The Advocate - Gary Hart says U.S. can't handle terror attacks:

Many municipalities are woefully unprepared for the terror threats they'll face as the country goes to war with Iraq, former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart told more than 200 people last night packed into the auditorium of the Darien Community Association.

"We're not ready, and we're about to kick open a hornet's nest in the most dangerous part of the world," said Hart, speaking on the topic of homeland security as President Bush's deadline for war passed.

The federal government has not allocated enough resources to state and local governments to fight terror, said Hart, 66, who has recently expressed interest in a 2004 presidential run.

As war loomed, Hart said the president has failed to show clear and convincing evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

"How did we get from 9/11 to the Taliban to Saddam Hussein?" he asked.

But with troops already committed to fighting a war in Iraq, Hart said Americans should stand behind the country and its troops.

"The debate is over. It will continue when the war is over," he said. "When American lives are at stake it's not the time to debate war."

Attorney General John Ascroft has backed off his demand for the death penalty for a mentally retarded man from Brooklyn, who was facing murder charges in Binghamton, NY.

Defense lawyers say that federal prosecutors in Binghamton have told them that the government now concurs with the defense's contention that Mr. McMillian is mentally retarded. Mr. McMillian's case was the focus of a story that appeared on Tuesday in The New York Times.

Terence L. Kindlon, one of Mr. McMillian's lawyers, said prosecutors told the defense team last night that they would file formal notice of the Justice Department's decision today in United States District Court in Binghamton.

"I can't imagine receiving better news," Mr. Kindlon said. "I'm walking on air."

Skippy has full details and a first hand account of the Los Angeles anti-war protests and civil disobedience arrests. We're glad Skippy didn't get arrested. We would have had a hard time getting to LA today to bail him out, which we definitely would have wanted to do.

What Liberal Media
by Eric Alterman

Buy the Book Today!

There is a great review of Eric Alterman's What Liberal Media in today's New York Times. It is written by Orville Schell, the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

Now Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation, has jumped into the ring and taken off his gloves. In an impressively researched and documented book, "What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News," he provocatively challenges this conservative wisdom as a mirage. He asserts that what Americans should really fear is the far better organized, more powerful and effective propaganda machine of the right that postulates the presumption of liberal bias through research groups, religious organizations, ideological news organizations and conservative personalities that "skews the entire discourse toward the right."

Apple Computer has announced that Al Gore has joined its Board of Directors.

Eric Alterman in Altercation today:

For me, the antiwar movement such as it was, is over. We lost. It's time to wish the best for our soldiers and the victims of this war and focus on building a better future."

We tend to agree as far as the military effort goes, but not the war on civil rights and against the detainees and non-citizens in this country.

To clarify: The anti war movement failed to prevent this war. We were as as committed to opposing this war as you all were. But it's on. So let's get it over with.

We now have to work to get Bush out of the White House--protect ourselves from Ashcroft, prevent the further erosion of our civil rights and protect the rights of non-citizens and the citizen accused.

We covered the war tonight because we're stuck in a hotel room in Washington waiting to fly back to Denver--but starting tomorrow, the media will be capable of reporting the bombs and casualities and it's going to be 24/7 coverage everywhere. We hope some of you will join us in returning to issues like politics, elections, legislation, crime and civil liberties.

Of course, we'll still be critical of the war effort when we have something to say--but marching to oppose war in Iraq is yesterday. The war is here, it's on and we have to deal with it and move on.

Bush: It's official. The war has begun, on his orders. It could be a longer war than some predict. It may require our sustained presence in Iraq when it's done. We are going to apply decisive force. "We are going to carry on our work of peace." Really, he said that.

The "target of opportunity" strike was a decapitation strike aimed at Saddam, targeting a location where we believed Saddam and other leaders were located. No one knows if it was successful.

CNN still says the strikes don't mean that war has begun. This is a prelude.

Update: Everyone's "retired for the night"--Bush, Cheney, Condi Rice. So no more action before tomorrow.

CNN reports a cruise missile has launched against "a target of opportunity" in Iraq. Broadly, that means something just became available that wasn't available yesterday, according to Jamie McIntyre. The President will address the nation at 10:15 E.S.T. It's 6 a.m. in Bagdad.

