Read Bob Stein's wonderful piece on the day President Kennedy announced to the American People the presence of nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Open Thread.

George McGovern has passed away.

By all accounts, he was a good and decent man.

May he rest in peace after living a full life, filled with accomplishments and service.

Sooo, HOW ABOUT THEM GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up this morning, and my thoughts returned to politics and, I thought, maybe I'll watch the Sunday shows. So I went to see who would be on, Atrios:

Face the Nation has Rubio, Kevin NotJohn Madden, Stephanie "I Will F[*]ck Your Shit Up" Cutter, Nooners, Sangers, Kleiners, Dickensoners

This Week has that asshole Rahm, Rubio, Debbie W-S, America's Pastor Ralph Reed, Van HitlerStalinPolPot Jones, Greta Van, Matty Dowd.

Meet the Press has AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RUBIO MUST CREDIT MEET THE PRESS, America's sweetheart Rob Portman, Zombie Dee Dee Myers, Zombie Mike Murphy, The Moustache of Understanding, Helene Cooper.

Really? I mean really? Sanger, ok. But Ralph Reed, Peggy Noonan, The Moustache, Mike Murphy? Is this freaking 1996? They were terrible then and they are terrible AND irrelevant now.

So no, I'll watch Newcastle-Sunderland instead.

Open Thread.

Many "investments" today (2 units unless otherwise indicated):

Baylor +9 over Texas, Miami (Florida) +21 over Florida State, Penn State +3 over Iowa, Alabama (-20) over Tennessee, Oklahoma -35 over Kansas (3 units), North Carolina -10½ over Duke (5 units), Notre Dame -14 over BYU, Navy -3 over Indiana, Tulsa -22 over Rice, Kentucky +27 over Georgia, Louisville -6 over South Florida (4 units), Michigan State +9 over Michigan, TCU +2 over Texas Tech (5 units), UNLV +28 over Boise State, Bowling Green -18 over Massachusetts, Temple +4½ over Rutgers (3 units), Purdue +19 over Ohio State (3 units), Virginia Tech +8½ over Clemson, Stanford -3 over California, Northwestern +7 over Nebraska (3 units), Wisconsin -17 over Minnesota, Army -3 over Eastern Michigan, LSU -3½ over Texas A&M, Northern Illinois -17 over Akron, Maryland +3 over North Carolina State (4 units), Iowa State +14 over Oklahoma State (4 units), Boston College +14 over Georgia Tech (4 units).

Late edition - South Carolina +3 1/2 over Florida. Nonetheless, GO Gators!

Open Thread.

The new judge in the George Zimmerman case agreed to issue defense subpoenas for Trayvon Martin's school records and social media account records, as well as the social media accounts of witness #8 "Dee Dee", the phone friend of Trayvon, who says she was on the phone with him just before the shooting. You can watch the Judge explain her ruling here.

As I wrote here and here, I think this is the correct ruling. A defendant raising self-defense may introduce evidence regarding a victim's reputation for a particular character trait like violence to show that the defendant was not the initial aggressor, even if the defendant did not previously know about the victim's reputation. Here's the Munoz case the Judge cites from, which quotes the Dwyer case.

The school records will not be released publicly. The judge also granted the state's request for Zimmerman's medical records, but like the school records, they will not be released publicly. [More]

The state moved for a gag order against the defense yesterday. Here is the motion, which will be heard next week. I think the motion, which is directed at Zimmerman's lawyers, picked the wrong target. The target should be the lawyers for the family of Trayvon Martin. They are the ones who comment on the evidence, opine on guilt, and inflame passions likely to prejudice the potential jury pool.

The defense has posted pleadings it has filed in court. That's allowed, and the motion doesn't seek to prevent it. The defense is also allowed to inform the public about the course of proceedings. [More...]

Staying with today's theme.....an open thread, all topics welcome. (h/t to Ruffian.)

Update: President Obama is on the Daily Show tonight. Among the topics: Libya.

Even Jennifer Gray is retweeting photos of "Nobody Puts Baby in a Binder."

On Amazon, more than 8,700 people have liked this review of the Avery View binder:

As a woman, I'm not adept at making decisions that concern me. So when I need the right choice, I turn to the presidential candidate that KNOWS. One with prideful experience in this department. I don't want to be filed away in an inferior & confusing electronic doohickey that I couldn't possibly understand. Or heaven forbid, have a man ask for & listen to my ideas! I'd much rather rely on this top of the line, 1980s style, Avery Durable binder. It's the choice America can trust. My education, my ideas, my opinions, my choices, please PLEASE keep them safely stored away here and far away from the men that might fear them (I mean, want to use them to hire me somedaynever). I'd write more about this most useful product, but it's time I hurry home to make dinner.

Romney's remarks have also found their way to binder reviews on Staples. [More...]

Do voters really want a return to the politics of yesterday and mores of the 1950's?

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional.

They [the judges]found that gays and lesbians are entitled to heightened protection from the courts, based on the history of discrimination the group has suffered.

"Homosexuals are not in a position to adequately protect themselves from the discriminatory wishes of the majoritarian public," Judge Dennis Jacobs wrote for the majority.

The evangelical producer Dinesh D'Souza of "2016" resigned from Kings College today due to his affair with a woman not his wife. He brought her to a family values conference last month, introducing her as his fiance. He hadn't even filed for divorce yet.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Mitt Romney is fond of reminding voters he granted no pardons or petitions for clemency as Governor. Not even for the soldier in Iraq who sought a pardon for a conviction at age 13 for using a b.b. gun. The soldier wanted to become a police officer.

He often criticized the pardon and clemency decisions of others -- except for one: He had no problem with GW Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence. He called it reasonable, saying the prosecutor knew Libby had committed no crime. [More...]

Bruce Springsteen has posted a letter on his website explaining why he supports President Obama. He will be appearing with Obama in Iowa and Ohio at campaign events.

There's a lot of buzz yesterday about the new judge in the George Zimmerman case scheduling his trial in June. I doubt it will happen that fast. Even in non-high profile cases, delays to two to three years are not uncommon.

James Wonder was charged in 2008 with shooting a polygrapher for the U.S. Border Patrol during a road rage incident. Weeks after the shooting, prosecutors asked the grand jury to indict on first degree murder. The grand jury returned an indictment on manslaughter. His stand your ground hearing was just scheduled a few weeks ago for the end of October. The hearing is expected to take 8 to 10 days with 35 to 40 witnesses being called. (One of the issues recently decided: The state objected to the defense introducing Wonder's 3 hour post-arrest interview at the stand your ground hearing.)

Trevor Dooley, a retired bus driver, shot and killed a younger man who was playing basketball in 2010. His stand your ground hearing was in May, 2012. He lost, and trial was set for September. But Dooley is appealing the denial of his stand your ground motion, so the trial date was vacated. [More...]