The Dreyfuss Report quotes the Washington Post describing President Bush's appearance at last night's Radio-TV Correspondents Association dinner in Washington where he made fun of the fact that we didnt' find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq:

He [Bush] put up dorky looking pictures of himself. A recurring joke involved photos of the president in awkward positions-bent over as if he's looking under a table, leaning to look out a window-accompanied by remarks such as "Those weapons of mass destruction must be somewhere!" and "Nope, no weapons over there!" and "Maybe under here?"

We're with Dreyfuss who says,

That's funny? I wish the tape of the president cackling about his lies over Iraq could be broadcast on Iraqi TV. And maybe shown to the families of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.

Update: Skippy says "wdiv tv in detroit has an online poll asking if bush's wmd jokes at the media dinner last night were appropriate or not. please get as many people as possible to go register their disgust by voting!"

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by TChris

The Senate is considering a bill today that would make it a federal crime to cause the death of, or injury to, a fetus during the commission of other federal crimes. A similar bill has passed the House, and the legislation is supported by the President.

Update: The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 61-38. It will be now be sent to the President for his promised signature.

Prison nation. The U.S. Sentencing Commission has voted to increase sentences for bribery crimes . The proposed changes will be submitted to Congress on May 1 and unless rejected, go into effect on November 1:

The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which has described public-corruption offenses as crimes of "internal terrorism," has adopted new federal guidelines to increase prison terms for those convicted of federal bribery charges — some by more than 50 percent. It also voted to more than triple to 10 years — the maximum allowed under the law — the prison term for persons convicted of possessing destructive devices, such as shoulder-fired missiles, rockets and launchers.

Spokesman Michael Courlander said the amended guidelines provide harsher penalties based on whether a defendant is an elected public official, a public official or a nonpublic official, adding that the average sentence for a public official who takes a bribe will increase more than 50 percent, "with the prospect of a much greater increase."

...Mr. Courlander said the commission also voted to allow the courts to depart above the guidelines for possession of destructive devices that create a risk to the public; increased by 50 percent the sentences for felons who use body armor in a crime of violence or drug trafficking; and increased the penalties for other crimes, including second-degree murder, attempted murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter involving reckless operation of a vehicle.

This is a classic case of what we call purchased testimony. Testimony bought with promises of leniency. Here's the story:

A federal judge in New York has overturned a murder conviction in a Brooklyn gang case because prosecutors relied on "blatant, critical perjury by all of the key witnesses."

The judge, John Gleeson, stopped short of saying the federal prosecutors in Brooklyn knew that their witnesses were lying at a jury trial in April. But in an extraordinary 60-page decision, the judge was clearly distressed by the actions of the prosecutors from the office of the United States attorney, Roslynn R. Mauskopf. Judge Gleeson said he feared that an innocent man had been convicted on "patently incredible testimony" and had a "concern that perjury was deliberately elicited'' by the prosecutors.

The decision was a raw judicial exploration of familiar claims by defense lawyers that prosecutors rely excessively on witnesses who get lenient plea deals and lie.

After the judge's ruling, prosecutors made a deal with Angel M. DeAngelo, the once-convicted killer: They dropped the murder in aid of racketeering charge and allowed him to plead guilty to making a false statement --denying he had been present at the murder. He's already been released:

"How many other people did they do this to?'' Mr. DeAngelo asked yesterday in a telephone interview from Latham, N.Y., near where he now lives. "They believe anything these people say. It's all about a collar; it has nothing to do with justice.''

The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals joins a growing number of circuits in holding that the Second Amendment does not confer an individual right to bear arms (pdf). For those who haven't read it lately, the Second Amendment says:

“A well regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

The court reaffirms prior decisions holding that:

...to prevail on a Second Amendment challenge, a party must show that possession of a firearm is in connection with participation in a “well-regulated” “state” “militia.”.... The Second Amendment does not guarantee an individual the right to keep and transport a firearm where there is no evidence that possession of that firearm was related to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia.

The Court notes that the 5th Circuit (which includes Texas) is the only circuit to hold the Second Amendment conveys an individual rather than collective right to bear arms. In the Emerson case in the 5th Circuit,

The Second Amendment “protects the right of individuals, including those not then actually a member of any militia or engaged in active military service or training, to privately possess and bear their own firearms.”

Here's where the other circuits stand:

by TChris

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case that could have a profound impact on the future of the federal sentencing guidelines. In an attempt to persuade his wife not to divorce him, Ralph Blakely forced her to travel from their home in Washington to family property in Montana. It's easy to understand why Blakely's wife wanted a divorce: during much of the trip, Blakely made her ride in a coffin in the back of his pickup truck with her wrists bound and head wrapped in duct tape. He also threated to shoot their son, who managed to escape on the way to Montana. Blakely was arrested and returned to Washington, where he eventually agreed to plead guilty to two reduced charges while maintaining his innocence.