Update: The target was a "leadership target"--not one that just became available but one they just decided to hit. CNN

Update: The President decided to launch an isolated strike because otherwise it would be an "opportunity lost."

Update: There was more than one target, one South of Baghdad, one elsewhere (CNN)

Here in Washington, Congress seemed extremely normal today. We got to the Longworth building at 8:30 am. There were metal detectors at the building's entrances, but no lines, no dogs, no national guard, just local cops and guards, and not too many of them. Maybe 2 or 3 per entrance. It took under 30 seconds to go through security. No hand searches of briefcases, no removing shoes, belts or being hand-scanned by the "wand." The detectors don't seem to be set as high as they are in federal courthouses or jails. We walked in and out several times over the morning and neither us nor anyone else set off a detector.

What a contrast to our visit during the Clinton Impeachment trial. Now that was some high security. You couldn't go up or down an elevator without a special pass. Think about that, the elevators were guarded. At one point, the trial was stopped with no reason given and the cops/guards abruptly evacuated the chamber--we thought it was for a closed-door discussion, but when we got out in the hall, the buzz was that a "package" had been found. Most likely untrue, but you couldn't even leave to go the bathroom and come back without losing your seat and going to the back of the line and starting again. And this was the special line--not the public line-- as we had passes from the White House Counsel's office. Today was entirely different, You would never know there was anything critical taking place in the world.

This morning, once inside, we spent 45 minutes in a meeting with other defense lawyers who. like us, had flown in to lobby on the Innocence Protection Act. Our "group" included Larry Goldman, the President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Past NACDL President Jerry Lefcourt (you may remember him as Abbie Hoffman's lawyer in the Chicago 8 trial), us (we're Secretary of the Organization), Kyle O'Dowd, NACDL's Legislative Director, two members of the Board of Directors and one past member of the Board. Also at the meeting was Peter Loge, Executive Director of the Justice Project.

The atmosphere in the large Longworth cafeteria was very relaxed and lively--no hint of tension in the air. No tvs that we were aware of and the only people glued to their cell phones were some of the lawyers at our table. (Not us.)

We didn't see any extra cops or security inside the buildings. In fact, at one point we needed to ask directions to get from Longworth to someplace in Cannon and we asked a guy walking by in the hall. He spent over 2 minutes telling us how to get there, like it was a very important question and he had plenty of time. He turned out to be a Congressman.

Medical Marijuana Patients won a partial victory in the Maryland House today.

The Marijuana Policy Project also reports that on March 12, a bill passed the State Senate in Oklahoma which would impose a $500 fine rather than jail time for up to 17 ounces of marijuana, repeal some mandatory minimum sentences, and authorize community service and treatment instead of jail for some offenders. It is now pending in a House committee.

Denver International Airport Remains Closed

Denver International Airport (DEN) was officially closed at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2003, and remains closed at this time. Weather conditions are evolving. Airport personnel, concessionaires, airline personnel and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are working together to ensure the safety of all stranded passengers and to provide adequate customer comfort.

Due to a tear in the outer layer of the tent roof, all passengers have been relocated from the center of the Terminal, or what is commonly referred to as the Great Hall, into the outer edges of the Terminal. Because of potential safety issues with the tear in the outer layer of the tent roof, all concessions in the Terminal have been closed. Passengers needing concessions and food may go to Concourse B where several concessions have reopened.
The TSA has worked diligently to process security checks with minimum personnel to allow passenger access to Concourse B where concessions are open. The TSA has rapidly responded to changing needs and is working with airport officials to provide customer service.

DEN would like to thank all stranded passengers who have remained calm and very understanding during this major spring storm which has essentially shut down the entire city.

I'll be at Congress today with a group of criminal defense lawyers, visiting individual Congresspersons at their various offices. We start at the Longworth Office Building where we will meet and break into groups of two, go off to our meetings, trying to convince certain Republican members of the House to support the Innocence Protection Act.

I'll be back later to let you know what it was like being in the House office buildings the day war is supposed to break out. In fact, if the blizzard doesn't stop raging in Denver so that planes can fly in, I may be blogging all night from the airport. I hope not. I'm beginning to understand what a stateless person feels like -- Washington is about the last place I want to be today but I can't go home and have no place else to go.