We told you the bad news with respect to yesterday's failed marijuana ballot initiatives. Here is some good news from other states, provided by the Marijuana Policy Project, who spearheaded the unsuccessful Nevada drive:

THE GOOD NEWS

MASSACHUSETTS: Nineteen local advisory measures urging marijuana decriminalization all appear to have passed, most with overwhelming margins. A local advisory measure supporting medical marijuana and another endorsing hemp cultivation passed easily as well.

MARYLAND: Medical marijuana supporter Bob Ehrlich was elected governor in a hotly-contested race. Ehrlich, a Republican member of Congress, is one of 42 cosponsors of Rep. Barney Frank's States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act. His opponent, Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, was approached during the campaign by medical marijuana supporters but refused to take a stand. This bodes well for our effort to get a medical marijuana bill passed in Maryland next year.

SAN FRANCISCO: In what may turn out to be the medical marijuana "shot heard 'round the world," San Francisco voters passed Proposition S by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Placed on the ballot by four members of the city Board of Supervisors after a wave of federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, the measure asked voters if the city should explore growing and distributing marijuana for seriously ill patients. Now that voters have responded with a resounding "YES," it will be up to the Board of Supervisors to implement that mandate. MPP plans to work with our many friends in San Francisco to make sure the voters' wishes are carried out.

In some ways it was a rough night, but we are immensely proud of the hard work of our staff and volunteers -- and grateful for your continuing support. We know we won't win every battle, but we will not give up until marijuana prohibition is just a distant, sad memory."

Our own Government is confirming the arguments of death penalty opponents that the death penalty is not a deterrent to violence. Virginia has scheduled an execution next Thursday for a Pakistani national who was convicted in 1993 of killing two CIA employees. Tonight, the State Department put out a warning:

"The State Department warned Americans Wednesday that the execution next week of a Pakistani convicted of murdering two CIA employees could trigger retaliatory attacks on U.S. interests overseas. The worldwide caution cited the scheduled Nov. 14 execution in Virginia of Mir Ahmad Kasi, convicted five years ago in the 1993 murders of two CIA employees, as cause for extra vigilance."

"The potential exists for retaliatory acts against U.S. or other foreign interests in response to the execution," the State Department said. "These may include facilities where Americans or possibly other foreigners are generally known to congregate or visit, such as residential areas, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, hotels, outdoor recreation events or resorts and beaches."

Violence begets violence. We should stop state-sanctioned killing now.

The list of potential democratic candidates for President in 2004 so far includes: (from Reuters)

"At the core of the Democratic field over the last six months has been Gore, the narrow loser of the 2000 race after a five-week recount in Florida. Gephardt has been mentioned, along with Daschle; Dean, and Democratic Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina."

"Dean is the only one who has definitely said he is in the race, although Kerry is certain to run as well. Other potential candidates include Gary Hart and Bill Bradley, both former senators and failed presidential candidates, and veteran Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware."

"Gore's decision, due by the end of the year, will be the first step toward shaking out the field. If Gore gets in, his name recognition would make him an instant frontrunner and he could knock out his 2000 vice presidential running mate, Lieberman, who has promised not to run against Gore."

We hardly ever agree with Dick Morris, but we liked this quote from his commentary today over at NRO (which we found over at Vodkapundit):

"Bush will likely win the war on terror. But he'll win it in 2003. What will he do for 2004? By then, he'll have run out of countries. Bush has no real domestic agenda beyond his tax cuts which are already part of the law and unlikely — especially now — to be repealed. All the other issues, apart from terror, work in the favor of the Democrats. The Wall Street scandals, global warming, environmental pollution, health care for the elderly, and Social Security are all Democratic issues. Bill Clinton's legacy is that he solved the major Republican concerns — crime and welfare."

"Without issues, Bush may not be able to control the dialogue as 2004 approaches. He will run Washington for the next two years as the Democrats lick their wounds. But he may have a tough road in 2004."

Stephen at Vodkapundit thinks Morris is underestimating Bush. We sure hope not.

Read what Al Gore has to say on Tuesday night's Democratic losses. He sat down with 20/20's Barbara Walters to talk about it. Here is a large segment of the interview which will air on 20/20 Nov. 15.

Also check out Hamster on what to do next after yesterday's defeat at the polls.

Also, Rittenhouse on what went wrong and who's to blame.

Dick Gephardt, House Democratic Leader, announced today he will not seek another term in that position. We're glad. He should never have crossed sides to support the war. Part of the blame for yesterday's disasterous election results lies at his feet--add Daschle to the list as well--we hope this means he won't seek the nomination for presidency in 2004.

We're behind Nancy Pelosi for leader of the dems in the house.

The sniper suspects have been charged in Virginia .

We'll have some analysis of this at the end of the workday.

Winona Ryder has been found not guilty of burglary but guilty of grand theft and vandalism. Our view: Unequal justice is no justice at all.

We repeat our prior views set forth here:

We believe that the DA's are treating Winona differently and more harshly because of her celebrity. The resources the city is spending to prosecute her for a first shoplifting offense is unprecedented. We think anyone else would have been offered a deferred judgment or a misdemeanor plea. Why is the prosecution so intent on getting a felony from her? If we were a taxpayer in Beverly Hills, we'd be angry and demand an explanation.

and here:

It really makes us angry to think of the state of California prosecuting an actress for allegedly stealing $6,000 from a luxury store when Kenneth Lay and his ilk haven't been charged with anything and allegedly stole millions or billions from the American people.

