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.

Don't miss watching Honor the Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. - Get Active from BushFlash and United for Peace:

The flash movie produced for this year's MLK Holiday by BushFlash.com features excerpts from Dr. King's 1967 Vietnam War speech, and ends with an appeal to take part in the March 20 Global Day of Protest on the one-year anniversary of the Iraq War

United for Peace and Justice urges you to honor the legacy of Dr. King by taking part in educational events, cultural activities and protests during the MLK Holiday weekend. This can be a critically important time for the antiwar movement to link the struggle against empire abroad with the fight for racial and economic justice at home, to strengthen ties with other movements, and in many cases to build new relationships. Here's some suggestions.

Some quotes from Dr. King:

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

That old law about "an eye for an eye" leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.

Another must-read: Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam . It was delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr , April 1967, at Manhattan's Riverside Church.

Here is an extensive list of links as a primer on Dr. King.

The Jan. 26 issue of US News & World Report features John Ashcroft on the cover and contains this 8 page article on him. It's not entirely a puff piece, although plenty of his friends and underlings assert that he has been unfairly demonized. At least it mentions some of the policies Ashcroft has been criticized for:

They [federal judges and civil liberties groups] cite policies like jailing terrorism suspects as "material witnesses" so that they can be interrogated by investigators and prosecutors, even though they have not been charged with any crime. Or the preventive detention of illegal aliens and the 600-odd secret trials of those detainees. Or Ashcroft's legal defense of the administration's detention of thousands of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba--with no prospect of trial for most. Ashcroft also modified existing rules to allow the government to detain illegal aliens even after courts ruled that they should be released--measures that four federal judges have ruled unconstitutional.

Public perceptions aside, there are growing questions about whether Ashcroft's prevention paradigm works. In his new book Enemy Aliens, Georgetown University law Prof. David Cole examines the preventive detentions of roughly 5,000 foreign nationals--Muslim men--after the terrorist attacks. Only three were ultimately charged with terrorism-related crimes. Just one was convicted. At the time, Ashcroft called the detainees "suspected terrorists" and announced the deportation of more than 500 Muslim men as a signal victory in the "war on terror." In fact, the 500 were deported only after the FBI found no terrorist ties. "They were misses," Cole says, "not hits."

There's lots more, go read the whole thing. One of our favorite quotes:

More and more, there's grousing among prosecutors, who say they duck when Ashcroft blows into town to announce a big case because they fear that his polarizing presence could taint the jury pool.

[link via How Appealing]

San Francisco's new mayor, Gavin Newsom, is gaining our esteem. In the past few days he has given San Francisco it's first woman fire chief and first woman police chief:

Mayor Gavin Newsom named Assistant Police Chief Heather Fong as his pick for interim police chief Sunday, two days after he swore in Joanne Hayes-White as the city's first woman fire chief.

If the city's Police Commission confirms the 26-year veteran's appointment this week as expected, San Francisco will have the rare distinction of having women lead its two key public safety departments.

Howard Dean left Iowa to go to church with Jimmy Carter in Georgia.

Dr. Dean said last week that he was skipping 20 of the last 48 hours in the Iowa campaign because "when the former president of the United States asks you to go to church with him on the Sunday before caucuses, I think you probably take that up." But Mr. Carter said today that the visit had actually been Dr. Dean's idea and that he hoped all the Democratic candidates would make the pilgrimage to Plains "to kind of heal wounds and show that we can all worship together."

"I didn't invite him," the former president, wearing a bolo tie, told reporters and parishioners as he entered the church this morning. "He called me on the phone and said he'd like to come worship with me."

It was a coincidence, Mr. Carter said, that he was teaching from Job, which Dr. Dean has cited as his favorite Bible book. "After I won in Iowa, I realized what Job was talking about," President Carter said. "It seemed like everybody descended on me with all kinds of abuse and accusations. And I felt like I was innocent, too."

Update: Nitpicker noticed something in the article that we missed:

As promised, Mr. Carter did not offer an endorsement, but did refer to him as a friend and "fellow Christian," praising his "courageous and outspoken posture." The two men shook hands, but did not raise them in the traditional politicians' pose.

Monday's Los Angeles Times takes an in-depth look at hemp in The Demonized Seed (free subscription required):

As a Recreational Drug, Industrial Hemp Packs the Same Wallop as Zucchini. Why Does the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency Continue to Deny America This Potent Resource? Call It Reefer Madness.

The facts:

Because they're often used interchangeably, the terms cannabis, hemp and marijuana can be confusing. While cannabis encompasses all varieties of the species, hemp, often called industrial hemp, has come to mean a few dozen nonintoxicating varieties of cannabis bred and cultivated for commercial ends: clothing, paper, food, biofuels, biodegradable plastic, building materials, automobile parts, insulators, paints, lubricants—the list of possibilities goes on.

Marijuana, on the other hand, refers strictly to the cannabis drug plant, of which there exist endless varieties differentiated by the amount of intoxicating substances they contain, notably tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Today virtually all strains of cannabis are the product of human alteration, manipulated by scientists, breeders and drug dealers to increase or decrease THC content and other characteristics to suit their purposes.

This just in from NORML:

Just in time for the first official Democratic Presidential primary, NORML has issued its 2004 Presidential Candidate Report Card. Marijuana law reform promises to be a pivotal and highly publicized issue this election, and NORML's Presidential Candidate Report Card is a quick reference guide to each Democratic candidate's position on various marijuana-related issues, including decriminalization, the legalization of medicinal marijuana, and the repeal of the drug conviction exclusionary provision to the Higher Education Act.

This primary season, get informed before you "Smoke the Vote." Check out NORML's 2004 Presidential Candidate Report Card.

From the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on survey results on criminal justice issues from the presidential candidates (pdf):

In mid-October, 2003, the NACDL national office sent a short list of questions to the Bush-Cheney campaign and to the nine declared Democratic candidates in the upcoming presidential primaries. The candidates were asked for their views on the death penalty, DNA evidence, indigent defense, judicial discretion, the war on terrorism, white collar crime and corporate compliance. This survey was conducted for the benefit of our members; NACDL does not rate or endorse candidates for political office.

We received responses from five of the Democratic candidates; the Bush-Cheney election committee responded that the President and Vice President have not yet declared their candidacy for office, and it is not responding to these sorts of surveys at this time. Retired U.S. Army General Wesley K. Clark, former Vermont Governor Dr. Howard Dean, and U.S.Senators John Edwards (NC), John Kerry (MA) and Joseph Lieberman (CT) all responded by late December, in line with our request. Reps. Richard Gephardt (MO) and Dennis Kucinich (OH), and candidates Carol Moseley-Braun and the Rev. Al Sharpton did not respond to phone calls and e-mails to their headquarters.

The same questions were sent to all candidates. The responses, in alphabetical order of the candidates’ names, follow each question.— Ralph Grunewald, Publisher, The Champion

Here are some of the questions the candidates answered:

Via Drug War Rant:

With the Iowa Caucuses coming up, it's a good time to review the candidates again. Today, I'd like to remind you about the Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Voter Guide. The Granite Staters have gone through voting records (and other actions) and public speeches regarding medical marijuana and graded each of the candidates. Go to their site for detailed analysis, but here are the quick current grades. (Remember this is specifically for medical marijuana and may not reflect other drug war issues)

Dennis Kucinich A+
Al Sharpton A
John Kerry A-
Wesley K. Clark B+
Howard Dean D-
George W. Bush F
John Edwards F
Dick Gephardt F
Joseph Lieberman F