You have to watch this video, it is truly incredible--and will be the subject of many a talk show tonight, beginning with MSNBC's Dan Abrams at 6 pm e.s.t. (Mickey Sherman guest hosting for vacationing Dan who returns Wednesday.)

It is also now the subject of a police probe.

The video is of four to five cops surrounding a teenager on the ground who does not appear to be resisting. One officer picks him up and slams really slams his head into the hood of the car. Another cop punches him in the head. The video was taken by tourists. The cops? From Inglewood, CA. (LA) The reason for the arrest? A routine traffic stop. The driver was found to be driving with a suspended license. The passenger, who allegedly got into it with the cops, was the attacked teen. Immediate sanctions? None, not even suspension or administrative leave.

Let's follow this one.

CNN has a good analysis up today on the various search issues decided this term by the Supreme Court. It's okay to search a bus passenger's baggy jeans but not the underwear of a man in his home. "The bus search case overshadowed the underpants search challenge because of its impact on the government's anti-terrorism efforts."

Thanks to Vodka Pundit for overcoming its reluctance to give us a link. TalkLeft is settling in quite nicely on VP as a "Cosmopolitan" - we couldn't have picked a better category! As the VP points out, we bought our link with our offer (see below under "Reluctant Link?") of a martini or a brew at his choice of pub on his next trip to Denver.

Welcome, VP--your link is up now on TalkLeft as well.

PS Our link on VP is in the name of the author of this weblog, rather than TalkLeft, so don't get confused.

We got a mention today from Vodka Pundit, but so far, no link. Seems that the VP, while agreeing with our position on matters concerning the Bill of Rights, objects to our mention this past weekend of an LA Weekly interview with Gore Vidal.

VP complains we are taking Mr. Vidal seriously. Actually, what we called the interview with Vidal was "an interesting read." We stand by that. Mr. Vidal certainly has a different take on September 11 and Oklahoma City than the rest of the world.

We hope VP keeps reading TalkLeft and decides we do deserve a link--like Altercation and Maxspeak have given us. As soon as he does, we'll buy him a martini or a brew at his pub of choice on his next trip to Denver from his home town of Colorado Springs. And, of course we will set up a nice link to him here.

Closing arguments are today in the Louima re-trial of former NYC cop Charles Schwarz, accused of perjury and conspiracy to violate Abner Louima's civil rights. The main issue: Was he the cop in the bathroom with Justin Volpe when Volpe savagely sodomized Louima. We've been following the case all along, see Justin Volpe's Bad Hair Day and Abner Louima/Charles Schwarz, Round 2.

So has William Glaberson of the New York Times. Check out his article today, Defense Lawyer's Obsession About to Be Tested on Ron Fischetti, the highly esteemed (justly so in our opinion) defense lawyer representing Schwarz. Fischetti is obsessed with the case and with Schwarz' innocence. It's a good read, and it's not a "puff piece."

Fishcetti acknowledges what happens when the lawyer gets too close to the client--as he admittedly has done with Schwarz--in his case, he wakes up at 2 am dictating portions of his closing, can't talk to friends or colleages about anything else, and in essence, lives and breathes the case 24/7. When the second trial ended in a guilty verdict against Schwarz in 2000, Fischetti blamed himself for misreading the jury during the trial.

If only it were Fischetti on trial instead of Schwarz. We'd acquit in a minute. It's just too much to ask us to be symathetic towards his client. Two juries have convicted him, one after hearing his side of the story. Both convictions were overturned on what the public calls "technical grounds" unrelated to factual innocence. It is impossible to get away from the finger pointing, excuses, lies and half-truths told by almost every cop in this case. The most we can say is probably no one will ever know what really went on in that bathroom.

Fischetti has done a great job of portraying Schwarz as the victim in the media. Sorry, but we still think Abner Louima is the victim here. He's suffered through the attack, the humiliating publicity, endless trial preparation first for the criminal cases and then his own civil action against the City and Police (which finally settled) and now this trial. See Jim Dwyer's excellent NYTimes article "No Way Out" describing Louima's life these past five years.

We can't say who is telling the truth about which cop it was who led Louima to the bathroom to be subjected to Volpe's torture or whether that cop physically restrained Louima during Volpe's attack. Or why, if that cop wasn't helping Volpe, he didn't try and stop the attack.

We can say that everyone has a vested interest here. Schwarz so he doesn't go back to jail; Volpe who is hoping for a sentence reduction for testifying for Schwarz if Schwarz is exonerated; Cop #3 (Wiese) who refused to testify at this trial because he's afraid of being charged with perjury whichever way the verdict goes; and Fishcetti, who has gotten so close to his client that if he loses, he'd probably give up his right arm if it would spare his client going back to jail.

Everyone, that is, except Abner Louma. He has no vested interest because for him, the legal ramifications are over. He is simply seeking justice.

Arthur Schlessinger, Jr. has an excellent op-ed piece in today's New York Times called "When Patriotism Wasn't Religious."

In tracing the history of the Pledge since its creation by Francis Bellamy in 1892, turns out the words "under God" weren't added until 1954 when Congress decided "to emphasize the antagonism between God-fearing Americans and godless Communists," which he points out was hardly necessary in the Joe McCarthy era.

