Update: RIP Marvin Wilson. The Texecution proceeded, and Mr. Wilson was pronounced dead 14 minutes after it began.

Bump and Update: The Supreme Court has refused to intervene.

Barring intervention by the Supreme court, Marvin Lee Wilson, age 54, will be executed in Texas at 6:00 pm tonight. What's wrong with Texas?

At 54, Marvin Wilson can't use a telephone book. He reads and writes on a first- or second-grade level. Those who know the Southeast Texas man say he can't match socks, he doesn't understand what a bank account is for, he's been known to fasten his belt to the point of nearly cutting off his circulation. The day his son was born, one sister recalled, he reverted to the familiar habit of sucking his thumb. His IQ, according to the most valid indicator of human intelligence, is 61, below the first percentile.

Live updates from the Arizona Republic on the Jared Loughner competency hearing.

Dr. Christina Pietz, a Bureau of Prisons forensic psychologist, is testifying. She said Loughner has a factual, rational understanding of the role of jury, judge, prosecutors, judicial proceedings. He is now able to orient time and place, he no longer hears voices or other auditory stimuli.

Loughner asked for a job at the prison. He works two jobs. He stamps return addresses on envelopes and rolls towels,tee shirts and underwear for inmates. Pietz said he loves both jobs.

He understands prison is now his life and he will never get out. Pietz says with medication, he would not be a danger to others in the general population, but he could be at risk of being harmed by other inmates.

Loughner is present in court, and has been very still. His mother is also present. Defense attorney Judy Clarke had no questions when Dr. Pietz finished her testimony.

I'll be on Daily Kos Radio with Jesse LaGreca at 11. Listen here.

Open Thread.

What's really funny about Morris' column is how he gets to Romney winning a landslide:

"Romney is currently leading in every state McCain carried plus: Indiana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Nevada, North Carolina, and Colorado. If he carries these states, he’ll have 228 electoral votes of the 270 he needs to win.

To win the election, Romney would then have to carry Florida where he trails by two points, and either Virginia (behind by two) or Ohio where he’s down by only one. If he carries all three of these states and also wins all the others where Obama is now at 50% or less – Iowa, New Mexico, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey — he will get 351 electoral votes, a landslide about equal to Obama’s 363 vote tally in 2008." [Emphasis supplied.]

Michigan? Minnesota?? Pennsylvania??? New Jersey???? Hell, why not California? Morris actually demonstrates what a daunting task Romney has in front of him. As of now, Romney is not even contesting Pennsylvania's 20 EVs. New Mexico is a long shot at best. There's 5 EVs. New Jersey? Puhleeeaze. 14 EVs. Minnesota? 10 EVs. Realistically, Romney has no shot at any of these states. Thus, his ceiling is about 302 EVs. Romney has to win Florida, Virginia and Ohio to even be on the field. And that's granting Morris' funny numbers (which you really should not.) Romney a landslide? Impossible. He can still win narrowly. But it will be tough.

U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns has issued this order in the Jared Loughner case:

A hearing on the defendant’s competency is scheduled for Tuesday, August 7 at 11:00 a.m. in Tucson. This Order confirms that hearing will go forward. If the Court finds the defendant competent, his counsel has requested a follow-on change of plea hearing.

Accordingly, assuming the Court finds the defendant competent, it will also consider whether
to accept the defendant’s proffered pleas at the August 7 hearing.

Our earlier post on the plea deal is here.

Kim Dotcom today released his new children's song, "Precious."

Update: Kim Dotcom testified today. He said he was punched and kicked during the raid. (For a recap of the raid, go here.) The police gave this version at the time. Photos of the mansion and panic room are here.

As to legal news, Kim Dotcom will be at the High Court in New Zealand today, where Judge Winklemann, who in June declared the raid on the Dotcom Mansion illegal and based on invalid search warrants, will be holding a continued judicial review hearing on the raid and the U.S. failure to turn over material seized during it to Kim DotCom and his codefendants.

The hearing, at the High Court in Auckland, is a continuation of a judicial review of an earlier ruling that the US government has to grant Dotcom and his co-accused access to the evidence it holds against them.

[More...]

Apparently, The Donald heard me:

Donald Trump said Monday that the GOP wants him to have a role at the Republican National Convention. “I know they want me to,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” when asked if he planned on speaking at the convention in Tampa. “I’ll see what happens.”

I know I want him to.

Bruce Bartlett:

Republicans are adamant that taxes on the ultra-wealthy must not rise to the level they were at during the Clinton administration, as President Obama favors, lest economic devastation result. But they have a problem – the 1990s were the most prosperous era in recent history. This requires Republicans to try to rewrite the economic history of that decade.

Yes, they would. But has that ever stopped a Republican? FTR: "Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul."

I'll be on Daily Kos Radio with Jesse LaGreca this morning. Listen here.

Open Thread.

Jared Loughner is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to charges resulting from his 2011 Tuscon shooting spree, in which former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others were injured, and federal Judge John Roll and and others were killed. (Charges detailed here, the Superseding Indictment is here.) The unofficial reports, which have not been confirmed by the prosecution, defense or court, but are now being confirmed by every major media outlet (New York Times here), state that Loughner will plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. I would expect the agreement to be a global one, that includes a representation that the state of Arizona will either not prosecute Loughner in state court, or at least, that it won't seek the death penalty.

Whether Loughner will make it through a guilty plea advisement remains to be seen. If the deal goes through, and I doubt his defense lawyers would sign on if they didn't think he could make it through the hearing, this will be another huge accomplishment for defense lawyer Judy Clarke, already a true master at how to save a life. More...]

Michael Phelps wins his 18th gold medal.

Happy 51st birthday to President Obama.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.