We're saddened to learn that former federal judge Harry Claiborne has died.

Harry Claiborne, an impeached federal judge who returned to prominence as a defense attorney and refused to allow bitterness over his downfall to cloud his colorful life and career, died Monday. He was 86. Claiborne, a shrewd defense attorney who long battled cancer and a heart condition, committed suicide, his family confirmed today.

"My road through life has indeed been a rocky one, but, my God, it has been exciting -- I'm the lucky one," Claiborne said in his folksy Arkansas drawl for an Oct. 3, 1996, Sun story.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who as an attorney represented Claiborne during his two criminal trials and his impeachment proceedings in Congress, said Claiborne should be remembered as a man who "put his clients before anything else. "From the time I was a young lawyer coming into town, he was the first criminal defense lawyer I met," Goodman said. "He was a master of the profession. He was unparalleled as far as his ability to marshal the facts of the case and ... present them in a clear and concise way to the jury."

"He was enchanting as far as his work was concerned. I can't think of anybody I miss more in the legal community than Harry Claiborne."

R.I.P., Judge Claiborne.

From Fair and Balanced Political Bias. Go look. [hat tip to Nathan C.]

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Via Center for American Progress and Atrios:

LOTT'S FLIP-FLOP: Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), the same senator who left his leadership position after a racially insensitive comment, is once again in the middle of a racially charged issue. A few years back, Lott used a position on judicial appointments to oppose the recess appointment of Roger Gregory as the first African-American judge ever to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. At the time, Lott categorically declared that "any appointment of a federal judge during a recess should be opposed." Now, in order to help Pickering, Lott is changing his position to favor recess appointments. Lott said that "Judge Pickering's record deems this recess appointment fully appropriate."

Jury selection began this morning in the Martha Stewart trial. It may take a week to pick the jury and the selection process is taking place behind closed doors.

The trial is to determine whether Stewart, 62, is a criminal who lied to the government about unloading stock based on an inside tip about a well-placed friend - or simply a shrewd investor who saved money with a smart bet on the market.

It grew from a 2001 stock sale in which the government estimates Stewart saved about $51,000 - a tiny sum compared with her multimillion-dollar media empire. The government says Stewart saved the money by selling stock in ImClone Systems on Dec. 27, 2001 - just before a negative government report about a highly touted ImClone cancer drug sent the stock plummeting.

Stewart says she sold because she and Bacanovic, her Merrill Lynch & Co. broker, had a pre-existing agreement to sell when the stock fell to $60. But the government says she was tipped that ImClone founder Sam Waksal - a longtime friend of Stewart's who once dated her daughter - was trying to unload his shares.

The most ridiculous charge against Martha (meaning trumped up or legally manufactured) is also the most serious--that of securities fraud. The basis for the charge is Martha's public statement that in 2002 that she is innocent of the charges. The Government says she made that statement to deceive her stockholders.

The defense has characterized the charge as an unprecedented infringement on a defendant's First Amendment rights, and even the judge in the case called the charge "novel." But prosecutors say Stewart went further than simply predicting she would be exonerated, giving a "forceful, detailed and false explanation for her sale of ImClone."

What is the most damaging evidence likely to be?

There is a very interesting editorial in the Japanese Herald Tribune/Asahi on the 2004 Presidential election and Bush. We'll quote some of it:

Meanwhile, the rest of the world is watching this presidential race even more attentively than usual, wondering whether changes will emerge in the United States' fight against terror and its unilateralist action, which heavily tinges the Bush administration. The two wars that the Bush administration waged after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack demonstrated the overwhelming military strength of the United States and, in the case of Iraq, shattered what it regards as a threat with pre-emptive attacks without the approval of the United Nations and the international community.

Such a display of power humiliated the entire Islamic world and has prepared a breeding ground for terrorism and anti-American sentiment, even though it did succeed in persuading Libya to give up its nuclear development program. There are many problems the international community as a whole must address, such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, international terrorism, the wide gap in wealth between the rich and poor countries and global warming. Under such circumstances, global geopolitical divisions will only widen if the United States continues to cling to unilateralism.

Iowa's a done deal. Kerry, followed by Edwards, followed weakly by Dean. Gephardt dropped out, as he should. The other candidates were very nice in their praise for him. As Atrios says,

Kudos to Gephardt for defying the CW of people like me and managing to be a credible candidate.

Kerry's speech was good. Bush needs to be laid off. Ashcroft needs to go. Bring it on.

He could do it. Where did Dean misstep? Can Dean recoup? Will it be Kerry vs. Clark in New Hampshire? Can Edwards pull off the same coup in New Hampshire he did in Iowa and come in second there? Seems like he has a new lease on electorial life.

Right now, we're impressed with Kerry and with Edwards. But what will New Hampshire bring?

Max Cleland's support for Kerry as a Viet Nam vet helps. It was touching to see Kerry hug him during his acceptance speech. We suspect Cleland will be close to a fixture on Kerry's campaign trail.

Kos of Daily Kos on Dean's loss:

Loser: Dean

Ouch. Word on the ground is he had the worst media, and far too much of it. Lost his message. All those endorsements (Gore, Bradley, Harkin) directly contradicted his anti-establishment message.

Our congrats to John Kerry. He worked for this win, and he got it. So did Edwards. Loved his use of John Mellencamp's "Small Town" as a campaign theme.

Update: Political Wire on What Happened to Dean?

Eric Alterman and Laleh Ispahani make an excellent argument for restoring the right to vote to ex-felons in Is the Right to Vote a Criminal Matter? over at Center for American Progress.

Former felons are by and large without a voice in our contemporary debate and so few seem to find their disenfranchisement a political problem worth examining. This is the case, amazingly, even when the confusion — and deliberate chicanery this confusion can invite — can put the wrong man in the White House.

For more, see the Human Rights Watch report "Losing the Vote: The Impact of Felony Disenfranchisement Laws in the United States."

Don't miss The Daily Show's (Jon Stewart) video of Bush v. Bush. Hopefully you
have a hi-speed connection because it's terrific. It is video clips of Bush's statements when running for election compared to his statements (and actions) after the Supreme Court made him president. The link is to the Daily Show, from there click on Bush v. Bush on the top left. [hat tip to Kelley]

Daily Kos has the final Iowa poll numbers--including a composite poll of Daily Kos readers and a lot of analysis.

Here are TalkLeft's predictions (but note, we are still undecided as to who we will endorse)

Dean 24
Kerry 23
Edwards 22
Gephardt 18

Kos makes a good point about Clark's price for skipping Iowa:

Had Clark competed in Iowa, I bet Edward's surprising last-minute surge would've been Clark's. And the momentum of a surprise finish would've been invaluable heading into New Hampshire and the Feb 3 states.

Your turn, but please, keep this one to Iowa.

Update: Kucinich and Edwards agree to share their voters. This hurts Gephardt who was hoping to make the deal with Kucincich.

"The caucuses take place at 6:30 p.m. in 1,993 locations — public buildings, but also private homes — across the state."

Join South Knox Bubba in a fun State of the Union Challenge with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity.

Tune in Tuesday, Jan 20 at 08:30 pm EST to keep score...

True Majority offers a report card for you to fill out and send the President after his speech (pdf).

A state legislator in Indiana has introduced a bill that would allow defendants serving sentences of life without parole or sentences of more than 200 years to petition the court to be put to death.

The bill was introduced by Sen. John Waterman, R-Shelburn.