attempt to capitalize on his family's obvious grief. Now, it's over. Let's move on.

Michael Isakoff of Newsweek writes of the impending Jose Padilla decision in the Supreme Court:

Justice Department lawyers, fearing a crushing defeat before the U.S. Supreme Court in the next few weeks, are scrambling to develop a conventional criminal case against “enemy combatant” Jose Padilla that would charge him with providing “material support” to Al Qaeda, NEWSWEEK has learned.

We fear another move. We fear Bush may amend his executive Order that says military tribunals apply only to non-citizens. If he does, then the Government could move Jose Padilla to Guantanamo and try him in a military tribunal proceeding, without any federal court protections.

This is what we need to be guarding against.

So much for family values. Rush and wife number 3 are getting a divorce. [link via Atrios}

Update: Terry Nichols' jury is deadlocked and he will be spared the death penalty. Our congrats go to Nichols' outstanding defense team, which included NACDL Vice President, Barbara Bergman.

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Original post:

After 17 hours of deliberations, the Terry Nichols' jury told the judge they are divided on whether he should get the death penalty. They are continuing to deliberate, but the foreman said some jurors have some "deeply held beliefs." If there is no unanimity, Nichols' will get a life sentence.

The AP is reporting that John McCain has personally told John Kerry that he would not accept the vice-presidential slot on the Democratic ticket if it were offered to him. We're glad. we want John Edwards. Or at least a true Democrat.