From NORML:

Disappointing Election Results Provide Opportunity For Self Assessment

Washington, DC: Yesterday's defeat of a trio of marijuana reform initiatives in Arizona, Nevada and South Dakota mark a temporary setback, but also offer an opportunity for self assessment, NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said today. All three initiatives targeted separate aspects of marijuana law reform.

• ARIZONA

Arizona's proposal, which won only 43 percent of the vote, would have
replaced criminal penalties on minor marijuana offenses with a civil fine, and mandated the state to distribute medical marijuana free to qualified patients.

• NEVADA

Question 9 in Nevada, which won only 39 percent of the vote, sought to
eliminate all penalties on the possession of three ounces or less of marijuana, and mandated state officials to implement a system whereby adults could obtain pot through a legally regulated market.

• SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota's Initiative 1, which gained a reported 38 percent of the vote (with 769 of 844 precincts counted), sought to establish a state-licensing system so that farmers could legally grow the non-psychoactive variety of cannabis known as hemp.

Local marijuana reform initiatives fared much better in yesterday's
election.

• SAN FRANCISCO

In San Francisco, nearly 7 out of 10 voters approved Proposition S, which encourages the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to enact legislation authorizing the cultivation and distribution of medicinal pot by city officials.

• MASSACHUSETTS

In Massachusetts, voters in 19 State House districts approved non-binding resolutions instructing their state representative to vote in favor of making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. Voters in Massachusetts' 14th Worchester District also endorsed a non-binding resolution supporting the use of medical marijuana, and voters in the state's 2nd Franklin District endorsed a proposal to legalize hemp cultivation.

Broader statewide drug reform initiatives also yielded disappointing results.

• OHIO and ARIZONA

An Ohio initiative (Initiative 1) mandating treatment rather than incarceration for non-violent drug offenders gained only 33 percent of the vote, and an Arizona proposal (Prop. 302) re-instituting probation and incarceration for some non-violent drug offenders passed with 69 percent of the vote.

• WASHINGTON DC

A Washington DC proposal (Initiative 62) mandating alternative sentencing for some drug offenders did pass overwhelmingly, but must still be approved by Congress.

NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said there are many lessons drug-law reformers can learn from yesterday's outcome, and stressed the need for follow-up polling in Arizona and Nevada to better determine why a majority of citizens voted against these proposals. "Certainly, the political climate of this year's election was decidedly conservative, as evidence by the gains made by Republicans in both the House and Senate and the defeat of several other liberal, but non-drug reform initiatives around the country," he said.

"Specific to marijuana-law reform, however, it appears clear that although a majority of the public supports the legalization of medical marijuana as well as the decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, much of the U.S. public remains skeptical of broader-reaching proposals - particularly those that mandate the state to become involved in either the distribution or regulation of pot. Drug law reformers also need to do a better job countering some of our opponents concerns, such as the issue of marijuana and driving as well as the rising use of marijuana by adolescents, as it is clear that much of
the voting public also shares these anxieties."

Nevertheless, despite yesterday's defeats, Stroup's outlook for the marijuana law reform movement remains optimistic. "Yesterday's losses represent a temporary setback, but it's one we know we can and will overcome. The American public stands solidly against our government's policy of arresting and jailing responsible adult marijuana smokers, and we will continue to make gains on this core issue."

As usual, Atrios goes straight to the heart of the reality:

"My post election wrap up is that the Democrats believed they shouldn't make this a national election. They were wrong. Gephardt should go, and probably Daschle as well. Here comes the flat tax! Here comes GOP uterus control!"

To that we can only add, here come more prisons, more detentions, more unfair treatment of non-citizens, more death penalty support and less tolerance all around.

And check out Jeff Cooper today.

Mondale Concedes to Republicans in Minnesota and the Republicans gain control of Congress.

What a disappointing day. We shudder to think at the ramifications for criminal justice reform and civil liberties' protection.

We really need to make a strong grass-roots effort to take back our government. If not for ourselves, for our children and the millions of politically disenfranchised and marginalized citizens and residents of this country.

Statistics from the Department of Justice show that 3.9 million felons are currently or permanently disenfranchised. That's a lot of potential votes--enough to affect the outcome of an election.

Here are the actual numbers on the impact of felony disenfranchisement from the recent report by the Sentencing Project:

· An estimated 3.9 million Americans, or one in fifty adults, have currently or permanently lost their voting rights as a result of a felony conviction.
· 1.4 million African American men, or 13% of black men, are disenfranchised, a rate seven times the national average.
· More than 2 million white Americans (Hispanic and non-Hispanic) are disenfranchised.
· Over half a million women have lost their right to vote.
· In seven states that deny the vote to ex-offenders, one in four black men is permanently disenfranchised.
· Given current rates of incarceration, three in ten of the next generation of black men can expect to be disenfranchised at some point in their lifetime. In states that disenfranchise ex-offenders, as many as 40% of black men may permanently lose their right to vote.
· 1.4 million disenfranchised persons are ex-offenders who have completed their sentences. The state of Florida had at least 200,000 ex-felons who were unable to vote in the 2000 presidential election.

Felony disenfranchisement laws vary from state to state. A grass-roots effort is already underway in each state. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, and Texas are the latest states to make some positive changes. In the past two years, Delaware and Maryland have substantially scaled back their lifetime voting bans and New Mexico repealed its prohibition entirely.

That leaves a lot of other states that we need to work on, particularly Florida. We need to increase awareness among policymakers that the voting rights of all citizens are essential in a democracy.

Here are the basics:

The five youths convicted in the Central Park Jogger case speak out in this week's Village Voice article Marked as the Enemy by Dasun Allah.

A related article, Across 110th Street, chronicles the changed lives of the families of the youths.