Bill Simmons with a huge get - President Barack Obama.

Open Thread.

The Senate is debating it now, viewable on CSpan2. Presently, Senate David Vitter (R-La) is discussing how a conscience clause will protect his natural right to wear a diaper with a prostitute.

Hatch talking about religious liberty - begging the question - what about polygamy?

Bob Casey proves that he is not worthy of progressive support. Votes in favor of Blunt Amendment. (Manchin and Ben Nelson other Dems in favor of Blunt, but we already know they make no claims to being actual Dems or progressive. They've been on their own all along. Bob Casey claims otherwise.)

Blunt Amendment defeated 51-48. Pathetic that it was close.

Update (3/1): The written decision rejecting the Crown's bail appeal for Kim DotCom has been released. You can read it here. (Update: This video link seems to be working.)

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom gave an in depth interview yesterday to TV3 News in New Zealand. I couldn't get the video to play, but the station posted the transcript.

What's remarkable about reading the transcript is that it feels like you are hearing him speak. That's how passionate Kim Dotcom is about his innocence. He explains MegaUpload and copyright laws a lot better than the Government does in its Indictment. And he answers each question directly -- there are no attempts to deflect the interviewer by answering the question he thinks should have been asked instead of the one actually put to him. He really seems to have nothing to hide. In a nutshell: [More...]

We're due for an open thread. What's on your mind? All topics welcome.

Bump and Update: Majid Kahn pleaded guilty today at Guantanamo. The ACLU says his plea deal must be viewed through the lens of torture. Carole Rosenberg at the Miami Herald, who was at the hearing, reports that under the plea deal, he could be freed in four years when he's sentenced:

Under the plea deal, a military jury will hear the case and sentence Khan in 2016. The jury can order him to serve up to 40 years, after which a military judge would reduce it to at-most 25 years. A senior Pentagon official would then have the authority to suspend any or all of it. Once the sentence is over, it would be up to the Executive Branch to decide whether to keep him as a post 9/11 war-on-terror prisoner like the vast majority of the 171 captives here.

Here are the plea agreement and the Appendix, and the Statement of Facts. [More...]

Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones reports that a vote on the Blunt Amendment, which will allow employers to opt out of providing any form of health insurance coverage they object to, will happen soon, perhaps tomorrow.

Erick Erickson is criticizing Mitch McConnell for providing Dem Senators "cover" by offering the Blunt Amendment:

On its surface, it is a good amendment. It will allow religious employers to opt out of the new Obamacare mandate on contraception and abortifacient drugs. But strategically, it is another lame effort by Senator Mitch McConnell to let Senate Democrats in swing states absolve themselves of any blame for what Barack Obama has done.

Erickson assumes Democratic Senators will vote for the Blunt Amendment. It would surprise me if any Dem other than Ben Nelson would do so. More importantly, I think it should disqualify any Dem from support if they did. The DSCC has issued a petition against it:

At the RSA Conference this week in San Francisco, Imperva released a report called Anatomy of an Anonymous Attack. It says Anonymous left clues during an attack on the Vatican and the report details how attacks are planned and carried out.

[It] offers a rare glimpse into the specific strategies, tools, and tactics used by Anonymous in its attempts to infiltrate or take down websites.

The New York Times has more on this.

Update (3/1): The written decision rejecting the Crown's bail appeal for Kim DotCom has been released. You can read it here.

The Crown, representing the U.S., has lost its appeal to reverse MegaUpload co-founder Kim DotCom's release on bail. I just received confirmation from The High Court's media department via e-mail: "I am able to advise that Kim Dotcom's bail appeal has been dismissed." A copy of the decision should be available soon. When I receive it, I'll post it.

9:00 pm MT: First on Twitter, the New Zealand Business Review: Kim Dot Com Stays Free. NZBR said it was standing room only in the High Court. [More...]

Bump and Update, 8:25 p.m.: Romney has taken both states.

Update, 7: 30 pm MT: Romney takes Arizona and leads in Michigan.

Results should start coming in shortly for the Michigan and Arizona Republican primaries. Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum? Who would you rather see Obama face in November? [More...]

Law enforcement officers swept through Europe and South America today, arresting 25 suspected Anonymous hackers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain.

The arrests followed an ongoing investigation begun in mid-February, which comprised searches of 40 locations in 15 cities and included the seizure of 250 pieces of information technology equipment and mobile phones, Interpol said.

....Anonymous has no real membership structure. Hackers, activists, and supporters can claim allegiance to its freewheeling principles so it is not clear what impact the arrests will have.

Perhaps in response, Anonymous has taken down Interpol's website. It's still down. [More...]

It's a big day for Kim DotCom of MegaUpload. At 4:30 pm New Zealand time (1 hour from now) High Court Justice Tim Brewster will issue his decision on the Crown's appeal of Kim DotCom's release on bail. Hopefully, Kim DotCom won't be returning to jail.

A hearing has been going on all day in another division of the High Court on Kim DotCom and his wife Mona's request to unfreeze assets for living expenses. They say their living expenses are $220,000. a month. The Crown Prosecutor, Ann Toohey, who is representing the U.S., objected to the expenditures as excessive.

DotCom is requesting 28,000 a month for legal and living expenses. The amount of $200,000 is for rent at the mansion. Kim DotCom put $6.5 million into renovations at the property, which he will lose if he can't pay the rent.

Toohey also said she was informed yesterday by the FBI that U.S. prosecutors are investigating Mona DotCom and have made some sort of application: [More...]

President Obama today issued a Presidential Policy Directive setting out the procedures for determining whether terror detainees will face military or FBI custody. The rules implement Section 1022 of the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012.)

The FactSheet is here. The full directive is here.

Obama says Section 1022 does not apply to U.S. citizens, and the he has decided to waive its application to lawful permanent residents arrested in the United States: [More...]