Liberal Oasis compares the press on US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, now in charge of the Valerie Plame investigation, to the press on Ken Starr, when he was first appointed independent counsel for Whitewater in 1994.

Looks like our Valerie Plame theory--that Ashcroft recused himself so that fewer people will scream whitewash when the Justice Department announces it can't prove a crime and no one gets indicted --is getting more play.

The Justice Department investigation into the leak of a CIA agent's identity could conclude that administration officials disclosed the woman's name and occupation to the media but still committed no crime because they did not know she was an undercover operative, legal experts said this week.

"It could be embarrassing but not illegal," said Victoria Toensing, who was chief counsel of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence when Congress passed the law protecting the identities of undercover agents.

Actually, we don't think the Justice Department will claim that the White House officials didn't know Plame was an undercover agent. We think the excuse will be that the officials inadvertently mentioned her name and undercover capacity during a conversation about something else and therefore it was not an "intentional" disclosure.

Here is the law at issue: The Intelligence Protection Act (50 U.S.C. Sec. 421). Different sections of the act provide for penalties ranging from three years to ten years. There are three ways to violate the law:

Don't miss NORML's 2003: The Year In Review with the top ten events that shaped marijuana policy. We think #4 may be the most significant for the future:

Supreme Court Says Doctors Can Recommend Medicinal Marijuana:

The Supreme Court in October declined to review a unanimous Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding the rights of physicians to discuss the medicinal use of marijuana with their patients. By rejecting the government's appeal, the Court upheld the Ninth Circuit's order enjoining the Justice Department from revoking physicians' federal licenses to prescribe medicine if they recommend marijuana to their patients. Read the full story at:

This cow is mad and he's not gonna take it any more. (warning, explicit language.)

We're saddened to learn that writer John Gregory Dunne has died at 71. While we enjoyed his books a lot, his wife, Joan Didion, has been our favorite author for the past 30 years--since we first read Play it As it Lays in 1972. Our condolences to Ms. Didion--and to Mr. Dunne's brother, author Dominick Dunne.

The grandson of an Irish immigrant, Dunne often focused on the Irish-American experience, particularly in his novel ``True Confessions.'' The 1977 breakthrough book involved a Los Angeles murder and its effect on two Irish-Catholic brothers, one a detective, the other a priest, neither untainted by corruption. Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall starred in the movie, which Dunne adapted with Didion. ``'True Confessions' was a major novel, one of the best books ever written about politics,'' said Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam, a friend and fellow writer. ``He was a very important writer, and a wonderful friend--talented, edgy, combative.''

Here's how our President began the New Year:

President Bush shot quail on a hunting trip Thursday but ate beef, and encouraged Americans to do the same despite concern over mad cow disease.

"I think I shot 5," Bush told reporters at Brooks County Airport after returning from the hunt with his father on a dusty and desolate stretch of land in southern Texas.

Mark Gisleson of BushWars has a good wrap up of New Year's blog offerings.

Atrios has a New Year's resolution.

Lisa English of Ruminate This has an activist agenda up with a cheat-sheet.

Damn Foreigner has the latest Maher Arar updates, including a possible new smear campaign against him. Arar is the Canadian who was seized by the U.S. at JFK and shipped off to Syria where he was imprisoned for a year during which incarceration he says he was tortured.

Patrick Nielsen Hayden of Electrolite and David Neiwert of Orcinus are onto the U.S. neglect of domestic terrorists. David says,

If anyone wanted evidence that the "war on terror" is primarily a political marketing campaign -- in which war itself is mostly a device for garnering support -- they need look no farther than the startling non-response to domestic terrorism by the Bush administration.

He offers the Texas cyanide bomb plot up as an example. More here, including this quote from Daniel Levitas, author of The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right:

"Excuse me, a chemical weapon was found in the home state of George Bush," says Levitas. "I'm not saying the Justice Department deliberately decided to downplay the story because they thought it might be embarrassing to the US government if weapons of mass destruction were found in America before they were found in Iraq. But I am saying it was a mistake not to give this higher profile."