Bellamy's granddaughter says he would have objected to the change because it changes the fundamental meaning of the Pledge. "One nation indivisible" was a reference to the Civil War, after which Bellamy thought our nation could not be divided. She also says the change ruins the "rhythmic cadence."

Another great fact: Nowhere does the word "God" appear in the Constitution.

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That's the concern of Wendy Kaminer in The Switch in today's New York Times Magazine. She is one of a growing number of journalists tracking the public's decreasing support for the death penalty. By the way, we are up to 107 people released from death row after being found factually innocent of their crimes.

We also like Wendy's July 15, 2002 commentary in American Prospect --called Ashcroft's Lies that points out the foolhardiness of throwing more money and power at the FBI, given its abysmal record. Not sure if it's on-line yet, so keep checking back.

Check out lawyer Steve Braughman's commentary, Ashcroft's Vendetta: Lynching John Walker Lindh, in yesterday's CounterPunch.

Braughman says a close examination of the facts should embarass the government, the mainstream media and also the alternative media--the latter for being "unforgivably silent about what seems to be a blatantly political prosecution of a United States citizen."

We have to agree that so far it does not appear the Government has uncovered any evidence that Lindh intended to murder United States nationals or assist in the September 11 or any other attacks on America.

For more, go to Braughman's website, FreeJohnWalker.net

That's how Marc Cooper titles his interview with Gore Vidal in this week's LA Weekly. Vidal, now 76, has spent his career arguing "tempestuously that the U.S. should retreat back to its more Jeffersonian roots, that it should stop meddling in the affairs of other nations and the private affairs of its own citizens. "

Mr. Vidal has a new book out, "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got To Be So Hated." He believes we should all know the answer to why September 11 and the Oklahoma City bombings happened. Our government caused them. "There is no action without a reaction." The action was our hubris abroad and our creation of a police state at home, says Vidal. The reaction was Osama's and Mr. McVeigh's attacks on America, provoked by their rage resulting from America's "reckless assaults on other societies."

According to Vidal, the reason we went to Afganistan after Sept. 11 was not to find Osama, but to make an imperial grab for energy resources. The Persian Gulf was our main source of oil and the Taliban were getting "flaky."

"We had planned to occupy Afghanistan in October, and Osama, or whoever it was who hit us in September, launched a pre-emptory strike. They knew we were coming. And this was a warning to throw us off guard."

There's more...it's an interesting read.

As we first reported last week, Denver has established "John TV" in an effort to reduce prostitution. It was the highlight of Mayor Wellington Web's state of the City address--lots of cheers when he announced it.

The "show" will air on a Denver local cable channel and will feature mugshots of prostitutes and their clients. The pix will also be available on Denver's website

The cable news networks will chat about this for a while and then we predict interest will fade. How do the prostitutes feel about it? We like this statement, by one who was sentenced to a year and a day in jail earlier this week and plans to resume her business when she gets out: "Shaming has never done anything for anyone who has nowhere to go."

James Byrd Jr. was the African-American man chained to a car and dragged for miles until he was dismembered and dead by a white supremist and two other white men in 1998. Two were sentenced to death. One, John W. King, is about to exhaust his state appeals.

Yesterday, James Byrd's son Ross Byrd held a vigil at the state penitentiary in Huntsville protesting King's execution. He was accompanied by Martin Luther King, III. Ross Byrd initially favored the sentence but changed his mind. He now opposes all capital punishment.

This deplorable act of racism and torture was one of the most brutal crimes in recent memory. What changed Byrd's mind?

"When I heard King had exhausted his appeals, I began thinking, `How can this help me or solve my pain?' and I realized it couldn't," Byrd said.

The number of family victims who oppose the death penalty for their loved ones' murders has been steadily growing in recent years. Among the most vocal organizations advancing this welcome shift is Murder Victims' Families For Reconciliation (MVFR).

Founded in 1976 by Marie Deans, the guiding prinicple of the group has been:

"From experience, we know that revenge is not the answer. The answer lies in reducing violence, not causing more death. The answer lies in supporting those who grieve for their lost loved ones, not creating more grieving families. It is time we break the cycle of violence. To those who say society must take a life for a life, we say: "not in our name."

This is a non-profit organization without a religious agenda. Its members come from diverse racial, geographic, economic and religious backgrounds. Their bond has its roots in the loss of a family member due to a criminal act.

Please support them.

Rocky Mountain News Columnist Mike Littwin takes Colorado Governor Bill Owens to task today for taking a cheap shot at his political opponent Rollie Heath in this fall's gubernatorial race. Seems Owens sent out a letter to Jewish leaders in the community unfairly labeling Heath as anti-Israel because he lives in Boulder and the Boulder City Council passed an anti-Israel resolution.

Heath is not anti-Israel and Owens should retract the unfounded charge. TalkLeft supports Rollie Heath. He has called us several times for his support, offered to read the legislative positions of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and sit down with us to discuss them. We're taking him up on his offer and are in the process of scheduling a discussion.

One of the reasons we don't like Owens is his insistence on only appointing former prosecutors as judges. And of couse his unwavering support of the death penalty.