We got home late, missed the news on the debate, and are now watching the rerun. Our thoughts:

Sharpton rocks, he has the best lines.

John Edwards was surprisingly good-- he's not giving our civil liberties over to Ashcroft--and he's got presence and dynamic delivery. Very telegenic. We think he's going to move up in the polls.

Kucinich made great points. He also makes the most sense. He'd repeal the Patriot Act.

Dean fell a little flat. Not enough personality or inflection when he talks.

Kerry is depressing.

Gephardt had some snap but we can't remember what he said. He needs a new line besides "miserable failure." That only works once.

Lieberman was like the elder statesman. He was also rude. He talked the longest after his time was over and he interrupted Dean and demanded an extra sentence.

Bob Graham was witty.

Carole Mosley Braun held her own.

So who won? No one yet (the second round just ended.) But we're glad we watched. It was good to watch nine politicians all bashing Bush and his policies.

Update: Graham just lost his witty description. He opposes same-sex marriage because marriage is for the purpose of nurturing children and that takes a man and a woman? Wow....

Edwards scores again with "College for Everyone." This man's going to move up in the polls, just watch.

Dean was good on gun control and the need for white people to talk to white people about race.

Carole Mosely Braun scores on the Patriot Act--she showed some real passion.

Kucinich: Bring the troops home. Get the U.N. in and the U.S. out.

Final Update: It's over. Here are our impact ratings--who made the greatest impression--

The losers: Graham, Gephardt, Kerry and Dean

Middle: Lieberman, Mosely Braun

Winners: Sharpton, Kucinich and Edwards

Best lines and quickest on his feet: Sharpton
Most personable: John Edwards
Stiffest: Howard Dean
Worst Closings: Gephardt and Graham

Mark Kleiman is all over the retraction of the ecstasy report--seems there are some problems with Riucarte, the study's principal researcher.

The experiment was purportedly intended to represent in an animal model the consequences of human "recreational" MDMA use, and perhaps of therapeutic use of the drug were it ever approved for that purpose. In the experiment, two out of fifteen animals died. The death rate among human MDMA users is no more than one in a million.

Yet it appears that the researchers failed to investigate the causes of those deaths. Moreover, they went on to draw inferences about the effects of MDMA on humans from the observed damage to the brains of the remaining animals. That didn't seem to trouble the reviewers for Science or the administrators at the National Institute on Drug Abuse who trumpeted the findings as evidence of the dangers of MDMA. (Science is published by the AAAS, whose president, Alan Leshner, was the Director of NIDA when the grant in question was awarded; he made MDMA his particular crusade.)

Our initial report is here.

Barbara Comstock, the Justice Department's spokesperson, is resigning to take a job in the private sector. [Link via Liquid List]

Comstock is the fourth high-ranking Justice official to leave this year.

Others are Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson, the criminal division chief, Michael Chertoff and Viet Dinh, head of the Office of Legal Policy.

Think Ashcroft will take the hint?

Does this take the cake, or what? We've been reading for months about the music industry's intent to sue music downloaders. We assumed they were going to go after the worst abusers. They settled on suing 241 people. We expected these would be users who would be reselling the music for profit.

Not quite. Turns out sued a 12 year old. Not only that, they accepted a $2,000.00 settlement from the girl's mother.

We're sorry the mother settled. This would have been a public relations disaster for the music industry:

The family lives in a city housing project on New York's Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services.

If you are worried about liability (this rash of suits is just the first wave), they are offering amnesty if you 'fess up before getting sued and promise never to be bad again.

In an effort to soften the legal attack, the record industry group is also offering amnesty for file sharers who turn themselves in before legal action is taken against them. Under the "clean slate" program unveiled by the industry yesterday, people seeking amnesty must destroy files that they have downloaded illegally and sign a notarized form pledging never to trade copyrighted works again.

With her kids now in school, Maria Schriver has become an active participant in Arnie's campaign. Statements like this can only help him:

"He's one of the most gracious, supportive, open-minded men I have ever met," the TV journalist said at an appearance in Santa Monica last week. "I've known him since I was 21 years old, and I know I would not be where I am today in my career, as a woman, without his support."

Some background on Maria.

On paper, Shriver, 47, has the kind of background that could help her husband at the polls. She is a niece of President Kennedy, and a career woman with four children, ages 5 to 13.

A 1977 graduate of Georgetown University, she has been with NBC since 1986 as an anchor, correspondent and, most recently, as part of "Dateline NBC." She is on leave from the network during her husband's campaign. She built her career as a hardworking journalist who preferred serious news over fluff.

We met Maria last year at a party we attended for the swearing in of LA Police Chief Bill Bratton. We talked for ten minutes or so about our aging mothers and how difficult it is for them. There had been several recent news articles about her mother's declining health. We liked Maria a lot. She and Arnie stayed at the party for well over an hour. (We met Arnie too, but did not have a chance to speak with him.)

We still say vote "no" on recall. But we think Maria has had a liberalizing effect on Arnie and that should he win the election, she will continue to make her voice heard. That's good.

Update: Maria's mother, Eunice Shriver, sister of JFK, came out today and endorsed Arnold:

I think he'd be a very good governor. He's been committed to people all his life, since the day he first arrived here, he's been a success with people," Shriver, 82, told reporters before Schwarzenegger met with experts on education policy.

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Peter Uberroth has dropped out of the California recall election. He said he crunched the numbers and can't win. Who will benefit from his support? Arnie or McCLintock? If Arnie picks up his support, is Bustamante in trouble? Could his dropping out reduce support for the recall itself and assist Gray Davis?