The maximum sentence was 10 years, but Washington's sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 53 months. Deciding that deliberate cruelty and violence were aggravating factors that justified a longer sentence, the judge imposed 90 months. Blakely argues that the longer sentence violates Apprendi v. New Jersey because the aggravating factors that increased his sentence were not submitted to a jury or proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The Washington courts disagreed, holding that Apprendi only requires a jury to determine a fact if the existence of the fact would increase the statutory maximum sentence.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was a guest on Fox's Neil Cavuto show today. Before today, she had not stated her position on gay marriage. Cavuto pressed her, and she said she supports same-sex marriage and endorsed San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's granting of same-sex marriage licenses.

"Can same sex couples marry?" Cavuto asked.
"Yes," Pelosi responded.
"So what the mayor of San Francisco is doing, you would approve of it?" Cavuto asked.
"Yes," Pelosi said.

We caught some but not all of the hearings today. We've read hundreds of comments posted here and elsewhere about them. Kevin Drum, formerly Calpundit, now writing for Washington Monthly's Political Animal, says:

Terrorists hijacked a bunch of planes and killed 3000 people on 9/11. In retrospect, of course we didn't do enough before then to stop al-Qaeda, and it's hardly shameful to say so. But none of these guys have the self-respect to admit it. I'm all for point scoring, but I just don't think all this blather about whether we took al-Qaeda seriously before 9/11 is meaningful.... It's what happened after 9/11 that should be getting more attention.

Kevin also notes that so far, the only one to apologize for the pre-9/11 failures has been Richard Clarke. Good points. But we remain troubled by the allegations that Bush was told of an Al-Qaeda threat and didn't deal with it, preferring instead to concentrate on Iraq. A President who disregards the advice of his top counterterrorism official is not a wise leader in our book.

We saw an old friend on the panel today, former Watergate special prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste. We hadn't realized he was on the Commission, and now that we do know, we have a lot more faith in it. We liked that he and Bob Kerrey both knocked the Administration for not allowing Condolezza Rice to testify.

Our last open thread on the topic is getting too long, feel free to continue it here.

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by TChris

A court martial may be thwarted by the government's interference with the accused's right to discuss the evidence with his civilian lawyer. The government originally accused Senior Airman Ahmad Halabi of spying for Syria, although it dropped 13 of the original 30 counts, including espionage. The government claims that Halabi, a Syrian-American linguist who had been assigned to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, tried to deliver messages from detainees to someone in Syria.

Today Halabi asked that the remaining counts (including charges that he mishandled classified information and attempted espionage) be dismissed. Halabi's civilian attorney, Donald Rehkopf Jr., complained that he cannot talk to his client or to Halabi's military attorneys about, and has been barred from seeing, classified evidence.

He also cannot talk with Halabi or the attorneys about such topics as the case of Army Capt. James Yee, who was arrested Sept. 10 on suspicion of espionage but charged with only two counts of mishandling classified information. Yee briefly supervised Halabi when he worked at Guantanamo.

Kobe Bryant's accuser testified for 3 hours behind closed doors today. She did not appear upset going in or during the break. We read one report that she seemed shaken when it was over, but we're told by someone present at the courthouse that it isn't so. The accuser was observed right after she left the stand out back smoking a cigarette, talking to her lawyer and looking normal.

The bellhop is on the stand now and has been on for a while. The defense has alleged that the accuser had sexual relations with two prosecution witnesses. He is the first person to have seen her when she came out of Kobe's room. If they were intimately involved at the time, it could show bias and negatively impact his credibility as a trial witness.

We think the fact that the questioning only lasted three hours shows the defense was focused, they knew what they were looking for and they got in and out.

Another witness was the accuser's roommate at University of Northern Colorado. The witnesses for the hearing have been put in another courtroom to wait their turn. We're told that there are at least 15 of them--and some are still driving up. It sounds unlikely that this portion of the hearing will be over today.

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by TChris

Archbishop Desmond Tutu visited Texas death row inmate Dominique Green today. Green believes that his life was changed by reading a book that Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tutu wrote describing his experience "as president of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where participants in apartheid-fueled violence were encouraged to acknowledge their past and victims and their families were encouraged to forgive their attackers." Tutu opposes capital punishment.

Green's supporters, including Thomas Cahill, a historian and best-selling author who previously visited with Green and is a friend of Tutu's, believe Green's trial was marked by racism and that his court-appointed lawyer was incompetent.

Green was sentenced to death in 1993. His execution date has not been set.

by TChris

Are you already bored with the 2004 election campaign? Maybe it's time for you to turn your attention to 2008, when you'll have the chance to cast a vote for or against former Minnesota governor and wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura. The unconventional politician says he's not kidding about running for president, and has already selected a running mate who has never been shy about voicing his opinions -- former NBA star Charles Barkley.

The announcement came as Ventura visited Minnesota’s State House to lobby for gay marriage. He voiced his dislike of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry and said he wants an option besides “Pepsi or Coke”.

Ventura and Barkley would certainly enliven the presidential debates. And as long as Ventura is seeking former athletes rather than seasoned politicians to help him run the government, he might consider Dennis Rodman or Reggie White for Secretary of Defense.