Oliver Willis makes it into Discover Magazine. We hope it's MSNBC next for Oliver.

Ezra Klein at Pandagon is angry over a Dean supporter referring to Josh Marshall and Matt Yglesias as "Heathers." We have to agree that labeling Josh and Matt as conservative media is off-base.

Josh Marshall provides some possible explanations for why Ashcroft recused himself in the Plame investigation. We still think the most likely one is to avoid claims of whitewash and conflict of interest when it turns out that a certain high level White House official is found to be the leak but the Justice Department announces it will not prosecute because it cannot prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Instapundit has a variation of this view: "Instead, it seems that his recusal would make more sense if people were likely to scream "whitewash" because Rove wasn't involved."

Skippy gives thanks for the New Year. We'd like to thank Skippy back, for bringing us so many smiles over the past year.

South Knox Bubba has the Freepers on Parade: the best of 2003. Here's a sample:

Constitution? What is that? Oh I remember. That is the document that protects pornography and the media.

Avedon Carol of Sideshow has this from Media Free America:

Chief Justice William Rehnquist ripped the PROTECT Act in a year end report and said the Act comes too close to intimidation for federal judges involved in sentencing decisions.

By singling out judges who occasionally veer from the toughest sentencing, the law "could appear to be an unwarranted and ill-considered effort to intimidate individual judges in the performance of their judicial duties," the chief justice said.

Rehnquist also blasted Congress for failing to fully fund the federal judiciary. Though he heads the Supreme Court, Rehnquist is "chief justice of the United States" and was speaking for the entire federal judiciary.

Found over at Lucas Doolin's Deer Camp:

Hope everyone is prepared for the coming year with the proper survival gear:

• Five rolls of colored duct tape (red, orange, yellow, green, blue)
• One copy of the "World Almanac" to keep in your car
• One copy of Edward Abbey's "Hayduke Lives" to put in your carry-on baggage when you fly
• Piggy bank, for saving your new Reagan dimes
• Ann Coulter action figure
• A good supply of Oxycontin, to take while you listen to the Rush Limbaugh Excellence in Broadcasting Network

Arthur at Light of Reason says

We have now been informed as to Bush's "reasoning" with regard to cases such as the Padilla one -- by none other than Bradford A. Berenson, "a Washington lawyer, who was associate White House counsel to President Bush."

Arthur reviews Mr. Berenson's claims and says we should all be frightened because our country is headed for a dictatorship.

Keep in mind that the government keeps repeating that the "war on terror" will go on for an indefinite period of time -- and that it may well go on for as long as we live. But if Mr. Berenson, and I assume the administration, had their way, any United States citizen could be apprehended, taken into custody, and held for the rest of his life -- with no charges being filed, no recourse to an attorney, and with no hope of ever being set free, until and unless the President happens to change his mind.

[the comments have changed the topic of the thread and are now closed.]

From the New York Lawyer:

The International Legal Foundation is looking for lawyers to volunteer service with the Afghanistan public defender's office in Kabul, the New York Law Journal reports. Applicants with a minimum five years' criminal law experience should expect to serve at least eight weeks in Kabul, beginning March 1.

Interviews will be conducted in New York between Jan. 26 and Feb. 6. Résumés may be sent to Executive Director Natalie Rea at NRea@TheILF.org.

Here's more. [hat tip to Hesiod at Counterspin]

We're off to a wedding tonight. It's a tale of cyberfriends making real friends. Those of you who read Eric Alterman's Altercation undoubtedly are familiar with one of his guest Altercators--Eric Rauchway. We occasionally altercate for Eric A. as well. About a year ago, Eric R. emailed us that his brother Jon and fiance Cleo were moving to Denver and suggested we get together. We did, and we've become great friends and their wedding is tonight. Eric R. and his wife and kids are in town for it (we all spent Christmas evening together as well) and we're very much looking forward to the celebration. What a fun night to get married.

Whatever your plans tonight, whether going out to celebrate or staying in with friends or even just reading the blogs and watching tv, we wish you a happy and safe New Year.

Update: The wedding was awesome--beautiful--what a happy night it was!