A North Carolina court has stayed the Friday execution of Henry Lee Hunt so that his claim that the state plans to use an illegal drug, potassium chloride, in killing him can be reviewed by the courts. Potassium chlorid stops the heart from beating. The North Carolina statute specifies the use of two drugs for executions, a barbituate and a drug that causes paralysis. The ruling could impact all the prisoners on death row.

Potassium chloride is a very caustic and burning drug if given while the person is still awake. Here is more on the lethal cocktail of execution drugs.

Hunt claims he is innocent. In 1989, a co-defendant signed an affidavit admitting to the killing and stating that Hunt was not involved in the murder. The Judge refused to hear that claim. But now that a stay has been granted, his lawyers will appeal the ruling.

We thought Gephardt had the major AFL-CIO union endorsement locked up. Not so. Check this out:

Dean wows union rank-and-file at convention:

The former Vermont governor was greeted with earsplitting cheers and numerous, lengthy standing ovations from the nearly 1,500 rank-and-file members. The audience several times clapped and chanted in unison.

"This time the person with the most votes is going to be the president of the United States," Dean roared. Afterward, he was mobbed by union members seeking autographs and pictures, as well as the media.

The analysis:

The Democrat who has the most at stake is Gephardt, who covets a laborwide endorsement from the AFL-CIO next month. The Missouri congressman has 12 union endorsements so far, and is the only candidate to get backing from an international union. But he needs support from a few more large unions, such as SEIU[the 1.6-million-member Service Employees International Union], to win over the AFL-CIO.

....The SEIU is the nation's fastest-growing union and among the most progressive and diverse, making it an enticing prize for Democrats seeking labor support. Its members are janitors, nursing home workers, home health care workers, hospital nurses, and government employees. Many are Hispanic.

Via Atrios, we find this CNN regularly updated site with a list of U.S casualties in the war in Iraq. Look at their pictures.

There have been 337 confirmed coalition deaths in the war as of September 8, 2003. The casualty list below reflects the names of the U.S. and British soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors whose families have been notified. This list is updated regularly.

337 have died so far. A recent Time poll shows approval for Bush's war down to 52%. Let's get it down to single digits.

Take a look at this new Columbia University poll showing that confidence in the government's ability to respond to a terrorist attack has dropped:

The Columbia University study, released Monday, found 46 percent of those surveyed believed authorities could "respond effectively" to a biological, chemical or nuclear attack, down from 53 percent last year. The drop was most dramatic among New Yorkers, from 53 percent to 36 percent.

Update: Read this, it will make you cry. Bring our troops home now.

People for the American Way have just released an in-depth report on the Administration's Attacks on Civil Liberties and on Civil Rights Protections since the first anniversary of Ashcroft assuming office. (They had already issued a report on his first year.)

The report is available for download here.

The report outlines the Ashcroft Justice Department’s dangerous tactics in the war on terrorism, its disturbing civil rights record, its participation in the administration’s judicial nomination strategies, and its attacks on the First Amendment, the role of career prosecutors and judicial independence. “The record is clear. Ashcroft and the Justice Department have gone too far. I’m heartened by the recent actions of members of Congress and the American people opposing Ashcroft’s assault on our freedoms,” Neas said. “Together, we’re sending a clear message to the attorney general that the Bill of Rights is not optional in wartime.”

bq.The report details the Justice Department’s conduct in the war on terrorism, from attacks on the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment to the Justice Department’s own inspector general’s account of civil rights abuses of prisoners rounded up after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Also covered are congressional efforts to check the DOJ’s power as well as resolutions passed by more than 150 American cities, towns and states speaking out against attacks on civil liberties.

Update: Cato v. DOJ, Round 2

It's coming to an airport near you. Soon. CAPPS--the color coded passenger risk system.

In the most aggressive -- and, some say, invasive -- step yet to protect air travelers, the federal government and the airlines will phase in a computer system next year to measure the risk posed by every passenger on every flight in the United States.

The new Transportation Security Administration system seeks to probe deeper into each passenger's identity than is currently possible, comparing personal information against criminal records and intelligence information. Passengers will be assigned a color code -- green, yellow or red -- based in part on their city of departure, destination, traveling companions and date of ticket purchase.

The system works just like a traffic light. If your code is green, you've got nothing to worry about. If your code is yellow, proceed to the next security checkpoint for more scrutiny. If you get a red....sorry, you can't board at all.

The military is demanding that the thousands of army and National Guard reserve troops in Iraq stay for a year.

Here's the difference in policy. Up until now, reserve troops were called up for a year but a chunk of that time was spent in the U.S. training to go overeseas, and in debriefings upon their return. So much less than a year was spent in Iraq.

Under the new policy, the reservists will have to spend a full year in Iraq or neighboring countries.

The new deployment policy, which is still being disseminated to Guard and Army Reserve units, is already prompting concerns by troops and their advocates, who said uncertainty about the length of deployments can have a highly negative impact on morale. The Army issued the new policy late Friday night, but made no formal announcement of the change.

There are 122,000 Army personnel in Iraq, including 3,000 National Guard soldiers and 5,000 reservists, Army officials said. Another 5,000 Guard soldiers and 7,000 reservists are serving in Kuwait, they said.

Sometimes, what goes around, comes around. Maybe we'll start seeing a comeback of "Hell No, We Won't Go." Maybe by the time of the national conventions for 2004, Bush will be considered as vile as Nixon. Already there are plans for massive demonstrations in New York when the Republicans convene --how great a stretch is it to think that New York next summer could turn into a scene from Chicago in 1968? One can only hope.